Diablo Junction from Work – 33 miles.

Freakin’ hot… 104°F in Walnut Creek at 5 o’clock, a little less on the Mountain. I gave Amanda two extra water bottles and some advice about riding in the heat, and she left a little early for a head start.

JB and I rode out together. Didn’t see anyone at the Church – the DCers must have decided not to move their start time back the way they do most years. So we got to the Gate and I told JB I was planning on just twiddling up very easy. He said he was going to sweat a little so we split up early. One older really fit looking guy passed us up early on but about a mile later I saw him coming back down.

At a switchback above Moss Landing I saw Amanda’s bike on the shoulder, but no Amanda. I called out to see if she was OK and she was behind the bushes for a natural. Didn’t see her for the rest of the ride so she didn’t make it to the Junction.

Another disadvantage to riding slowly is that the bugs have an easier target; not that many of them but they were harder to get rid of. My heart rate was high even though I didn’t feel like I was working that hard so I took that to mean my “easy ride” strategy was a good one… my blood must have been like syrup even though I was drinking a lot. Also, I need some new cleats; my current ones squeak like heck and are hard to unclip so I found that very annoying.

Only one other guy passed me and he looked like a racer. JB was about three minutes ahead by the time I got to the Ranches. Almost caught one slower Diablo Cyclist before the Junction but not quite. Elapsed time: 52m45s and I still felt drained. Lots of bikie talk about the upcoming USCF time trial on the 8th, and also about road closures due to resurfacing... not really sure how all that's going to go.

Drank another bottle of water and went back down. I still feel a little queasy so I'm glad I took it easy. Cool shower felt great though.