Wednesday, September 30, 2009

2009 WNR 24

Started solo, then JB caught me.

Wildlife Encounter: two young deer below the Gate.




This'll be my last Wednesday Night Ride of 2009.



Quite a few riders tonight but mostly they were coming down.



A guy at the Junction asked what a good time would be for NGR. I told him 40 minutes to be respectable, 30 minutes to be elite racer.


Tarantula Tally: ONE!





Haz "clic" aqui...



Blog Reader Phil sends along this cell phone photo of the Mountain at sunrise from Tilden Park.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Gate Junction Juniper Kiosk Junction Gate Jamba

JB said he was coming but I was a few minutes early and put the rock up.


Rick was a surprise guest, caught me at Penny Lane and then we rode together for a few minutes before he launched his Challenge trial run at the bottom of the Bump.

Wildlife Encounter: Buddy the Buck of the Bump, two coyotes, and one dead snake.
Passed'em-Passedme = 2:2.

Pulled into Junction and then Peter rolled in too. It was already 85°F by now. There were a couple guys from Finland there too - they noted that there is no training you can do for mountains except riding mountains.

So Peter and I continued up to Juniper where we waited for Rick to come down.


We all regrouped at Junction and then went to the Kiosk on South Gate Road.

I took a flyer right from the line and just barely managed to stay ahead the rest of the way.

Met blog reader Pommi who was preparing for the Challenge and we talked for a while before he dispatched me. Lots and lots of riders coming up the Easy Side.


It was really hot now so we opted for a Jamba. Odd that next week it might be back in tights again.


For some reason, the local buzzards fancy the roof of the Mormon church... appears to be several generations of guano accumulation up there.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

2009 WNR 23

HOT. Sun was almost setting by 6pm though so it was cooling down quickly.


Wildlife Encounter: coyote at Little Pine Creek trail

Passed'em:Passed-me = 0:2

DirectTV dropped Versus so I switched to DishNetwork. I'm sure they knew exactly how many subscribers they would lose so I just had to follow through.


Saturday, September 19, 2009

Gate Junction Kiosk Junction Gate

Met JB and Peter at the Gate and we stayed together until about the middle of the Bump.






They were a little ahead of me when I noticed a big buck just off the road and very close to them, but he was on the downhill side and his head was about level with the road with just his antlers sticking up higher. They didn't see him but I rode by pretty carefully because he was watching me and it was a little creepy.

Wildlife Encounter: big buck

Sky was beautiful but it was pretty warm and getting hotter.

Pass ratio = 2:0... one guy was chasing me the last couple miles but he didn't have it.

Somebody left this guy at the Junction; might have something to do with "talk like a pirate day".

JB went down but Peter and I went down to the Kiosk and then back up. I cooked though the easy section and got way ahead of him but by the Junction he was only a couple minutes behind. Much shadier on that side. The sheriff's department was doing some search and rescue practice so there were some interesting things going on.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

2009 WNR 22

Perfect weather tonight.

Passed-em:Passed-me ratio = 2:0

Tarantula tally: one crawler, one squooshed.

Stopped half way up the bump when I saw a deer couple.














JB showed up a little late and the bugs were really annoying.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Gate-Junction-Juniper-Gate RAIN !

  • Not really that wet, but before the ride there was some pretty impressive thunder and lightning.



  • Put the winter wheels back on the Belgian Beast



  • Got a few minutes head start on JB and he caught me around Moss Landing.






  • Pass ratio = 1:1

  • Roadkill review: two baby snakes and two tarantulas

  • Tarantula tally: only one that wasn't squished




  • I had tights and a rain jacket on, lots of others had summer kit - quite a few riders despite the weather.


  • Soggy banana FTW!


  • Mostly very light drizzle the whole time except for a few spots where it was moderately heavy. At Juniper we both had had enough.

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

2009 WNR 21

Pretty warm tonight. Started off at a good pace but faded.





Wildlife Enounter: Tarantula near Upper Washout




Bugs were kind of thick at the Junction.



Passed'em : Passed-me ratio = 1:2

Saturday, September 05, 2009

Franklin Canyon and Benicia Bridge

They opened the bike lane on the Benicia Bridge last week and this week I joined Team Club Sport for a nice ride that went over.


A little cool and pretty windy by the Bay but otherwise pretty nice.


We started with 22 people and then wound up with about three groups organized by speed.



The signage is good if you know what you're looking for.





Some serious separation between the bikes and the traffic and the water.



I never get a chance to look over the edge from a motor vehicle, so I took my time from the bike lane.




Local landmark provided for visual reference.





Fun folks.


Please click on my video!





Team Club Sport Rides Franklin Canyon and Benicia Bridge from Diablo Scott on Vimeo.

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

2009 WNR 20

Hot and California-humid tonight. No trouble with frozen Cytomax.


Started off kind of fast and passed about five people in the first couple miles, then tapered off to a sustainable pace. Pass ratio = 7:3.





JB caught me at the top of the Bump and we rode together until he dropped me a couple miles later.




Still haven't seen a tarantula.


At the Junction, Mark A showed off the new Roadeo with SRAM.




He really likes the DT hubs and SRAM shifters. Looks really nice up close.



I'll be riding across the Benicia Bridge on the new bike lane on Saturday - watch for that report.








BTW - right on UTAH - texting while driving is seriously dangerous and negligent and should be criminal...

After a crash here that killed two scientists — and prompted a dogged investigation by a police officer and local victim’s advocate — Utah passed the nation’s toughest law to crack down on texting behind the wheel. Offenders now face up to 15 years in prison.