Diablo Summit - Merry Xmas!

About a mile from home I was sorry I didn't don my toe booties. It was biting cold, but not too foggy and not windy so tights and a sleevless jersey under my Barrier Jacket made for perfect protection... only my toes were froze. JB caught up to me just before we got to the Gate where Rick was waiting. JB said to remember that the slower we ride up the warmer it'll be when we have to come down.

Wildlife Encounter: Three feral pigs near the loading dock - first time I've seen some. I later confirmed with the Junction ranger that none of the ranchers on the mountain are farming pigs so these were definitely feral. He also said that there was an eradication program and they "remove" 500 pigs a year or so because they do so much damage.

The rest of the ride to Junction was casual. At one point we noticed a fast guy catching up to us and when he caught us he rode behind us for a few minutes without saying anything, and then passed us up with just a nod.

At the Junction we quickly decided that we didn't want to hang around too long and we started up Summit Road. It also started to drizzle but it was very light and only lasted about 10 minutes - had to wipe the face off my Flight Deck a couple times, but that was the extent of it. We saw a woman changing a tire and she declined our assistance. I stopped at Juniper for a few minutes but JB and Rick kept going. I took a couple photos and then drank a pack of Enervitine.



Product Review: Enervitine I've seen this stuff in catalogues and figured I'd try some when I saw it at the California Pedaler last weekend. I was a little surprised that it was a liquid and not a gel. It had the sweet taste and consistency of concentrated Kool-Aid, or maybe a melted popsicle. Easy to drink today but I think it would be difficult to swallow on a really hot day. I can't report that it turned a mule into a thouroughbred today but I felt good the rest of the ride so I'll probably buy a couple for my next century just to have some variety from Hammer Gel. This product gets a provisional DS rating of 6 outta 10.


So I rode the rest of Summit Road solo and just enjoyed the scenery.


This pavement was so bad for so long; and now it's like glass!


Make sure you save a little for The Wall.


This is the view of North Peak from the Summit. The dark clouds mixed with blue sky for some interesting contrasts today.

Descending back down was an exersize in body heat maintenance, but it was a little warmer than earlier in the morning so I enjoyed it as always.