Thursday, August 30, 2012

2012 WNR 16

I usually ride my bike to work, but on Wednesday nights I put it in my truck and drive.  I hate driving - this traffic is awful even though I don't have to go very far.  But you have to do it once in a while just to remember why you hate it so much.


Started off with Charlie and it was kind of hot.  The GPS on my camera seems to be working well again so I thought about going for a PB on the Washout Segment but then the Diablo Cyclists came by and engulfed me so I had not much choice but to join in.

Diablo Scott rode 18.9mi and climbed 2,147ft on WNR 08/29/2012
 with a Mobile device


A good way to have a bad result is to go all out way too early.  I got really hot on The Bump and never really recovered.

At the Junction, a couple guys drove up the South Side in a pickup with a MTB in the back and the Junction ranger stopped them to check their receipt.  The driver put up a fight claiming he'd paid his money in the envelope at the kiosk but didn't keep the tear off receipt.  Ranger was very polite but insisted the guy would have to pay again.  Driver started to get angry saying he "comes up here three times a week and how am I going to get my $10 back for paying twice?".  Then the ranger went way beyond accommodating and offered to go back to the kiosk with the guy to check the box.  Then the driver made some rather lame excuses why he didn't want to do that and I think he wound up paying the ranger $10 because after a while outside of earshot he got back in the truck and drove up.

Here's what the pay envelopes look like:







Seems pretty straight forward - you'd have to be profoundly unobservant not to tear off the tag and keep it.  The honor system only works when people are honest, but a dishonest park user could just keep the envelope, tear off the receipt in case the ranger asks for it, and then put the money in the envelope on the way out if he got stopped.  Anyway, it was an odd encounter.

Wildlife Encounter:  TARANTULAS.  At least two of them on the descent; I was going too fast for my Contour to image them.

Bagpiper guy was practicing at the bottom of The Bump too.



Don't forget to sign up for the Veteran's Victory Century!

Saturday, August 25, 2012

2012 SMR 31

Met JB at the Gate.  He was feeling spunky after a non-cycling vacation in the midwest.


Scored three pass backs today - three guys passed us before the Dumpster Gate and they all faded before the Washout.  Noobs.


This guy's jersey says "IH8MUD.COM"  I figured it was an anti-mtb site or something, turns out it's an off-road vehicle enthusiast club.

Kind of cool this morning - first ride of the season with a windbreaker.  Much warmer by Junction, and I kept on going to Juniper.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

2012 WNR 15

Weather tonight:  kind of cool and a little windy.


Sunset was about 19:30, time to start thinking about earlier start times.



I hope I never get whatever condition that ankle-to-knee stockings are the treatment for.

STRAVA update:


I've spent some time recently becoming the Official Strava Road Bike Segment Creator for Mount Diablo.  There were of course, tons of bogus segments already on there.  Some of them were all right, some of them had non-descriptive names, some of them had really strange end points, and none of them were standardized in any way... that's where I come in.  First of all, each segment name begins with the letter Д, which is the Cyrillic character D, pronounced "deh"... rhymes with "meh" (Russian word for Diablo is дьявол, pronounced "dyavol") ... this little brand makes it easy to find the Official Diablo Scott Strava Segments and to distinguish them from the unofficial bogus segments that pop up when you upload your ride.

This was a fun project, partly because you can't create a segment out of someone else's ride, so I actually had to ride all of these over the last couple weeks.  Also, I didn't include the Diablo Time Trial or the Diablo Challenge because those two routes do have pretty good segments already defined and identified, and I don't have any claim to official status on them anyway.

I think Strava-using blog-readers will enjoy these segments and appreciate the sensible end points.  If you go looking for me in any of the leaderboards though, you'll probably wear out your "page down" key.  I don't think I get any special Strava karma for doing this, and I'm really not out to pad my "followers" count, and I don't want to follow a bunch of people I don't know; but I would enjoy seeing my segments become the standards everybody uses, so thanks for spreading the word.

Here is the segment page, and all the names are listed below.

Д Mt. Diablo Descent: Junction to North Gate*

Д Mt. Diablo Descent: Junction to South Gate Tire Poppers

Д Mt. Diablo Descent: Summit to North Gate

Д Mt. Diablo Descent: Summit to South Gate Tire Poppers

Д Mt. Diablo NGR: Split 1 - Prologue (Mile 0.0 - 1.6)

Д Mt. Diablo NGR: Split 2 - Penny Lane (Mile 1.6 - 2.6)

Д Mt. Diablo NGR: Split 3 - The Bump (Mile 2.6 - 3.6)

Д Mt. Diablo NGR: Split 4 - The Washout (Mile 3.6 - 4.6)

Д Mt. Diablo NGR: Split 5 - The Ranches (Mile 4.6 - 5.6)

Д Mt. Diablo NGR: Split 6 - Chainbuster (Mile 5.6 - 6.6)

Д Mt. Diablo NGR: North Gate to Junction

Д Mt. Diablo SGR: Kiosk to Junction

Д Mt. Diablo SGR: Tire Poppers to Junction

Д Mt. Diablo SGR: Tire Poppers to Kiosk

Д Mt. Diablo Summit Road: Junction to Summit

Д Mt. Diablo Summit Road: Junction to Juniper

Д Mt. Diablo Summit Road: Juniper to Summit Lower Parking Lot

Д Mt. Diablo Summit Road: Summit Wall

Д Mt. Diablo: North Gate to Summit

Д Mt. Diablo: South Gate Tire Poppers to Summit

*Actually a couple of the "descent" segments are marked as private so you won't see them... some kind of Strava bug won't allow me to make them public (there's a way to do it, it just doesn't work)... which I'll do as soon as they debug it... but don't go killing yourself for Kudos.

Saturday, August 18, 2012

2012 SMR 30

Up to The Summit.
All by myself.
MDSP jerseys are in!

Also, met some nice folks at the Junction who were promoting their charity ride for injured veterans.  Century ride includes Diablo and Morgan Territory - no cyber-begging required.  Tell them "Diablo Scott sent me".

http://www.veteransvictoryvelo.com/index.html



This is their second year, so hopefully they know how do ride support.



Cool video clips at THE WALL.






Sunday, August 12, 2012

2012 SMR 29 Diablo Brother on Borrowed Battaglin

Ridin' with Diablo Brother.

OK, not really a Saturday Morning Ride, since it was Sunday and lunchtime.  Diablo Brother and his family and our parents were out from Colorado for a Bay Area vacation and we included a day on The Mountain.  We were hoping for a Summit run, but it was way too hot so we headed straight to Rock City where we met with our families for a picnic.






Thanks to John who gave us the use of his vintage Italian steel bike.

Saturday, August 04, 2012

2012 SMR 28

It's August but it feels like October - cool, humid, breezy, might even rain.  Most riders had arm warmers or even full jackets... but the ridership seemed down overall.

This guy passed us, but then I went into my pain cave and counter passed him.

JB timed his finishing sprint to perfection, leaving me with my tongue dragging the pavement.
I convinced JB to do a Bump de Bump.


South Gate Road is in pretty good shape.


Roadkill Report:  a baby snake... shorter than the width of the tire that ran him over.




Wednesday, August 01, 2012

2012 WNR 14

Somewhere in the distance, a turkey was gobbling.  Warm, thick air thieved the energy from my legs and offered my lungs precious little oxygen in exchange.

Not many riders on The Mountain tonight... it wasn't THAT hot... must've been something going on somewhere else.

Passedme guy #1 had a custom Kirk; classy.












 

Passedme guy #2 had a classic jersey, but it clashed with his shorts.












Only guys I passed were stopped.

JB arrives while I'm recovering.






Wildlife Encouter:  Turkeys