2026 Diablo Day 17 - Tuesday Morning Junction

Managed to somehow bugger up the SD card in the Diablo Bike Cam so I don't have any ride photos - but here's one of a poppy I picked on the way home:

Charlie's going to Holland for vacation and to watch the Amstel Gold Race - he said he got a hotel right on the race course. We talked about Monuments and Classics and exercycles and airports. We saw some soaring birds that we thought might have been condors... unlikely but one day maybe. Here's a cool story about Condors on Diablo... LINK

There was a road crew just above the Kiosk where it looked like they were removing a downed tree or something. I stopped on the way down to get a photo (see Paragraph 1) and talked to a guy with a hardhat and shovel - he said the culvert just filled up with dirt and they had to clean it out - the big pile of debris looked like sawdust.

I over-dressed with tights and winter jacket - it wasn't too bad going up though; I just unzipped everything.  On the way down the wind was kind of tricky so that put the kibosh on my pretend Pitcock descending skills.

2026 Diablo Day 16 - Wednesday Morning Junction

On Saturday I discovered my flat repair from last Thursday's ride didn't hold and I had a tube to fix it but then I wouldn't have a spare so I cancelled the Diablo ride and went to SportsBasement for some new tubes.  Far fewer choices than there used to be thanks to the tubeless tire revolution (HA!)... but they had some that were fine and now my seat pack is packed again.

Me and Charlie are trying to make Wednesdays a regular thing... it was certainly nice today.

Wildlife Encounter: turkeys, deer, vultures, really fat squirrels.

There are still a few poppies dotting the hillsides - smaller and farther apart now.

Looking at some spring showers in the forecast, good thing I'm flexible.

I wondered what this fellow was thinking about - sure wasn't his own safety.

Charlie put the hurt socks on right from the start.

Team VeloRaptor did a re-group at Junction and Charlie took club photos for them.

Vulture gulch never disappoints.

This atrocious driver received some angry admonishments!

2026 Diablo Day 15 - Thursday Morning Junction

Charlie and I were hoping to ride on Wednesday, but the rain was just a little too proximate... didn't get heavy until about 1pm but today was pretty nice. There were a few chilly sections, but I had my Belgian socks and arm-warmers on to remind me how tough I am.

Nothing eventful - a normal number of riders, a normal number of drivers, no weirdos.

Wildlife Encounter:  one turkey.

1. Wonky knee
2. Belgian socks

Then on the way home - off The Mountain and in traffic, I had a heart-stopper... my front tire went soft and I didn't realize it until I was making a fast turn in traffic and I heard that aluminum on asphalt sound and I got that unmistakable squirmy feedback.  Took all my skills, but I saved it. Video below:

#thelastflatigot

Stopped around the turn, pulled off my wheel, found a sharp thingie in my tire and dug it out. Opened up the bead and pulled out the tube. That was a Pirelli TPU tube... must be 5 years old. I remember buying two of them when Sports Basement didn't have any latex ones so they gave me a good price. My saddle bag had two spare tubes one latex and one butyl - I went for latex just because.  Also had all the right stuff for a quick change so it wasn't a big deal, but I gotta repack my bag now.