Saturday, January 26, 2008

Gate - Junction - Muir - Gate

After a week and a half of lousy weather, I woke up this morning expecting more of the same... instead I got a beautiful sunrise and mostly blue skies.




Not too cold, not rainy, windier than I'd like, but a good day for a ride. The Mountain has had a lot of snow all week, but last night was pretty warm so most of it was gone... I did see a little bit on North Peak but didn't expect to find much on the ride.



I wasn't sure if Rick's race was still on but he wasn't there. JB was late too so I rode solo to the Junction. The wind was strong and steady - made for a slow ride.



Dudley Driveby: at the Ranger House. He was wearing his hiking shorts.



JB rolled in to Junction just a few minutes after I did. It was quite a bit colder up here so we decided we'd ride up to the snow. Finally found some at Muir picnic area, almost at the Summit.




We threw a couple snowballs at each other and at that point we decided we'd had enough and turned around.



The strong wind made for a sketchy descent so we took our time going down. Then went to Starbucks for a hot one.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Breaking Away - Cinzano 100

After months of research and watching my VHS copy of the movie, I've finally published my Breaking Away Tribute Page - see the sidebar on the right under "Links to My Pages"

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Gate - Junction - Tire Poppers - Junction - Gate

Left home and me toes were immediately cold, by the time I got to the Church and connected with Rick I was in real pain but I knew it was going to warm up. Then JB came by (he had DOUBLE booties) and we started up.
Really cold this morning and we didn't see many other riders. About the Ranches the sun finally started warming up. Last week Rick thought his race was today, but it's next week. At the Junction he decided a Bump de Bump would be good training so we went down... it was cold.
Coming back up the Easy Side, we didn't see too many riders either. I gave Rick a long pull to Helicopter Hill and then he tried to bridge up to a guy but didn't make it. At the Junction we saw Mark A and he decided to do SGR and back up also. On the way down NGR, we saw a couple really big groups of riders - almost like they were riding in military parade formation.
Did I mention it was cold today?

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Gate - Junction - Blackhawk - Peet's - Sports Basement

Hallo. Ik ben Diablo Scott. Welkom op mijn blog.

Last weekend the Mountain was closed because the bad weather had caused some mud slides and rock slides. Today was sort of foggy but calm and not too cold. Rick's doing the early season road race next weekend. He's also practicing his Italian in prep of a spring vacation to Toscana.




As we rode up NGR we went in and out of layers of fog, interesting but not too good for photos.


At the Bump I fell back a little and then

Wildlife Encounter: two coyotes. They're much cuter now in the winter with their thick fluffy coats. Actually I think I separated the pair because one ran across the road in front of me and the other was on the opposite side of the road. I stopped for photos but they were too camera shy. Also saw a big hawk in a tall tree down by Little Pine Creek.

Powerbar Performance Pitstop at the Junction. Grant P came up in the captain's seat of a Mercian tandem with Brooks saddles and everything - I didn't recognize his stoker but he was a classic Riv kind of guy. Then we went down SGR. It was way wetter and foggier and colder on this side. We had some fun challenging each other in the Blackhawk Road rollers. Rick and I waited for JB to catch up on Camino Tassajara and then he blew right by us - just after that a guy in a Capo jersey came by so Rick and I latched on to him and then we blew right past JB again. Capo guy worked with us for a while and we weren't going super fast, but faster than we would have if it were just us.



Heading north on Danville Blvd.

Back in Walnut Creek we rode up the South Broadway Extension instead of the trail - a lot faster but those drainage grates scare me a little. Then on the trail next to the flood control channel there was a lot of glass and Rick got a flat.

Gave me an excuse to take some photos.




We finished up with a cuppa Peet's and then Rick and I went to the Sports Basement where Alberson's used to be. Their food section is open now and they had great deals on gel and stuff; $16 for on of those big HammerGel bottles, or $11 for a box of 12 HammerGel squirt packs. It's a neat place and the bike section is bigger than a lot of conventional bike stores.

Dank u wel voor het lezen.

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

New Year, Same Mountain

Summit hot line said it was 49°F but it was way colder than that at my house, I figured it was an inversion and didn't overdo the clothing.

Absolutely perfect weather for a NYD ride - cold and clear and no wind at all. It was really quiet too. I kept expecting to see riders and runners coming up behind me but I only saw the "ride back down" vehicles for the runners and didn't see anyone out of their car until I met these guys at the Upper Washout.

Stan, on the left, is continuing his tradition of running Diablo on NYD ever since 1976! Mark on the right was keeping him company.


A most auspicious odometer reading for the New Year on the Flight Deck occurred near Big Shady Oak.

Saw another guy with hiking gear sort of jogging near the Junction on his way up. Didn't see any other bike riders at all until Blue Oak when a few started coming down from the Summit. It was definitely warmer at the higher elevations and a couple times I got a face full of positively warm wind from somewhere.
I stopped for the first time at Muir for a PowerBar break... wanted fresh legs for the Wall.


At the Summit I watched the next couple dozen bike riders come in, also the jog-hiker guy who appeared to know all the running club folks with the support vehicles. The first group of runners was a threesome and one of the guys had his arm in a broken shoulder harness! They shouted out that they just beat two hours. I think it was part road and part trail.

Absolutely beautiful day this morning. Some day when I'm lying on my death bed and want to remember what feeling really alive was like, I'll remember days like this.


Whoo! So much for that "220 minus your age" formula. I'm going to have to re-calculate my heartrate zones. This is about 4 bpm higher than I typically see on the Summit Wall.

On the way back down there were hundreds of riders and runners coming up. It was amatuer day on the Mountain and that means be really careful of drivers, runners, and riders who don't understand safety protocol.

Wildlife Encounter: A coyote near the Ranger House. He ran across the road in front of me and up the grade to the side. I warned the next few riders on their way up.

Then at the Bump there was this overturned jeep. The ranger there didn't know what had happened, there were no skid marks, no disturbed gravel, no tracks in the mud - just a jeep on its side facing the wrong way. When I stopped to photograph it I spoke with a woman rider (her first time on the Mountain!) and she had seen an ambulance going down with sirens on so that was probably the driver. The running club I think had arranged for some paramedics to be there today so lucky for that person.



Best wishes for a great year.

Scott