2013 SMR 02 with Kevin

Friend Kevin from work has been riding recreationally for about a year now and decided he was ready for his first Diablo.  But he lives in Pinole and 8 at the Gate was just too early so I told him I'd do my regular 8 o'clock ride with JB, then turn around and meet him at the Gate at 9:30 and I'd ride up again with him.

So the 8am ride was cold but not as bad as New Year's Day... my toe warmers did a good job.

Wildlife Encounter:  train of turkeys near Clavicle Cracker.



No time to waste at the Junction, turned around to go meet Kevin.  He got a little jumpy though and had started up before I got to the Gate.

The eponym MOSS sneaked up on us from behind.  Captured with my hub-cam.

JB always has one more level of cold weather protection than everybody else.

Kevin on his first ride up NGR.

Compulsory newb pose.

He had been a little nervous all week, not sure if he was really up to it, but he did great.  He wasn't always sure about what gear to be in or when to honk and when to spin easy, but physically he had no problem at all.  He totally loved the whole experience too - the view and the outdoorsy naturalness of it all.  He thinks he can probably get a hall pass for one Diablo ride a month.

2013 SMR 01 New Year's Summit Ride

SMR means Saturday Morning Ride and today's Tuesday... I suspect nobody will complain.

I wasn't the first one to the Summit, but I was probably top 5 judging from how many people I saw coming down.  Left home at 7:00... crack-O-dawn.  I was prepared for really really really cold, but it was only really cold, so the ear jock and neck gator stayed in my pockets until the descent.

Tons of people riding up by 9:30 while I was on my way down.

Hadn't warmed up yet at the Junction.

Little bit of snow in the ditches up above Devil's Elbow.

Just a bit windy at some parts, but mostly it was blue sky and sunny.

Visitor Center's still closed.

Pole Mount for my Contour

Ankle Cam

Click for vicarious experience.

New Year's Day 2013 Summit Ride from Diablo Scott on Vimeo.

2012 SMR 44

Forty-four Saturday Morning rides up Diablo for 2012.  There were 52 Saturdays this year, so that means I was doing something else on 8 of them...  a couple centuries, a few rainy days, at least one sick day.

Kind of late getting started... couldn't find my gloves, last minute adjustments to the rain bike... etc.

Wildlife Encounter:  Turkeys at Diablo Ranch

Got a Contour Pole Mount for Chrismas and put it on Eddy's seat stay facing backwards... neat effect. Caution - swarm o' bees... turn down volume.

2012 SMR 43

Could've used my booties this morning, but it warmed up a little.

Wildlife Encounter:  BOBCAT!  I've seen maybe ten bobcats in twenty years on The Mountain, this one was pretty close but not close enough for a good capture on my headtube cam.

Wildlife Encounter:  Turkeys at the Bump and more at Chainbuster.

Spin class Wednesday - I tried to break the 1,000 Watt barrier three or four times but didn't quite make it.  I did get over 900 several times but the chart doesn't show it.

2012 SMR 42

Contour headtube mount doesn't get in the way of downtube shifters, but you kind of have to reach around it when you want to shift.

I didn't think I'd like these Conti GP 4-Seasons as much as I do... great on wet roads.

33 seconds of good karma:

20121208 from Diablo Scott on Vimeo.

2012 SMR 41

There are two ways to be the fastest one on the Mountain.

1.  Be the fastest.
2.  Be the one.

Didn't see another rider on my whole trip.  Rain wasn't that bad... visibility was OK, wind was only strong in a couple places.  It was an enjoyable ride.

Did see a peloton of PG&E trucks going up - must've been a down line somewhere but I didn't see it.

Then I saw the guy with the gray pickup who works at the Summit going up like every Saturday.

And one station wagon coming down... campers who picked a really bad day for an overnight?

FILE0612 from Diablo Scott on Vimeo.

I'm Sick... but check this out.

On Thanksgiving morning, I was a cycling lead out for the Walnut Creek Turkey Trot - a 5km/10km fun run through down town.

2012 Turkey Trot Walnut Creek from Diablo Scott on Vimeo.

2012 SMR 40

Cold start.  There was even a little snow on The Mountain Friday morning.  Full winter jacket and gloves.

Flatted on the way to the Gate - near that Korean church... called JB and told him not to wait.

Wildlife Encounter:  turkeys near the Dumpster Gate

Only saw about three other riders on the way up.

At Junction, JB's old orthopedic surgeon was there; he remembered JB's clavicle crack and knew the exact place.  He had been a more serious cyclist at one point but was having neck problems so he bought a custom Calfee bamboo bike that allowed him to ride more upright... pretty cool looking geezer dream bike.

Much warmer by the time we went down.

2012 SMR 39

Hard time getting started this morning.

I decided it was a recovery ride when I realized how slow I was going.

Sympathies to anyone who knew Craig Elstins... and please pass turkeys real wide.

Craig Elstins, the 51-year-old Benicia bicyclist who was critically hurt while riding with friends in Martinez Oct. 20, has died in Walnut Creek from his injuries, a family friend said Monday.

Elstins, who was thrown from his Venge bicycle when he encountered a group of turkeys while riding west on Alhambra Valley Road, died about 10:30 a.m. Sunday.

He and about a half-dozen friends often met up for extended Saturday morning rides in the Bay Area.

That morning, they had crossed the Benicia-Martinez Bridge and were traveling along the popularly called “Pig Farm” route, named for the site of a former hog farm that cyclists pass along the way.

As they traveled single file along a steep decline, one cyclist passed the flock, or rafter, of turkeys without incident.

Elstins was following the preceding rider, but just as he was about to pass them the turkeys ran in front of his bicycle, and Elstins fell. Witnesses said the turkeys appeared to escape unhurt.

2012 SMR 38

Cold at the bottom, warm in the middle, windy at the top.

Roadkill Report:  one mouse and two snakes.

2012 SMR 37 Junction

I'm pretty sure summer is over now; must find my tights.

Wildlife Encounter:  Turkeys at the creek and deer at the Bump

Tarantula Tally:  one squished one... tarantulas don't count as road kill.

Watch JB's wheels spin backwards!

One dumbass in a ZipCar passed me around a blind corner at Coyote Flats, despite the fact that I was taking the lane and motioning for him not to come around because I could see a car coming down.  Good thing for everybody it was a small car. 

Went to spin class Wednesday and here's my results... I'm pretty sure this is pitiful; can anyone confirm?

Peak Power

Peak	Power
2 sec	875 W
5 sec	767 W
10 sec	558 W
12 sec	493 W
20 sec	409 W
30 sec	371 W
1:00 min	289 W

2012 SMR 36 Gate-Junction-Kosk-Junction-Gate

Slow spin up to the Junction... I half convinced myself I'd go for a Strava segment PR somewhere but the other half over-rode me.  Had to go digging for my knee warmers this morning; it was cold.

Wildlife Encounter:  deer at the creek.

Tarantula Tally:  just one.

From the Kiosk I decided to try for a PR to the Junction:

 Д Mt. Diablo SGR: Kiosk to Junction

but then my battery crapped out with a mile to go and I lost my motivation.  I did do a pretty good time, but without Strave documentation it doesn't count.

2012 SMR 35 Summit

I like to do at least one Summit ride per month.  I like to get it out of the way early.  Today's the first Saturday of October so the plan was in effect.  I told JB about the plan yesterday and he was on board so we did an easy ride to Junction... saving ourselves for the Wall.

Started cool, then got colder.  Diablo Challenge is tomorrow, so not a lot of riders on The Mountain today.

Wildlife Encounter:  Deer on the bump.

I was hoping it'd warm up with time.

Tarantula Tally:  one crawler, quite a few cadavers.

Summit Road was cold and windy.  We continued to ride conservatively, with the specter of the Summit Wall overhead.  It's never quite as bad as I worry about, but I'm always glad I didn't burn too many matches in the lower 3700.

Finally, some editorializing.  I'm kind of a conventional guy when it comes to cycling clothes, but I'm not any kind of a fashion Nazi.  If you want to ride your bike up my Mountain in cowboy boots and a kilt, I say "welcome".  But there is absolutely nothing that you could do to proclaim your dorkiness more loudly than to wear your helmet backwards.  If any of my blog readers recognize this guy- please clue him in.

2012 SMR 34 Junction from Both Sides

Gate was closed when I got there - I guess the cashier overslept or something.  There were about three cars in line but the bikes were going around the side so I did too; a ranger told me that was OK one time.

Wildlife Encounter:  Three deer and a coyote.



JB had enough and I decided to do a Bump d'Bump.  Lots more people on SGR, and it was a lot shadier.

Descent into Fog 20120929 from Diablo Scott on Vimeo.

2012 Veteran's Victory Velo Century

After I met the enthusiastic young ladies at the Junction last month passing out flyers for this ride, I knew I had to do it.  Sentinels of Freedom helps wounded veterans re-integrate into society, gets them training, and helps them find jobs.

The route looked pretty cool - a nice replacement for the defunct Diablo Century.  Starts in San Ramon, goes up the Easy Side, around back to Morgan Territory - and then 55 miles of mostly flat.

MayMyRide really needs better axis formatting.

Put the word out to the health club team and we fielded twelve riders - me and Bob were the only ones who did the full 100.  Bob's a strong, steady rider - perfect for centuries.  I tend to get a little too excited when a pack of fast guys comes by and burn matches that I should be keeping in reserve.  We stayed together sometimes, and split up sometimes, and re-grouped at the rest stops.

Bob

Team Wells Fargo/Kovaris led us out.

I prepared a Ride Management Plan that was a little on the optimistic side:

Mass start after some speech making and flag waving - got going about 15 minutes late.  Finished about 40 minutes later than my "Early Finish" time but mostly kept on track until a sore on my foot started to hurt and the leg cramps started to get bad.  The sore turned out to be a tiny sliver that got irritated from all the commotion.

I thought I had a pretty good plan for electrolytes too, but maybe my cramps have other causes that  electrolytes don't help.  Anyway, GuBrew Electrolyte and Cytomax in the bottles, E-Gel for calories, and three Endurolyte E-Caps at every rest stop.  But by mile 70 I knew it was coming, by mile 80 it was hurting, and by mile 90 I had to stop a couple times in serious pain and shake it off.

Tarantula Tally:  One.

Roadkill Report:  THREE skunks... rather recently separated from their lives and scented oils.  Also, one opossum and one racoon.

Almost all the riders only did the 60 mile route, so by 3 o'clock when I finished most of the after-ride activities and schwag tents were closing down.  Did get a cold veggie burger and a warm beer though!

My Contour GPS camera has a 16GB micro SD card and it lasted for 5 hour of video at the lowest resolution.  I packed four batteries and only used three, so I think a 32GB card 5 batteries is the order to make sure I get a whole century recorded.... I don't like my videos to be too long though so it's a lot of editing, but if a bear runs in front of me I want it on camera.

Friday night I did a general clean up and safety check and determined that my rear tire was worn but still had at least another 100 miles in it so I didn't change it.  When I got home I checked again - wow... I don't think I had 101 miles in it.

I don't know why I can't toss a tire that isn't completely toast.  I've had the spares ready for at least six months waiting for this.

How long should a century video be?  I promise never to be longer than two songs in the soundtrack.  Click below for the helmet cam experience.

2012 Veteran's Victory Velo Century from Diablo Scott on Vimeo.

2012 WNR 18 Bagpiper Guy

Last Wednesday Night Ride of the season.  Coincides with the Worlds, and the last century of the season.

Tarantula Tally:  Three.

And since I'm late posting - here's a shot of the space shuttle Endeavour flying over The Mountain Friday on its way west and on to LA.

2012 SMR 33 Just the Junction

Not nearly so many people on The Mountain today as last weekend.

VeteransVictoryVelo century is next weekend so just a short one for me today.  You should sign up!

Or, you could sponsor me and feel good about that.

Wildlife Encounter:  Two tarantulas, and a guy with a huge camera photographing one of them.

Uppa de Bumppa

Chainbuster

Dudley in da House

Welcome home happy dance from my puppy.

2012 SMR 33 Every Inch of Diablo

Up NGR to Junction, up SR to Summit, down to Tire Poppers, then up SGR to Junction and back down NGR.

Wildlife Encounter:  deer in the trees below the Gate.  Nice looking young buck.

Wildlife Encounter:  another deer ran across the road in front of me near The Bump.  Funny how they never look before they cross, but then they stand there afterwards and check you out.  Somehow evaded the field of view on my head tube camera.

Hundreds of riders enjoying The Mountain today.

2012 WNR 17

Wildlife Encounter:  Two flocks of turkeys and EIGHT (!) tarantulas.

Spooky skies with precip in 'em.

Ranger Carl gives us a shoutout.  He's on Page 1 of every single Diablo segment on Strava.

Tarantula #1 near Son of Chainbuster.

2012 SMR 32

Bump d'Bump

August is over.

Tights, long sleeve jersey, and windbreaker.
Long-fingered gloves wouldn't've been out of place either.

JB drafts through the fog.

Hellooo; is this thing on?