Diablo Junction plus South Gate Kiosk 29 miles

I showed up at 8 and waited until ten after but no one else came. Actually there was one guy I thought was Rick at first so I chased him down and then turned around when I realized it wasn’t him. So at 8:10 I put a big rock on the post (our signal for being up the road) and took off by myself.

The weather was great! I had originally put on my Pearl Izumi Barrier Jacket but when I left the house it was already too warm so I switched to just a short sleeve jersey, wind vest, and tights. I took off the vest before the climb and a couple miles up I started to think the tights would have to come off too! It got pretty windy the last few miles though, so the tights were appropriate. I passed up the guy I thought was Rick, and I passed up about a half dozen other riders before the Junction too. At about mile 5 I could see JB on his way up coming fast, but I was in no danger of being caught at that point.

Wildlife Encounter: A Monarch butterfly flew tempo with me for about 50 meters near the Upper Washout. One more harbinger of spring.

At the Junction, JB said that Nicole and he left together and he rode with her until Moss Landing; Rick apparently has been working a lot of late hours and decided to sleep in today. After Nicole got to the Junction I suggested that JB and I ride down to the South Gate Kiosk and he agreed. I was feeling good and led the whole way down. We circled the kiosk and then I took a flyer at the easy part. A couple weeks ago I tried this with Rick and Peter but they reeled me in easily; this time though I was stronger and held off JB all the way back to the Junction. He had some excuse, but I pretty simply out powered him… it was glorious. And then we three went out for coffee before we all went home.

I’m riding the Tour de Cure charity ride for the American Diabetes Association. Please visit my sponsorship page and donate $5 – I’d really appreciate it. Thanks. Scott
http://tour.diabetes.org/site/TR?pg=personal&fr_id=1678&px=1722708