2019 SMR 22

It was kind of cold this morning, but 2/3rds of the country is having a major heat wave, so I decided not to bring arm warmers.  JB showed up with a jacket, but he took it off at The Gate... then it kept falling off his bike rack and he had to stop to re-pack.

My twisted knee was still kind of hurting, but riding didn't make it hurt worse, so I figured it was OK.

Wildlife Encounter:  one cute bunny, one dumb turkey.

JB said he's decided Ed Litton will be the frame builder to repair his Della Santa.  They talked and JB found out he knew Roland since he was 15 years old... that's a pretty cool connection.  Cost estimate is $175 for the repair and $700 for re-paint - schedule is 6 weeks.  JB wants to keep the old downtube for a souvenir.

At Junction, there was a guy trying to fix his broken chain, but he was having a lot of troubles.

At Junction another guy recognized my bike and asked if I was Diablo Scott and then we did a selfie!  (note broken chain guy in the background)




JB asked if I'd consider South Gate and around, and I agreed to do South Gate and then back up.  So at the Tire Poppers we split up.

SEVERE TIRE DAMAGE

2019 WNR 18

Background:  Last Friday I tripped and fell pretty hard on the sidewalk in San Jose.  Banged and twisted my left knee, banged and twisted my right shoulder and elbow, and took an abrasion on the right side of my face.  There was a not insignificant amount of pain involved.  I had been thinking about an epic ride on Saturday since JB was out of town and some friends were doing the Death Ride that day... but I did a test ride around the neighborhood Saturday morning and made the decision to not do Diablo.  So today, I'm still limping a little bit and wasn't sure I had a Junction but I was pretty sure I could make a go of it... at least once.  

Other WNR regulars said they weren't coming for various reasons so I went kind of early figuring I'd be by myself anyway.  I was able to pedal without any problems, but when I got out of the saddle and pushed it a little I got some bio-feedback that told me to sit back down.  So it was kind of a slow pace but it mostly felt good.  Not a lot of riders tonight though, maybe because of the heat.  

Wildlife Encounter:  just one turkey

DiabloShoutouts to:  PunkinJay, Midland, and DeadHead.... 👋

Wow, it was hotter than I realized.

2019 WNR 17

Yesterday, old friend Edgardo texted to say old friend Tomás was in town and wanted to ride The Mountain.  Tomás is the guy who lent his name to the eponymous "Moss Landing" when he crashed spectacularly there about 25 years ago.

I did a solo Junction as has become my norm, to double my exercise.  Oh no!  I forgot my music speaker and my Garmin computer - good thing I had my work phone with the Strava app on it.  When I got back to my truck, Charlie was there and I just had time to eat an apple and change my water bottles.

Tomás and Edgardo brought their colleague Ellen, who outclassed them both and set a good pace with me.

It was a fun ride with friends and old friends.

Wildlife Encounter:  lots of deer, lots of places.

Diablo Shoutout: Lance Oldstrong, who rode despite an old man injury.  I saw him descending on my first Junction climb.

Tomás had a rental bike from ENCINA.  He gives the experience his highest recommendation.  Said it was cheaper than flying his bike down from Oregon.

 

Ellen has a steel Bianchi with Campagnolo group... she seemed kind of young to be old school.

Some photos from Shawn, who uses his iPhone for these - the color looks off to me... might just be my screen:

A disciplined peloton awaits the first attack.

Alumni amigos.

Shawn also sent a photo of the ghost bike in memorium to the rider who died last week on South Gate.

2019 SMR 21

JB's in Iowa, so I did a solo to Summit non-stop.  I figured I might be able to get a good Gate-Summit time, so I made a plan to break 90 minutes.

1.  48 minutes to Junction.  This would mean 8 minute splits... pretty sure that wouldn't be a problem.

2.  66 minutes to Juniper.  I wasn't sure how much of an effort this would be, or if I would be able to judge the effort,  but well within my other Strava times.

3.  85 minutes to Lower Lot.  I figured this would give me some contingency, and even a short break if I needed it.

The plan went almost perfectly.  It was a little windier than I was thinking but I was within a minute of all the splits on NGR; I even slowed down a hair for the Ranches to not get ahead of myself.  I was about a minute behind schedule at Juniper but that was my biggest unknown segment - so 67 minutes there.  And 84 minutes at the Lower Lot so I stopped for a Hammergel and to let a couple cars go up The Wall before I started.

Passed'em-Passed-me Ratio:  A whole bunch to zero.  I tried to look extra smooth while I was passing people... the way I always admire smoothness in the folks that pass me.

I didn't want to beat 90 minutes by TOO much, because I figured I might try this again some time and would want to beat today's time - I was aiming for 88 minutes but turned in 87.  Can't be too hard on myself though, it was a good ride.

Wildlife Encounter:  deer, Split 1

This guy just started descending as I went through Junction - so I passed him, and then he shadowed me all the way down.

I gave him multiple opportunities to pass me back but he wouldn't until The Dips were over.

2019 WNR 16

Another Wednesday Night Double Junction.  

I was a little concerned that there would be camper vans and such on the road for the 4th, but only saw one... traffic was good.

It was warm and a little windy - I did my first Junction hard, thinking I could get a good time, and I was on pace for a sub-40 for the first 4 miles, but then faded.  It felt good to fail.  Then my legs were good and rubbery for the social ride the second time up.

Diablo Shoutout to Deadhead Mike! who did two Bump climbs and likes to take selfies with his face in screaming position.  Saw him once on my first descent, and again on my second climb.

JB took a baby step toward getting his Della Santa fixed by Roland's ex-apprentice in Reno... no actual progress though.