Diablo Junction - 16 miles

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First Wednesday night ride of the year and I was ready! Watching all the recent Euro races on OLN has really been getting me in the mood for more aggressive riding on the Mountain. Jeff at work passed out our new Team BC jerseys and shorts for the Tour de Cure so there were a bunch of us with matching kit.

Cindy started up before us, but Adam, JB, Rick, Nicole, and I got going just after 5:30. Rick won’t be a regular since he works in Oakland but it was nice having him for the season opener. Also a new guy Brian would be coming a little later.

It was quick from the gun, the four guys rode some good tempo but not too hard. On the Bump I did my regular routine of pounding up in a big gear (39x19) as sort of a power interval. Usually everybody catches up to me while I’m recovering from that effort but today no one wanted to close the gap. I slowed way down but JB and Adam decided to let me hang out there by myself so I got back into my groove and just rode my own speed. Rick started to drift off the back a little at this point. Coming around the Upper Washout I saw a flattened rattle snake and there was also a hang-glider (the parachute kind) floating around in the sky. It was a nice afternoon to ride. Saw lots of riders coming down but there didn’t appear to be a big club ride all together.

With two miles to go I was at 25m18s so I figured I would just break 40 and that would be a good ride. JB and Adam finally caught me near Big Shady Oak and JB rode right by. Adam stayed with me and tried to pull me up, but JB was wanted the win today and he didn’t slack at all. My Junction time was 38m30s (all right!) and he was about 15 seconds faster.

Cindy was at the Junction and we all connected, then she went down while we waited for Nicole. Finally Brian came in, he said he did 44 minutes from Alvarado Park, thinking that was about a 40 minute ride from the Gate (I think it must have been faster than that!). Brian’s a triathlete and has been training hard and says he’s improved a lot since last year. He also had a cool GPS watch thing with more functions than you could ever want.

OK guys and gals – so far I have $0 in my Tour de Cure sponsorship page… what do I have to do? Please click my link at the top of this entry… thanks.