2019 SMR 21

JB's in Iowa, so I did a solo to Summit non-stop.  I figured I might be able to get a good Gate-Summit time, so I made a plan to break 90 minutes.

1.  48 minutes to Junction.  This would mean 8 minute splits... pretty sure that wouldn't be a problem.

2.  66 minutes to Juniper.  I wasn't sure how much of an effort this would be, or if I would be able to judge the effort,  but well within my other Strava times.

3.  85 minutes to Lower Lot.  I figured this would give me some contingency, and even a short break if I needed it.

The plan went almost perfectly.  It was a little windier than I was thinking but I was within a minute of all the splits on NGR; I even slowed down a hair for the Ranches to not get ahead of myself.  I was about a minute behind schedule at Juniper but that was my biggest unknown segment - so 67 minutes there.  And 84 minutes at the Lower Lot so I stopped for a Hammergel and to let a couple cars go up The Wall before I started.

Passed'em-Passed-me Ratio:  A whole bunch to zero.  I tried to look extra smooth while I was passing people... the way I always admire smoothness in the folks that pass me.

I didn't want to beat 90 minutes by TOO much, because I figured I might try this again some time and would want to beat today's time - I was aiming for 88 minutes but turned in 87.  Can't be too hard on myself though, it was a good ride.

Wildlife Encounter:  deer, Split 1

This guy just started descending as I went through Junction - so I passed him, and then he shadowed me all the way down.

I gave him multiple opportunities to pass me back but he wouldn't until The Dips were over.

2019 WNR 16

Another Wednesday Night Double Junction.  

I was a little concerned that there would be camper vans and such on the road for the 4th, but only saw one... traffic was good.

It was warm and a little windy - I did my first Junction hard, thinking I could get a good time, and I was on pace for a sub-40 for the first 4 miles, but then faded.  It felt good to fail.  Then my legs were good and rubbery for the social ride the second time up.

Diablo Shoutout to Deadhead Mike! who did two Bump climbs and likes to take selfies with his face in screaming position.  Saw him once on my first descent, and again on my second climb.

JB took a baby step toward getting his Della Santa fixed by Roland's ex-apprentice in Reno... no actual progress though.

2019 SMR 20

Diablo Wife and I went on a sunset kayak voyage last night, so I was dragging this morning.

JB said he was pretty sure he was going to get his Della Santa fixed, but hadn't made any progress on it.  Also said he'd be in Iowa for the next two Saturday Morning Rides, so I will be solo.  He also hadn't found a water bottle to replace the one that got smushed... so he was using a stainless steel thing.

Wildlife Enoucnter:  two deer, flock of turkeys.

Lots of riders on The Mountain - at least a few looked like Death Ride hopefuls.  Also saw a bunch of folks on Sports Basement rental bikes.

JB has an old school sensibility about bicycle design... this nuvo styling rubbed him the wrong way.

Not many things sadder than a roadside memorial.  I saw the aftermath of this tragedy after last week's SMR... car vs moto.

2019 WNR 15

Another Wednesday afternoon with enough disposable time to do a pre-group-ride leg softener.

I did some maintenance after Saturday Morning's ride, including a new chain, so I wanted a shake-down ride to make sure everything was in good nick.  My Bike Mike was tip top and also clean and shiny.

First ride up was windy, with a few sections of severe gusts.  Second ride up had less wind but was a little cooler.  Cool?  It's almost July!

Charlie had a story about how the head band straps on his helmet had broken somehow, so he had a new POC helmet... one of those with the really big vents.  I always thought they looked kind of odd, but I see what other people like in them.  Charlie said it fit the best, and that's more important than style anyway.  Also he said it fits well over his sunglasses, and his visor cap, so those were his other criteria... an experienced helmet shopper.

Special guest riders:  Tanner, Donna, and Kathryn.  I saw JB going up when I was coming down from Junction #1:  new bike status=not.

Shawn calls this JB's "clown bike".

Here's me and Charlie photo-bombing Shawn's attempt to photograph his own shadow.

A happy group.

2019 SMR 19

First ride of summer, days start getting shorter now.  JB announced that he could only do Junction because BASEBALL.  Also he said his water bottle had popped out of the cage on the way to The Gate and then a car ran over it... so his bidon was FUBAR.  

Pretty nice riding up to Junction, but Summit Road was windy with some pretty serious gusts; made me start thinking about fire season already.  It's been kind of hazy too... fires aren't going to make that any better.

I didn't hang around Summit very long, but stopped at Junction on the way back down because I saw Kasters - he was there with his buddy Matt who was training for The Death Ride... said he'd logged more than 50,000 feet of vertical so far for June which is twice what I've done with four Summits and five Junctions.