Pinehurst, Grizzly Peak, Wildcat, The Bears, and Pig Farm - 56 miles
When we want to do something different and challenging this is our preferred loop. It’s an East Bay institution that most riders in Alameda and Contra Costa counties are familiar with. Nicole, Rick, JB, and I met up in Walnut Creek and I was the only one who didn’t have any cold weather gear; everyone else had arm warmers and vests or jackets. We rode the trails to Moraga where we caught Canyon Road. Starting here we started to see a lot of other riders with club jerseys from Cal, Berkeley Bicycle Club, Delta Peddlers, Valley Spokesmen, and Oakland Yellow jackets. Just before the big climb up Pinehurst in fact, we saw a huge pack of BBC riders going so fast and tight that I wondered if there were a road race going on.
JB decided to give Rick and me a big lead out and he pulled us really fast for a couple of miles before the climbing up Pinehurst started, he was either feeling really good or really nuts. I slowed way down to recover a bit before the climb and didn’t push it too hard because it was still early in the ride. We hung around at the intersection with Skyline for a while and watched dozens of people ride by in different directions; I hardly ever see this many riders on Mt. Diablo.
Heading down Skyline we missed the turn to Grizzly Peak Road and descended about half way down Tunnel Road before we realized it. It only added about 10 minutes to our ride but Nicole got pretty frustrated and decided she needed to quit early so when we got back to the Grizzly Peak intersection she went back down toward Pinehurst as the fastest return to her car. So now JB and Rick and I were going to have a hammerfest through Tilden (hit 48mph on South Park), down Wildcat (where we saw the Diablo Cyclist group ride coming up), and on to the Bears. We stopped at Briones for a water refill and Rick realized he had lost the screw top to his bottle! I loaned him one of mine but he filled up his topless one also figuring it would only spill on big bumps or steep climbs! We saw a lot of other riders along this section also, including a tandem that was SCREAMING down Papa Bear.
Pig Farm was… well, Pig Farm. It had started to get pretty warm by this time so it was everything I always remember Pig Farm being (hot and steep). From then on we all took turns attacking each other over the rolling hills through Martinez and back to Walnut Creek. Rick said his altimeter had recorded just over 4,000 feet of climbing in just under 50 miles. He noted that if we did it twice it would be like a century with 8,000 feet of climbing and that would be a tough century, and he was right.
Product Review: That Accelerade stuff is a lot better on a long ride than a short one. I don’t think it does much for me on Mt. Diablo but it did seem to provide some boost on Bear Creek Road. I think I’ll save the rest of my can for longer, tougher rides and then decide if I’ll buy any more based on those results. For most of my riding, Cytomax is hard to beat.
Later in the day I hooked up the kiddie trailer to my Rockhopper and pulled my daughter a (flat) mile and a half to the park – my legs complained the whole way!
email me! diabloscott@terra.es
Wednesday, June 11, 2003
Diablo Junction, down South Gate Road, Danville Blvd, Iron Horse and Canal Trails
Pre-ride preparation: skip lunch, Pepsi at 3:30, Powerbar and coffee at 4:30, Clif Shot and bottle of water at 5:15 in the car.
OK, windy and chilly today but not too bad. I drove to the start as usual, met Nicole a little ways up the road where she parks, and then JB and Adam showed up. Adam wanted to wait for Mark again so he could challenge himself but the rest of us started up at an easy pace. Around the dumpster gate trail head JB and I increased our speed and then a couple of the Diablo Cyclist regulars came by just before the bump. One of the guys started to lose contact with his buddy so I hopped on the faster guy's wheel and got paced up to the top of the bump and past the upper wash out. He was able to maintain his speed but I wasn't and I drifted off the back. There was a steady stiff wind the whole way up; not any powerful gusts but just a strong breeze whose vector seemed to oppose my own at every bend of the road. JB soon caught me and we both tried to catch the fast guy again. I couldn't match JB's speed for long either and by the time we got to the switchbacks above the ranches he had opened up a gap. Approaching Chainbuster I noticed that the guy who fell behind at the bump was catching up to me so I played rabbit and tried to stay ahead but he did catch on and we rode together for a while, drawing encouragement from each other. He had a black Trek OCLV bike that was really noisy - I don't know if it was the frame or his wheels but it sounded like a rusty hinge with every pedal stroke. Adam came around both of us at this point shouting "No Mark today!" and *poof* he was gone. At the ranger house just below the Junction the guy with me got some bad leg cramps and got off his bike completely - I made sure he was OK and then hammered in to the finish for a 43'22", the other guy walked the rest of the way in.
Hanging around the Junction there were about a dozen riders and they started to put on their arm warmers and vests. Adam and I decided to go down South Gate but we were way behind the DC riders who had already left. It was foggy and cold on the descent but nothing to complain about. We hammered through Diablo Road, Green Valley Road, and Stone Valley Road to Danville Blvd and split up at Rudgear. As I got on the trail I noticed the other DC riders were on the South Broadway Extension so I sped down the trail to try and meet them at the end. Well they caught the light and I didn't so I gave up. I did catch up with them on the Canal Trail just before Countrywood though and one woman (I think she said her name was Jeanie) had parked at the church so I rode with her down Bancroft and Walnut. About a half mile before the traffic circle I ran over something in the road and got a pinch flat so I pulled over. Jeanie made sure I was all set with repair stuff and then bid me farewell. As I was fixing my tire on the sidewalk I saw Grant and Mark and another guy riding down the other side of the street, apparently having just finished coming down North Gate Road… they waved and smiled.
OK, so this was the first time I've had a chance to use my CO2 inflator - I was careful to remember the procedure, I blew air into the empty tube to give it some shape, installed it carefully, inserted the cartridge into my inflator, set everything at the proper angle and pressed the lever. PFFFFHHHT it was done! Less than a second, I think, and the tire was fully inflated! I can't believe I futzed around for all these years with different frame pumps and mini pumps. Lessons Learned: CO2 inflators are the coolest. I remembered to re-stock my seat bag when I got home. Pre-ride food consumption needs to be bumped up just a bit for these longer rides - legs got a bit rubbery during harder efforts on the flats.
Monday, June 09, 2003
Aborted Bicycle Commute- 2 miles
OK, ever since I had the Dura Ace (9-speed) chain put on my Eddy Merckx (see blog dated 5/6/2003) it's been nothing but trouble. Eddy has 8-speed Ultegra shifters and rear derailleur with a Campy Athena crank and front derailleur (I used this setup with 8-speed chains without problems for years before I bought my Klein). Anyway I was throwing the chain nearly every ride and it was really pissing me off. I adjusted and readjusted my front derailleur and it would seem fine on the workstand but I would still throw the chain on the road. So today on the way in to work I shift up to the big ring and it goes all the way over and down the crank arm. I tried the old downshift and scoop maneuver but it got worse so I had to stop. The chain had completely knotted up and I had to take my wheel off just to straighten it out. Of course I gouged a finger on a crank tooth while I was doing this. Wheel back on, chain unknotted, hands filthy with chain gook I set off for the rest of the trip and … more problems. Somehow I managed to twist a link in the chain as well and it made the bike almost unrideable. I limped back home, washed my hands, and got the car keys.
Lesson learned: 9-speed chains should be used only on 9-speed drives.
From Shimano's FAQ:
The 9-speed chain is ~0.5 mm narrower and so is the front derailleur cage.
Using a 9-speed chain with 8-speed front derailleur and crankset will result in sluggish shifting and the adjustment is more critical. You may have to continue to hold the shift lever in an "overshift" until the shift is complete. In the worst case, some 8-speed chain rings have shown a tendency for "chain jamming" during downshifts with a 9 speed chain.
The Performance catalogue even has a note not to run Shimano 9-speed chains on 8-speed drivetrains. Sheesh. I gotta go buy a new chain.
OK, ever since I had the Dura Ace (9-speed) chain put on my Eddy Merckx (see blog dated 5/6/2003) it's been nothing but trouble. Eddy has 8-speed Ultegra shifters and rear derailleur with a Campy Athena crank and front derailleur (I used this setup with 8-speed chains without problems for years before I bought my Klein). Anyway I was throwing the chain nearly every ride and it was really pissing me off. I adjusted and readjusted my front derailleur and it would seem fine on the workstand but I would still throw the chain on the road. So today on the way in to work I shift up to the big ring and it goes all the way over and down the crank arm. I tried the old downshift and scoop maneuver but it got worse so I had to stop. The chain had completely knotted up and I had to take my wheel off just to straighten it out. Of course I gouged a finger on a crank tooth while I was doing this. Wheel back on, chain unknotted, hands filthy with chain gook I set off for the rest of the trip and … more problems. Somehow I managed to twist a link in the chain as well and it made the bike almost unrideable. I limped back home, washed my hands, and got the car keys.
Lesson learned: 9-speed chains should be used only on 9-speed drives.
From Shimano's FAQ:
The 9-speed chain is ~0.5 mm narrower and so is the front derailleur cage.
Using a 9-speed chain with 8-speed front derailleur and crankset will result in sluggish shifting and the adjustment is more critical. You may have to continue to hold the shift lever in an "overshift" until the shift is complete. In the worst case, some 8-speed chain rings have shown a tendency for "chain jamming" during downshifts with a 9 speed chain.
The Performance catalogue even has a note not to run Shimano 9-speed chains on 8-speed drivetrains. Sheesh. I gotta go buy a new chain.
Saturday, June 07, 2003
Saturday morning ride to the Summit - 36 miles
It was one of those strange weather days on the mountain today. Cool but pleasant at the bottom, heavy fog in the middle, sunny and very warm at the top.
On Saturday mornings JB and I like to ride part way up and turn around before Rick and Nicole get there. I was a little late today and JB had already left. As I was spinning along I caught up to an older guy on a custom touring bike with panniers. He told me he had just returned from a cycle tour of New Zealand and the people there were wonderful, inviting him in to their homes for meals and sleeping arrangements. He had some good stories but then I saw JB coming down so I turned around too.
We rode down to where Nicole and Rick park and while they were getting ready about a half dozen riders went by on their way up the mountain. So JB, Rick, Nicole, and I all started off again leaving the gate at about 8:10. We were making a very easy pace until we got to the dips when I picked it up a bit. Surprisingly no one matched my speed and I had a big gap opened up. I passed the riders that started up earlier and pushed it kind of hard up the bump but I always expected Rick and JB to catch me before too long. From the upper wash out on up I just tried to keep a good pace and I finished ahead of everyone with a 40’40” at the Junction; another top ten ride!
The fog was very thick at the Junction and talk soon turned to riding “up to the sun” so I took a hit of Clif Shot (skipped brekkie this morning) and prepared myself mentally for the trip to the summit. Nicole hadn’t arrived yet but the other three of us meandered up Summit Road at a comfortable pace. Rick and JB started getting ahead of me once we got past Juniper and I resolved to save myself for the wall so I rode easily and alone for the last couple of miles and didn’t have any trouble with the final stretch. I usually just put my head down and count pedal strokes because I know that in my 39/27 gear it takes 180 strokes (90 full crank revolutions) to get from the barrier gate to the upper parking lot (273 meters by my math) and if I look at how steep it is I think I’ll never make it. Ride time to the Summit was 1h21m.
I saw the cycle tourist again up by the Summit and some of the other riders we’d passed earlier. There was also a cross-country foot race/run going on and there were dozens of runners all over the upper half of the mountain. JB talked to one guy who said the full route was two laps from Mitchell Canyon to the Summit and back to make it a 50km “fun run”.
Send me an e-mail! diabloscott@terra.es
Thanks for reading!
Thursday, June 05, 2003
Editorial Comments
Today at the bike rack at work for the first time I saw an e-Bike locked up. I have no idea whom this might belong to but it was kind of fun to see it. I've always wondered who buys these things, I've only seen a few on the trails around here and so I'm glad someone thought it would make a good commute vehicle.
Also today the little shim/washer thing that goes between the SPD cleat and the shoes got bent and sort of wrapped around part of the cleat engagement surface making it impossible to get completely clipped in - I kept pulling out of the pedal like I only had half a cleat. Anybody know what that thing is for? I think I'll just take it out.
Today at the bike rack at work for the first time I saw an e-Bike locked up. I have no idea whom this might belong to but it was kind of fun to see it. I've always wondered who buys these things, I've only seen a few on the trails around here and so I'm glad someone thought it would make a good commute vehicle.
Also today the little shim/washer thing that goes between the SPD cleat and the shoes got bent and sort of wrapped around part of the cleat engagement surface making it impossible to get completely clipped in - I kept pulling out of the pedal like I only had half a cleat. Anybody know what that thing is for? I think I'll just take it out.
Wednesday, June 04, 2003
Mt. Diablo Juniper - 20 miles
Well I missed last Saturday's ride to attend a kiddy party with my daughter so I was determined to make this a good one. The last couple of Wednesday night rides have been very hot and to add to the misery I ate too much lunch also which made me feel lethargic and slow. Today was perfect weather - about 78° with a mild breeze. Adam was planning on riding with Mark and breaking the 30-minute barrier, JB and I talked about going to Juniper and then turning back to Junction to meet up with Nicole. My plan was to skip lunch altogether and then eat some quick energy foods right before the ride... I figured I could make a sugar rush last for at least 40 minutes and who cared if I bonked after that, right? So I worked through lunch and drank a lot of water. Then at 4 o'clock I had a Power Bar (Vanilla Crisp flavor, the best one), and then just as I was leaving work I grabbed a Pepsi and took it in the car with me. I drank the Pepsi and did a hit of Clif Shot on the way to the mountain and I was feeling good! As I rode away from my car I noticed that my Flight Deck wasn't registering my speed. I stopped a minute and tried a bunch of tricks to get it going but couldn't make it work. I thought I may have to run on stopwatch only mode when I realized it was probably the battery in my wireless transmitter. I'm so glad I thought ahead and packed batteries in my seat bag because a quick battery change at the guard house got everything going again. If anyone can share their flight deck battery life statistics with me I'd appreciate it. I installed this one in November so that's 6 months but I didn't ride this bike until the end of February so that's only 3 months. I don't know if the transmitter is "on" all the time or not but even 6 months seems a little short - maybe the batteries that come with the computer aren't as good as the ones you buy to replace them... I hope so. I have spare batteries for the computer head (which does go into sleep mode if you're not riding) in my saddle bag too so I'm prepared.
Everyone else was a little behind schedule it seemed, because I left the gate at 5:30 by myself. I passed up a couple of posers and was closing in on a guy in a bright orange jersey at the foot of the bump (section of 10% grade at mile 3). Just as I was ready to overtake him, Adam and Mark came dieseling up behind me and I hopped on the train. We all hammered up the bump together in big gears but I soon faded and I noticed that Adam had fallen off Mark's wheel before long also. The orange jersey guy sucked my wheel the rest of the ride while I maintained a decent but not great pace. The Pepsi I drank was starting to give me a stomach ache and it was limiting the intensity of my harder efforts. I settled down into a more steady pace for the rest of the ride.
JB passed me just above Clavicle Cracker like he was doing a good time, we exchanged words and it was over that quick. Around Chainbuster (steep sharp hairpin at mile 6) the two Diablo graybeards (Ron and Brian I think) motored by and I still had that orange jersey guy on my wheel; I think he was using me to pace himself because we weren't going fast enough to get much draft. Finally Grant Peterson came around me with his inimitable style and his sandals and I decided to uncork and drop my wheelsucker. I finished in 40'55 which is a top-ten ride of all time for me. Grant said he did a 38 something so he didn't really start too far behind me. The orange jersey guy didn't stop at the Junction but rode on up Summit Road. Mark did a 29'30" and Adam did 31'; there was a lot of joking about how old man Mark (44 years old, same as me!) could whoop ass on 23 year old Adam and Adam was a good sport about it, after all Mark whoops ass on everybody. Grant doesn't wear a helmet and JB asked him if his cotton sweat band was ANSI-approved... Grant didn't miss a beat and said "It's wool". JB asked the ranger for some paper to write down the name of the boyscout who was building the benches. I was happy to tell about how I'd already sent him my check.
After catching our collective breaths, JB and Adam and I headed up at a much slower pace to Juniper. JB had wasted himself with his effort to the Junction (36-something) and flared out on Summit Road. We all stayed together until the middle of the Blue Pine speedway and then Adam and I kicked it up. Wildlife Encounter - we saw a semi-dead (rattle?) snake on the road and vowed to remember it was there for the return trip back down. By the time we got to anti-gravity bend JB was a hundred meters back. Adam kicked it even higher as we approached Juniper and I couldn't respond. We all hung around Juniper for a while looking at the unusual cloud strata and then Adam decided to climb up to the Summit. JB and I went back to Junction, hooked up with Nicole and then rode down to Mary's for a beer. Next week I'm going to skip the Pepsi, or maybe have it a little earlier so it doesn't upset my stomach, but skipping lunch and doing a Power Bar-Clif Shot right before the ride worked well so I'll continue with that.
Well, SOMEBODY'S reading this blog - 20 hits since last week.
e-mail me at DiabloScott@Terra.ES
Well I missed last Saturday's ride to attend a kiddy party with my daughter so I was determined to make this a good one. The last couple of Wednesday night rides have been very hot and to add to the misery I ate too much lunch also which made me feel lethargic and slow. Today was perfect weather - about 78° with a mild breeze. Adam was planning on riding with Mark and breaking the 30-minute barrier, JB and I talked about going to Juniper and then turning back to Junction to meet up with Nicole. My plan was to skip lunch altogether and then eat some quick energy foods right before the ride... I figured I could make a sugar rush last for at least 40 minutes and who cared if I bonked after that, right? So I worked through lunch and drank a lot of water. Then at 4 o'clock I had a Power Bar (Vanilla Crisp flavor, the best one), and then just as I was leaving work I grabbed a Pepsi and took it in the car with me. I drank the Pepsi and did a hit of Clif Shot on the way to the mountain and I was feeling good! As I rode away from my car I noticed that my Flight Deck wasn't registering my speed. I stopped a minute and tried a bunch of tricks to get it going but couldn't make it work. I thought I may have to run on stopwatch only mode when I realized it was probably the battery in my wireless transmitter. I'm so glad I thought ahead and packed batteries in my seat bag because a quick battery change at the guard house got everything going again. If anyone can share their flight deck battery life statistics with me I'd appreciate it. I installed this one in November so that's 6 months but I didn't ride this bike until the end of February so that's only 3 months. I don't know if the transmitter is "on" all the time or not but even 6 months seems a little short - maybe the batteries that come with the computer aren't as good as the ones you buy to replace them... I hope so. I have spare batteries for the computer head (which does go into sleep mode if you're not riding) in my saddle bag too so I'm prepared.
Everyone else was a little behind schedule it seemed, because I left the gate at 5:30 by myself. I passed up a couple of posers and was closing in on a guy in a bright orange jersey at the foot of the bump (section of 10% grade at mile 3). Just as I was ready to overtake him, Adam and Mark came dieseling up behind me and I hopped on the train. We all hammered up the bump together in big gears but I soon faded and I noticed that Adam had fallen off Mark's wheel before long also. The orange jersey guy sucked my wheel the rest of the ride while I maintained a decent but not great pace. The Pepsi I drank was starting to give me a stomach ache and it was limiting the intensity of my harder efforts. I settled down into a more steady pace for the rest of the ride.
JB passed me just above Clavicle Cracker like he was doing a good time, we exchanged words and it was over that quick. Around Chainbuster (steep sharp hairpin at mile 6) the two Diablo graybeards (Ron and Brian I think) motored by and I still had that orange jersey guy on my wheel; I think he was using me to pace himself because we weren't going fast enough to get much draft. Finally Grant Peterson came around me with his inimitable style and his sandals and I decided to uncork and drop my wheelsucker. I finished in 40'55 which is a top-ten ride of all time for me. Grant said he did a 38 something so he didn't really start too far behind me. The orange jersey guy didn't stop at the Junction but rode on up Summit Road. Mark did a 29'30" and Adam did 31'; there was a lot of joking about how old man Mark (44 years old, same as me!) could whoop ass on 23 year old Adam and Adam was a good sport about it, after all Mark whoops ass on everybody. Grant doesn't wear a helmet and JB asked him if his cotton sweat band was ANSI-approved... Grant didn't miss a beat and said "It's wool". JB asked the ranger for some paper to write down the name of the boyscout who was building the benches. I was happy to tell about how I'd already sent him my check.
After catching our collective breaths, JB and Adam and I headed up at a much slower pace to Juniper. JB had wasted himself with his effort to the Junction (36-something) and flared out on Summit Road. We all stayed together until the middle of the Blue Pine speedway and then Adam and I kicked it up. Wildlife Encounter - we saw a semi-dead (rattle?) snake on the road and vowed to remember it was there for the return trip back down. By the time we got to anti-gravity bend JB was a hundred meters back. Adam kicked it even higher as we approached Juniper and I couldn't respond. We all hung around Juniper for a while looking at the unusual cloud strata and then Adam decided to climb up to the Summit. JB and I went back to Junction, hooked up with Nicole and then rode down to Mary's for a beer. Next week I'm going to skip the Pepsi, or maybe have it a little earlier so it doesn't upset my stomach, but skipping lunch and doing a Power Bar-Clif Shot right before the ride worked well so I'll continue with that.
Well, SOMEBODY'S reading this blog - 20 hits since last week.
e-mail me at DiabloScott@Terra.ES
Thursday, May 29, 2003
Mt. Diablo Junction - 34 miles
Usually for these Wednesday night rides I drive to work with my bike on the roof and then drive to the mountain to start the ride. It allows me to put all my stuff in the car and get home early. Today though I decided to ride my Klein to work and ride to the mountain to start the ride just to see what it would be like. There are four of us at work (me, JB, Adam, and Nicole) who do this ride and three of us had our bikes in an empty office so that was kind of cool.
Adam and I started early because he had to finish early and JB was going to be late. It was HOT... about 98°F. Usually I don't ride if it's higher than 95° because it's just not enjoyable, but today I was committed (no pun intended). Anyway I thought I could do about a 45 minute time but shortly into the ride I realized that I was going to have to kick it down a notch; the heat was really sapping my energy and making me feel rotten. Wildlife Encounter: I saw a small rabbit run across the road in front of me and I saw a turkey vulture eating something gross in the ditch just a few feet away. I could feel my core temperature increasing and I was being very careful not to get heat exhaustion. Anyway, finally made it to the Junction in 47 minutes and change. Adam turned around almost immediately and I hung around and drank three more bottles of water. There was a big Diablo Cyclist crowd tonight and also the gang from Rivendell Bicycle Works including local legend Grant Peterson. Grant was wearing hiker shorts and a button-down shirt (unbuttoned), he was soaking with sweat and his bike had quill pedals with no toe clips - he really is like the image he presents in his newsletter and catalogue. JB showed up a few minutes later and we all discussed the heat. One guy had a Mikkelson frame with those things that allow you to "break" your bike and pack it into a small box; I can't remember what they're called now but I've never seen them in person before and they seemed really interesting and functional.
Everyone left the Junction after they got cooled off and JB and I went down North Gate. We found Nicole still struggling about a half mile down and the heat seemed to be affecting her pretty badly; she said she was getting nauseous and light-headed and had stopped in the shade a while back. We came with her back to the Junction, drank some more water and then went back down. There was some talk about going out for a beer but it didn't materialize. I rode back to the office and grabbed my backpack and then rode home.
Monday, May 26, 2003
Diablo Bump de Bump - 37 miles
Well it's Memorial Day and the plan was to meet JB at the gate at 8, ride to the Junction and then down the South Gate to meet up with Rick and Nicole and then come back up and over. Well JB didn't show up so I rode North Gate Road by myself - didn't think I was doing a super effort but I did 41'28" which is definitely a decent time. There were a lot of riders on the mountain, a few joggers and hikers also, but almost no cars. A lot of the riders seemed to be first timers and I passed quite a few on the way up and gave them all friendly encouragements. Up around chainbuster turn I caught a guy on an Air Friday - a folding bike with a Softride type of seat suspension - interesting bike. I waited around the Junction until 9 o'clock thinking JB might shop up but he didn't.
Nicole said she and Rick would be at the Athenian School at the bottom of South Gate Road by 9:30 so I rode down to meet them. About halfway down I saw a guy coming up on a unicycle - there are a couple of these guys who do that for the Diablo Challenge in October so I suspect he was one of them. At the school I waited around until 9:40 and decided Rick and Nicole weren't going to come either so I went back up by myself. A couple fast guys passed me toward the bottom but I still held a pretty good pace at 39:28 from the lower gate. Then I rolled right on through the Junction without stopping and continued down the other side on my way home. There were even more riders coming up North Gate Road by this time (and lots more cars too) and I noticed quite a few weren't wearing helmets. That kind of bothered me because helmets have been so in the news recently. Some of them were obviously beginners who probably hadn't ever considered helmet use, some were more experienced riders who had their helmets strapped to their handlebars (ostensibly to use on the way back down), and at least a couple of them were excellent riders who eschewed helmet usage for some unknown reason… it's so rare to see a helmetless rider anymore and to see so many of them on one day, like I said, kind of bothered me. Other than that it was a great day on the bike - as a bonus, I clicked over 500 miles on my Flight Deck's odometer which of course equals the total mileage on my Klein.
mailto: diabloscott@terra.es
Well it's Memorial Day and the plan was to meet JB at the gate at 8, ride to the Junction and then down the South Gate to meet up with Rick and Nicole and then come back up and over. Well JB didn't show up so I rode North Gate Road by myself - didn't think I was doing a super effort but I did 41'28" which is definitely a decent time. There were a lot of riders on the mountain, a few joggers and hikers also, but almost no cars. A lot of the riders seemed to be first timers and I passed quite a few on the way up and gave them all friendly encouragements. Up around chainbuster turn I caught a guy on an Air Friday - a folding bike with a Softride type of seat suspension - interesting bike. I waited around the Junction until 9 o'clock thinking JB might shop up but he didn't.
Nicole said she and Rick would be at the Athenian School at the bottom of South Gate Road by 9:30 so I rode down to meet them. About halfway down I saw a guy coming up on a unicycle - there are a couple of these guys who do that for the Diablo Challenge in October so I suspect he was one of them. At the school I waited around until 9:40 and decided Rick and Nicole weren't going to come either so I went back up by myself. A couple fast guys passed me toward the bottom but I still held a pretty good pace at 39:28 from the lower gate. Then I rolled right on through the Junction without stopping and continued down the other side on my way home. There were even more riders coming up North Gate Road by this time (and lots more cars too) and I noticed quite a few weren't wearing helmets. That kind of bothered me because helmets have been so in the news recently. Some of them were obviously beginners who probably hadn't ever considered helmet use, some were more experienced riders who had their helmets strapped to their handlebars (ostensibly to use on the way back down), and at least a couple of them were excellent riders who eschewed helmet usage for some unknown reason… it's so rare to see a helmetless rider anymore and to see so many of them on one day, like I said, kind of bothered me. Other than that it was a great day on the bike - as a bonus, I clicked over 500 miles on my Flight Deck's odometer which of course equals the total mileage on my Klein.
mailto: diabloscott@terra.es
Saturday, May 24, 2003
May 24, 2003 - Diablo Junction and the long way home 40 miles
Well we had planned to do a summit ride today; Rick and Nicole are still in Hawaii so it was going to be just JB and me. On the way to the gate I caught up with James who hasn't ridden with us in several years - he's training for America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride around Lake Tahoe next week and needed some preparation. Anyway it was pretty windy and we took a very easy pace up to the bump. Then JB and I picked it up a little and lost James but didn't push it too hard. It started to warm up and the wind started to die down by the Junction so things looked good for the rest of the ride.
There was a boy scout there who was doing his Eagle Scout project and he had elected to build two benches at the Junction station and another one at the summit. As part of his project he had to raise the money for materials and build them himself so he was soliciting funds from us riders. He needed $700 and I hope he makes it - I think I'll send him a check.
Peter then came up from South Gate and said that it was really cold and windy on the summit road, and really cold and wet (!) down South Gate Road (he had already ridden NGR to Summit and descended SGR and come back up - and it was only 9 o'clock!). Peter went up to the summit again and James went down north. Anyway JB and I decided to brave the cold and wet rather than the cold and windy so we went south. Jeez - the difference was incredible! The trees were dripping condensation, the road was wet, the fog was so thick that the visibility was less than 20 feet - it took us quite a while to get down to the hole in the fence. It was quite a bit warmer and calmer around Alamo and Walnut Creek so we had a good trip back home. I rode a few laps around the neighborhood to bring my ride up to 40 miles for the day.
Wednesday, May 21, 2003
May 21, 2003 - Diablo Bump de Bump
Bump de bump is what we call it when we ride up North Gate Road to the Junction, then go down South Gate Road and then turn around and come back up South Gate Road. Today was the regular Wednesday after work ride and I got a head start on everybody, passing the gate at about 5:30. The DCers were congregating at the church and I'm not sure when they got started but Mark passed me at about mile 4. Adam passed me about 8 minutes after that and JB passed me up around the ranches. About 4 or 5 of the faster DCers passed me too before I got to the Junction. I started out pretty fast but it was really hot with almost no breeze and I could feel my energy just melting away. Quite a difference from last week when I was wishing I had long finger gloves and arm warmers! There was a big crowd at the Junction and almost everybody went down South Gate Road but I was the only one who turned around at the park boundary gate and came back up. South Gate Road had a lot more shade since it's more on the eastern side of the ridge and the sun was a little lower by the time I came back up...also seemed to be greener than North Gate Road.
Junction time from North Gate: 43'55" - barely in the respectable range
Junction time from South Gate: 39'20" - almost a mile shorter
PLEASE e-mail me!
Let me know someone is reading this!
mailto: diabloscott@terra.es
Saturday, May 17, 2003
May 17, 2003 - Lodi Sunrise Century
This is the first century in nine years that I’ve done by myself. My regular riding buddy Rick is in Hawaii with his family and I couldn’t convince any of my other bike friends to do this one so it was just me and about 500 strangers.
I always enjoy the early morning drive to begin a century. Today’s trip was just over an hour and I left at 5am. As I headed northeast, I watched the sun come up through patchy clouds while Paula Abdul motivated me with 90dB of dance music. Check in at Lodi High was very smooth and quick – I think that was mostly a function of a much smaller turn out than Tierra Bella six weeks ago rather than anything the Rotary Club had done differently. They had coffee and bagels and fruit to get us going.
Segment 1: This was 20 miles of mostly flat riding on wide roads with almost no traffic. I took off at 6:30 and it was still pretty cold but I knew it would warm up shortly. There were lots of curvy roads through vineyards and orchards and quaint farmhouses. It reminded me quite a bit of rural Iowa where I grew up (except Iowa has soybeans and corn instead of grapes and peaches). Anyway, I maintained a pretty good pace through here just to keep warm and didn’t worry about burning myself out. The first rest stop was at a fire station and the only thing I wished they had but didn’t was some more coffee because it hadn’t warmed up yet. I did have some muffin pieces and some juice and stuffed a granola bar in my pocket. I dawdled for exactly 7 minutes and then headed out again. Average speed for this segment was 19.4 mph and that was with no drafting at all.
Segment 2: As we entered into Amador County the roads started to undulate a bit, which really broke up the monotony of riding solo. Each little roller got progressively longer and steeper but they were all gradual grades that I could hammer up in a big gear and swoop down the other side. We passed what appeared to be a shooting range down hill from the route and I thought I heard some bullets whizzing into the ditch beside me but I decided it was just my imagination. When we got near Pardee Reservoir we got to the only serious climbing of the whole ride with about a 2-mile climb that had me in my lowest gear for a while. Then we rode across the top of the dam on a 1-lane road that looked down on the water, which was full of fishing and recreational boats. Lots of interesting road kill along this stretch: a deer, a coyote, several skunks, and dozens of squirrels, all in various states of consumption by the raptor population. A few more rollers coming down the other side brought us to the Wallace rest stop. Average speed for this segment was 16.3 mph over the 31 miles, again with no drafting and lots of easy to moderate climbing. I easily made my goal of 50 miles before 10am. There were only about a half dozen riders at the rest stop and it was oddly quiet… very little conversation and I noticed that there wasn’t any music playing; most of the rest stops at other centuries have at least a boom box or something to liven things up a bit and I didn’t realize how much I appreciated that until it was missing.
Segment 3: Things flatted out again for this 24-mile piece. It was plenty warm by now but the wind was also starting to pick up. It was in this part of the route that I caught the only paceline of the entire day – there were four other guys and me and I thought the other four guys were together but we came to a turn and three of them went straight – I found out later that they were taking a shortcut so they must have known the roads. Anyway I only worked with this group for about 5 miles before things broke up. Through this part of the route the organizers had added some little detours to bring the total mileage up and I noticed in several places that folks were skipping the detours and taking the more direct routes. That’s their choice I guess, but I was here for the whole experience and wasn’t about to cheat myself out of the full century. There was also one really boring 9-mile stretch of Clements road that was also very windy, and somewhere in here the 100 km route joined up with us so there were a lot more riders. At the final rest stop (again, no music!) there were a lot more bikes parked and people were talking and joking – the 100 km riders had only done 37 miles by this point. I had another sandwich and some fruit and steeled myself for the windy ride back to the finish. It was only a little after 11am and only 25 miles to go so it looked like I was going to finish earlier than I predicted. In fact, it looked like I was riding my fastest century ever! Average speed for this segment was 19.3 mph.
Segment 4: OK, things were really windy now as we re-entered the orchard and vineyard territory. I passed a lot of people but two women behind me just wouldn’t let me go. They wound up passing me back at an intersection and I stopped at an official watering station to fill my bottle and gulp down a Clif Shot. I usually save the frosting for the last 10 or 15 miles and it gives me an extra boost of energy and attitude that really helps – and it worked again today. I blew by those two women in short order and kept up a decent pace all the way back to Lodi. As I got closer to the finish I noticed that I was on track to finish in 6-1/2 hours total time – that would be a personal best – so I put my head down and did it. I finished feeling good but tired. At the post-ride meal they had spaghetti and salad that was good but not fancy (exactly what I like a post-ride meal to be), and they even had Coke! Most rides are too cheap to provide Coke. There was also a couple there selling raffle tickets for a Trek tandem – it was a slightly used, older model but in very good shape. They said they were only going to sell 300 tickets for $10 apiece and it was to raise money for a woman who needed a prosthetic eye. How could I resist? I don’t know where I’d put it – my garage is crammed full of junk, but I’ll figure something out. As I was changing clothes I realized that my Clif Shot envelope wasn't completely empty and it had leaked into my jersey pocket; my jersey and bib shorts were stuck to my skin with dried up goo! Reminder to self: make sure to suck out all the stuff before stuffing it in my pocket.
This route reminded me a lot of Foxy’s Fall Century – flat and windy through orchards and vineyards, but there weren’t nearly as many riders. It was about the best weather we could have asked for I guess and I did enjoy the ride, but I’ll probably not do it again - I really prefer the rides that attract big fields.
Total Distance: 102.9 miles
Total Time: 6h 30m
Ride Time: 5h 46m
Avg Speed: 17.8 mph
PLEASE e-mail me! mailto: diabloscott@terra.es
This is the first century in nine years that I’ve done by myself. My regular riding buddy Rick is in Hawaii with his family and I couldn’t convince any of my other bike friends to do this one so it was just me and about 500 strangers.
I always enjoy the early morning drive to begin a century. Today’s trip was just over an hour and I left at 5am. As I headed northeast, I watched the sun come up through patchy clouds while Paula Abdul motivated me with 90dB of dance music. Check in at Lodi High was very smooth and quick – I think that was mostly a function of a much smaller turn out than Tierra Bella six weeks ago rather than anything the Rotary Club had done differently. They had coffee and bagels and fruit to get us going.
Segment 1: This was 20 miles of mostly flat riding on wide roads with almost no traffic. I took off at 6:30 and it was still pretty cold but I knew it would warm up shortly. There were lots of curvy roads through vineyards and orchards and quaint farmhouses. It reminded me quite a bit of rural Iowa where I grew up (except Iowa has soybeans and corn instead of grapes and peaches). Anyway, I maintained a pretty good pace through here just to keep warm and didn’t worry about burning myself out. The first rest stop was at a fire station and the only thing I wished they had but didn’t was some more coffee because it hadn’t warmed up yet. I did have some muffin pieces and some juice and stuffed a granola bar in my pocket. I dawdled for exactly 7 minutes and then headed out again. Average speed for this segment was 19.4 mph and that was with no drafting at all.
Segment 2: As we entered into Amador County the roads started to undulate a bit, which really broke up the monotony of riding solo. Each little roller got progressively longer and steeper but they were all gradual grades that I could hammer up in a big gear and swoop down the other side. We passed what appeared to be a shooting range down hill from the route and I thought I heard some bullets whizzing into the ditch beside me but I decided it was just my imagination. When we got near Pardee Reservoir we got to the only serious climbing of the whole ride with about a 2-mile climb that had me in my lowest gear for a while. Then we rode across the top of the dam on a 1-lane road that looked down on the water, which was full of fishing and recreational boats. Lots of interesting road kill along this stretch: a deer, a coyote, several skunks, and dozens of squirrels, all in various states of consumption by the raptor population. A few more rollers coming down the other side brought us to the Wallace rest stop. Average speed for this segment was 16.3 mph over the 31 miles, again with no drafting and lots of easy to moderate climbing. I easily made my goal of 50 miles before 10am. There were only about a half dozen riders at the rest stop and it was oddly quiet… very little conversation and I noticed that there wasn’t any music playing; most of the rest stops at other centuries have at least a boom box or something to liven things up a bit and I didn’t realize how much I appreciated that until it was missing.
Segment 3: Things flatted out again for this 24-mile piece. It was plenty warm by now but the wind was also starting to pick up. It was in this part of the route that I caught the only paceline of the entire day – there were four other guys and me and I thought the other four guys were together but we came to a turn and three of them went straight – I found out later that they were taking a shortcut so they must have known the roads. Anyway I only worked with this group for about 5 miles before things broke up. Through this part of the route the organizers had added some little detours to bring the total mileage up and I noticed in several places that folks were skipping the detours and taking the more direct routes. That’s their choice I guess, but I was here for the whole experience and wasn’t about to cheat myself out of the full century. There was also one really boring 9-mile stretch of Clements road that was also very windy, and somewhere in here the 100 km route joined up with us so there were a lot more riders. At the final rest stop (again, no music!) there were a lot more bikes parked and people were talking and joking – the 100 km riders had only done 37 miles by this point. I had another sandwich and some fruit and steeled myself for the windy ride back to the finish. It was only a little after 11am and only 25 miles to go so it looked like I was going to finish earlier than I predicted. In fact, it looked like I was riding my fastest century ever! Average speed for this segment was 19.3 mph.
Segment 4: OK, things were really windy now as we re-entered the orchard and vineyard territory. I passed a lot of people but two women behind me just wouldn’t let me go. They wound up passing me back at an intersection and I stopped at an official watering station to fill my bottle and gulp down a Clif Shot. I usually save the frosting for the last 10 or 15 miles and it gives me an extra boost of energy and attitude that really helps – and it worked again today. I blew by those two women in short order and kept up a decent pace all the way back to Lodi. As I got closer to the finish I noticed that I was on track to finish in 6-1/2 hours total time – that would be a personal best – so I put my head down and did it. I finished feeling good but tired. At the post-ride meal they had spaghetti and salad that was good but not fancy (exactly what I like a post-ride meal to be), and they even had Coke! Most rides are too cheap to provide Coke. There was also a couple there selling raffle tickets for a Trek tandem – it was a slightly used, older model but in very good shape. They said they were only going to sell 300 tickets for $10 apiece and it was to raise money for a woman who needed a prosthetic eye. How could I resist? I don’t know where I’d put it – my garage is crammed full of junk, but I’ll figure something out. As I was changing clothes I realized that my Clif Shot envelope wasn't completely empty and it had leaked into my jersey pocket; my jersey and bib shorts were stuck to my skin with dried up goo! Reminder to self: make sure to suck out all the stuff before stuffing it in my pocket.
This route reminded me a lot of Foxy’s Fall Century – flat and windy through orchards and vineyards, but there weren’t nearly as many riders. It was about the best weather we could have asked for I guess and I did enjoy the ride, but I’ll probably not do it again - I really prefer the rides that attract big fields.
Total Distance: 102.9 miles
Total Time: 6h 30m
Ride Time: 5h 46m
Avg Speed: 17.8 mph
PLEASE e-mail me! mailto: diabloscott@terra.es
Thursday, May 15, 2003
May 15, 2003 - Commute on Bike to Work Day
I ride my bike to work most days - year 'round average is about 70% of my commute trips. I usually drive if it's raining, or if I have some particular need to like a dentist appointment or something. On Wednesdays in the summer I bring my Klein in on the roof of my car so I can drive out to Mt. Diablo for the afternoon ride. Anyway, today was bike to work day and I've always ridden to work on bike to work day, rain or shine for the past 12 years or so, so I wasn't going to miss this one. And of course today is the day my rear tire decides to go flat. Right on Bancroft Road which is the segment with the most vehicle traffic. We've been at the new office for three years now so that's probably 500 round trips that I've made along this route and this is the only time I can remember getting a flat on my commute in that time.
As I was sitting there changing the tube on the grass in front of some condos, I kept thinking that the drivers were looking at me and shaking their heads and saying to themselves "Bike to work day my ass - I could get a flat tire like that guy... No thanks, I'll drive my car." Oh well... sigh. I did get some decent schwag at the energizer station - a granola bar, a bottle of water, and a lapel pin. One year I won a $10 gift certificate from Encina Bikes, and last year I got a T-shirt. There were a few more bikes on the trail this morning than usual, but there weren't any unfamiliar bikes in the rack at work. Another luke-warm response to the Bike to Work Day promotion. I guess gas will have to get a lot more expensive before people start looking for alternatives.
I ride my bike to work most days - year 'round average is about 70% of my commute trips. I usually drive if it's raining, or if I have some particular need to like a dentist appointment or something. On Wednesdays in the summer I bring my Klein in on the roof of my car so I can drive out to Mt. Diablo for the afternoon ride. Anyway, today was bike to work day and I've always ridden to work on bike to work day, rain or shine for the past 12 years or so, so I wasn't going to miss this one. And of course today is the day my rear tire decides to go flat. Right on Bancroft Road which is the segment with the most vehicle traffic. We've been at the new office for three years now so that's probably 500 round trips that I've made along this route and this is the only time I can remember getting a flat on my commute in that time.
As I was sitting there changing the tube on the grass in front of some condos, I kept thinking that the drivers were looking at me and shaking their heads and saying to themselves "Bike to work day my ass - I could get a flat tire like that guy... No thanks, I'll drive my car." Oh well... sigh. I did get some decent schwag at the energizer station - a granola bar, a bottle of water, and a lapel pin. One year I won a $10 gift certificate from Encina Bikes, and last year I got a T-shirt. There were a few more bikes on the trail this morning than usual, but there weren't any unfamiliar bikes in the rack at work. Another luke-warm response to the Bike to Work Day promotion. I guess gas will have to get a lot more expensive before people start looking for alternatives.
Wednesday, May 14, 2003
May 14, 2003 - Diablo Junction plus, 19 miles
Wednesday at 5:30 JB and I met at the gate, Adam was a little late but we knew he'd catch us, Nicole is leaving for Hawaii tomorrow so she didn't come. It was supposed to be very warm today (near 80°F) so I wore my sleeveless jersey and didn't bring armwarmers or anything... it turned out to be cold and very windy. We passed quite a few riders on the way up, then Adam and Mark rode up on us near the lower ranch. I stayed with them for a while but couldn't hang on all the way, JB stayed with them longer than I did but he too fell off the pace. My Junction time was 45'30". There were a bunch of Diablo Cyclists that arrived at the Junction shortly after we did, we all socialized for a while and then JB and Adam went back down North Gate while I went up to the top of the horseshoe by myself.
On the way down the fog started coming in and I stopped again at the Junction to warm up. I watched a racoon raid the garbage can and then finished my descent back to the car on Doncaster. It was one of those windy days where you have to be careful around every corner because the wind shifts and can catch you leaning too much. Not a supreme effort today, but I'm confident I'll do well in the century on Saturday.
Cipollini lost the sprint by millimeters in this morning's Giro d'Italia stage!!
email me! DiabloScott@Terra.es
(copy and paste into your mail program, I'm too dumb to create a mailto hotlink)
Wednesday at 5:30 JB and I met at the gate, Adam was a little late but we knew he'd catch us, Nicole is leaving for Hawaii tomorrow so she didn't come. It was supposed to be very warm today (near 80°F) so I wore my sleeveless jersey and didn't bring armwarmers or anything... it turned out to be cold and very windy. We passed quite a few riders on the way up, then Adam and Mark rode up on us near the lower ranch. I stayed with them for a while but couldn't hang on all the way, JB stayed with them longer than I did but he too fell off the pace. My Junction time was 45'30". There were a bunch of Diablo Cyclists that arrived at the Junction shortly after we did, we all socialized for a while and then JB and Adam went back down North Gate while I went up to the top of the horseshoe by myself.
On the way down the fog started coming in and I stopped again at the Junction to warm up. I watched a racoon raid the garbage can and then finished my descent back to the car on Doncaster. It was one of those windy days where you have to be careful around every corner because the wind shifts and can catch you leaning too much. Not a supreme effort today, but I'm confident I'll do well in the century on Saturday.
Cipollini lost the sprint by millimeters in this morning's Giro d'Italia stage!!
email me! DiabloScott@Terra.es
(copy and paste into your mail program, I'm too dumb to create a mailto hotlink)
Saturday, May 10, 2003
May 10, 2003 - Diablo Junction, 45 miles
JB and I met at the gate at 7:30 to get a little warm up ride in before Rick and Nicole got there. We rode to the top of the bump and then turned around. Rick and Nicole showed up with Peter and we all started out (again) together. Rick had his new Campagnolo Neutron wheels on with some narrow 20mm tires so I knew right away he was out for blood. We didn't start out that fast but before long Rick really took off. I stayed with him, not realizing he was going for a PB at first, until the top of the bump and then I sat up. He finished in 38'12" which is about 20 seconds better than my PB. I stayed ahead of Peter and JB though, and did a 41'40". Just as Nicole was getting to the Junction Me and Rick and Peter took off for Juniper; JB went down South Gate and Nicole went back for coffee and breakfast. Peter and Rick didn't stop at Juniper - they just kept on going but I pulled over and after a short rest, turned around. Rick put an old cassette on his new wheels and he only had a 23t big cog so I wonder if he had a little trouble making it up the summit wall?
Back at the bottom I ran into Sarkis who admired my new bike and told me about the Wine Country Century he did last week (it rained).
Amy said I had to be home by 11 o'clock so I rode around town and through the neighborhood until the last minute so I could get some extra miles in. I should be in good condition for the century next week - but more miles now would make things easier then.
JB and I met at the gate at 7:30 to get a little warm up ride in before Rick and Nicole got there. We rode to the top of the bump and then turned around. Rick and Nicole showed up with Peter and we all started out (again) together. Rick had his new Campagnolo Neutron wheels on with some narrow 20mm tires so I knew right away he was out for blood. We didn't start out that fast but before long Rick really took off. I stayed with him, not realizing he was going for a PB at first, until the top of the bump and then I sat up. He finished in 38'12" which is about 20 seconds better than my PB. I stayed ahead of Peter and JB though, and did a 41'40". Just as Nicole was getting to the Junction Me and Rick and Peter took off for Juniper; JB went down South Gate and Nicole went back for coffee and breakfast. Peter and Rick didn't stop at Juniper - they just kept on going but I pulled over and after a short rest, turned around. Rick put an old cassette on his new wheels and he only had a 23t big cog so I wonder if he had a little trouble making it up the summit wall?
Back at the bottom I ran into Sarkis who admired my new bike and told me about the Wine Country Century he did last week (it rained).
Amy said I had to be home by 11 o'clock so I rode around town and through the neighborhood until the last minute so I could get some extra miles in. I should be in good condition for the century next week - but more miles now would make things easier then.
Thursday, May 08, 2003
May 7, 2003 - Diablo Junction 16 miles
Another Wednesday night ride. It was cool enough to keep my jersey zipped up all the way but not cold enough for a jacket. I ate way too much lunch - spaghetti and pizza, and I really felt sluggish most of the ride. I started with Nicole and JB and by the lower washout it was just me and JB. I kept getting ahead of him but he always caught up. Mark A. of Diablo Cyclists (and also my neighbor) passed us both going easlily twice as fast as we were - he's a very impressive climber. Adam caught up to us both near the lower ranch and even he said there was no way he could keep up with Mark. I worked with Adam and got a big gap on JB again but couldn't keep up the pace more than a mile or so and JB passed me up just below chainbuster. Junction time was 42'07". Adam finished a minute or so before me and he had turned around to meet up with me so we could have a little sprint to the line; he nipped me by the width of a tire!
At the Junction were several Diablo Cyclists including Mark and the guy who was the captain for Team in Training who had come up the South Gate Road without any team! He said they were all no-shows. One guy who I see a lot up there recognized me and knew that I was riding a new bike - he said "That's not your Merckx." I told him that my Merckx was now my foul-weather bike. Anyway, I had to turn around a little early to be home by 7 o'clock because Amy had an appointment with a personal trainer at the club.
e-mail me - let me know you've been here! DiabloScott@terra.es
Another Wednesday night ride. It was cool enough to keep my jersey zipped up all the way but not cold enough for a jacket. I ate way too much lunch - spaghetti and pizza, and I really felt sluggish most of the ride. I started with Nicole and JB and by the lower washout it was just me and JB. I kept getting ahead of him but he always caught up. Mark A. of Diablo Cyclists (and also my neighbor) passed us both going easlily twice as fast as we were - he's a very impressive climber. Adam caught up to us both near the lower ranch and even he said there was no way he could keep up with Mark. I worked with Adam and got a big gap on JB again but couldn't keep up the pace more than a mile or so and JB passed me up just below chainbuster. Junction time was 42'07". Adam finished a minute or so before me and he had turned around to meet up with me so we could have a little sprint to the line; he nipped me by the width of a tire!
At the Junction were several Diablo Cyclists including Mark and the guy who was the captain for Team in Training who had come up the South Gate Road without any team! He said they were all no-shows. One guy who I see a lot up there recognized me and knew that I was riding a new bike - he said "That's not your Merckx." I told him that my Merckx was now my foul-weather bike. Anyway, I had to turn around a little early to be home by 7 o'clock because Amy had an appointment with a personal trainer at the club.
e-mail me - let me know you've been here! DiabloScott@terra.es
Tuesday, May 06, 2003
This week I've been riding my Eddy Merckx in to work. Today, less than 1/4 mile from the office my chain broke completely apart. I sort of expected it to happen because I had noticed a bad link and tried to repair it over the weekend, but it had been acting funny the last few rides so I was taking it easy. The outer plates of one link had started to pull away and I figure I damaged it when I installed the chain on a few months ago. Anyway I was just spinning up this little hill, trying not to put too much tension on the chain and POP it let loose. Went to Performance at lunch time and had the shop guy "Jim" put on a new Dura Ace chain for me. $10 labor $30 for the chain (they were out of the cheaper ones). Adam and I went halfsies on a big can of Accelerade - I'll write a review on it later, maybe use it on the Lodi Sunrise Century next weekend.
Thursday, May 01, 2003
Rode my commute bike in to work today, not a big ride but April's weather was so crappy I hardly got to do even that.
My wife's folks sent me $50 for a birthday present and said to buy some bike stuff with it... I'm thinking SPD shoes.
Hey! - I figured out how to add a counter to this page!
Took some doing but it worked.
e-mail me anyway diabloscott@terra.es
Now I've got to figure out how to do a link for e-mail and some metatags for search engines, then this page will be slammin'!
Wednesday, April 30, 2003
April 30, 2003 - Diablo Junction 16 miles
A Wednesday after work ride. JB had too much work but Adam and Nicole both said they'd come. At the church where I usually park I got my stuff together but hadn't seen either one. There were two riders there looking for the Diablo Cyclists who (apparently) changed their ride time to be 45 minutes earlier than before. Lula was a 30-something Valley Spokesman originally from Brasil with a Super Mario zebra-striped Specialized compact frame bike. Ward was a 50-something guy with a steel Ritchey bike with Dura Ace. Nicole showed up about 5:30 and I talked with her for a while but decided to ride with Lula and Ward. Lula had never ridden up North Gate before but had done South Gate several times. I asked Ward if he was a century guy and he told me his knees gave him too much trouble to do long distances. They set a pace that was pretty easy for me but it was fun riding with some different people. We saw a wild turkey down below the ranches; that was unusual. At Chainbuster Adam and a guy he was riding with caught up with us and I took off with him; we dropped all three of the others pretty quickly. Adam said the other guy was a Masters 35+ from the Sac area and I rode away from him pretty easily so I must be fast. The guy had a new Trek 5900 that he said only weighed 16 pounds; Adam gave it a test ride around the Junction parking lot and said it was pretty sweet. Adam and I also had a little track stand contest - he won but not by much.
My time was 44'54" but I could have done quite a bit faster on a solo ride or with faster partners. Didn't get many miles in this month - combination of rotten weather and other commitments. Next century is only 2-1/2 weeks away... I'd better get some time in the saddle if I'm going to do well.
e-mail me! Let me know you were here! I'm too dumb to figure out how to put a counter in this page.
diabloscott@terra.es
A Wednesday after work ride. JB had too much work but Adam and Nicole both said they'd come. At the church where I usually park I got my stuff together but hadn't seen either one. There were two riders there looking for the Diablo Cyclists who (apparently) changed their ride time to be 45 minutes earlier than before. Lula was a 30-something Valley Spokesman originally from Brasil with a Super Mario zebra-striped Specialized compact frame bike. Ward was a 50-something guy with a steel Ritchey bike with Dura Ace. Nicole showed up about 5:30 and I talked with her for a while but decided to ride with Lula and Ward. Lula had never ridden up North Gate before but had done South Gate several times. I asked Ward if he was a century guy and he told me his knees gave him too much trouble to do long distances. They set a pace that was pretty easy for me but it was fun riding with some different people. We saw a wild turkey down below the ranches; that was unusual. At Chainbuster Adam and a guy he was riding with caught up with us and I took off with him; we dropped all three of the others pretty quickly. Adam said the other guy was a Masters 35+ from the Sac area and I rode away from him pretty easily so I must be fast. The guy had a new Trek 5900 that he said only weighed 16 pounds; Adam gave it a test ride around the Junction parking lot and said it was pretty sweet. Adam and I also had a little track stand contest - he won but not by much.
My time was 44'54" but I could have done quite a bit faster on a solo ride or with faster partners. Didn't get many miles in this month - combination of rotten weather and other commitments. Next century is only 2-1/2 weeks away... I'd better get some time in the saddle if I'm going to do well.
e-mail me! Let me know you were here! I'm too dumb to figure out how to put a counter in this page.
diabloscott@terra.es
Thursday, April 24, 2003
April 19, 2003 - Diablo Junction 23 miles
A Saturday morning ride, it's been cold and rainy so I've missed a lot of riding this month; just over 200 miles this month and half of that was on one ride! Besides me; Peter, JB, Rick and Nicole showed up. We started off slowly and my time was 45'40" which isn't too bad for an easy ride in full winter gear (jacket and tights, full finger gloves, no booties). Didn't see any interesting wild animals but the wild flowers are really blooming. Rick told us about some new wheels he got on eBay - Campy Neutron, but he doesn't have tires or a cassette yet. He'll probably use them for PB attempts and special events because his regular wheels are pretty good for every day use. No socializing after the ride either, we all had too much noncycling stuff to do.
DiabloScott@Terra.es
A Saturday morning ride, it's been cold and rainy so I've missed a lot of riding this month; just over 200 miles this month and half of that was on one ride! Besides me; Peter, JB, Rick and Nicole showed up. We started off slowly and my time was 45'40" which isn't too bad for an easy ride in full winter gear (jacket and tights, full finger gloves, no booties). Didn't see any interesting wild animals but the wild flowers are really blooming. Rick told us about some new wheels he got on eBay - Campy Neutron, but he doesn't have tires or a cassette yet. He'll probably use them for PB attempts and special events because his regular wheels are pretty good for every day use. No socializing after the ride either, we all had too much noncycling stuff to do.
DiabloScott@Terra.es
Tuesday, April 15, 2003
April 9, 2003 - Diablo Junction 16 miles
The "Handicapped Hurl Ride" JB, Adam, Nicole, and I all handicapped ourselves and estimated how fast we could ride to the Junction today. Then we staggered our start times so that we would all get to the Junction at about the same time (assuming everyone estimated correctly). Adam was trying to break the 30-minute barrier and wound up with a 30'10" PB. JB thought he could do 38' but did 35'43" for his second best ever. Nicole estimated 64 minutes but did 60. And me on my new bike with the century ride in my legs??? I did my second best time ever also - even with this hellish chest cold I've been fighting - 38'50". I'll definitely be setting a new PB this season; the only question is "How low can I go?" It'll be a fun question to answer. Adam nicknamed me Scott "All I've Got".
April 5, 2003 - Tierra Bella Century
First century on my new bike. Picked up Peter at 5am and drove to Rick's. Rick and Joe in Rick's explorer, Peter and I in my Infiniti. It was about 80 miles from Concord to Gilroy and we got there just before 7am. Registration at Gavilan College was a little slow with long lines in some kind of student lounge/cafeteria building. There was also a long walk from the parking lot to the check in but we got rolling about 7:30. It didn't look like the temperature was going to get above 65°F at any point in the day so I wore tights with a vest and arm warmers. The first leg was out to Gilroy Hot Springs with enough climbing for a good warm up. The route seemed to take us out of the urban area pretty quickly so that was well thought-out. The first rest stop was at mile 21 at some kind of shed and they had the normal rest stop food plus coffee and (something I've never seen before) Cup o' Noodles! I didn't have any soup but I'm sure some people needed it.
Then it was a downhill followed by 15 miles of windy flats - I lucked out and caught a great paceline at the perfect time and made quick work of this section. At one point an ambulance and a paramedic fire truck came by us with all the lights and sirens and we hoped it wasn't a rider that got hurt - turned out it was but he only had a little road rash; he was quite surprised at the response!
And then came the ride up Metcalf - called the "Metcalf Mauler" and it was pretty brutal. My guess is about 1,000 feet in 2 miles. There's some kind of motorcycle park at the top of the hill so there were these pickups pulling trailers of dirt bikes passing us the whole way on the rather narrow road but they were reasonably polite and safe.
The fourth rest stop came after some flat riding through southern San Jose including some dedicated bike trails and some closed roads. Peter and I missed a turn and did a "bonus climb" of about 400 feet before we convinced ourselves that we weren't on the route anymore. Joe got a flat out on the course somewhere so he and Rick got to the rest stop at mile 71 shortly after Peter and I did.
The final rest stop at mile 85 was at the top of another hill near Uvas Reservoir where the PhotoCrazy photographer was. Here they had another interesting food for a rest stop: tortilla (lavash?) roll-ups which were pretty tasty. Usually at this point I completely lose my appetite and resort to the Cliff Shot but I still felt pretty good so I ate some solid food as well as the Cliff Shot.
It was starting to get pretty windy by this time and some folks were dreading the rest of the ride but it actually went really fast over smooth, wide roads back to the finish. The meal at the end of the ride was baked chicken (ugh!) with Cesar salad and baked beans and ice cream. I'm not sure who thinks of these things - I would rather have had nachos or chili!
Total distance: 103 miles
Average speed 15.7 mph
Total climbing 4,400 feet - per web site
February 17, 2003 Diablo Junction 23 miles Junction Time: 41’27”
OK, now that I’ve bonded with my Klein and shown him where we’ll be doing most of our riding, I wanted to see what he felt like on a hard effort. It was President’s Day Monday and I had the day off from work so I set off for a morning ride up to the Junction. It was still cold and I had on full winter gear so it wasn’t an all-out effort but I did push it and I almost got a top-10 of all time ride!
I like this bike.
February 15, 2003 Diablo Summit 38 miles
My first real ride on Mike had to be special – it had to be to the summit. It was sweet riding the road I’ve ridden over 500 times for the first time on my new bike. Light, stiff, responsive and SO good looking! Made it up the summit wall with no troubles; on my steel Eddy Merckx I would sometimes bail out and have to walk part of the way up. I’m glad I got that 27 tooth low gear now – I was worried it would be too low but I actually think I’ll ride faster times with it since I can recover faster from short bursts of high intensity. I didn’t ride for time, I rode for the bonding experience but I did notice that my time was respectable despite not even trying very hard and riding in full cold-weather gear.
Near the summit, Peter rode up next to me and immediately noticed the new bike but I made him promise to keep the secret until the Tierra Bella century which would be the first official debut.
September 17, 2002 – Bought a new frame
So I’ve been looking for a new bike and I really want something light but durable, something eye-catchingly beautiful, something that will be comfortable on a century; and I really want Dura Ace and I’ve only got about $2,000. Those are some pretty ambitious goals for my budget.
In my search I find some “store brand” titanium bikes that I could probably live with but they aren’t very pretty and they have no brand appeal but they do look like they would meet my performance requirements and probably not bust my bank account. Or if I lowered my gruppo requirements to allow Ultegra I could even get a low-end Litespeed without going too far over budget. Even the off-the-shelf aluminum bikes looked to be too expensive for a Dura Ace build-up at my target price. I was sure I didn’t want a steel frame because for it to be as light as I wanted it would have to be too fragile or too expensive (or both). The carbon fiber Treks are very popular but I’ve never ridden one and I don’t think I would really get the kind of feel I want from carbon fiber.
I allowed one more concession to my budget – I decided to consider second-hand bikes. I must have looked at over a thousand bikes and frames on eBay before I really found one that would merit “dream bike” status. I found a Klein Quantum Pro frameset that was exactly the right size and it was beautiful. It was a 1998 model that had been stored in this guy’s rec room for 3 years and had never been built up. He was asking $525 for it and I found out it sold for $1600 new. He was in Marin county about 40 miles away so I withdrew some cash from my bank account and took a road trip.
He wasn’t lying, it was a beautiful, perfect frame and I bought it on the spot. My plan was to buy a component here and a component there at the best price I could find on eBay or wherever I could score the best deal. I figured it would take me about 6 months to have a complete bike and it would be my secret project. The plan worked perfectly – by February I had my complete Dura Ace dream bike at a total cost (including taxes, shipping costs etc) of $2264 which is just a little over half of what the bike would have cost new in 1998. I named him Mike (Mike Line = My Klein) and took him on his first ride up to the summit of Mt. Diablo (in secret) on February 15th.
Thanks to Mike and Bruno at Chain Reaction in Los Altos for the finishing touches (chain and front derailleur, the only parts I didn't put on myself). Check them out at www.ChainReaction.com . Mike is one of the owners and he has an "Almost Daily Diary" on the web page that was the model for my bike blog... except he's way better at it than I am and he doesn't have to use a free blogger service and he can include more photos and stuff like that.
The "Handicapped Hurl Ride" JB, Adam, Nicole, and I all handicapped ourselves and estimated how fast we could ride to the Junction today. Then we staggered our start times so that we would all get to the Junction at about the same time (assuming everyone estimated correctly). Adam was trying to break the 30-minute barrier and wound up with a 30'10" PB. JB thought he could do 38' but did 35'43" for his second best ever. Nicole estimated 64 minutes but did 60. And me on my new bike with the century ride in my legs??? I did my second best time ever also - even with this hellish chest cold I've been fighting - 38'50". I'll definitely be setting a new PB this season; the only question is "How low can I go?" It'll be a fun question to answer. Adam nicknamed me Scott "All I've Got".
April 5, 2003 - Tierra Bella Century
First century on my new bike. Picked up Peter at 5am and drove to Rick's. Rick and Joe in Rick's explorer, Peter and I in my Infiniti. It was about 80 miles from Concord to Gilroy and we got there just before 7am. Registration at Gavilan College was a little slow with long lines in some kind of student lounge/cafeteria building. There was also a long walk from the parking lot to the check in but we got rolling about 7:30. It didn't look like the temperature was going to get above 65°F at any point in the day so I wore tights with a vest and arm warmers. The first leg was out to Gilroy Hot Springs with enough climbing for a good warm up. The route seemed to take us out of the urban area pretty quickly so that was well thought-out. The first rest stop was at mile 21 at some kind of shed and they had the normal rest stop food plus coffee and (something I've never seen before) Cup o' Noodles! I didn't have any soup but I'm sure some people needed it.
Then it was a downhill followed by 15 miles of windy flats - I lucked out and caught a great paceline at the perfect time and made quick work of this section. At one point an ambulance and a paramedic fire truck came by us with all the lights and sirens and we hoped it wasn't a rider that got hurt - turned out it was but he only had a little road rash; he was quite surprised at the response!
And then came the ride up Metcalf - called the "Metcalf Mauler" and it was pretty brutal. My guess is about 1,000 feet in 2 miles. There's some kind of motorcycle park at the top of the hill so there were these pickups pulling trailers of dirt bikes passing us the whole way on the rather narrow road but they were reasonably polite and safe.
The fourth rest stop came after some flat riding through southern San Jose including some dedicated bike trails and some closed roads. Peter and I missed a turn and did a "bonus climb" of about 400 feet before we convinced ourselves that we weren't on the route anymore. Joe got a flat out on the course somewhere so he and Rick got to the rest stop at mile 71 shortly after Peter and I did.
The final rest stop at mile 85 was at the top of another hill near Uvas Reservoir where the PhotoCrazy photographer was. Here they had another interesting food for a rest stop: tortilla (lavash?) roll-ups which were pretty tasty. Usually at this point I completely lose my appetite and resort to the Cliff Shot but I still felt pretty good so I ate some solid food as well as the Cliff Shot.
It was starting to get pretty windy by this time and some folks were dreading the rest of the ride but it actually went really fast over smooth, wide roads back to the finish. The meal at the end of the ride was baked chicken (ugh!) with Cesar salad and baked beans and ice cream. I'm not sure who thinks of these things - I would rather have had nachos or chili!
Total distance: 103 miles
Average speed 15.7 mph
Total climbing 4,400 feet - per web site
February 17, 2003 Diablo Junction 23 miles Junction Time: 41’27”
OK, now that I’ve bonded with my Klein and shown him where we’ll be doing most of our riding, I wanted to see what he felt like on a hard effort. It was President’s Day Monday and I had the day off from work so I set off for a morning ride up to the Junction. It was still cold and I had on full winter gear so it wasn’t an all-out effort but I did push it and I almost got a top-10 of all time ride!
I like this bike.
February 15, 2003 Diablo Summit 38 miles
My first real ride on Mike had to be special – it had to be to the summit. It was sweet riding the road I’ve ridden over 500 times for the first time on my new bike. Light, stiff, responsive and SO good looking! Made it up the summit wall with no troubles; on my steel Eddy Merckx I would sometimes bail out and have to walk part of the way up. I’m glad I got that 27 tooth low gear now – I was worried it would be too low but I actually think I’ll ride faster times with it since I can recover faster from short bursts of high intensity. I didn’t ride for time, I rode for the bonding experience but I did notice that my time was respectable despite not even trying very hard and riding in full cold-weather gear.
Near the summit, Peter rode up next to me and immediately noticed the new bike but I made him promise to keep the secret until the Tierra Bella century which would be the first official debut.
September 17, 2002 – Bought a new frame
So I’ve been looking for a new bike and I really want something light but durable, something eye-catchingly beautiful, something that will be comfortable on a century; and I really want Dura Ace and I’ve only got about $2,000. Those are some pretty ambitious goals for my budget.
In my search I find some “store brand” titanium bikes that I could probably live with but they aren’t very pretty and they have no brand appeal but they do look like they would meet my performance requirements and probably not bust my bank account. Or if I lowered my gruppo requirements to allow Ultegra I could even get a low-end Litespeed without going too far over budget. Even the off-the-shelf aluminum bikes looked to be too expensive for a Dura Ace build-up at my target price. I was sure I didn’t want a steel frame because for it to be as light as I wanted it would have to be too fragile or too expensive (or both). The carbon fiber Treks are very popular but I’ve never ridden one and I don’t think I would really get the kind of feel I want from carbon fiber.
I allowed one more concession to my budget – I decided to consider second-hand bikes. I must have looked at over a thousand bikes and frames on eBay before I really found one that would merit “dream bike” status. I found a Klein Quantum Pro frameset that was exactly the right size and it was beautiful. It was a 1998 model that had been stored in this guy’s rec room for 3 years and had never been built up. He was asking $525 for it and I found out it sold for $1600 new. He was in Marin county about 40 miles away so I withdrew some cash from my bank account and took a road trip.
He wasn’t lying, it was a beautiful, perfect frame and I bought it on the spot. My plan was to buy a component here and a component there at the best price I could find on eBay or wherever I could score the best deal. I figured it would take me about 6 months to have a complete bike and it would be my secret project. The plan worked perfectly – by February I had my complete Dura Ace dream bike at a total cost (including taxes, shipping costs etc) of $2264 which is just a little over half of what the bike would have cost new in 1998. I named him Mike (Mike Line = My Klein) and took him on his first ride up to the summit of Mt. Diablo (in secret) on February 15th.
Thanks to Mike and Bruno at Chain Reaction in Los Altos for the finishing touches (chain and front derailleur, the only parts I didn't put on myself). Check them out at www.ChainReaction.com . Mike is one of the owners and he has an "Almost Daily Diary" on the web page that was the model for my bike blog... except he's way better at it than I am and he doesn't have to use a free blogger service and he can include more photos and stuff like that.
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