2026 Diablo Day 49 - Wednesday Morning Muir

Chilly this morning, I was not sorry I brought the windbreaker and wore a thermal under my jersey.

Charlie said that last week he did some intervals and saw the highest heart rate he's seen since he got his HRM... he also says he has to limit these excursions into the red zone because HEART, but a trophy is a trophy. My max on Saturday's hard effort was 150bpm - but I held it for quite a while... today my max was 150bpm but only for a couple short segments.

I asked Charlie what the plan was for today and he said Muir, so I said OK, but 50-minutes to Junction then, and then we both had to slow down a little bit in the last 100m to hit the target number.

They were doing some weird construction inside the country club... heavy equipment I didn't recognize, and piping or conduit that didn't make sense. On the way home, we got stuck behind a meat delivery truck that had a hard time making it up the driveway to the place where rich people have events.

Tarantula Tally: 1 crawler... looked like a big one; even the ranger truck stopped to take a photo.

At Muir we saw a guy on a Segway unicycle going up at a good clip and taking video on his phone - looked like he had a helmet cam too.  People be crazy, yo.

Pickup rangers and a photogenic spider

When you see the 4 poles, you're at Muir

The e-unicycle guy

The construction roadblock

The Meat Delivery Truck roadblock

2026 Diablo Day 48 - Saturday Morning Junction

Much cooler than Wednesday. I felt good and opted for a fast Junction.

Wildlife Encounter:  big flock o' turkeys and a deer with cute little horns near the tire poppers.

Roadkill Report:  a deer foot about a half mile below the kiosk... suspiciously close to where Charlie and I smelled something rotten on Wednesday.  I looked for it on the way down so I could get a good photo, but didn't find it.

Fastest Junction time of the year.

I appreciate a good show-off. This guy passed me easily and then
sat up to zip his jersey while still accelerating. 

This looked to be a father-son training ride. Son was impressively skilled and strong, needs a little more saddle time for that pro suplesse, but he could be the next Pogacar.

The deer foot.

Chewed to the bone.

2026 Diablo Day 47 - Wednesday Morning Juniper

Today's the hottest day of a little heat wave we're having, and everybody knew it. Charlie suggested an early start to escape the worst of it, and I agreed.  

I offered a fast Junction or a slow Juniper and he opted for the latter. I suggested a 50 minute Junction pace and that worked out perfectly.

By the time we got to the 1,000 elevation sign, we could feel the cloak of oppression over us... the air was thick and warm and still. Somewhere in the distance, a carcass was putrefying.

Wildlife Encounter:  two deers at Bridal Nook. Didn't get a photo.

Saw a bunch of squished tarantulas, but I only Tally the crawlers after the first one.

Early start for us, late start for schools... I passed a lot of cars.

When I take a photo with Charlie, I try to make myself look taller.

Charlie has no such objective.

2026 Diablo Day 46 - Saturday Morning Juniper

First live tarantula spotting for the year - a few switchbacks before Junction.  I stopped for a close-up.

Didn't see anybody I knew today, but near Tank Road a guy descending yelled "Hey Scott!" and I yelled "Hey!" like I knew who he was.

There were a lot of signs about a trail run, especially near the road crossings; but I didn't see anybody running.  Lots more hikers than usual... maybe it's the tarantulas.

The Junction Ranger Station is all boarded up like they don't even use it anymore. The display window is empty, the door is papered over, nobody is ever there. 

I gave this guy the thumb-extension salutation. He replied with a chin nod.

HEY SCOTT!

2026 Diablo Day 45 - Wednesday Morning Junction

After a short ride Monday I decided I had to fix my squealy brake, so I watched some videos and took a good look at the mechanisms and for the first time in my life I centered hydraulic disk brake calipers. Took me 5 or 6 times to get it right, but when I did they were just perfect.

At St. Tim's I saw a guy with a Trek Travel jersey and told him that I was signed up for the New Zealand package in November. He said he had been on at least three of their deals and was really impressed.

Charlie said he wasn't feeling well enough for a Juniper, so we just did a fast ride to Junction. I did a normal pace until mile 3 when I went hard the rest of the way for a pretty fast time.

At Junction a guy rode up from the North on a Peugeot fixed gear conversion, he was seriously into fixed gears and told us about his setup and his other bikes. He had on the biggest gear I've ever seen on a road fixie. We watched him start up Summit Road with a smooth style and slow cadence covering a lot of ground with every stroke.

I told Garmin my max heart rate was 175.
Then Garmin tells me "This ride was of no fitness benefit"
150 bpm today felt pretty hard.

2026 Diablo Day 44 - Saturday Morning Muir

Beautiful day, had a little extra time, rode a little conservatively and felt good all the way to Muir. I saw Colnago Ted and Tuck next to each other descending Summit Road, but I don't think they were riding together.

I had a Dolly Parton playlist on the Diablo Bike Sound System. What a loss.

The Berkeley Bike Club was on The Mountain today... those are some hard-core folks. They didn't stay in a pack, so I was being passed every few minutes by another one.

My disk brakes are getting a little noisy. The folks at Trek Alamo showed me how to adjust them, but I haven't fiddled with them yet... I guess it's about time to learn; in fact, I should probably get good at it... and tubeless flat fixing too, because the gravel wheels are going back on pretty soon.

This week I received a gift card from a class-action suit against Anthem Blue Cross - the suit claimed they over-charged members. I got an email a few months ago from some lawyer that got my name from somewhere, I checked it out and it was all legit so I said "yeah, I want in", and then I got $120 to spend; not enough for anything really cool, so I ordered a bunch of gels and powders from Hammer Nutrition.

Cal Jersey Autoblog

2026 Diablo Day 43 - Wednesday Morning Junction

After Charlie and I did a fast pace to Juniper last week, I was wiped out the rest of the day, so I asked for some mercy today, and we did a fast pace to Junction only.  It got pretty hot later in the afternoon, so that was another good reason to go light today.

Tarantula Tally: one squished one.

RIP Dolly Parton. I don't have a personal story, but I always admired her ability to maintain that loveable persona no matter how big she got in the entertainment world. I once heard her on an interview show, and she was asked about regrets. She said she was planning to do a duet song with Elvis Presley, but she didn't like the terms his manager put on the deal, so it never happened. She regretted that she let business decisions get in the way of making history.

It was a little windy coming down. I find myself being extra cautious on the descents these days. A little of it is the way my new bike handles; mostly it's my deteriorating skills, nerve, and reaction time.  

I always like to take the outside line around this turn.

Tarantula

We stopped to help this guy, but he didn't need anything.