New Year, Same Mountain

Summit hot line said it was 49°F but it was way colder than that at my house, I figured it was an inversion and didn't overdo the clothing.

Absolutely perfect weather for a NYD ride - cold and clear and no wind at all. It was really quiet too. I kept expecting to see riders and runners coming up behind me but I only saw the "ride back down" vehicles for the runners and didn't see anyone out of their car until I met these guys at the Upper Washout.

Stan, on the left, is continuing his tradition of running Diablo on NYD ever since 1976! Mark on the right was keeping him company.

A most auspicious odometer reading for the New Year on the Flight Deck occurred near Big Shady Oak.

Saw another guy with hiking gear sort of jogging near the Junction on his way up. Didn't see any other bike riders at all until Blue Oak when a few started coming down from the Summit. It was definitely warmer at the higher elevations and a couple times I got a face full of positively warm wind from somewhere.

I stopped for the first time at Muir for a PowerBar break... wanted fresh legs for the Wall.

At the Summit I watched the next couple dozen bike riders come in, also the jog-hiker guy who appeared to know all the running club folks with the support vehicles. The first group of runners was a threesome and one of the guys had his arm in a broken shoulder harness! They shouted out that they just beat two hours. I think it was part road and part trail.

Absolutely beautiful day this morning. Some day when I'm lying on my death bed and want to remember what feeling really alive was like, I'll remember days like this.

Whoo! So much for that "220 minus your age" formula. I'm going to have to re-calculate my heartrate zones. This is about 4 bpm higher than I typically see on the Summit Wall.

On the way back down there were hundreds of riders and runners coming up. It was amatuer day on the Mountain and that means be really careful of drivers, runners, and riders who don't understand safety protocol.

Wildlife Encounter: A coyote near the Ranger House. He ran across the road in front of me and up the grade to the side. I warned the next few riders on their way up.

Then at the Bump there was this overturned jeep. The ranger there didn't know what had happened, there were no skid marks, no disturbed gravel, no tracks in the mud - just a jeep on its side facing the wrong way. When I stopped to photograph it I spoke with a woman rider (her first time on the Mountain!) and she had seen an ambulance going down with sirens on so that was probably the driver. The running club I think had arranged for some paramedics to be there today so lucky for that person.

Best wishes for a great year.

Scott