2026 Diablo Day 32 - Saturday Morning Junction

A little windy on my morning dog walk / pre-ride weather check... so I had another cuppa before kitting up. Another half hour made everything nicer.

Wildlife Encounter: turkey on the fence, deer on the shoulder.

There was one really clueless driver that passed me, a car ahead of me, and the two riders in front of the car ahead of me... around a blind corner with double yellow lines. Not dangerous for me, but could've been bad for someone coming down. I yelled... partly out of anger, partly as a warning to anyone ahead.

I felt pretty good and had my best Junction time in a while... not by much though. I think those iron supplements might be working.

At Junction I saw Kasters - it's been a minute. He hadn't heard that JB died. We did some catching up and told some stories. I told him about my anemia and that the iron supplements seemed to be working. He told me that in the Soviet Union (he's originally from Belarus), they used to give the children candy made from ***bull blood*** for extra iron in their diet. I was imagining some kind of blood-filled gum drops and I threw up a little in my mouth... but he said it was actually pretty good, and his wife tried to bring some back last time she went to Minsk for a visit but the customs folks took it away from her. I had to look it up to make sure he wasn't pranking me:

The Russian "blood candy" you are referring to is called Hematogen (Гематоген). It is a dietary supplement bar made from bovine (cow) blood (specifically black food albumin) mixed with sugar, condensed milk, and vanillin to create a sweet, chewy treat.

Google says it's chewy like a Tootsie Roll with an odd metallic aftertaste. I'll stick with my pills.

Deer in the shadows. I shouted at him to see if he would dart in front of me,
but he just watched without any chalant.

Clueless Tesla driver executing a stupid maneuver in an illegal place.

Turkey on the fence.

Best Junction time in months.

Kasters - no iron deficiency here.

2026 Diablo Day 31 - Wednesday Morning Junction

The Bay Area has been pretty lucky with weather and air quality this summer - but today was going to be warm. Me and Charlie figured we could get a ride in before the worst of it, so we did.

Saw lots of landscapers clearing trees and brush getting ready for fire season... those folks must've been miserable.

There were lots of shady spots going up SGR, but not much wind. On the way down though I was getting blown around a little, so carving my turns required a little more attention, but the trees weren't blowing so I'm not sure where the wind was coming from.

Wildlife Encounter: coyote near Rock City. Crossed the road in front of us and then watched us go by from the top of a little hill.

Lots of vultures too - I suppose their food sources go up in step with the temperature. I wonder if they like eating baked carrion better.

Good Grief

I think this is the first bike mirror I've ever had. I'm getting to really like it.

Charlie has a little round mirror. I like mine better.

These shady spots made the ride pretty pleasant.

COYOTE!

For fun I like to check my altimeter right here.
It's always between 1,992 and 1,999 ft. Pretty good precision.

2026 Diablo Day 30 - Saturday Morning Junction

Well, I just saw this - a Diablo Grand Fondo coming next April!  I'll figure out a place to watch from the side of the road.

GFNY Walnut Creek

For today's ride - it was a little too windy in the early morning, so I got a late start but it was really nice.

I started taking iron supplements for my anemia on Wednesday and they made me a little nauseated so I cancelled that ride with Charlie... wasn't too bad but I didn't want to risk it getting bad 10 miles from home. Today I felt fine. If I get my hematocrit up maybe I'll even put in some decent SGR times pretty soon.

I played with an optimum tire pressure calculator early this week. Now I've always been a 90-95psi kind of guy, but this thing said I should be around 65psi.  So that's what I put in for today and I must say it felt pretty good... the road was a little softer and the traction was a little better. I wonder how many other outdated notions I'm hanging on to.

I did feel a little better on the bike too - I did more out-of-saddle accelerations and recovered a little faster... I'm still out of breath too easy though, so those hard efforts don't last very long.

This guy told me it was his 2nd Diablo, and that he was
looking forward to slimming down and getting fast. Chapeau.

On the way home I happened upon a family's lemonade stand at the country club book exchange. I like supporting entrepreneurship, plus I wanted to give the residents the best possible interaction with us cyclists... so I stopped for a cookie and a water bottle full of lemonade.  It was the good kind of lemonade... just the right amount of sourness. The boy was proud to tell me the cookies were home-made.  There weren't any prices posted... seemed to be one of those "pay as much as you want" places, so I gave the boy $5 and told him if that was enough, I'd like to pay for the next bike rider that came by too.

Then later this afternoon on a group dog walk I had an Alison sighting on the Trail in San Ramon. She stopped and talked with us a while... because that's how she rolls.

2026 Diablo Day 29 - Friday Morning Junction

3rd of July and I have plans for tomorrow so the ride is today. Very nice weather and pleasant riders with happy greetings.

Wildlife Encounter:  turkeys

My rear blinky cam ran out of juice before even one file was recorded... so I'll probably just leave it off and you'll get front photos only.

At Junction I saw a Trek Domane that had the same road wheels I have on Roxanne - I think his bike had 32mm tires on or so - I might go that wide whenever my 28s wear out.

Uneventful but enjoyable ride today.

Happy watermelon and fireworks day.

2026 Diablo Day 28 - Wednesday Morning Junction

Happy July!  I wore my patriotic flag socks. I happened to see Charlie riding yesterday near my house and it looked like he was in serious training mode.  I wore my Cal jersey today, but Charlie came loaded for bear!  I could tell he was itching to dish out some suffering.

The friendly folks of VSBC got started just before we did, and then kind of spread out. One guy passed me and said he also had a Cal jersey - but since he wasn't wearing it, he will not get the Cal Jersey Diablo shoutout.

Wildlife Encounter: We saw lots of deer - all young ones with spindly legs, all loners.

Near Rock City we heard lots of coyote howling... it was either a buffet or an orgy.

Roadkill Report: a tarantula!  Don't usually see those until August or so.

Did you hear that the guy who invented the "Heat Index" died recently?  He was 84 but he felt like 90.

I hammered past Ted because he was dogging it in here...
but then he caught me back before Junction.

 

Coyote party was somewhere around here - both sides of the road.

2026 Diablo Day 27 - Saturday Morning Junction

Started a little early this morning, and felt pretty good. Split times were good too. It was a little chilly and I had a windbreaker. The news this week has a lot of stories about killer heat waves in Europe... so I'm not complaining.

I think I smudged some energy drink on my camera lens - these photos all have a blurry spot... I just cleaned it as I was typing this. Better photos next time I promise.