2022 Diablo Day 60 - Wednesday Junction

JB went to a baseball game and Charlie went to Washington - so just me today. I drove to The Church because there was no one to shame me for not riding. Warmer than I thought it was going to be.

I felt good and started fast and thought I was going hard enough for a good time, but by the Upper Washout I was washed up. Anyway, feels good to go hard even if the results are not worth mentioning.

Tarantula Tally: ONE.

My new action cam came today, but after my ride, so you get one more blog post of dumb photos. 

Scott - SIT!

Here's proof of my MASSIVE EFFORT!

And here's a photo from Sunday's Diablo Challenge I forgot to post earlier.

2022 Mount Diablo Challenge

I think I haven't been to The Summit since LAST year's Diablo  challenge. Everything went smoothly. Riders seemed to enjoy my Latin rhythm cowbell patterns. 

Great weather, so people didn't pack as much stuff and my truck had lots more room, but you have to be prepared for everything.  No crashes on the way down, so I didn't need to give anybody a ride.

Those fast guys were fast, and the slow people seemed to be happy to be there, and the volunteers and staff were the greatest.

2022 Diablo Day 59 - Saturday Junction

First Diablo ride in 2 weeks!  Suffering coefficient was proportionally higher.

Also, this sucks... my camera mount broke and my camera fell off my bike and broke when it hit the road... so until I get a replacement you loyal readers might have to put up with cell phone photos or something. Another bummer... they're not making Contour cameras any more and that's what I have mounts and batteries for and really don't want to switch.  Bright side: there's still a bunch for sale on eBay and they're cheaper than they used to be, so I should have it next week.

It's October now, so I'll be switching to the winter bike soon - I should probably dust him off.

There was a guy at Junction with a Klein Quantum... probably about a '96. I got it on video, but then my camera broke so the file got corrupted.  It was kind of a psychedelic pink and yellow.

I'm getting a flu shot and COVID booster next Friday - hoping for minimal side effects.

And tomorrow is the Diablo Challenge and I'm volunteering again - come say hi.

2022 Diablo Day 58 - Saturday Junction

Wow, summer is OVER. It was actually chilly today, and windy... OK, no more excuses.

JB showed up with his foul weather jacket and tights... I had a summer kit but with long socks.

It's been 6 weeks since my cataract surgery, and suddenly I realized I had a broken blood vessel in that eye. Doctor's office said no biggie, but stop taking my steroid drops. Doesn't hurt, doesn't affect my vision, looks disturbing.

Close call for this guy coming down.

Look how close to the edge of the pavement he got - kudos for being a safe rider around bad drivers.

This rider had better descending skills than me... so I moved over to let her pass at a safe spot.

I made a video of the close call - check it out, and be careful on The Mountain.

2022 Diablo Day 57 - Saturday Junction

Well after a solid week of the highest temperatures in living memory, today was pretty nice. I didn't go Wednesday because of the heat and I felt unfit today. JB had no trouble breaking away and beating me to Junction.

He told me that he did go on a ride Wednesday, but not Diablo, and that he had his second flat. So that was one flat on the Pig Farm ride, one flat on Wednesday, so we both knew that #3 was cued up. The we saw a couple guys on the side of the road fixing a flat.

Then on the way down, he was ahead of me, and when I caught up to him he was on the side of the road fixing flat #3 in two weeks. He assured me he didn't need any help or gear so I went home. Later he called and said both of his spares were bad, and a guy even gave him a THIRD new innertube and THAT one was bad too... and he needed a ride home.

FYI - if you tell the Ranger at The Gate that you're just picking up a friend with a bike breakdown, they'll give you a provisional pass that's good for just that task, and a warning that you can't hang around inside The Park.

Foreshadowing.

Go Hawks!

Hawkeye down.

2022 Diablo Day 56 - Saturday Junction

NGR was open, although they're not quite done with the bike turnout lane construction. Actually the whole Mountain was open. But it was hot and lots of people have exited for cooler areas so there wasn't much auto traffic at all, and cycling traffic was lighter than usual.

I told JB I felt good, but not very energetic. He asked what that meant and I realized I didn't know. Thought about it for a minute and decided it meant that I wasn't expecting a strong finish. Sure enough, I faded badly the last couple miles.

Talked to a tall guy on a classic blue Ciöcc near the Upper Ranch - my first serious bike was a Ciöcc so we had a connection.

The rangers at the Junction were discussing how they were concerned about needing to rescue people from heat illness or fires, and they were hoping it wouldn't be necessary but some folks be dumb, yo.

This guy passed me before the sign... so it doesn't count.

The heat made the trailer sign produce unreadable messages.

You could see the radiant heat transfer off the pavement.

Check out that deluxe bike turnout lane - SAFE!

Another good one.

Tall Ciöcc guy.

2022 Diablo Day 55 - Wednesday Junction from the Easy Side

No time constraints today. I went late morning because the hot is coming. NGR is still closed to everybody for bike turnout lane construction, so I drove to a soccer park near South Gate... worked fine.

SGR is of course easier than NGR, but not by that much - it starts at a higher elevation so the total climbing is less, and it's a little shorter and the tough sections aren't as tough as the NGR tough sections, and there's more shade and smoother pavement and less gravity... but other than those things... it's almost the same experience.  Hopefully NGR will be open by Saturday.

The turnout lanes are finished except for the striping.

This rider gave me the four-finger wave...
I pretended I was familiar with this greeting and returned the same gesture.

Cal Jersey Autoblog.

Have a patriotic Labor Day my friends.

Cal Jersey Autoblog