Junction Ride

Getting dark early so I drove to the Church.

















Big Group from work today - eight of us, although Jeff and Jon got a late start. Six of us left the Gate together including new guy Collin. We all stayed together until the Bump where I went on my customary solo flyer. I got a pretty good gap on everybody and stayed ahead until the Ranches where Brad caught me. JB had his Atlantis and pannier so that was a little bit of a handicap. There are quite a few gravel sections on NGR now.


















By Chainbuster everyone had passed me and there was no zip in my legs. When I got to the Ranger House though, I saw Collin flare out so I poured on some gas and came around him before the line - I guess he misjudged the finish.

Feeling like the end of the season.

Summit - 36 miles

JB, Rick, and yours truly. There was a strong Santa Ana type wind from the east. We were reasonably sure Summit Road would be open, but none of us checked.

Roadkill Siting: Two snakes and a stick that looked like a dead snake - I called it a "snick".

Rick was strong from his epic Yosemite 2-day. I put on a series of accelerations but didn't stay away from him for long. JB must have been asleep because he wasn't even close to us. There are about a half dozen gravel bits where new culverts have been layed but they're easy to ride over. Rick passed me for the final time near Son of Chainbuster and stayed away to put about a minute on me in GC.

Junction Restrooms

Summit Road is all new from about a mile past the Junction - near Lookout Point Picnic Area. It's all striped and completely done. Below that there are a few asphalt patches but it's in very good shape.



















More wind as we climbed higher and I started to fade at Juniper so Rick and JB both demolished me.




















Not good for photos up there because of wildfire smoke and other smog. I think I did about 83 minutes to the Summit; if winds are like this next Sunday there won't be any new records set.




















Coming down the road was so smooth it was eerie - almost like I was sliding instead of rolling.

NGR-SGR: 36 miles

Today's contestants: Me, Rick, JB. I ate a banana on the way there and we started right on time. JB was going to the A's game so he said he would only do a short one. We didn't know if Summit Road would be open yet. Rick's doing an epic ride to Yosemite this week and he's training for the Challenge so he's in serious mode. Cool this morning, just enough for arm warmers.

















Before the Dumpster Gate, two guys (who we later found out were from Orinda) passed us while we were still at a conversational pace. One guy had a Death Ride jacket on and they appeared to be about our level so we kept close behind them. JB and Rick pounced on the Bump and passed one of the guys but the Death Ride guy hammered out in front and eventually was the first to the Junction. I never caught the second Orinda guy but we were all within two minutes of each other at the line.


















This is the rangers' way of saying, "don't even think about it." Summit Road is closed to all traffic. JB turned around right away and after a little lounging, Rick and I went down SGR. We'd just been talking about how we weren't as gonzo on our descents as we used to be, and Rick said he'd ridden the last few Challenges with injuries so we planned on a leisurely descent this morning but as soon as a Pegasus guy passed us Rick's speed increased markedly. Not gonzo, just less leisurely. Toward the bottom I started looking for people coming up that we could pass after we turned around.

Wildlife Encounter: A mommy deer and two baby deers.

For the first couple miles we didn't find anybody to pass, but then suddenly we picked off about seven in a row. I kept my speed up and then Rick rode behind me for a while. Coming up past the Helicopter Pad I thought he was going to attack but I managed to stay on his wheel. Then I decided I'd try to hold on for a sprint. Since it was windy I figured I'd go at the last 50 meters and that worked out just right and I had a good one to win.

Junction from Work - 32 miles

Boy, everything went wrong today. First I got a flat on my way in to work. Walked the rest of the way in since I was so close and fixed the flat at lunch. Edgardo had a broken spoke that I also tried to replace at lunch, but his new spoke didn't fit his old nipple so I couldn't. He got another one though so JB fixed it after work and got his rear wheel semi-true and we left the parking lot about 5:30. Got out to North Gate Road before the Gate and he caught his shoelace in his chain and ripped it right off his shoe. While he stopped to fix that he noticed that his front tire was flat. While he was fixing the tire, Edgardo came by so I started up with him - crossed the Gate line at ten minutes before 6 o'clock. After a while, Edgardo's wheel got crooked in his frame, like his quick release was too loose or something so I stopped and fixed that for him, and then JB finally came by.























So now JB and I sped up and soon passed a whole bunch of folks. He hasn't ridden for a couple weeks so I thought I might have an advantage and I pressed him a little bit which seemed to irritate him. Never got a gap I could hold onto though and at Chainbuster he attacked on the inside and smoked me.

Bugs were really bad at the Junction. There were several places where NGR is all chewed up with gravel, and Summit Road is still closed to everybody including bikes. Getting dark earlier now; I'm going to have to start driving in or else it'll be dark on my way home.

One more flat at the end of the ride just to make my day perfect.

Diablo Junction, down and back up the Easy Side - 36 miles

Cold this morning but I couldn't find my arm warmers and I remembered being way over dressed last Saturday so I just went out in shorts and short sleeves. JB went home from work sick yesterday so I wasn't surprised that he wasn't at the Gate. Rick and I started up at about 8:05. He's doing the Diablo Challenge again this year so there was no question we'd be doing the Summit today.

We passed the Berkeley couple in Grizzly Peak jerseys below the Bump. They're up here a couple times a month and they usually park down on Walnut. I remember talking to the guy at the Junction about his new titanium Eddy Merckx when he bought it six years ago. His riding partner has a roadified MTB and she's not as fast but they always stay together.

A little farther up we passed a guy with triathlon handlebars on his bike. He stayed with us for a while and then on a flattish section he passed us back. Rick wanted to chase him down right away but I figured he was just testing out his aero position. We caught him as soon as the grade increased and then we put a big gap into him.

Then Rick and I stayed together until I time trialed to a solo victory at 43m40s. Lots of riders up there but we were all surprised to find Summit Road was closed! In case there were any doubt, the ranger put cones across the entire width of the road and the barrier up a little ways was down as well. Ranger said they wanted to be open for Labor Day but now they were a little behind schedule. One guy with a cyclocross bike asked if it was OK at his own risk and the ranger said no - only on the bike-legal off road trails.

The fog was thick at the Junction and it was going to be a cold descent, so Rick and I went down South Gate kind of slow but we froze anyway. We turned around at the tire poppers and headed straight back up.


















Wildlife Encounter: A herd of wild turkeys and a tarantula.

















After a bit we saw the Grizzly Peak guy come down and he turned around at the tire poppers also and started chasing us. We held a regular pace and pretty soon he passed us. I stayed on his wheel for a while but then waited for Rick to catch up. Then Rick and I caught him again and we were all together for a while before Rick faded. Grizzly was setting a fast tempo and every time I thought I would have to drop off he slowed down just enough for me to stay on his wheel, then he dropped me just before the Junction. Easy side time: 34m40s. We talked for a while and I introduced myself to Grizzly guy who said his name was Steve; it'll be nice to offer a personal greeting next time I see him.

On the way down, Rick gave me one of the all-time great lead-outs for a sprint up the Dips.

Diablo Junction with a Newb

Today our young intern at work decided to come up the mountain with us. He'll be a sophomore at Davis in a few weeks and he has a double-sprung mountain bike. I rode him out to the Gate; Adam hooked up with Jason a little later and they met us about a mile below the Bump. I stayed with the newb and gave him advice and made sure he didn't quit and turn around. He was pretty strong up until the Bump and then he started to flare out. After that he said his legs were burning and his lower back hurt so I figured he was having a good ride. Finally when we got past the Ranger House and could see the finish line I told him to sprint and he left it all on the road and put in a good one. He said it was fun and he should have come out earlier but had been intimidated by all our cool road bikes. He especially liked seeing the tarantula.


















Mark A. came up to the Junction shortly later and told us about cyclocross racing he had done and the season to come. He said a lot of those cyclocross guys are riding stupid-light, expensive road bike stuff on the cross courses including one guy who had Mario Cipollini's old wheels from the Giro (I think he said the guy was a Specialized rep).

Rick and I are doing Foxy's Fall Century on October 15th so if any readers are too, be sure to give me a shout out.

Diablo Summit!

Had another flat this morning (rear of course) so I got a late start. Chased this guy in a white jersery for a while but caught him easily when the grade increased.


















Rick didn't wait for me and JB's on vacation so I did a solo ride to the Junction where Rick was waiting for me. Pretty uneventful 44 minute ride but it was a lot warmer than I thought it was going to be. It was cold when I got dressed so I was sweating all the way up in my tights and long sleeve jersey. Also saw a guy with a nice Quantum Race there.

The "ROAD CLOSED" sign on Summit Road was gone so Rick and I decided we had to ride it. There were a few sections of packed gravel that were completely rideable and there were still a lot of loose gravel rocks scattered around the other parts, but every inch above Juniper was brand new pavement. It even still stunk of hot asphalt but it sure was nice to ride on.

I took this shot from the west end of the Lower Parking Lot, you can see most of the wall and watch riders struggle up it from here.

The parking lots didn't get repaved.

Water is available at the Summit.

And on the way back down I got ANOTHER freakin flat - same rear tire but it wasn't a failed patch... probably some of that gravel in the lower part of Summit Road... worth it though. Rick had never seen anyone use a CO2 to fix a flat before and he was kind of surprised how fast it was. He said "That's it?" Had a great finishing sprint at the dips this morning too.

Not too many cars up here this morning.

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Diablo Junction from Work - 31 miles

Hot and buggy tonight; way hotter than I thought it was going to be.

The moon always looks bigger in real life than it does in photos.

Diablo Junction plus South Gate Road 32 miles

JB, Rick, and I took off from the Gate right on time. I told them I had to be home by 10 o'clock so I could take my family to the company picnic and we decided there'd be no dinking around.

I was riding half blind because I broke the prescription insert on my Bolle sunglasses and was riding with no vision correction. On Wednesday I wore my prescription bifocals but they have the little nose pad that lets wind into my eyes and that's about as bad as not being able to see anyway. So I was wearing my Bolles without the insert; I could see well enough that I wasn't being dangerous, but I didn't spot the pot holes as earlier as I might have otherwise, and I couldn't tell the difference between a squirrel and a bunny when they ran across the road.

Wildlife Encounter: A squirrel and a bunny, but I couldn't tell which was which.

The nice thing about not having the insert was that my peripheral vision was much better since I didn't have that extra frame in the way. I started thinking seriously about Lazik, but haven't convinced myself to do it yet. And since my insert prescription is "single vision" it's easier to read my computer and HRM without them. Of course it's about impossible to read any road signs but I could practically ride this ride blindfolded.

JB did a couple of intervals and then complained about them. He got a bit ahead of Rick and me but then he faded and Rick attacked. I stayed with Rick for a while and then he gapped me but I maintained the gap to about 30 seconds and JB faded even more. So 44m to Junction and then we went down the Easy Side and through the residential areas back to Walnut Creek.

Back at home, I pulled down my swarm of tubes that needed to be patched. A Rema patch kit comes with 6 circle patches and 1 rectangular patch and I like to use them all at once so the glue doesn't get dried up. So I had six road tubes and one MTB tube and I got to work. My daughter helped me find a couple of leaks with the under water detection method, she was really pleased with herself about that - made me proud too. The MTB tube was too far gone... the rubber was old and cracked so we junked that one. Out of the six road tubes I got good patches on five of them and that's better than I usually do. One of those five though had a second leak so I used the big rectangular patch on it and got that one patched, but then there was another leak between the two patches so I gave up on that one too. So out of seven tubes, I got four reusable ones and some quality time with the kid.

Diablo Junction - 16 miles


I had a family activity this morning so I didn’t ride in to work. Today was the first day I’d commuted by car in two months, and the first day I drove my bike on my car to the Mountain since last October. That’s not too shabby of a streak.

Absolutely perfect weather tonight – warm and calm. JB and Adam met me at the Church. We paused for a couple minutes at the Gate and I saw my neighbor Jim go by. We started off just afterwards and JB was on FIRE. I hung on his wheel easily for a couple miles and we passed Jim again but this time he stayed with us. Adam was enjoying watching this from behind. I finally sat up near the bottom of the Bump and quickly lost contact with all of them.

So then I did a regular pace, mostly working on strength; I should probably do more intervals. I passed a few people and finished up in 43m40s. Bugs were bad at the Junction so we didn’t hang around long. JB had a PB for the year so he volunteered to buy beer at Round Table. Saw Douglas again at the Junction; he said today he stopped to pick up every piece of litter he saw on the way up and enjoyed all the stops and felt good about doing his bit too. Summit Road is still closed but I saw one guy ride up without getting hassled. I think as long as the construction crew has finished for the day the rangers don't care if the bikes go up but I don't think it's good riding.

On the way down we hooked up with Amanda and Edgardo and all descended together. Amanda is a surprisingly good descender for the little time she’s been doing this; we weren’t going gonzo but way faster than most rookies would dare go. One guy passed us but didn’t move off the front so we just followed him, then when we got to Moss Landing I got to the front and drove it and he was on my wheel and then sprinted at the dips just like I always do with Rick. He enjoyed that but I had fun too.

Diablo Bump de Bump – 35 miles

43m30s up NGR and 35m30s up the Easy Side.

Met up with JB and Rick on North Gate Road right on time.

Wildlife Encounter: Three coyotes playing chasing games with each other down by the trees in that big cow pasture on the west side of the road past the Dips.

I thought we were taking it pretty easy and I purposefully didn’t do any intervals hoping I could keep everything together til the Junction. We were actually making decent time though and passed up quite a few other riders on the way there. About half way up Rick said we should go SGR and back up and that’s what I was thinking too. I didn’t get to ride Wednesday because of a school function so I was looking forward to an extra climb.

Wildlife Encounter: More coyotes on the lawn of the Ranger House.

Summit Road is still closed to all traffic, but the ranger there told us they don’t go up there looking for anybody. She said they should be all done by Labor Day weekend and figured that would be a very busy time in the Park, but that it was going to be very nice. It’ll certainly be a welcome change to ride on pavement that isn’t full of pot holes.

Descending SGR was uneventful except for the hippy guy who cheered us on like we were in the last 10 minutes of an ultra marathon. There was also a very large father and son group picnic going on so cars were parked along side the road for a big stretch. We turned around at the Tire Poppers and started back up right away. Two guys passed us right at the start but we had a good excuse. One guy was really fast but the other guy in sort of a French tricolor jersey slowed down a bit after the Kiosk and I caught him and used him as a pacer for a while. I cracked after a while though and then JB and Rick caught and passed me. Then there was a final push for the line and JB smoked us all.







This is Mia Café in Encina Grande: they make a nice cuppa and you can sit inside or outside. They’re always happy to see us in there.



And this is Encina Bicycles right next door: small shop but really good folks, especially the mechanics.

Solo to the Junction

Another Flat! Well that makes three so my run of bad luck should be over. First the Klein’s rear tire during the Wednesday night ride a week and a half ago, then my front tubular on the Merckx Friday morning on the way to work (REALLY old tubular), then the Klein’s rear was flat this morning on the hook. Two out of the three happened at (or very near) home and didn’t require on the road repairs – that’s good, right? So this particular flat appeared to be related to the Wednesday night flat… same tire same symptoms (slow leak). This time I pulled the tire all the way off and inspected it under bright light… sure enough, a tiny metal shard was barely poking through and I managed to work it out from the outside. Back in business just in time to make the Gate at eight.

Wildlife Encounter: Two young deer near the wooded area below the Gate. Looked like they had recently been given their walking papers by mama doe. They watched me go by but didn’t panic.

JB was supposed to show, Rick was a maybe, they both DNSed. I figured JB might be a little late so I rode hard enough to make him work to catch me but easy enough that I’d be fresh if he did. Didn’t really see too many people on the way up, which was surprising because the temperature was mild and there was no wind at all.

I forgot my camera this morning so I looked around at all the images I might want to capture later – there are millions of them. After Chainbuster I caught up to a woman who appeared to be struggling but enjoying herself. She asked me to tell her girlfriends up ahead that she was “still alive”. I agreed to do so and told her she only had about ¾ mile to go. Shortly after that her friends came back down to meet her and one of them turned around to go up again with her.

Wildlife Encounter: Two coyotes on the lawn at the Ranger House. They were right next to the road when I went by and they watched me with just a hint of apprehension – when I circled around they moved farther away. I kept watching them from my bike for a few minutes and when the two women came around the turn I pointed out the coyotes and they really got a kick out of seeing them.

At the Junction a couple guys came down from the Summit and said the road was just rideable. I had a birthday party to go to (Rick and Nicole’s son) so I didn’t hang around long but wished I could have done SGR and back up because the weather was just perfect.

Diablo Junctioni after Work

Big group from the office today. All together on the road to the Gate were your author, Adam, JB, Randall, Amanda (Blitz), and first timer Laura.



















Nobody was in much of a hurry at the start and things stayed together for a while. Then Adam and JB and I pulled ahead. Before the Bump they put on the hurt and I sat up. Just after that I caught up with blog reader Douglas; he was the guy who got the parking ticket last Saturday at the South Gate Tire Poppers. We rode at a conversational pace and I enjoyed that because it was too hot to put in a big effort. Douglas first rode Mt. Diablo as a kid in the '60s on a Schwinn Varsity! We discussed his custom Waterford - a very nice TIG welded steel frame that had most of the look of a classic steel bike but with some sensible concessions to newer standards like a carbon fork and threadless headset; all Campy Record too with a triple crank and tight cluster.

I buggered up my stopwatch buttons so I don't know my Junction time. The bugs were really bad at the Shack, but I hung around for a while anyway. Douglas also told me a story he heard (confirmed by a ranger) that a rider recently got a $300 ticket for being in the Park too early. The Park officially opens at 8 o'clock in the morning and unofficially 7am is OK - I don't know how early the poor guy with the ticket was.




Wildlife Encounter: Coyote - a big one between the Ranger House and Chainbuster. He was on the side of the road but saw me right away. I stopped to watch him but then he ran up the hill into some tall grass.

Diablo Junction plus down and back up the Easy Side

Got a late start today and then got into a bit of a screaming match with a bad driver on Bancroft. Crossed the Gate about eight minutes late but I had seen Rick's car so I called him to tell him I was there and he pulled over to wait for me at Moss Landing. I passed one guy on my way to Rick and he tried to hang on for a while and then I slowed down a bit when I caught Rick so the guy stayed with us for a while but backed off before the Bump. Then after the Bump I thought he was going to catch up again, but it was a different guy with a Pegasus jersey who blew right by us.

Really perfect bike riding weather today and there were dozens of riders out on their road bikes. Rick felt good and rode away from me with a couple miles to go and beat me to the Junction by about a minute.

We relaxed at the Junction for quite a while and talked with other riders up there. One of them recognized me and admitted to being a blog reader! He introduced himself as Mike and said he started reading two years ago (!) and that I had even influenced him to buy a road bike. He also asked about some of the location names I use and we had a good talk. BTW, I added a link to my Location Names page over there on the right, check it out... I'm including Google Earth coordinates for them as well when I have time to play around.

Another guy there had a new hybrid bike and wanted to ride some "flat trails". He had ridden part way up North Gate Road and then hitchiked a ride with some landscape workers the rest of the way. He asked me about dirt trails to ride and I told him there really weren't any flat dirt trails up here but told him how to get to Wall Point. I tried not to be discouraging but I sensed he had bitten off a little too much - saw him later back at the bottom of North Gate again so I think he got the message. He was a friendly guy who seemed interested in the conversation about my blog so he'll probably be checking in - if you need some info on flat trails around the area drop me an e-mail - there are lots of them around, but they aren't on the mountain.

Summit Road was completely closed for road work so Rick suggested Bump de Bump. I thought that was a great idea so down we went. Mike and his riding buddy went down SGR also. At the tire poppers we turned around. Mike's buddy's car was parked just downhill from the Boundary Gate and he had a $60 ticket on his windshield! The cars parked just uphill from the gate had no tickets. So I hope someone who reads this avoids getting a ticket in the future. Really, you Easy Side riders ought to be parking down at the Athenian School anyway.

There were even more South Gate riders coming up now so we got to pass a lot of them. Rick got a new little pocket digicam for his birthday so we took a few photos of each other too. I took a flyer near the Heliport and managed to stay clear of Rick and another guy who was chasing us the rest of the way to the Junction - beating Rick by about 30 seconds. So 43 minutes up NGR and 38 minutes up SGR.


















Product Review: Specialized Mondo Pro Tire Paid $40 for this tire at Encina because I didn't have time to wait for a mail order. Plus only one of my old tires was bad (trashed rear, moved old front to rear and put the new Mondo Pro on the front) so that cut back on any internet savings. This tire is one level below Specialized's top road tire, the Mondo S-Works that is about $10 more. The Pro has a 120 tpi nylon casing made in Asia and the S-Works is 127 tpi made in France. I'm getting away from the colored tires trend and I really like the all black stealth look of this tire - it does have a big "SPECIALIZED PRO" NASCAR-type logo on one side that's a little over the top; maybe you'll like it, I don't. When you look up product reviews on tires you'll usually find a bunch of guys who are trying to justify how much they spent by parroting marketing hype, and a bunch of reviewers that got five flats in three miles and think the tires are too flat-prone. In my experience, tires should be rated for 1 - handling, 2 - longevity, 3 - cost, and 4 - looks. Lightweight tires won't last as long as tires designed for longer wear, but anybody who gets that many flats is either a poor rider, rides on terrible roads, or is just plain unlucky. So most tire reviews are just hooey; my reviews are the exception. This tire handles really well around corners and I feel confident pushing it through downhill sweeping corners... that's my primary concern with tires. I've got about a hundred miles on it now and there are no tread cuts like you might see with a super soft rubber compound that will wear out too fast. It costs a little more than my usual tire budget of $35 per, but I spent it at my LBS so that's $5 of good will well spent. I give this tire a 9 on the Diablo Scott 10-point product scoring system.

Le apres ride Jamba.

Junction from Work - 33 miles




JB is on vacation, Amanda and Randall were riding together, so I got a head start on Adam. Nice weather... not too hot, a little windy. Hard to get motivated.

Then I saw a rabbit to chase - a guy with a white jersey. I must be faster than him because I hadn't seen him until now, but once he made me he kept a constant gap all the way past the Bump. I didn't pass him until after the Upper Washout where he relaxed a bit. Then just as I was starting to catch two more guys, Adam showed up and blew right by me and then he blew by the two guys also.

After Adam got to the Junction he circled back to pick me up and then about 300 meters from the line my rear tire went flat. Not a blow out, it just suddenly got soft so I pulled over at a shady spot and changed the tube. Adam watched as the guys we'd passed came by again.

I hung around the Junction for a long time, enjoying the late summer air but the bugs started to get bad and then I turned around.

Quickie Junction Ride - 25 miles

Me, JB, and Rick

JB went to the A's game yesterday so I was hoping he'd feel a little off his game today, but no such luck. Actually I was the slowest one to the Junction and that wasn't a good feeling.

After the Junction we decided to ride up Summit Road a ways to check on the re-paving work. There were quite a few sections where there was nothiing but gravel. No one was stopping any riders from continuing, but it wouldn't be kind to your tires and descending would be pretty dicey. We went up less than a mile and then turned around.

Quickie Junction Ride - 23 miles

JB came over to my house at 7:30 to watch Floyd's TdF ITT. I had it TiVo'ed so I paused the DVR when FL got in the start box and then when he came over I hit play so we were about 15 minutes behind real time which allowed us to FF through the commercials. It was a hot morning already and I drank a half gallon of ice water before we finally left and JB didn't have anything. I figured he would suffer and then I'd beat him to the Junction but it didn't happen.

We started up the Mountain and soon found out that the "Pat Caurant Memorial Ride" was happening at the same time. Pat was a local racer who died on the House of Pain ride a few weeks ago. Adam sort of knew him - he was on Team Spine

Wildlife Encounter: A fast lizard, a swallowtail butterfly (the heat really brings them out), and a cute little bunny.

I hadn't paid any attention to the time but I had promised DW to be back by 10:45 and didn't think that would be any issue at all. It was absolutely the hottest Saturday morning ride I've ever done and then I realized it was partly because we didn't start until 9:30 because of the Tour. Adam was on the Memorial Ride so we saw him at the Junction and he mentioned that the time was 10:24 and then I realized I was going to be late getting back home so I screamed down the hill and sprinted all the way home and just for fun I timed myself at 33 minutes. I'm sure that's a PB. No time to take any photos though.

Got up to 111°F today in Concord - the hottest day in recorded history.

Junction from Work

Adam said a friend of a friend that he'd met recently wanted to come up North Gate with us today but Adam wanted to do a fast ride so I agreed to take the new guy up and make sure he got there. He was supposed to be a good athlete but new to biking. So we connected with Jason out on Walnut Avenue and rode to the Gate together. We were kind of concerned because he seemed to have trouble keeping up on the road out there. Turned out he just wasn't comfortable riding close together.

JB had gotten a head start and then Adam dropped Jason and me after about a mile. We talked a little but he was going pretty hard for a newb. I was sure he'd have trouble with the Bump so I dropped back a little bit and let him ride his own ride but he didn't have any trouble at all. He even waited for me around the bend at the top.

After that he poured it on and dropped me again! That was a little embarassing but what the heck, he'll be getting good at this. It was pretty hot and I think I was kind of dehydrated because my pulse was high even though I didn't think I was working that hard. Plus today was the day Floyd Landis cracked in the Alps so that was depressing. Anyway, Jason did 42+ and I did 46+. There was a sign saying Summit Road was closed but there didn't seem to be much construction going on - a few places where they had put in some new drainage components to keep the roads from washing out again, some spilled gravel and the like, but nothing that tears up the pavement yet.

Adam and Jason went down South Gate to their homes and I went down North Gate solo. Just before the Bump I came across a woman that I'd seen at the Junction with a flat tire. I offered her a tube but she said she was with a friend who could help, but the friend wasn't there so I started to help anyway. She said that it was her back tire and when it flatted it made a really loud noise. I didn't think of it right away but she was probably riding her brakes the whole way and had a hot tire blow-off. Then her friend came up and helped her so I took off again. Later I wished I had warned them both about how to prevent that. Only happened to me once, but that was enough!

Cougar Mountain Classic - just as a spectator

Went with dear daughter who enjoyed the bouncy houses more than the racing. I'd never been to Sears' Point raceway before even though I've driven by it hundreds of times.

The race course is really interesting. I did most of my viewing from the main grandstand which is the long white rectangle near the middle of the photo. Just past there, the riders (going from left to right) make a left turn and go up a hill that is about as steep as the Summit Wall! I didn't see anyone climbing it in the saddle, it looked really tough.

Most of the racing on Sunday was MTB but there was also a roadie endurance team event that was kind of interesting. This is the transition zone and the finishing rider had to dismount before the first line, pass off a transponder(?) to the starting team member, who then had to run past the second line before mounting his/her bike. I think the laps were 2.5 miles and they were generally about 7.5 minutes each. I heard one guy say that three laps per rider seemed to be the magic number. It was a 6-hour event and there weren't that many teams so mostly it was single riders or small groups going by. Would have been more interesting with a couple hundred people on the track at the same time. The course itself was very interesting (pretty much the same as for car or motorcycle racing) and there was a tail wind through the start/finish.

There were also some kiddie events like a bicycle obstacle course and short course races - This is the smallest Colnago I've ever seen - lucky kid.

Quickie Ride to Junction

A mile from my house, I see my long-time friend through the buildings and trees.

I was the first one to the Gate, so I decided to go up and take some photos.


Absolutely no wind today... not even the slightest breeze.

Usually this doesn't say "HIGH" unless it's windy AND hot.


They put up this sign a couple years ago. I really like it. I never noticed before I took this photo that the sign is in the shape of the Mount Diablo... I thought it was just a generic mountain. On the back it says "THANK YOU FOR COMING".

This ranch is just up from the Gate called "Arroyo Del Cerro" (Stream of the Hill). I always wonder about the windmill back there; I don't think I've ever seen it turning.

While I was taking photos, this guy rode by so I took his too.

This is the loading dock where the Diablo cattle begin their final voyage. Sometimes there are hundreds of cows here wailing with fear.


Another view from the Lower Dip.


Top of the Lower Dip (closer to Gate), near Arroyo del Cerro.





This is the Upper Dip. I love to sprint up these two little climbs on the way down after a ride.

This gate leads to some trails that I think go to Castle Rock Park, but they also keep cattle in here so they ask folks to keep it closed. There's a pretty good rappoir between ranchers and trail users.

After my photo shoot I went back to the Gate and met up with JB and Rick. We started off a little slow and discussed recent Tour de France events. JB had been to some kind of exhibit of the fire arts in Oakland last night so he had some stories. I was feeling pretty good and did a little solo breakaway past Moss Landing and then let them catch up to me again.

We stayed together through the Bump and I figured we were being a little nice to Rick who's out of condition recently. Then after Chainbuster, JB poured some gas on the fire and I hung with him until the Ranger House but couldn't keep up past that. I thought I was wearing him down and would be able to out sprint him but it never came to that. Junction time = 45m. Then I went home and got ready for the Chuck E. Cheese bday party.