By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) To say the least I was disappointed when I couldn’t make the Palm Springs Century this year. The longest ride I had done since being in the Hospital back in October was 41 miles and to be honest that pretty much ran me dry. I had tried a short little ride where I could push a little in Cactus Valley on the 20th but that didn’t encourage me much even if Highlander and Anaconda stayed with me and paced me to Cactus Valley and back home.

So today I decided I needed to add some distance and some little climbing in a hope that I can work my way back to cycling health in time for the Ruff Ride in Redlands next may. I posted a short Lake Perris ride and headed for Burger King to see who would be joining me. I was surprised to see Centaur waiting for me when I got to the parking lot. We were talking with Digger who had driven over to visit with us while we waited for Highlander to arrive. Digger will be off of the bike for at least 6 weeks maybe more so he will be missed. Earth Dog and Highlander arrived almost together and digger left us just about 9am as we pulled out onto Latham and headed for Lyon to start the run north. Highlander did a lot of the pulling as we headed for Esplanade and then Ramona Boulevard and headed west towards Sanderson. Centaur took over the pull and got us to Sanderson and up to the light on the Expressway. Somehow Centaur got stuck at the light and we didn’t notice till we were almost to Warren. I might have noticed sooner but Earth Dog was pulling and I thought Centaur was in front of him. We pulled over and waited for Centaur and then headed past Bridge towards Nuevo and the rollers by Lake Perris. I didn’t realize Highlander and Centaur would be turning back at Lakeview but it didn’t matter because Earth Dog was ready to ride to Lake Perris with me.

We said our good byes as Earth Dog and I headed west and Highlander and Centaur headed east. I decided to draft Earth Dog to the first roller and try to keep my spin steady and follow him over the hill with a nice easy spin. I was right on his back wheel as we rolled by Bernasconi and headed for the second roller. I had a constant 90 rpm going as we started up the second roller and slipped past Earth Dog when he slowed slightly. He stood and came back around me but lost ground again when he sat down so I came back by and pulled him over the hill and down the back side towards Rider and the front entrance to Lake Perris. I knew the climb to the dam was coming up and I explained to Earth Dog that my plan was to simply gear us to hill and head for the Marina. This was his first trip to Lake Perris so he waited for me at the first gate and we rode to the Marina together. We took a short break before heading back out of the front entrance to the park and headed east towards Rider once again. Once we got over the hill and back to Lakeview we decided to set a steady pace all the way back to Warren before turning for Cottonwood. Earth Dog set the perfect pace for a 52x16 gear and a 100 RPM spin. I was able to stay on his wheel all the way back to Warren where we backed it down a bit before turning onto Cottonwood and stopping to get the blood flowing back to my hands. Long finger gloves often seem to cause my hands to go numb when I am on the hoods for 10 miles at a time. We got back to Sanderson and headed south and we took turns pulling back to Devonshire before heading back to the parking lot to finish the day. I got home a few minutes later with my longest ride since October in the bag and the most climbing since then as well.