It was cold this morning, so I got a late start and it warmed up pretty nice - a little too much wind for my lame arse though.

I'm getting used to the carbon wheelset on Roxanne - they are definitely more dodgy in the cross winds. And the geometry of my bike makes carving those lines just a little different from all the road bikes I've had - something I'll get used to, but it's been instinctive for so long when you've been riding race bikes for 40 years... and now it's something I have to think about a little.

In medical news - I've been seeing a doctor for anemia. My hemoglobin was too low to donate blood last month, so I told my doc and she ordered some blood tests and didn't find anything horrible (leukemia, colon cancer etc.) but also didn't figure out why the value isn't higher - my red blood cell factory is just on strike or something.  I keep thinking about pro-cyclists and blood boosting and how they would enhance their hematocrit to the max allowable by the rules - which is about twice what mine is now.  Maybe I'll get a prescription for EPO or a blood packing procedure and then my old endurance will be back where it used to be.  More likely I'll have to take an iron supplement; which has zero performance benefit but might reward me with a constipation badge.

This guy passed me like hot shit - then he quit.

This guy was the real deal.

2026 Diablo Day 22 - Saturday Morning Junction

I got Roxanne's road wheelset installed on Thursday, took her for a cruise on Friday, and up Diablo on Saturday.  With the light wheels she handles pretty much like a relaxed road bike. While I miss the aggressive handling and uncomfortable efficiency of a racing bike - I'm accepting that comfort is more important to my aging corpus. I was a little surprised though that my Junction time was about the same as any hard effort - hardly any weight penalty and lower gears help with the steep bits.

Roadkill Report: Alameda Whipsnake below the Kiosk.

Wildlife Encounter: a turkey looked like it was in a cage near Buckeye Group Camp - I stopped on the way back down for a photo and the cage was empty - maybe he was behind the cage and I was mistaken.

Lots of glory for Memorial Day

I hung with these guys for about a mile.

The empty turkey cage

Hey, that looks like a Trek Checkpoint SL5 - available at your local Trek dealer.

I look so modern with a bike from this century.

Oh yeah, Tesla terrorist got a good yelling at.

These things are so beautiful when they're racing - this was sad.

Check out all this cool data on my new Garmin 1050:  I especially like the gear indicator, even though it doesn't say what your cogs are, you know if you have any left.  Posed in highest gear because that's how I roll... downhill.

Also, the app keeps track of how much time you spent in each gear - how did I ever ride without this info?

2026 Diablo Day 21 - Wednesday Morning Junction

My third time up Diablo with Roxanne.  #1 was aborted because of brake rub.  #2 was complete to Junction, but then I buggered up my shifters - turns out there's a little SRAM button for micro-adjustments and I somehow bumped it or something when I stopped for a photo on the way down, and then it was half ghost shifting the rest of the way home - see previous blog entry... anyway, I figured that out on my own and today the braking and shifting were perfect.  Still using the gravel wheels with 42mm tires and aluminum rims but my road wheels with 28mm tires on carbon rims are in the shop and I'm picking them up tomorrow.

Quite warm today - I need to dig out my sunscreen.  Maybe start earlier too if it gets really hot.

Brush must be cleared... but come on.

Stud Muffin Monthly will be offering me a modelling contract soon.

 

2026 Diablo Day 20 - Saturday Morning Junction

The friendly folks at Alamo Trek got the brakes on Roxanne fixed up perfectly (still waiting on my road wheels though), so I rode the new bike with the stock gravel wheels to the Junction for the first time this morning.  On the way down I somehow buggered up the derailleur adjustment and I kind of limped back home after failing to figure out how to un-bugger the thing... there's no knurled knob to tighten up the cable or anything on an electronic derailleur - there's a couple buttons you have to push at the same time while doing something else and I'm going to figure it out as soon as this posts.

The weather is getting really nice and lots of riders were out on the roads and on The Mountain.

Wildlife Encounter:  turkeys

The USA National Women's Team was out training and I decided to allow them to pass.

OK, these next three photos show an interesting stupid move.

This guy passed me at Bridal Nook - no big deal.

Then he took the inside line around the hairpin - DUMB

And another guy coming down had to do an emergency move to avoid him.  We had a mutual head-shaking moment.

Roxanne's publicity shot.  I'll make a product review post one of these days.

2026 Diablo Day 19 - Wednesday Morning Junction

Charlie's back from Holland and ready to roll.  Except he got a flat before we even started.  

Colnago Ted missed his start group, so he slummed it with us.

Wildlife Encounter: turkeys

Hey - what's going on at the Ranger Hut?  

This project manager told us they're refurbishing the inside; basically replacing everything, but keeping the original theme of colors and finishes.  Apparently the hut has had a lot of mouse problems and they've eaten through electrical wires, chewed holes in drywall, etc.  This is the same guy that was in charge of re-roofing a few years ago; he clearly enjoys his job.

Ted had some good stories to share - as always.


We told Charlie to remember his tire was shot and that he should descend carefully - in a few minutes he was way ahead of us anyway.





 

2026 Diablo Day 18 - SGR to Kiosk

Looking forward to bringing my new bike up Diablo this morning and things were going well, but I kept hearing this humming whiney noise - turns out my brakes were rubbing the rotor just a hair and the effect was like when you make a wine glass sing.  I've never had disk brakes before, and I don't know how to adjust them, but I figured there was a screw somewhere that opened up the calipers for situations like this.

So I turned around at the kiosk and went back to the bike store and they pretty much fixed it... the mechanic (Scott!) said he got it so it wouldn't slow me down, but it was still making a little noise so I should give it a break-in (HA!) period and then re-evaluate.

So that was a little disappointing, but a few growing pains I guess are to be expected. 

• I've never had a carbon fiber bike before
• I've never had electronic shifting before
• I've never had disk brakes before
• I've never had more than 10 cogs on a cassette before

    and now I have them all.  This bike is really fun and comfortable.  I also ordered some road wheels so this will eventually be my regular ride and I'll get rid of Eddy and Mike... they've been with me for so many years, but comfort and fun are replacing light and zippy.

Alison sighting on Danville Blvd.