2014 SMR 31

I love the weather this time of year.  Air was nice and fresh after a good rain on Friday also.

Wildlife Encounter:  Deer at Diablo Ranch

Not sure what was going on here - nobody hurt but one bike
was unrideable and Ranger Carl was helping out.

Roadkill Report:  Big bullfrog on The Bump

Back was hurting a little bit so I took it nice and slooooooooow.

Hardly saw anyone on NGR.  Lots of people at the Summit Upper Lot - there was a tarantula trying to get somewhere and about a dozen people surrounding him taking photos.

Hardly anyone on North Gate Road, but
lots of riders on Summit Road.

Rider back.
RIDER BACK.
RIDER BACK!!!!

Tarantula Tally:  one crawler at the Upper Lot

Flatted on the way down.  Blog reader Keith saw me and stopped for a chin wag while I re-tubed.

2014 WNR 19

Just me and Kevin tonight - he dropped a minute off of his PB.  He was complaining this afternoon about a sore knee - I told him to ignore pain.

Tarantula Tally:  one crawler near the Dumpster Gate.

Next week is the final Wednesday Night Ride of 2014... for sure... it was pretty dark when we got back to the vehicles tonight.

Folks at Junction were talking about The Diablo Challenge.  I'll be driving backpacks again so watch for me and say hi.

New sign... not really one of the more dangerous
curves... maybe the solar panels get more light here.
Maybe cars have a harder time with this one.

2014 SMR 30

Veteran's Victory Velo charity ride was today, but I opted out.  We started seeing the riders coming down about 8:20.  Looks like they didn't draw a very big field this year.

Hi Rick!

 Wildlife Encounter:  Turkeys in the cow patch... so many of them the cows were kind of freaking out.

Zero tarantulas... season's definitely over for them.

One rider with orange tires gave JB a hard time about having a vintage-looking steel bike with an iPhone mounted to the handlebars.  Actually he made the mount himself out of an aluminum extrusion scrap from a window or something... said he just didn't like any of the commercially available mounts.

What the... ???  Summit Wall is ONE FREAKING WAY, dude.

Charlie took video of me on last Wednesday Night's Ride - I thought I looked way cooler than this though.

Scott Up and Down from Diablo Scott on Vimeo.

2014 WNR 18

Just me tonight.  The guys from work were either out of town or did the MTB ride instead.  JB showed up at the Junction and said he had a flat on the way to The Mountain.

Roadkill Report:  tree squirrel at the Loading Dock

I did the first mile kind of fast and then just tried to push a little harder than usual so I had a decent result.  Little windy in a couple of the sections.

The sun is setting early enough now that it's not in your eyes in too many places while descending, but it's still light enough to see the road well.

Wildlife Encounter:  two deer

Deer Crossing from Diablo Scott on Vimeo.

2014 SMR 29

JB skipped out to go watch a football game, so it was just me and a few dozen riders on The Mountain.

Wildlife Encounter:  two deer on The Approach (NGR below The Gate)

Tarantula Tally:  one squished one near Moss Landing.

Wildlife Encounter:  COYOTE! at Coyote Flats

Doodoo-Head Driver Award goes to this Dangerous Dumbass:

 

Almost forgot about this guy - on a hand cycle just past THE BUMP... chappeau dude.

2014 WNR 17

Me, Kevin, and Charlie tonight.  JB started early and waved as he was coming down.

Charlie mounted his GoPro on his seatpost so maybe he'll send me some video or photos of me riding behind him.

GoPro on the seatpost - zoom in if you can't see it.

Kevin is determined to get faster and asked me for some training ideas so today's idea was big gear, low cadence practice.  I figured work on strength and he did a great job but didn't last the whole ride... his legs got all rubbery by mile 4.

2014 SMR 28

Somehow wound up at the Gate about 10 minutes early - almost decided to get a head start on JB but then was joined by special guest... RICK.

Rick's been tearing it up in the NorCal criterium and road race circuit and has all the points he needs to be a Cat 2 but is waiting until some more of his team mates get theirs as well so they can make a big statement and all cat up at once.

Wildlife Encounter:  at least four deer at the bottom of The Bump.

Slummin it with the slow guys.

JB turned around at Junction for some kind of family function in The City.

Wildlife Encounter:  turkeys at the Upper Ranch.

We decided to call this stump "The Totem Pole"

 Tarantula Tally:  two flat ones.

Peak heart rate up The Wall was almost
three beats per second.  Anybody impressed?

Rick gives the best leadouts:

DipsSprint from Diablo Scott on Vimeo.

2014 WNR 16

Damn nice weather tonight.  Tall Charlie wanted some personal video so he could critique his technique so I put the Contour on Seatstay Cam Mode.

Zach, Kevin, and Matt took off on PB efforts but I held back a bit to keep Charlie in my field of view. Kevin scored his PB and was pretty proud of himself; I suggested an appropriate reward would be an official Mount Diablo Jersey.

Tarantula Tally:  one crawler at the washout.

Gettin' dark earlier and earlier!  We're thinking the first Wednesday in October will be our last of the season.

Labor Day Bonus Post

Went to spin class yesterday.  The cool video thing they usually do on Sunday mornings was broken.  

Look at all that DATA!

I had a moment of sudden clarity when I uploaded this screen shot from Training Peaks.  With a lot of free services they offer a taste of the deluxe data, and if you want additional data  you have to pay for the premium subscription price or something and that makes sense of course.  But with Training Peaks, they give you WAY TOO MUCH data with the free plan, and if you want to filter it all out into something more useful you have to pay the fee... BRILLIANT!

Who has opposable thumbs, a box full of tools, and can install his own fenders?   THIS GUY!  I figure the earlier I put them on, the earlier it'll start raining and save California from the drought.

I kind of wanted black fenders, to keep with the stealth look of my fixed-gear commuter, but REI only had chrome ones and I didn't really feel like shopping around.

I was a little concerned that it'd look too much like a Harley... what do you think?

Fenders are notoriously finicky to install, but when you get it right, there is a real pride of craftsmanship.