2020 SMR 32*

 *Sunday morning make up ride.

The Mountain was closed for high fire danger on Friday, looked like it would stay closed on Saturday too, checked Saturday morning and the message still said closed, so I did some bike maintenance and hoped for a Sunday ride.  Found out later that they opened up The Park at about 10am on Saturday.

Anyway, this worked out great, except JB couldn't come. I started a little later and it was good and warm and Diablo was a popular place to be.

The maintenance I did was on the Eddy Merckx - he got a good cleaning, chain lube, new brake pads on the front, and a little extra glue on the tubulars. Usually I wait until the rainy season starts to bring him out of storage, but he was so pretty it seemed a shame to not let him show off a little before the first sloppy wet ride. Also, I've gotten so used to the thick Cinelli Cork handlebar tape on Mike that the thin Fizik tape on Eddy doesn't feel good at all.

I talked to a guy at Junction who had Ultegra Di2 and caliper brakes under the bottom bracket - he said he hated it; always needed adjusting, firmware update, etc. He'd replaced the front derailleur once, the brake/shifters once, and the rear derailleur twice. He also said the shop had to take off his crank just to adjust the rear brakes... yeesh!

Roadkill Report: one opossum and one rat.

Cal Jersey Autoblog

Cal Jersey Autoblog

2020 WNR 29

Charlie said "Let's ride early - could get warm."

Scott said "OK".

Except when I was doing the morning dog walk and weather evaluation it was pretty cold.

By 9:30 though, we were on The Bump and rolling down the arm warmers.

At Junction, Charlie was looking for an add-on so I suggested Juniper and we did that and he clocked a PB on the Junction to Juniper segment. 

Not many people riding today - I told Charlie that there was a mogollón of riders on Saturday, and how much fun that was; he said he prefers riding with less interference.

Roadkill Report: snake.

2020 SMR 31

 Air quality was best in MONTHS! It was also kind of cool and humid, which was kind of weird and felt a little clammy.

Wildlife Encounter: Two deers near Junction, flock of turkeys on The Approach.

Tarantula Tally: ONE near Muir. First one I've seen this season, and I wouldn't have seen it if another rider hadn't stopped to watch and point him out to me.

More riders than I've seen in a long time too - bike riders all over the place. Lots of them seemed like this was their first time... taking lots of selfies, etc.

Seizure recovery update:  I'm probably as close to 100% as I'm going to get. My back doesn't feel like it did before I fractured T12, but it doesn't bother me too much. Still don't have my driver's license back. I have a phone exam with DMV next month, they appear to be backed up and slow; I'm not expecting any problems, but I've stopped being optimistic. I'm doing fine with not driving, but I do miss having the option available.

Who knew arm warmers had a left and right?

Tarantula spotter

Watch out for these guys!

2020 WNR 28

Charlie and I missed some communications this morning - he thought 9:30 and I thought 9:00. So I rode up solo and then he called when I was about at Son of Chainbuster and I said I'd see him at Junction. I estimated what time he'd be there and figured I'd have time to do a Juniper run.

Wildlife Encounter:  deer with pretty big antlers.  Charlie said he saw a coyote and a tarantula.

The smoke still hasn't cleared, but the air quality was too good to stay home.

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2020 SMR 30*

 *make-up ride on Sunday afternoon

Too smoky to do our Saturday Morning Ride - AQI was almost 200.

Today was much better. Just me, so I did some house stuff and then went around 3PM. Hardly any riders up there, it was on the hot side.

Passed'em-Passed'me ratio = 3:0

Started off fast, thinking I'd do a good time. Began to fade half way up The Bump, barely broke 50min and I had nothing left.

I was the only one at Junction, not even a Ranger in the house. Then this young man drove up and parked and looked in the windows. He asked me if this was Junction and I assured him it was. He said his mother had been in a bicycle crash on The Mountain earlier in the day and had been taken to the hospital and the Rangers kept her bike and he was told the bike would be at Junction. So I suggested he call the Park to have somebody meet him there and transfer custody of the bike and that's what he did. He said his mom was a regular Diablo rider named "Samantha" and I told him I know a lot of the regulars but nobody named Samantha. So best wishes for Samantha at John Muir. Still no ranger there when I turned down.

I have yet to see my first tarantula of the season.

DiabloScott blue sky rating = 7.

New riders are always welcome on Diablo - but they should check out MY BLOG first,
for advice on how to make it to Junction at least.

Enjoying that Clavicle Cracker bike turnout!

Looking for Mom's bike.

2020 WNR 27

Last ride of September.  I am ready for winter already.

Oh boy, hot and smoky today. I saw a few people coming down when I was just started up and a couple people at Junction and that was it.  I knew it was going to be hot and smoky and I went anyway... I was not overwhelmed, but it was bad.

At Junction I met a guy from San Diego who took a week off from work to ride from San Diego to Mount Diablo and back... 200 miles per day! He was staying in hotels at night and he had a giant saddle bag with his gear in it... I assumed pajamas and electronics chargers.

Check out my new inversion table  - really gets the kinks out of my spine. I got it for $20 at a garage sale last week.