2018 SMR 41

I felt grand.
The weather was grand.
Chatted with some nice people enjoying The Mountain.
It was quiet today - few cars, no wind.
No fires around, no smog, no work to do when I got home.
JB set a slow pace and everything was grand.
Still would've been nice to win the PowerBall Lottery but today's ride was a close second.

Tarantella Tally:  One guy near The Bump, late to the party.

This guy was fast and smooth.  Talked to him a little at the Junction.  Rob recently got out of the USMC and moved to the Bay Area and landed a good job and today was his virgin trip up The Mountain.

2018 WNR 15

Felt great.  Went early, went hard.  Had my best ever Strava time to Junction.  Made it home before dark.

Wildlife Encounter:  turkeys on The Approach

This chart shows that I was spanking the monkey for 2 minutes and could've had a faster time.

Hey, it's Mike and his NEW BIKE!

Chainbuster sometimes looks steeper than real, in photographs.

2018 SMR 40

Cold this morning - first day of the season in tights and I was glad I had them on.

Wildlife Encounter - a solo deer past The Bump.

I probably write this every year about this time, but there are some places on the way up where the sun is right in your eyes and it's really hard to see the road or any oncoming traffic; Thank you, axial tilt.

I noticed this thing at Junction that looked like a bamboo wind chime or something.  JB said it was a moisture detector and he's seen the rangers take it in the shack and weigh it.  He said it was made of a special wood that absorbs moisture and indicates how much the trees are at risk for catching on fire.  Interesting, and I was surprised I'd never noticed it before.

FuelMoistureSticks

Jackets came off at The Junction though.

2018 WNR 14

Making hay while the sun shines... left early for a 4pm start.  

Passed'em-Passed'me ratio:  4:2.  One guy made me chase for the last 3 miles and I never caught him.

No wildlife, no roadkill.  Perfect conditions though - warm and not windy.

Picked out some bibshorts that are pretty old, thin, and stretched out.  I decided to wear some trunk underwear with them... worked OK.

OK Scott, that's enough selfies.

2018 SMR 39

Well that bike maintenance day I mentioned last week got scheduled and executed and the Belgian Beast was in fine nick for today and hopefully the rest of the season.

Seemed somehow calmer today, maybe because The Challenge is over and people aren't training... maybe just my imagination.

My Garmin alerted that there was a high fire danger today - didn't seem likely but it's been exactly a year since the Sonoma fires and you never want to ignore a fire alert.

Wildlife Encounter:  deer and more deer

Roadkill Report:  a few small snakes

Diablo Shoutout to Punkin Jay who spend Friday in the emergency room... crash yes, Diablo no, bike's OK.

I allow - even hep - good descenders to pass me.

... but if they can't stay in front of me they get the contemptuous snub as I pass back.

Ready for l'Eroica next year.  Except for the pedals.

2018 SMR 38

Wednesday night's ride on the Merckx was kind of a "dust off the cobwebs" run and afterwards, I went to buy some new brake pads and was looking forward to riding him again today, but getting the pads on was a little more involved than I expected so I didn't get it done in time.  Oh well, I'll have to ride my Klein again... first world problems.  I need to dedicate a day to bike maintenance though and get everything done at once.

The Challenge is tomorrow and I'm looking forward to being a volunteer again.  

Got a slow flat at Son of Chainbuster so I stopped to fix it.  JB was short on time so he didn't wait.  I have had extraordinarily good fortune with my tires this season; in fact I can't even remember the last flat I had.  In fact, when I opened my seat pack to get my CO2 inflator, I didn't even recognize it!  I have a vague memory of breaking my previous one, but I don't remember buying this one.  Here's a note to my future self:  search this blog for "the last flat I got" and then you'll find this message.  I think I'll tag all my rides with flats like that so I can make a chart or document my good fortune or something.  I didn't find anything in the tire, so that made me worry it was still in there somewhere waiting to puncture the new tube, so I decided to quit at Junction.

Better to fix a flat on a paved area cuz the gravel gets everything dirty... but I wasn't thinking straight.

Rear clincher tire on the Klein is squared off but still has another dozen rides or so.

Rear tubular tire on the Merckx is squared off but still has a couple dozen more rides or so.

New heel pads *and* new brake shoes?  It's like Christmas in October!!