(Southbay Cruisers” Super Hero Ride II Recap)
Had the evil forces of the world had ganged up on us on Nov 15th? It started like many other days in Southbay Los Angeles. Blue skies, a slight breeze, warm temperatures reaching close to 80 degrees….Yes! This is gonna be awesome! No wind, no rain, unseasonably warm temperatures….what more could you ask for from a November Cruiser ride?
Then about 3 hours before the start of the ride a large brown cloud overhead starts to creep over the ocean. What the? This must be the evil forces of the world decending upon us, trying to stop the Super Hero Ride II! Of course we all know it was fires raging throughout the Southland, one as close as Palos Verdes, that helped create this large brown cloud.
We hope that all of you that have family and friends in the areas affected directly by the fires are OK. We know that many of you had intentions of showing up to to the Super Hero ride but have asthma or other health related issues or concerns, which prevented you from attending. Or maybe you had loved ones you we’re concerned about in the areas directly affected by the fires. We hope all is well with everyone living in those areas.
At any rate, we couldn’t let the evil forces of the world stop us from our Super Hero Ride II. The Smoke and ash in the Southbay along the beaches didn’t appear to be nearly as bad as other areas. In fact I saw a huge barbecue along the Strand on the way to the ride. And so the ride went on as scheduled, and oh what a ride it was!
We met at our usual spot at Hermosa Pier. All kinds of Super Heros from the Justice League and even a few Super Heros that we had never heard of of showed up too. Batman, Super Girl, CatWoman,Lucha Maria….Lucha Maria?….Well that was one of the more creative Super Heros on the ride.
We definitely saw some creativity with costumes. No cape in you wardrobe, do what one girl did and tie a target bag around your neck to become the Target Super Hero. Lucha Maria(Mary)decorated her bike by painting old rags from her dad’s wood shop. And Super Hero Sara, as always had one of the most creative costumes of all(see pics on www.southbaycruisers.com)
We started off with a little Supersonic jump roping while we waited for others to show up at the Pier. One lady in her 70’s even joined in to do some jumps, proving that jump roping is for the young as well as the young at heart.
About 20 of us then set off on a course destined for Valley Park. To the tunes of Wonder Woman, Batman, and Raiders of the Lost Arc booming from the soul cycle we headed up Hermosa Avenue amid cheers from neighbors and people passing in their cars. We were joined by Julio and his stereo system, Jolly(aka Catwoman),Mary(aka ‘Lucha Maria’),Super Hero Sara, and others.
We eventually made our way to Valley Park in Hermosa Beach where we were greeted again by some new friends from Mira Costa High. “Hey are you guys the Creepy Cruisers?’ No, were the “Southbay Cruisers, last month’s ride was the Creepy Cruise, this month it’s the Super Hero ride…”
While Julio and Mary got the barbecue started we got our first game under way. Super Hero Wheel Barrel Racing. 5 energetic teams stepped up to the challenge and the competition was fierce but only one team walked away with the gold.
Next was Super Hero Arm Wrestling where we saw the Catwoman(Jolly) battle Lucha Maria!(Mary) for the the coveted Spiderman Mr. Potato Head doll. It was a a fierce battle with Catwoman scoring an upset. Catwoman was later challenged by our Mira Costa friends to defend her title. Let me tell you, these kids…cheerleaders…we’re strong!
Next up was the Spiderman Web Wrapping. Nothing like wrapping a friend or significant other in toilet paper in a park late at night. Chris and Mary, our Mad Scientists took the gold there. We then took to some three legged races(see the pics below)
We spent the rest of the evening dancing, climbing trees, posing, giving piggyback rides, and generally acting goofy. Not unusual for us on a Saturday night in Valley Park. Just another great ride behind us now.
Thanks to Mary for taking many of the pics and for helping to organize this ride!
See pics of this ride on www.southbaycruisers.com