Quickie Junc Run

Work holiday so I rode with dear daughter to ARF day camp, then rode up to the Junction. Got the sew-ups on my Merckx and that's always a nice ride.

Lots of riders but not many serious ones... I guess the Death Ride folks are tapering off.

Passed em - passed me ratio = 4:1

2009 WNR 11

Channel 4 news van was at the Gate - they did a spot on State Parks and the budget. The Feds gave the State the land for the parks with an agreement on running them and keeping them open so if the State tries to sell or close the parks the Feds will reposess them. Not sure how all that would play out but it seems like the Feds have the bigger hammer.





JB and I started together but he took off before long.

Passed 'em - Passed me ratio = 1:5 (not counting JB)



Wildlife encounter: young deer near Clavicle Cracker - I stopped for a photo but he ran away.

Windemere with RCS

Went out with the Club Sport team on Sunday, it was HOT. Plan was to go to Livermore but we stopped a little short and turned west for the return ride back. Gordon and Michelle were on their tandem and pulled us back to Danville and then I was the only one who could stay on their wheel up the Blvd.

The RCS team is training for the Livestrong ride but mostof them are only signed up for the 50 mile option... odd that they're doing 40 mile training rides and not aiming for a full century event... oh well.














Saturday morning I took my daughter to see Rick race in Benicia. She didn't want to do the kiddie race but we brouht her bike hoping I could convince her; it was the racer girls from the women's event that talked her into it though, they were really talking her up and then she decided to go for it.

Here's the video of Rick's race:

2009 Benicia Town Criterium M35+ 4,5 from Diablo Scott on Vimeo

More Nevada City

Nevada City Classic 2009 from Diablo Scott on Vimeo.

2009 WNR 10

Got a late start and missed most of the regulars.

Kind of windy tonight.

I interrupted this guy's dinner but he stayed close enough for a snapshot.

Passed 'em - Passed me ratio = 0:6

Package of STP stuff came today... getting exciting!

Nevada City Classic !

I was sick yesterday so couldn't go watch the Diablo Time Trial. Today for Father's Day the wife and daughter took me to Nevada City to watch the race. This race has been around a long time but I've never seen it. Adam wasn't going to race it until he found out that Lance Armstrong, Levi Leipheimer, and Chris Horner were all coming - it was too late for him to pre-reg so he got there at 9am for day-of and just made it.

We got there about 4pm and saw most of the masters category race before the P12's got started. It wasn't exactly crowded but it was very cramped because the sidewalks are so narrow - you couldn't really walk the course like other criteriums or circuit races so we just picked out a good spot and stayed there.

It was 2-1/2 hours up but 4 hours to get home because of highway construction (brilliant CalTrans!) and we didn't pull into the driveway until almost 12:30... photos and a video soon... check back later.

Having been lapped 4 or 5 times already, Adam "buried himself" to stay on Lance's wheel for half a lap in the finale hoping someone would get a photo just like this one... wow.

JamFoto's Flickr account

2009 WNR 09

Kind of a stiff wind tonight - also starting to get a lot warmer and buggier.

JB doesn't usually drink coffee but today he had a cup to check for effect and by mile 3 he had two minutes on me.

Jeff came too and we all rode together until the first rabbit passed us and then the elastic snapped.

I sent postcards of Mount Diablo to the Gov and Legislators asking them to keep MDSP open while we work together to solve the budget crisis... I can be pretty persuasive.

Gate - Junction - Juniper - Gate

I was first to the Gate, then Peter then JB. The lower elevations were filthy with squirrels today.

Nice and cool, no wind, kind of foggy up high.

• Don't know that guy in front but we caught him and he rode at our pace for a while before backing off.

• Above Junction the fog was really wet, and by Juniper it was pretty cold too.
  
• On the way down we saw two sherrif cars coming up - they were a couple minutes apart and looked like they were on their way to some kind of police action but didn't have their sirens on... they also weren't much better than the genpop at passing around blind corners.
  
  

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Product Review: Detours Metro Handlebar Bag

Catalogue photo

DETOURS

Detours is a neat little company in Oregon that makes all kinds of bike bags and accessories.

I decided I needed a little extra storage capacity for my Seattle to Portland ride. I wanted room for:

• knee warmers
• arm warmers
• wind breaker
• Hammergel
• Cytomax and Perpetuem
• pills
• camera
• wallet
• keys
• phone

I considered oversized saddle bags, frame bags, fanny packs, and handlebar bags and I liked this one the best.

Here's what you get: bag, attachment, detachable carry strap, safety cable, instructions.

Just the right size with useful pockets and slots.

You can see here another zippered pocket inside the main area for ID or money or something.


Several slots in the front, covered by the flap.


The underside of the flap holds a map.

My concerns with a handlebar bag were that it'd be too bulky, not stable enough, and dorky looking.

It's really not bulky at all. It's advertised as "STI-friendly" and it surely is, but it does push your cables around a little. Next time I do a recabling I'll give myself a little more housing for a better line when the bag's installed.



Repositioned my computer from straight forward to straight up for some extra space. You might have to move yours outside of the bracket too. Also, you have to make sure your brake cables don't go through the clamp or your brake won't work... needed to untape my bars a little to move them on my rig.




Plenty of room on the tops for your hands and a heart rate monitor or GPS.




The zipper is waterproof so it's a little hard to open.

The mount is REALLY stable and not too tricky to install. Some of the old style handlebar bags were really flimsy and saggy and wobbly.


There's a little safety cable that wraps around your stem so the bag doesn't fall into your front wheel if the mount fails.

If you take the bag off, the mount by itself can stay on without getting in the way (much).

So how much does it really hold? I rolled up a windbreaker, arm warmers, and knee warmers and there was still plenty of space left for other goodies... take a look -

It actually doesn't look too bad at all, hardly into dork territory... and the thing is in STP they make you mount your rider number on the front of your bike so mounting it on the front of the bag instead of just hanging on my handlebars will actually be a pretty good upgrade.

Photo courtesy of blog reader Curtis.

So it's not too bulky, it's plenty stable, and minimum dork factor. I've taken it up Diablo twice now, partially loaded and it has been rock-solid and unintrusive... I think I've made a really good choice on this one, and I think it's going to be a really nice asset on STP.

I give this one a 9 on the DiabloScott handlebar bag rating scale.

2009 WNR 08

Me, Jeff, JB, Brad and Adam. We all split up pretty early though and rode solo. Just a little cool and breezy and I'm not really in a hurry for the oppressive heat.

At the Junction we talked to the new park manager (I forgot his name) - he oversees MDSP and a few other state parks. He's a bike rider and we related well to him and he asked us all to write the Governator and state lawmakers to keep the park open despite the budget crisis. He said it would cost more to shut the park down than to keep it open and the park makes a net profit anyway but he's sure they'll close it if we don't organize a campaign. He said if the park did close they'd barricade all the roads and post NO TRESSPASSING signs on all the access routes including dirt trails and there'd be some hefty fine if we tried to ride it under those condtions. He was a troubled man.

Gate - Junction - Summit - Gate

• Met JB at the Gate and we went. I've had a stiff neck all week (kind of a recurring problem) but felt pretty good this morning.

• Clouds over the top of the Mountain looked a little like rain.

• A bunch of old men bike riders at the Junction and I said "it must be old man on the Mountain day" and JB said "Hey, that's not too far from us" and I said "I was including us!" Lots of talk about the threat of closing state parks for budget reasons... we all decided it was BS and we'd ride even if they did close it; can't afford cops to arrest us anyway.

• JB went home and I went up solo. It got cooler and windier and cloudy but never rained.

Thumbs up!





This reminds me, I have to get to work on my "Babes of Diablo" Vimeo project.

2009 WNR 07

Started up with Jeff and a couple women from work.



Jeff and I went on ahead after about a mile.

Wildlife Enounter: lizard

I pulled ahead of Jeff at the Bump. Unbelievably, it started to rain on me! I kept going. Saw most of the Diablo Cyclists coming back down.

Did the Junction, turned around, saw Jeff and Adam and JB coming up but I didn't wait for them thinking it was going to get cold AND wet. It was fine and I had a nice downhill. Saw a big group of Club Sport folks at the Bump.

Bump de Bump

Cool and breezy this morning. Met JB and Peter at the Gate and launched.

Peter got a new bike; A TREK 2.3. The less aggressive riding position is better for his back and the triple crank is better for his knees.

Scads of riders this morning and I felt pretty good - even tossed down a little sprint at the Junction.

Wildlife Encounter: black tail deer at the bottom of the Bump.

We all went down SGR. JB went on to Blackhawk but Peter and I turned around at the Tire Poppers and climbed back up.

These new markers are a culvert numbering system and don't have anything to do with distance.

Blog reader Nate from Ohio dropped me a note that the "butterfly" I photographed at the Junction a few weeks ago is actually a Ceanothus Silk Moth.

Thanks to absolutely fabulous nature photographer Bill Bouton and his Flickr account for this phenomenal photo.
http://www.flickr.com/people/billbouton/

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Wooooo-Hoooooo! Getting close now.

- COMFIRMATION -
Group Health Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic 2009

STP Rider : Diablo Scott

Your STP ride bib number is: 2067

Included with your STP registration, you will be receiving:
Jacket - L
1 Cool Tag

Paid for Packet Mailing? YES

I'm not worried about the mileage or the time, but I'm going to be in some serious pain at ride's end... that's a lot of weakness leaving my body.

2009 WNR 06

I was looking forward to the odometer effect on today's ride - putting the 10,000th mile on my Flight Deck and watch it "roll over" to 0000 - turns out though it has no trouble reading that high. I have never had a computer with an odometer that had so many digits. Possibly it will only read a "1" in the 10,000 place... I'll have to do another 9987 miles to find out I guess; maybe it goes to 99,999? I only use this computer on my Klein so that's a nice milestone for the whole bike, not just the computer.

It was pretty hot and I brought two frozen bottles of Cytomax... wasn't hot enough to melt them as fast as I wanted to drink though... must get a better system figured out. Lots of people on the Mountain tonight; I came upon Jeff near Chainbuster and finished going to the Junction with him.

Happened to see an old neighbor up there too, just looking at the wildlife with her son - they had driven up just for the afternoon and were walking along the road.

UPDATE: I checked my Owner's Manual. Sure enough, it's going to be a LOOOOONNNNGG time before I roll this baby over.

Gate - Junction - Juniper - Summit - Blackhawk - Peet's

So last weekend it was in the high 90's and today it was in the high 50's with cold wind and fog... I thought my tights and jacket were done for the year.

Met Rick at the Gate, no JB or Peter. There were a lot of riders on the Mountain this morning - seemed like a lot were Diablo noobs too because so many of them were stopped at various places along NGR.

So it was really windy at the bottom, then it got really foggy with just a breeze before the Junction and that's where JB showed up and we decided to go up. Then it cleared up really nice about Juniper and started to get warm... JB turned around but Rick's idea was Summit + Blackhawk so I went with that.

My legs were a little rubbery after the Summit but we still had a good run back to WC for a coffee.

2009 WNR 05

I figured it would be just me today but JB showed up at the Junction after I did. Started about 5:30 so most of the Diablo Cylists passed me at some point on the way up. Wasn't as hot as I was expecting but it was a little windy too.

This guy parked in front of me just as I was starting my ride. He pulled out a mountain bike from the back of his van and I noticed a folded up bike trailer in there as well but didn't give it much thought... we just kind of nodded hello and I left. I wondered about the LIVESTRONG decal - he must be really into it for some reason. On the way down I saw him coming up and he was towing that trailer I saw and he had a small child in there too... now I wonder what his story is.

Las Trampas with Team Club Sport

Rick's racing this weekend and JB's in Hawai'i so I decided to do the ride with the health club team. It was about 48 miles out to Las Trampas and back.

Marching orders from Mamacoach.

Roadkill observation: snake

Wildlife encounter: black tail deer



Started off with a group of 30! A few people turned around in Danville.

At the end of Bollinger Canyon Road

Not a bad bunch of riders, they mostly train for centuries and triathlons

It was kinda hot so the shady bits were nice.

Klein Krown goes to this Quantum

Soul mates

A bunch more riders turned back after Las Trampas and only four of us did the whole route over Crow Canyon.

.

2009 WNR 04

Since it's bike to work week, I rode the Klein in to the office this morning and left my stuff in a locker for the afternoon ride. It's a nice ride to the Gate but it's a hassle to go back afterwards.

JB didn't show and I rode solo. Started to keep track of my "passed-em to passed-me" ratio but the denominator was increasing too rapidly.

Pay it Forward Moment: Found some sunglasses on the road and returned them to the owner at Junction (one of the passed-me guys).

Quite a lot of talk about the Davis Double this weekend, going to be hot - good luck to those guys.

Office to get my backpack and then home to beat on my new conga.

Gate Junction Hole Blvd

Perfect weather today, just me and JB.
Too many people passed us up on the way to Junction.
Roadkill observation: snake
Reminder to self... lube the cleats.

There was some kind of search and rescue practice going on at South Gate

2009 WNR 03

The weather report said showers this afternoon so I brought my foul weather bike to work this morning; still haven't cleaned him up and his chain is in serious need of some new lube and it didn't rain anyway.

Rode up with Ed who's also turning 50 next month and has some epic adventures planned but hasn't been road riding much recently so we stopped a couple times for breathers.

Think I saw a red tail hawk at Upper Washout.

Saw JB coming down at Big Shady Oak, he turned around and rode with us a while before turning back down.

Got a flat near the Ranger House just before Junction - I went 100 miles in the rain on Saturday with no problems and then I puncture on a dry day on the Mountain.

Nice day, not too cool, a few too many bugs.

2009 Wine Country Century

I always like this century - it's the one that most feels like home turf and this edition was to be my first century of my sixth decade so I was eager for a good result. Rick agreed to join me and we both signed up months ago which is good because it sold out very far in advance.

Watched the weather report all week and it became painfully obvious that we were in for some rain. Predictions were for periodic showers so I put my rain wheels on my foul weather bike and packed up all my get wet gear.

Pre-century parking lot ritual.

Rick came to my house and we drove my truck to Santa Rosa and looked at the sky and steeled ourselves for a long sloppy bike ride. Leaving the parking lot was the last time we would even consider not having our rain jackets on. By mile two it started raining and alternated between light drizzle and heavy showers the rest of the day.

Didn't get any action photos because I kept my camera and phone double bagged in my pocket to keep them dry. By the first rest stop I was soaked including my socks but we were having fun and it wasn't really cold so there was no reason to bail out.

This rider was wearing the jersey from my health club's team. I have one too but I opted for long sleeves instead.

By the second there were a lot of bailers though and the number of riders on the road clearly decreased. Rick and I also missed a turn somewhere and we wound up on an alternate road that cut about 4 miles off the official route. All the rain was making it pretty hard to see the painted arrows on the road. There were volunteers and CHP directing people back to the start assuming most of us would quit - HA! We snubbed those Nancy riders and headed north to the lunch stop at mile 70.

Non-Nancys

Ewww, my hand is all funky!

I've been trying a new endurance drink called Perpetuem hoping it would get me to the final of these rides with a more even output and it seemed to work pretty well - I didn't eat nearly as much at the rest stops so I never had that sluggish feeling you get when you're trying to ride and digest at the same time. Never felt low on energy either, although I didn't have much snap left in my legs by mile 90 when we got to Chalk Hill. Also I've been getting more cramps lately so I brought some e-Caps and didn't have any problem today. So that'll be my standard prep for centuries from now on.

Ride stats: 96 miles, 6h19m ride time, 7h30m total time.

Flemish Face

The Belgian Beast performed flawlessly in the slop - shifting got a little sluggish toward the end though; the cable guide probably clogged up.