Saturday, October 27, 2012

2012 SMR 38

Cold at the bottom, warm in the middle, windy at the top.



Roadkill Report:  one mouse and two snakes.





Saturday, October 20, 2012

2012 SMR 37 Junction

I'm pretty sure summer is over now; must find my tights.

Wildlife Encounter:  Turkeys at the creek and deer at the Bump




Tarantula Tally:  one squished one... tarantulas don't count as road kill.

Watch JB's wheels spin backwards!


One dumbass in a ZipCar passed me around a blind corner at Coyote Flats, despite the fact that I was taking the lane and motioning for him not to come around because I could see a car coming down.  Good thing for everybody it was a small car. 



Went to spin class Wednesday and here's my results... I'm pretty sure this is pitiful; can anyone confirm?
PeakPower
2 sec875 W
5 sec767 W
10 sec558 W
12 sec493 W
20 sec409 W
30 sec371 W
1:00 min289 W


Saturday, October 13, 2012

2012 SMR 36 Gate-Junction-Kosk-Junction-Gate

Slow spin up to the Junction... I half convinced myself I'd go for a Strava segment PR somewhere but the other half over-rode me.  Had to go digging for my knee warmers this morning; it was cold.

Wildlife Encounter:  deer at the creek.
















Tarantula Tally:  just one.

From the Kiosk I decided to try for a PR to the Junction:
but then my battery crapped out with a mile to go and I lost my motivation.  I did do a pretty good time, but without Strave documentation it doesn't count.

Saturday, October 06, 2012

2012 SMR 35 Summit

I like to do at least one Summit ride per month.  I like to get it out of the way early.  Today's the first Saturday of October so the plan was in effect.  I told JB about the plan yesterday and he was on board so we did an easy ride to Junction... saving ourselves for the Wall.


Started cool, then got colder.  Diablo Challenge is tomorrow, so not a lot of riders on The Mountain today.

Wildlife Encounter:  Deer on the bump.


I was hoping it'd warm up with time.
Tarantula Tally:  one crawler, quite a few cadavers.



Summit Road was cold and windy.  We continued to ride conservatively, with the specter of the Summit Wall overhead.  It's never quite as bad as I worry about, but I'm always glad I didn't burn too many matches in the lower 3700.



Finally, some editorializing.  I'm kind of a conventional guy when it comes to cycling clothes, but I'm not any kind of a fashion Nazi.  If you want to ride your bike up my Mountain in cowboy boots and a kilt, I say "welcome".  But there is absolutely nothing that you could do to proclaim your dorkiness more loudly than to wear your helmet backwards.  If any of my blog readers recognize this guy- please clue him in.