2026 Diablo Day 12 - Wednesday Morning Junction

At the end of Monday's ride when I encountered Charlie, we decided Wednesday would be a good day to do a Junction together.  Charlie's been travelling and not training his hardest so I figured I could keep up with him, but I was clearly the weaker one.  

Wednesday morning rides might be kind of a nice new-normal... we'll see.

Saw quite a few riders, but nobody I knew.

Wildlife Encounter: turkeys

Roadkill report: snake

On the way down, a vulture flew over my head - I didn't see it, but it cast a big shadow across the road that startled me because I thought it was some kind of ground animal crossing in front of me. My years of experience in these situations kept me from a panic skid.

In the afternoon I attended a webinar by Trek Travel about gravel bike vacations... thinking about a bucket-list trip to New Zealand... it was enticing.

EBMUD laying pipe in my neighborhood.

Charlie joked that the oncoming driver thought Charlie might've put this little bridge over the posted weight limit... but they were probably thinking more about the one-lane warning, so they waited for us to go first.

There are always vultures over this section.

2026 Diablo Day 11 - Monday Morning Junction

HEAT WAVE! Burnin in my soul!  I had some lame excuses for not riding over the weekend, so I made up a reason to ride on Monday.  Pretty quiet up there. Just a bunch of old retired folks.

Roadkill Report:  snake... barely worth mentioning.

Saw Charlie out on a ride on the way home and we got caught up and decided to think about doing a ride together soon.

This is the view you see when it's time to shift into the BIG RING.

 

Hey - is that Charlie on Old Orchard?  YEAH!

2026 Diablo Day 10 - Saturday Morning Junction

 Kevin said "Let's ride!"  so we rode - on a Thursday!

It was a little chilly so I went with tights and long sleeves but no jacket.

We met on DIABLO ROAD and then we RODE DIABLO!

Wildlife Encounter:  bunch of turkeys, two deer, some more turkeys, and a snake.

We were about half way up to the Kiosk when I started to get cramps in my calves... so we stopped and I took off my tights and massaged the legs a little and then took off again.  It was warmer but windy up high.  Poppies and lupines at BBQ Terrace.

At Junction we met Diablo Legend Keith... we talked about old man knees and mechanical shifting.

If I'm being photographed... I'm putting on my game face!

Keith

2026 Diablo Day 9 - Saturday Morning Junction

Last week snow - this week sun and shorts. First ride of the season on my fair-weather bike.  I must've put him away well at the end of last season because he didn't need anything except some air in the tires.  It's always fun to make the mental switch from downtube shifters to brifters.

Lots of cyclists enjoying The Mountain along with me... most of them enjoying it at a faster pace than I was.  Quite a few of them had Berkeley club jerseys on.  Fourteen of them passed me in one segment. I'm getting used to this.

POPPIES at BBQ Terrace  #FirstPoppy

SHORTS IN FEBRUARY!!!

BBQ Terrace is frequently the #FirstPoppy location

EBMUD has been replacing the water line in my street... great entertainment for a retired engineer.

2026 Diablo Day 08 - SGR

Snow on The Mountain means lots of cars driving up to see it. It wasn't terrible traffic but it was more than I really wanted to mix with, so I turned around at the Kiosk. 

Somehow managed to bugger up my camera's SD card too, so today's photo is a snap from the dog park Friday afternoon.

2026 Diablo Day 07 - Saturday Morning Junction

Rain's coming, but this morning was just a little overcast.

Wildlife Encounter: turkeys

Colnago Ted told me at Junction that the "Hole in the Fence" legal matter may yet re-surface. We agreed that the claimant has her head on backwards.

Stopping for a rest before Junction is getting to be a regular accomodation.  Today's rest was at Curry Point.

I tried to engage these ladies in conversation but they weren't interested.

This rider flashed me the "Flying V" hand signal as he passed.

Junction Welcoming Committee

New friend JAGS has been riding Diablo for two years. I gave him some ambassador advice and told him the "Poupou in Heaven" joke.

Colnago Ted was on his Gios and sporting a Campagnolo neck brace.
We talked about the old days before pain and weakness were our constant riding companions.

2026 Diablo Day 06 - Saturday Morning Junction

There was a dense fog warning on my phone this morning, it was pretty thick but it cleared up by 9am. Lots of riders today. I was hoping to see the First Poppy of Spring today, but nothing yet.

There was some kind of volunteer trail crew here today - lots of shovels and rakes and bicycle parking.

Not a fan of helmet cams; the video is too wobbly.

 

2026 Diablo Day 05 - Monday Afternoon Junction

                                          RIP JB

I got the news earlier this week - my Diablo cycling buddy of 35 years died suddenly. I last rode with him on January 10, we had our normal catching up conversation at Junction, his cancer treatment was rough but seemed to be working; and that was the last time I saw him. Then before our next ride he stopped answering my messages, and then another week went by and I was trying to imagine all the reasons that could be while trying not to imagine it was the unthinkable reason. So I did two rides without him, not knowing; and today was the first time I have ridden The Mountain knowing that he would never be there again.

Thirty-five years... hundreds of Diablo rides, thousands of hours together riding wheel-to-wheel, sharing our love of The Mountain and cycling. Our connection ran even deeper than that - we'd both grown up in Iowa, even lived in the same town for a while not knowing each other, but he used to eat at the restaurants I used to work at so chances are pretty good I made him a burrito at least once at some point. We met 15 years later, when through very different paths, we wound up working in adjacent cubicles in the same office, doing essentially the same work for the same company 2,000 miles away from Iowa. We had an instant bond. 

Over those 35 years our lives naturally diverged - and after a while those Saturday Morning Diablo rides were the only times we'd see each other. That was the constant; it took abominable weather or a severe health issue for either of us to miss even one ride. I find some solace in knowing that he cherished this unique relationship as much as I always will.

I intended to ride on Saturday, but I couldn't pull myself together in time - knowing he wouldn't be there. Things are going to be different now so maybe I'll find some new normal, like riding on Mondays. It was a sunny day and warmer than I was expecting.

I had hoped to feel JB's presence there with me while I was grinding up South Gate Road - but instead what I felt was his absence.

Wildlife Encounter:  lots of turkeys

The light hits The Mountain from a different angle in the late morning... the shadows fall a little differently, the wind behaves a little differently.

These guys passed me, and then the last guy just kind of fell over before he got to the turnout lane - I made sure to tell him how dorky that was and that I got it on video.

This guy was in the same group as dorky fall guy - he faked a mechanical problem hoping he'd make my blog - kudos.

Before leaving home, I mixed up my normal water bottle nutrition - a chocolate Perpetuem for the way up, and an orange HEED for the ride home. It was on the way down that I realized I had inadvertently mixed up a bottle of orange Metamucil instead of HEED (I should label my containers)... I swallowed one good slug of warm orange slurry, laughed at my dorkiness, and dumped the rest of it out.




This memorial bench is the last place I talked with JB. There's talk about arranging for a new memorial bench or picnic table for him.

I would be honored if you would watch 

this video memory I made.