Gate-Junction-Gate

Short and sweet today. Had to be home by 9:30 for a family function. Rick's doing Climb to Kaiser today and JB said he'd probably start late so I knew it would be a solo ride. Absolutely perfect weather today, but it's supposed to be better tomorrow.

Dudley Driveby: 8:20 am at the Top of the Bump.

Saw the Rivendell boys coming down with lots of camping gear; must have been one of Grant's S24O's.

Got to the Junction, did a couple laps around the parking lot to recover, and started down. Saw JB on his way up somewhere around Clavicle Cracker.

Oddball Sighting: Odd only in the sense that you don't see these everyday - a guy and his father in this recumbent tandem at the pull out near the Bottom of the Bump. They were stopped and I took their photo with the son's camera as well. They had bags of stuff that made it look like they'd be having a picnic at the top or something.

Nobody to sprint with on the Dips except myself... so I guess I won.

Rick's Biff

Biff Point

Rick, did I get this right?

Gate-Junction-Gate

First Wednesday night ride in 6 weeks! Nice and warm, medium breeze, I drove to the Church and met JB at the Gate. Jeff got a head start. Saw AmyA go by about 3 minutes ahead of us.

Heat wasn't killer but it was a factor. At the Bump JB pulled ahead, caught AmyA and kept on going. Then she caught him back and the two of them got about two minutes on me by the Junction.

Jeff said his head start was only about 15 minutes so he razzed us for not catching him. Then we all turned down. I took the first half of the descent kind of slow and then picked it up at the Bump. JB was about 30 seconds ahead of me at Moss Landing but I closed to 10 seconds at the Dips and then caught him with 20 meters to go. He saw me coming though and did a bogus salute as if the finish line were 3/4 the way up instead of at the top. Someone should paint a line at the real finish.

Hey Rick... MXS: 45.5 mph

I always get a kick out of seeing my water bottle get squished from the change in air pressure.

Gate-Junction-Juniper-Gate


Dudley Driveby: Just past the loading dock. I should try and get a photo of him.

LOTS of people riding on the mountain this morning. JB, Rick, and I passed whole bunches of them.

Wildlife Encounter: Coyote off to the left of the road up the hill a ways.

Absolutely perfect weather. Perfect temperature, wind conditions, sky condition, all perfect.
JB and Rick dropped me past the Upper Ranch and I realized that no one had passed me yet so that was some kind of small prize I guess. Then at Chainbuster I look down and a guy in a Discovery jersey is closing fast. I didn't think I could stay in front of him but I put my head down and geared up and managed to stay clear until the last half mile. He passed me and I didn't see him again so he must not have stopped at the Junction.

Rick's training for Climb to Kaiser so all he wants to do is climb. I said I could go as far as Juniper but then would have to turn around and head home. I started up thinking Rick and JB were right behind me but it took them a minute to get going so I had a head start.

Wildlife Encounter: Another coyote! He was right in the road above Livermore Lookout but two mountain bike guys were coming down and scared him away before I could get his photo.

Rick caught up to me in the Blue Oak Speedway and JB started to slow down. Then I pulled over at the Junction and took a couple more photos before turning around.




Wildlife Encounter: Two more coyotes! This time I got a couple good shots. Usually the coyotes look almost friendly, but this guy has the face of an assassin.






Also stopped at the Lower Ranch to shoot this photo of the big rock.



As I started down again, Disco guy comes around me! I thought it would be great payback to outsprint him on the Dips. I stayed about 5 -10 bike lengths back and it was not hard at all to match his pace… I could have passed him easily. Then I got close enough to get some draft after Moss Landing. Then I started to wonder… Is he just a bad descender? Does he even know about the Dips sprint? Or is he being sneaky and saving his energy for the challenge?

I smoked him!

So I get home and I've got a message from Rick... he crashed on the way down near Juniper. He said he just over cooked a turn and then when he tried to recover he hit some gravel and off the road he went. His bike went end-over-end down the slope and he got some road rash on his hip and shoulder and cracked his helmet too. JB was behind him but Rick was so far off the road that JB didn't even see him and didn't know anything had happened. A couple other guys stopped to offer assistance and Rick got a ride down in the Ranger truck. He appears to be OK except for the pain.

I'm proud to introduce, my new dog - Abbey.

We adopted her from Golden State Greyhound Adoptions

Her racing name was "C's Dixie At Last"

Gate-Junction-Tire Poppers-Gate

Today's roster: me and Rick. JB went to the meeting about what to do with the old Concord Weapons Depot.

After a week of stifling heat, this morning was COLD and windy, almost looked like it might even rain! Of course the wind vector was completely opposite to our trajectory.

Dudley Drive-by: at the loading dock.

OK, when I say windy, I mean littlest gear out of the saddle tight grip on the bars head down and demoralized kind of windy. It was a slog!

Lots of people were at the Junction and lots of expensive beautiful bikes. One couple asked me to take their photo in front of the ranger station with their disposable camera, they declined the opportunity to have one posted here as well.

It started to warm up a little and we decided to do the Tire Poppers. It was instantly cold and foggy again - kind of a black fog that felt like the inside of a rain cloud. Big wet spots on the road from trees dripping. I was feeling better by the time we turned around so coming up the Easy Side was more fun.

Wildlife Encounter: a coyote just above the 1,000 foot sign. I stopped to take his photo but he was running away.

We didn't even stop again at the Junctio, we were in a hurry to get a hot cocoa at Starbucks.

We chased down a group of about 8 riders who were not bad descenders and I thought about how much fun it would be to sprint past them all at the Dips. Just after we grouped up we saw Grant P coming up and he warned us about a snake in the road...

Wildlife Encounter: a long rattle snake with a big white rattle on his tail.

There was a tailwind past Moss Landing so we were really flying, then I outsprinted everyone at the Dips. Then we went to Starbucks.

Gate-Junction-Blackhawk-Jamba



Boy nothing like a new pair of cleats to make your ride go smoothly - and quietly if you get the teflon impregnated ones.


Met up with Rick at his car, then waited 30 seconds for JB at the Gate.


Wildlife Encounter: lots of jackrabbits in the field off to the left... squirrels too.


Dudley Driveby: 30 seconds up the road. Can't remember the last time I didn't see him. Actually I didn't even look at him but Rick recognized him and pointed him out. I must have been admiring my new cleats.


Today's excuse for going slow: head full of snot, scratchy throat, sore lungs, and stiff back. Nothing serious, just a rhinovirus and geriatria. I drifted off the back at the Lower Ranch, did one interval to catch up but then Rick attacked and I was yesterday's toast. Saw Jay K near the Upper Ranch. Finished with a couple dozen hackaloogies and snot rockets; the Junction was a slippery slimey mess at 8:48 am.


Rick wanted more climbing to prep for Climb to Kaiser but I wasn't up to it so JB and I went down South slowly and then turned around at the Kiosk to wait for Rick. After we all regrouped we decided on Blackhawk. As soon as we passed The Hole, JB said he regretted not taking the shortcut. Then it was fun and games down Tasajara and Danville Blvd. I took two hard rim hits though, one was a monitoring well divot and the other was a 2x4... I should probably check my wheels but seemed OK.


At Jamba I opted for the Coldbuster with immunity booster... not my favorite flavor but I couldn't taste much anyway. Then I noticed my cleats were loose! When I got home I took out all the screws, put on some blue Loctite, and then torqued down hard with my biggest screwdriver that fit. If they come loose again then I must need new shoes.

Gate - Junction - SG Kiosk - Gate

I THOUGHT I had put my tights away for the season weeks ago. Had to dig them out this morning though... brrr.

Then riding down Bancroft, I sense that my right shoe has too much float... looking down I realize that my foot is floating but the cleat is staying put. I made a mental note to unclip with my left foot and avoid falling over at the next stop light. Sure enough - one screw was missing from the cleat and the other two were loose. Plus, these cleats look really worn out. I managed to get the screws tightened down some with my little multi-tool but it wasn't really sized appropriately for the job.


Got to the Gate just a few minutes late and explained my predicament to JB. He said a guy had just been there that had a tool to tighten his crank so we could catch him and ask if he had a better screwdriver. For now though, they seemed to be holding.

Dudley Drive-by: right at the Gate while I was inspecting my cleat. The guy sure is regular.

Caught the tool guy just below the Bump and he was happy to help - his tool was a little bigger than mine and I got another turn or so on the screws and they held the rest of the way up.

Wildlife Encounter: a coyote below Diablo Ranch.

It was so foggy that the sun looked no brighter than a full moon, but as we came around the Upper Ranch it suddenly cleared up and the wind died down too. Still not warm, but much more comfortable.

After a pause at the Junction (where it was quite warm), JB went home and I went down SGR to the Kiosk. Immediately I dropped back into the soupy fog and was chilled and wet. I enjoyed the drastic change in weather in such a short span of time, but my fingers didn't.

By the time I went back down the north side, the fog was gone. Fun day.

Look cleats with teflon anti-squeak bits are $21 a pair now!