By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) With the predictions of the weather wizards it seemed like we needed to get in a good ride with some distance today because it was supposed to rain Wednesday. I know Mondays are normally lightly attended but it didn’t matter all that mattered was getting in a ride. So I headed over to Burger King and had some coffee with Digger. No one showed up till about fifteen minutes later when Earth Dog joined us and finally Bugler and Dave pulled up. Highlander and Huntress arrived and it looked like a bigger group than I had planned. So we headed down Gilmore to get the ride started. Quickly we made it to Acacia and then to Kirby to catch the light. We made the turn south into a slightly cool breeze and hoping it would stay that way.

It was one of those days when we were less than faithful to the mapped ride so we headed to Cypress and west not too worried about the route. Huntress pulled up next to me and we talked till we got to Johnston and caught the light at Sanderson. When it turned green we headed south again towards Stetson where we picked up Papillion and rolled by Wally World. It has been a while since he has ridden with us but it was good to have him along in case of any chasing duty necessary. After all I wasn’t planning on pulling much today so he could do some of that as well.

Once we got to Domenigoni I pulled shortly before turning it over to Highlander and fell back. We took turned leading as we headed for Warren and then over the dry wash towards Winchester. We didn’t get that far till Earth Dog had a flat and we stopped while he fixed it . Just before he finished fixing the flat Dave and Digger took off and after another five minutes we followed. Papillion tried to pull us to catch up but 21 to 23 was move than we could hold as a group. We gave the lead to Bugler and he pulled us to the saddle and part way up- before I pulled aroung followed by Papillion. We crossed the saddle and headed for the gas station on Menifee to meet Dave and Digger. It was there we learned Dave and Highlander would be leaving at Scott and that Shooter had been waiting for us at Winchester. We were already back on Menifee when Shooter called so we knew he would be chasing hard.

We made our way over Revival and headed for Scott where Highlander and Dave broke off and Huntress pulled us up to Keller and over to Antelope. We all made the turn at the Hospital together and headed for the big downhill on Whitewood. Huntress and I started the decent and quickly pulled away from the group but we got caught at the first stop light and they caught us. Earth Dog got the jump when the light turned but I pulled around with Huntress on my wheel followed by Papillion. We got all the way to Murrieta Hot Springs and stopped to wait for a regroup. Once again Earth Dog pulled away and only Huntress chased him. We kept getting stuck at red lights but finally Huntress and Papillion waited for us and we made it to Winchester together. Earth Dog was close to the top of the climb when Papillion took off and gave chase. Half way up the climb Shooter showed up and turned back to ride up the hill with Papillion and head for the gas station at Benton where we took a short nature break. Earth Dog and Digger started north on Winchester and we almost at Thomson before we started to close on them. Bugler, Huntress and I caught a red light and the rest of the group seemed to get away until Bugler decided to work hard at catching them. We ended up catching Digger and Huntress gapped me for a mile or two. Watching my heart rate closely I slowly caught back up and the two of us chased the fleeing foursome past Holland and towards the last rise before Domenigoni. The group was caught at the Domenigoni and Winchester light and Huntress and I crossed after them in a full roll after dropping off of the rise and crossing Domenigoni. Shooter left us at Ninth Street and I pulled us to Stowe. I decided to wait for Digger while Earth Dog continued on. Huntress, Bugler and Papillion waited with me and once digger joined us we headed for California. We split up into twos and I road with Bigler till we finally caught Digger at Cawston. The three of us rode to Burger King together and found Huntress and Papillion waiting for us. After a few minutes of talking we all headed for our homes and I got home in time for lunch and a hot showed with 49 miles on the computer. It was a perfect day for a ride.