tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52859582024-03-19T01:48:08.932-07:00Diablo Scott's Bike BlogCycling Mt. DiabloDiablo Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17186138821702336405noreply@blogger.comBlogger1557125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285958.post-24992525919377597262024-03-16T14:12:00.000-07:002024-03-16T14:12:55.055-07:002024 Diablo Day 07 - Saturday Morning JunctionSpring! Poppies! Still not warm enough for shorts though.Wildlife Encounter: dozens of turkeys everywhere.Happened upon my old Club Sport ride leader Glenda on Blackhawk Road. She recognized my wind breaker and I recognized her voice and then we reminisced a little. She said she already did her Diablo day this week so wasn't going up The Mountain today.Lots of hikers this morning too - Diablo Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17186138821702336405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285958.post-89146055311382105792024-03-09T19:49:00.000-08:002024-03-09T19:49:23.555-08:002024 Diablo Day 06 - Saturday Morning JunctionI was prepped for drizzle, but it was clear and dry this morning. I took off my gloves and unzipped my jacket at the Tire Poppers.Roadkill Report: A small deer or a big jackrabbit or something on the sidewalk near Blackhawk Road- the vultures were all over it. Also a big rat a little farther up the road.I have lost a lot of fitness this winter - I had no reserves for intervals or Diablo Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17186138821702336405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285958.post-82146584288698671552024-02-24T21:15:00.000-08:002024-02-24T21:15:43.460-08:002024 Diablo Day 05 - Saturday Morning JunctionIncredible weather. First ride of the year in my shorts, but I did wear arm-warmers.Met up with JB at Junction. While we were there suddenly a ranger ran out of the shack and drove his pickup up Summit Road with lights and sirens on. Then the other ranger ran out and did the same thing. A few minutes later we heard ambulance sirens coming up South Gate Road, and then saw a medical helicopter. Diablo Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17186138821702336405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285958.post-12101245043218199912024-02-10T23:23:00.000-08:002024-02-10T23:23:18.511-08:002024 Diablo Day 04 - Saturday Morning JunctionGood weather, not too much traffic, met JB at Junction. He said Ed Litton called about his bike repair (a Tom Teesdale custom touring frame from the '70s) and said it needed so much work it would barely be a Teesdale when he got done. Reminded me of an old joke about George Washington's hatchet in a museum - the blade had been replaced twice and the handle had been replaced four times, but it wasDiablo Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17186138821702336405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285958.post-11532668260829606142024-02-04T00:49:00.000-08:002024-02-04T00:49:35.880-08:002024 Diablo Day 03 - Saturday Morning JunctionMet Charlie at the Tire Poppers. Weather report said the rain was coming fast and hard, but we beat it.Haven't gotten much riding in so far in 2024... mostly weather, some scheduling stuff. Felt pretty good today except my knee was pretty sore. At Junction we saw a bike start up Summit Road, and then a car passed him with insufficient sight lines and a Park Ranger was coming down and there Diablo Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17186138821702336405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285958.post-8396376316215656632024-01-27T21:07:00.000-08:002024-01-27T21:07:33.802-08:002024 Diablo Day 02 - Saturday Morning JunctionEnd of January and I almost could've worn shorts - the jacket was definitely overkill.Bad weather and too much work has kept me off the bike for 3 weeks! Boy I felt it today too - knee hurt, legs were burning, and I was slow.Didn't see any wildlife, but the pothole population has increased significantly. Diablo Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17186138821702336405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285958.post-49071954003638692002024-01-01T19:07:00.000-08:002024-01-01T19:07:40.994-08:002024 Diablo Day 01 - New Year SummitGreat weather and New Year Day - two things that bring the masses to The Mountain. I hadn't ridden to The Summit since I broke my kneecap THREE YEARS AGO. I got up early but the fog was so thick I delayed my start until 0830, when visibility was better. I was ready and I paced myself just fine and everything was fine, but it took a lot out of me.I picked a shard of glass out of my front tireDiablo Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17186138821702336405noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285958.post-38421449715414190812023-12-23T19:36:00.000-08:002023-12-23T19:36:27.129-08:002023 Diablo Day 62 - Saturday Morning JunctionDiabolical Holidays to all my blog readers!Today was a good ride, sunny and calm except for that last half mile before the SGR Kiosk where there are always easterly winds.I was up late last night watching a Xmas movie and looking at neighborhood lights so I didn't have a lot of energy... but a Diablo ride makes everything better.Wildlife Encounter: three turkeys just above the Tire Poppers.Windy Diablo Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17186138821702336405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285958.post-54622716819496301242023-12-16T22:26:00.000-08:002023-12-16T22:26:48.959-08:002023 Diablo Day 61 - Saturday Morning Juniper A warm December morning. One week before Christmas and I barely needed my windbreaker.Got that front derailleur thing figured out - dozens of chainring changes and they all went smoothly.Had a Holiday Jazz playlist on the Diablo speaker... motivated me to take it easy.Met JB at Junction and then we rode to Juniper. It was a Spare the Air day and once we got into the good air we could see Diablo Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17186138821702336405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285958.post-51504231561247414712023-12-13T21:16:00.000-08:002023-12-13T21:16:56.109-08:002023 Diablo Day 60 - Wednesday Morning JunctionWe've been having COLD nights, so I over-dressed this morning. Charlie wanted a late start and I didn't need much arm-twisting.We met at Tire Poppers and I needed to tweak my front derailleur; I threw the chain off the big ring twice on Saturday and I over-corrected after the ride so now I was having trouble getting it into the big ring, but I had my multi-tool and took a guess how far to unscrewDiablo Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17186138821702336405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285958.post-29266788993738930192023-12-09T18:17:00.000-08:002023-12-11T06:25:33.148-08:002023 Diablo Day 59 - Saturday Morning JuniperLast night was COLD, but this morning was pretty nice.Wildlife Encounter: one deer in Blackhawk.Had a late night Friday, so I started off a little sleep-deprived. I set a slightly lower pace than normal and did fine. JB came from the North and gave me a bottle of home-made hot sauce for X-mas... good stuff - made with a peck of pickled peppers.Then we did Juniper. Then we turned around. ThisDiablo Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17186138821702336405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285958.post-9977784028656905192023-12-02T19:07:00.000-08:002023-12-02T19:07:35.574-08:002023 Diablo Day 58 - Saturday Morning JuniperWelcome winter!JB agreed to do Juniper with me so I didn't go down the North side and waited for him at Junction. It rained overnight so things were sloppy, but only a very slight drizzle and thick fog affected The Mountain.Looks like The Park bought some new EV cars - this one at Junction was a Bolt, but it had a flat tire.I felt pretty good - knee didn't complain too much and I found my pace Diablo Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17186138821702336405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285958.post-21634346413770714922023-11-25T16:00:00.000-08:002023-11-26T09:00:51.876-08:002023 Diablo Day 57 - Saturday Morning JuniperThanksgiving is over... no more stalling. I got the winter bike ready. I glued those new tubular tires on, did some general tuning up, and put on new bar tape. As far as I can remember, this is the first time I've had anything but WHITE handlebar tape on my Eddy Merckx. This was quite a mental obstacle to overcome, but with new tires, and new black bottle cages I took a risk and went whole hog onDiablo Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17186138821702336405noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285958.post-74681285988595128162023-11-12T10:52:00.000-08:002023-11-12T10:53:04.110-08:002023 Diablo Day 56 - Saturday Morning Junction JunctionUp SGR, down NGR to meet JB and double Junction. Nice lighting for photos today.Still don't have the sew-ups glued on, definitely tomorrow. This good weather isn't going to last much longer.JB was a little ahead of schedule so I met up with him a little higher than the Rock Baskets and didn't get my full segment. Tights and windbreaker seem to slow me down some.Saw Kasters at Junction - he said Diablo Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17186138821702336405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285958.post-24517355898870253752023-11-04T20:04:00.002-07:002023-11-04T20:04:39.921-07:002023 Diablo Day 55 - Saturday Morning Junction. SGR plus Rock Basket KickerLast ride of DST 2023. Maybe when the clocks turn back I'll get faster! I was a little over-dressed because it warmed up fast - but I don't need to freeze my water bottles any more.I like my new routine of going up SGR, hanging around for a while, and then riding down NGR to meet JB and come back up. I get more miles, a thousand more vertical feet, and more buddy time. Plus I can go as hard as I Diablo Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17186138821702336405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285958.post-79652223553974646262023-10-28T19:05:00.001-07:002023-10-28T19:14:01.375-07:002023 Diablo Day 54 - Saturday Morning Junction. SGR plus Rock Basket KickerToday I didn't want to drive to NGR, but I did want to ride with JB, so I went up the Easy Side alone, stopped at Junction for a bit, and then went down the north side and stopped at the Rock Baskets and waited for JB to ride up. I pretty much knew what time he'd be there and it worked out fine. I got a few extra miles and a another 1,000 feet of climbing in so it was a good workout that worked Diablo Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17186138821702336405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285958.post-14281339278367877232023-10-21T14:02:00.002-07:002023-10-28T19:13:57.210-07:002023 Diablo Day 53 - Saturday Morning JunctionMet JB at The Gate, and we started making excuses for being slow. Hardly saw any cars all morning. Perfect riding weather - won't be long until I'll need tights though. My knee was complaining until we got to The Bump when I pushed it hard and it quit sassing me.I stayed with JB until I decided I needed to go faster to break 60 minutes, and then I unfurled my fury and came in with a 59.At Diablo Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17186138821702336405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285958.post-54971692771741518572023-10-14T02:22:00.002-07:002023-10-28T19:13:38.373-07:002023 Diablo Day 52 - Saturday Morning JunctionSolo ride today; got out early and not many other riders were out. First I thought it would be really cool to see the "ring of fire" solar eclipse but then the fog covered the sky so all I got to see was dark clouds in dim light.One house I passed had a great Halloween decoration of a T-Rex skeleton eating a pumpkin.Wildlife Encounter: magnificent buck just below the Tire Poppers. He jumped Diablo Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17186138821702336405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285958.post-24423026367799471172023-10-07T16:20:00.003-07:002023-10-07T16:20:26.427-07:002023 Diablo Day 51 - NGR to JunctionI haven't ridden with JB since they closed NGR for the repairs months ago - so he asked and I went. That's two NGRs in a row. I paid a lot of attention to my knee preparation this morning, and that went a lot better. So it was a little slower than Wednesday, but a lot easier.Saw Mark going up while I was waiting at The Gate. Then JB got there a few minutes later and we started up. We talked aboutDiablo Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17186138821702336405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285958.post-3203836514172597492023-10-05T09:01:00.002-07:002023-10-05T09:01:45.182-07:002023 Diablo Day 50 - NORTH GATE ROAD!Blog Reader Lance Oldstrong invited me to an end of the season Wednesday Night Ride up newly re-opened North Gate Road with a couple friends. I got all my work done and went. Parked on Doncaster and everybody was already there. Lance was rubbing some kind of herbal Woowoo Potion on his knee, so I asked him to wipe his hands off on my knee too. Also joining us was Midland and new Diablo Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17186138821702336405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285958.post-35379103470562877722023-09-16T19:04:00.000-07:002023-09-16T19:04:28.359-07:002023 Diablo Day 49 - Saturday Junction. Turnout Pledge Ride #23The Mount Diablo Cyclists are fund raising for more bike turnouts! I have pledged to donate $5 for every time I ride Diablo until the end of September; won't you join me? The State of California will MATCH our donations! Here's the link - tell them DiabloScott sent you. LINK-> Bike TurnoutsTwo weeks until The Challenge and the fast boys were on The Mountain today! IDiablo Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17186138821702336405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285958.post-9069110413874381852023-09-09T18:30:00.000-07:002023-09-09T18:30:06.846-07:002023 Diablo Day 48 - Saturday Junction. Turnout Pledge Ride #22.The Mount Diablo Cyclists are fund raising for more bike turnouts! I have pledged to donate $5 for every time I ride Diablo until the end of September; won't you join me? The State of California will MATCH our donations! Here's the link - tell them DiabloScott sent you. LINK-> Bike TurnoutsDiablo Challenge training was in full force today - lots and lots of serious Diablo Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17186138821702336405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285958.post-4092141347431098952023-09-06T19:48:00.001-07:002023-09-06T19:48:04.623-07:002023 Diablo Day 47 - Wednesday Junction. Turnout Pledge Ride #21The Mount Diablo Cyclists are fund raising for more bike turnouts! I have pledged to donate $5 for every time I ride Diablo until the end of September; won't you join me? The State of California will MATCH our donations! Here's the link - tell them DiabloScott sent you. LINK-> Bike TurnoutsA little chilly, a little windy, sunny, and clear.Charlie's on an airplane, Diablo Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17186138821702336405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285958.post-88830600088021185152023-09-02T14:26:00.003-07:002023-09-02T14:26:30.995-07:002023 Diablo Day 46 - Saturday Junction. Turnout Pledge Ride #20The Mount Diablo Cyclists are fund raising for more bike turnouts! I have pledged to donate $5 for every time I ride Diablo until the end of September; won't you join me? The State of California will MATCH our donations! Here's the link - tell them DiabloScott sent you. LINK-> Bike TurnoutsFirst September ride of the year and the heat is turned off. It was cool and Diablo Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17186138821702336405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5285958.post-26885074338429433402023-08-30T18:47:00.001-07:002023-08-30T18:47:19.961-07:002023 Diablo Day 45 - Wednesday Junction. Turnout Pledge Ride #19 The Mount Diablo Cyclists are fund raising for more bike turnouts! I have pledged to donate $5 for every time I ride Diablo until the end of September; won't you join me? The State of California will MATCH our donations! Here's the link - tell them DiabloScott sent you. LINK-> Bike TurnoutsCharlie suggested 9am, I agreed, then he cancelled.Spare the Air Day. Diablo Scotthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17186138821702336405noreply@blogger.com0