By: C. Kent, aka (Superman) Another Friday arrived and it was time to decide how easy or hard to make the ride. It was supposed to be windy so I put together a ride with the wind at our back as much as I could plan and headed to a new meeting place because Burger King is closed for at least two weeks. We decided to meet at the Hemet Bike shop and they were kind enough to open early and let us park our bikes inside while everyone got ready to ride. We had a nice little group arrive and one extra ride that I hadn’t seen in about a year. Cutter was down from Oregon and he got to the shop right after Highlander, Dragon Slayer and I. Next Barracuda joined us along with Ferret and ME-109. Earth Dog and Bugler rounded out the group as we got ready and headed for Lyon to start the day.

I felt energetic enough to lead the group over Florida and towards Devonshire before Dragon Slayer took over for me. He then led us past Fruitvale and all the way to Esplanade where we caught the light. What I didn’t notice was that ME-109 had to go back to the shop and replace his cleats. I also didn’t realize he would have to make an epic chase to catch us as we headed for the Light at Hansen and the little store on the corner. After we left Esplanade I took the pull again and got us headed for Ramona Boulevard. I may not be at 100 percent yet but for the first hour of a ride I seem to be able to run at about 80 percent and steady. That is just what I was doing as I pulled the group around the corner on Ramona and got us pointed west.

Once we got to Sanderson I took us around the corner and to the light at the Expressway. Once we were pointed west I knew my pulling time was over and watched as Ferret took off followed by Dragon Slayer, Bugler and Barracuda. Earth Dog, Highlander, Cutter and I followed about half a mile back as we worked our way past Warren then Bridge with everyone but me taking a turn at the front. That was the way things continued till we got to Hansen and took a break at the corner store. Highlander, Cutter and I were going to head for Lakeview while Ferret and Dragon Slayer took the rest of the group to Juniper Flats. The plan was for us to regroup at Winchester Farms and have some coffee. I took us to Lakeview as the rest of the group headed for Contour. The wind was coming from the east so I was pretty sure we had a better chance of getting to Winchester first. They would be fighting the wind all the way easy and then the 4 mile climb with no tail wind till they got to Florida. I didn’t realize ME-109 was chasing them and would catch them before we met up. I got us to 9th street and Highlander got us to the Nueview school before Cutter took over and got us to Nuevo. I think we got to Nuevo about the same time as the other group got to Contour. In theory we were ahead of them. We were cruising along pretty good as we got close to Mapes and made our first turn east and into whatever wind there was. Before we got to Briggs Highlander broke a spoke and had to call for a ride. Cutter and I continued on to Briggs and turned south towards the High School and down to the dump road. I kept expecting to see the A group racing up behind us but it turns out they had a flat and were too far back. Cutter and I rode through a small swarm of bees on the dump road just past Leon but avoided getting stung. We made our way to Winchester and headed north to the Winchester store and waited for the A group. Once the A group arrived everyone stopped except Ferret and we took a short break. In effect the ride is over at the last stop so we just more or less cruise home once we get started. Picture 31

It was still less than a two hour ride at that point so I was pretty sure I could hang with the group as we headed for California. I didn’t know how many miles Cutter was up to because he has been rained out most of the time while we have been getting in some miles. I was looking forwards for the ride home.

Things went pretty good as we made our way to California except Cutter looked like he was ready to slow down to a leg cleansing spin and ME-109 was pulling pretty hard for Stetson and then for Warren. I fell back with Cutter and Dragon Slayer collected us all right after Warren. We were then pulled to Cawston and worked our way back over to Sanderson before turning north and heading for Lowes. We dropped Cutter off at the RV park and the rest of us rode back to the Bike Shop and the cars. I thanked Robert and told him we would be meeting at the shop at least for the near future as long as he was willing to open early enough for us to meet. He agreed and I said we will see him Monday before I headed for home and lunch.