2026 Diablo Day 02 - Saturday Morning Junction

It was a very cold morning. Frost on the roofs of the houses going by. But on The Mountain it started cold, then got warm, then got windy. Didn't require as much toughness as I packed.

Last week JB had a derailleur/shifter problem on his Della Santa and forgot to fix it so today he rode his Teesdale Hawkeye bike and realized he had a derailleur problem with that bike too - couldn't use the small chainring. So he was a little late to Junction. Then we talked about politics, weather, health, other bike riders.

Wildlife Encounter: turkey vulture munching on squirrel guts... I thought I got a good photo but it came out too dark.

Big club ride went by on Sycamore.

Ice on the roof!

The little trail involved in the big dispute.

The Hawkeye Bike

2026 Diablo Day 01 - NGR

Got rained out on New Year's Day - that makes two years in a row I didn't Summit on Day 1.

JB suggested a make-up ride today from his house up NGR so I drove to his place and we rode from there.  The clouds were approaching fast and we steeled ourselves for an aborted climb. Started out OK, but then it got really windy and we only made it to the Rock Baskets.

HEY!  What happened to the 1000 FT ELEVATION sign?

2025 Diablo Day 48 - Saturday Morning Junction

Christmas is over - time to ride The Mountain. Nice day considering the last few days have been stormy.  It was actually sunny up until about 1800 feet where I rode into the clouds and it got cold, windy, and wet.

At Junction there were a bunch of old guys talking about old bikes in the olden days... it was glorious.

Wildlife Encounter: turkeys near the Ranger Village.

Nice and blue at the bottom.

 

This guy was fast and smooth - it was like being passed by an owl.

There it is - the cloud boundary layer.

That one crossing the road had a real attitude.

2025 Diablo Day 47 - Saturday Morning Junction

 Thickest fog I've seen this year - cold too. I had my wet-weather gloves on which don't have as much insulation so my fingertips were stinging. But then about 1300' elevation I popped out of it and it was sunny and warm. I love this Mountain.

Wildlife Encounter:  something ran across the trail and under the fence next to the creek... probably a coyote, but I didn't get a good look.

Wildlife Encounter: a bunch of turkeys making a mess just below the Tire Poppers.

JB came today on his first Diablo Day since his throat surgery. He came through OK, but he's got some recovering to do. We discussed some ride modification ideas at Junction - like starting later so it's a little warmer.

You can see almost the last mile of NorthGate Road from here -
I always look for JB around Chainbuster.

Back into the soup.

2025 Diablo Day 46 - Saturday Morning Junction

A little warmer than last week but the fog was even thicker. At Junction a guy talked about my bike and we swapped stories of the old days when steel was real and our experiences with Eroica - he is planning on doing Eroica Tuscany in May.

Wildlife Encounter: herd of deer just past the tire poppers.

Wildlife Encounter: bunny

Passed'em-Passed'me ratio:  0-0  The only people I saw riding were either stopped or going the other way.

Deer!

The jingle bells are on!

Bunny!