2012 SMR 09

Got a bit of a head start on JB and stayed clear to Junction.

Cold and a little windy but spring is coming - first poppy sighting of the year:

When the poppies...
Return...
To Mount Diablo...

I went down to the SGR Kiosk with JB and he kept going but I turned around and re-Junctioned.  Stopped for a gel and a Diablo Spy Cam.

Nobody noticed me except this hiker.

Product Review:  Cateye Rapid 5 Tailight

This is a really nice rear light and I paid extra for the rack mount and I was pretty happy with my purchase until the on/off switch fell out.  It's supposed to look like this:

The red bar on top is the switch and it also cycles through the different blinky modes... but somehow mine disappeared and it looks like this:

So now I have to carry a little screwdriver to activate the light... pain in the buttock.

2012 SMR 08

Wildlife Encounter:  Turkeys at the church.

Roadkill Report:  mouse on Bump... not JPG-worthy.

We'll be wearing shorts and short sleeves pretty soon.

Death Ride Ancien Doyle greets me in passing.

OK, here's my current pick for the place to watch the Amgen Tour of California come up Mount Diablo.  It's just a little ways down SGR from the Junction, there's a big turnout area, close to the restrooms, and you can see a good distance down the hill and a little ways up to that left hander before the Junction.

2012 SMR 07

Of course by now everyone has heard that the Amgen Tour of California will be coming over Diablo on Stage 3 from San Jose to Livermore.  My plan for today was to scope out the optimum location for viewing and getting myself on international television.

Hit 967 Watts in spin class Wednesday - woot!

Roadkill Report:  Procyon lotor... eww

Wasn't supposed to be so wet today, but when the sun came out it was behind some dark clouds, so I parked the Klein and pulled out the Belgian Beast.

Prepped for precip with my rain jacket in the bottle cage.

Visibility at Junction was next to nothing so I deferred my Amgen Tour of California  viewing location scope out expedition until  2012 SMR 08.

Dude-who-passed-me #1

Dude-who-passed-me #4

My neighbor has the two most annoying dogs in the Bay Area.  They bark all the time, they bark at everything, they bark at nothing, and they bark at me.  Last night was especially bad though... so it merits a video.  Looks like the sound is out of synch but that's the other dog barking off camera.  Just to be clear; I don't blame the dogs, I blame their owner - he's done nothing to socialize them or train them... their back yard is their entire world and everything on the other side of the fence is the enemy.

2011 SMR 06

Quickie Junction Run

Toes thawed about Diablo Ranch.

Signed up at 6am yesterday for the Wine Country Century and they were half sold out already (opened at 11pm Thursday night).  By noon there were no spaces left.  2500 slots went in 13 hours for a ride that's 3 months away... Santa Rosa Cycling Club puts on a good event.

Dear Scott, 
Your event registration has been completed. Thank you for registering. 
Event: Century - 100 Mile Ride Saturday, May 05, 2012 
Location: Wells Fargo Center for the Performing Arts, Santa Rosa 

Also... in spin class Wednesday I hit 900 Watts !!  A pro sprinter can reportedly put out 1700 Watts so my head is only 9/17ths inflated.

2011 SMR 05

NGR SGR Blackhawk Tassajara

Everything started out fine; dressed, prepped, and pumped up my tires as usual.  Left in plenty of time.  Got two blocks from home though and my rear tire was totally flat.  So I limped back home and changed it... looks like I tore the tube near the valve when I was pumping.

So I was gonna be late, called JB and he said he'd meet me at Junction.  Wow it was cold this morning but the sun was out and it would warm up quickly.

Wildlife Encounter:  I heard a bunch of coyotes that were really excited about something, but didn't actually see them.

Any ideas how I can keep my lens from getting fogged up?

I passed two guys on NGR but didn't see anybody else... then when I got to Junction there were quite a few people there just hanging out.  JB and I decided to go down to Blackhawk and that was a fun extension.

Saturday Regulars:  Keith, Dudley.

Saw quite a few signs like this near the South Side... I joked that the real reason the residents didn't want the development was that SummerHill wanted to repave the road.  I went to the website and it says the cluster homes being proposed were 4000sf houses on 8000sf lots... that's a lot of density I guess, but I don't have an official position.