RIP JB
I got the news earlier this week - my Diablo cycling buddy of 35 years died suddenly. I last rode with him on January 10, we had our normal catching up conversation at Junction, his cancer treatment was rough but seemed to be working; and that was the last time I saw him. Then before our next ride he stopped answering my messages, and then another week went by and I was trying to imagine all the reasons that could be while trying not to imagine it was the unthinkable reason. So I did two rides without him, not knowing; and today was the first time I have ridden The Mountain knowing that he would never be there again.
Thirty-five years... hundreds of Diablo rides, thousands of hours together riding wheel-to-wheel, sharing our love of The Mountain and cycling. Our connection ran even deeper than that - we'd both grown up in Iowa, even lived in the same town for a while not knowing each other, but he used to eat at the restaurants I used to work at so chances are pretty good I made him a burrito at least once at some point. We met 15 years later, when through very different paths, we wound up working in adjacent cubicles in the same office, doing essentially the same work for the same company 2,000 miles away from Iowa. We had an instant bond.
Over those 35 years our lives naturally diverged - and after a while those Saturday Morning Diablo rides were the only times we'd see each other. That was the constant; it took abominable weather or a severe health issue for either of us to miss even one ride. I find some solace in knowing that he cherished this unique relationship as much as I always will.
I intended to ride on Saturday, but I couldn't pull myself together in time - knowing he wouldn't be there. Things are going to be different now so maybe I'll find some new normal, like riding on Mondays. It was a sunny day and warmer than I was expecting.
I had hoped to feel JB's presence there with me while I was grinding up South Gate Road - but instead what I felt was his absence.
Wildlife Encounter: lots of turkeys
The light hits The Mountain from a different angle in the late morning... the shadows fall a little differently, the wind behaves a little differently.
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| These guys passed me, and then the last guy just kind of fell over before he got to the turnout lane - I made sure to tell him how dorky that was and that I got it on video. |
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| This guy was in the same group as dorky fall guy - he faked a mechanical problem hoping he'd make my blog - kudos. |
Before leaving home, I mixed up my normal water bottle nutrition - a chocolate Perpetuem for the way up, and an orange HEED for the ride home. It was on the way down that I realized I had inadvertently mixed up a bottle of orange Metamucil instead of HEED (I should label my containers)... I swallowed one good slug of warm orange slurry, laughed at my dorkiness, and dumped the rest of it out.
This memorial bench is the last place I talked with JB. There's talk about arranging for a new memorial bench or picnic table for him.
I would be honored if you would watch
this video memory I made.
