2026 Diablo Day 42 - Saturday Morning Juniper

I contemplated a PB attempt to Junction, but opted for a tempo ride to Juniper.

Wildlife Encounter: one deer.

Tarantula Tally: zero

Hardly saw any cars on the climb up, but quite a few coming up when I was going down. Also a club of odd go kart looking things... maybe three-wheeled motorcycles with very low center of gravity. 

Air quality was about the same as last week - not smoky or smoggy, but not that Forrest Febreze, and you could see it in the valley below.

Deer!  Getting mature and solitary.

I see this hiker with his camera most every Saturday morning.

This guy had the physique of a Greek statue. He passed me like I was a statue.

This driver's lucky I didn't smack the mirror off his cage.

The go carts.

Six shifts per kilometer - I wonder how that compares to Tadej P.

 

2026 Diablo Day 41 - Wednesday Morning Juniper

Felt good again today!  I was really wasted by the time I got home though.

No deer, no tarantulas, they would've just slowed me down anyway.

Saw Colonel Al at the Tire Poppers - he admired my new bike and then invited me to visit the Veterans' Hall to play pool sometime... I politely declined. 

The air quality was a little better than last week, but from Juniper you could see the haze on the other side of the Oakland Hills.

I always go real fast in here so cars don't try to pass me.

Really, pool is a fun game.

2026 Diablo Day 40 - Saturday Morning Juniper

Chilly this morning, I think I even felt a little drizzle on the pre-ride dog walk. HELLO - we still have a month of summer.

There was thick fog almost all the way to Juniper.

Tarantula Tally: Zero 

Wildlife Encounter: Two deers

There was a club of about a dozen Vespa-type scooters going up, they were safe and courteous. I hadn't seen scooters like that for quite a while.

This first guy in the photos below was wearing an OKOBOJI jersey, I had never seen before. Okoboji is a lake resort in northern Iowa near where I grew up... I jokingly call it the Santa Cruz of Iowa. I hoped to catch up to him at Junction to ask about his story but he wasn't there.

The scooter club

Looks like the same two I saw last week on the other side of the road.

2026 Diablo Day 39 - Wednesday Morning Juniper

Beautiful day. yesterday Charlie hinted at doing Juniper but didn't commit until this morning. So we took it a little easy to Junction, took a shorter than usual break, then went up. 

At Juniper you could really see and smell the smoke over the valley. AirNow says the air quality is "moderate"; with a score of 53.  It really wasn't too bad compared to times when we've had closer fires (like 180), but it was enough of a reminder that you don't want to be breathing TOO heavily.

Tarantula Tally: ZERO. Come on fellas.

My people    

Trail progress

I always like to stop here and make sure I have everything ready for the climb.
Batteries, bottle positions, have a HammerGel. Charlie puts up with my delay tactics.

Look at all that DATA!!!

2026 Diablo Day 38 - Saturday Morning Juniper

Chilly this morning - I started late and that was fine.

Wildlife Encounter:  deer near the Tire Poppers

Pretty busy on The Mountain this morning - riders, hikers, drivers.

Figured I'd do a relaxed pace to Junction and continue on to Juniper - worked good.

This guy had a Ron Cooper that his father rescued from THE DUMP years ago and rebuilt. Dad recently had a custom frame built for himself and gave this one to his son.

Me and Kasters swapped some stories.

I am very happy with my decision on this new bike. We play well together and she makes me smile.

I'll get to work on a product review for her.