Diablo Junction plus Blackhawk and Danville Blvd 41 miles.
There was a pretty good storm last night and the roads were wet and sloppy but it wasn’t raining so I grabbed my steel Eddy Merckx off the hook and headed out. This bike has such a great ride that I’m really glad I still have it even if it’s only for sloppy rides.
Just JB at the Gate and he was on his Trek touring bike with the homemade fenders and all so we were in for a leisurely ride up to the Junction. He mentioned right away that he wanted to do South Gate Road to get in a few extra miles and I was cool with that because I did to… end of the season mileage goals and all that.
At Moss Landing he was already in his smallest chainring, I was in my 25t sprocket, and we just spun and talked the rest of the way up. He’s doing the planning for his Rivendell Atlantis that should be coming in to the shop any day now. He bought it as a bare frame and will be building it up himself – he did get the Brooks B17 saddle though to get the full Rivendell experience.
Wildlife Encounter: Just above the Upper Washout a smallish coyote with a very thick warm coat of fur trotted down the road toward us, he sort of circled around and gave us a lot of space to go by but he was completely calm and uninterested in us.
Up at the Junction we came across Peter, Martin, and Gary who must have started well before 8 o’clock. Someone noticed Gary’s rear tire was showing casing threads and he was surprised to see how worn it was. We told him they don’t get that way overnight and he joked that he brings his bike in to the shop for a check-up every two years whether it needs it or not.
So JB and I started down South Gate Road with all of our extra cold gear. He has a very thin ear jock that fits better under his helmet than my thick ski-type one.
On the fast roads around Danville, his homemade fenders really slowed him down but today was one of those days when speed just wasn’t that important. It felt really good to be out just riding for fun and not worrying about training regimens.
