2019 WNR 20

The Mountain was closed over the weekend for high fire danger, so I didn't get in my Saturday Morning Summit.  I needed both Junctions today to hit my July climbing trophy from Strava:  success.

Tonight was kind of the last bit of the heat wave, so it was hot but not oppressive.  On my first trip up, I decided to make a record attempt at segment "Split 2".  I had no idea what my best time for this segment was, and I held back a little bit because I had lots of riding left to do...and it was hot... but I did a PR.

One guy was about 30 seconds behind me for the last three miles or so and I figured he was just waiting for the perfect time to pass me.  I was just riding my own ride and a few times I put out a little more than average and the gap got pretty big - so then I figured he was on the limit keeping up.  Finally he passed me 100 meters or so before Junction and was happy with himself.

Wildlife Encounter:  lots of deer - different places - made me extra careful but none of them crossed the road in front of me.

Back to the Doncaster Staging Area to wait for the WNR regulars, not sure who was going to be there, but Lance Oldstrong showed up to ride with Midland - so I figured I could go with them if none of my crew came.  Then Shawn got there and said there might be one more so we waited for a while and then got started a couple minutes behind.  Shawn pushed pretty hard for the first couple miles but then started to have a harder time on the steep stuff.  When we realized we could catch Lance he was re-energized and full-gas the rest of the way.

Right about Chainbuster, I started to have chain skipping problems... I futzed around a bit with my barrel adjusters but couldn't get it to stay in any one gear so I kind of had to soft-pedal it the rest of the way in.  Couldn't even figure it out at Junction while I was stopped - but when I got home I did an investigation and realized it was a sticky link - no amount of barrel adjuster adjusting was going to fix that - but it's very satisfying to figure out the problem, and find out I don't need an expensive new part or visit to the bike shop.  Never had a link get sticky for no reason before.

Diablo Shoutouts to:
Bernie
Doug
Lance Oldstrong
Midland
Deadhead Mike

Not a lot of riders on The Mountain tonight, but I seemed to know more of them than usual.

My chaser.

The CATCH

Lance asked me for some sew-up advice, and then he ignored it.

THERE'S my problem!

2019 WNR 19

Hottest ride of the year.  Hotter the first Junction trip, but harder the second trip because I was already pretty drained and getting stiff.  My knee's feeling better but it's still an issue.  Looks like it'll still be hot on Saturday.

Me and Charlie and JB went up together on my second Junction - there were a few more people and a few more shady spots, but it was still hot.  Charlie said he might quit at The Bump, but he stuck it out.  JB forgot his water bottle but it didn't seem to affect him too much.  I went through two big bottles with iced tea and I could've used a third.

DiabloShoutouts:  DeadHeadMike and Punkin-Jay... it's a rare Wednesday night I don't see one or both of them.

Wildlife Encounter:  turkeys and deer.  Charlie saw a young coyote.

Celsius... because it's the 21st century, come on.

These deer seemed to enjoy watching me suffer.

This guy had full camping gear on his bike... huh-zah!

This guy passed us like a train.  His Strava entry said "INTERVALS IN THE HEAT".

This snip best captured the heat, I think.

2019 SMR 22

It was kind of cold this morning, but 2/3rds of the country is having a major heat wave, so I decided not to bring arm warmers.  JB showed up with a jacket, but he took it off at The Gate... then it kept falling off his bike rack and he had to stop to re-pack.

My twisted knee was still kind of hurting, but riding didn't make it hurt worse, so I figured it was OK.

Wildlife Encounter:  one cute bunny, one dumb turkey.

JB said he's decided Ed Litton will be the frame builder to repair his Della Santa.  They talked and JB found out he knew Roland since he was 15 years old... that's a pretty cool connection.  Cost estimate is $175 for the repair and $700 for re-paint - schedule is 6 weeks.  JB wants to keep the old downtube for a souvenir.

At Junction, there was a guy trying to fix his broken chain, but he was having a lot of troubles.

At Junction another guy recognized my bike and asked if I was Diablo Scott and then we did a selfie!  (note broken chain guy in the background)

Bernie!

JB asked if I'd consider South Gate and around, and I agreed to do South Gate and then back up.  So at the Tire Poppers we split up.

SEVERE TIRE DAMAGE

2019 WNR 18

Background:  Last Friday I tripped and fell pretty hard on the sidewalk in San Jose.  Banged and twisted my left knee, banged and twisted my right shoulder and elbow, and took an abrasion on the right side of my face.  There was a not insignificant amount of pain involved.  I had been thinking about an epic ride on Saturday since JB was out of town and some friends were doing the Death Ride that day... but I did a test ride around the neighborhood Saturday morning and made the decision to not do Diablo.  So today, I'm still limping a little bit and wasn't sure I had a Junction but I was pretty sure I could make a go of it... at least once.  

Other WNR regulars said they weren't coming for various reasons so I went kind of early figuring I'd be by myself anyway.  I was able to pedal without any problems, but when I got out of the saddle and pushed it a little I got some bio-feedback that told me to sit back down.  So it was kind of a slow pace but it mostly felt good.  Not a lot of riders tonight though, maybe because of the heat.  

Wildlife Encounter:  just one turkey

DiabloShoutouts to:  PunkinJay, Midland, and DeadHead.... 👋

Wow, it was hotter than I realized.

2019 WNR 17

Yesterday, old friend Edgardo texted to say old friend Tomás was in town and wanted to ride The Mountain.  Tomás is the guy who lent his name to the eponymous "Moss Landing" when he crashed spectacularly there about 25 years ago.

I did a solo Junction as has become my norm, to double my exercise.  Oh no!  I forgot my music speaker and my Garmin computer - good thing I had my work phone with the Strava app on it.  When I got back to my truck, Charlie was there and I just had time to eat an apple and change my water bottles.

Tomás and Edgardo brought their colleague Ellen, who outclassed them both and set a good pace with me.

It was a fun ride with friends and old friends.

Wildlife Encounter:  lots of deer, lots of places.

Diablo Shoutout: Lance Oldstrong, who rode despite an old man injury.  I saw him descending on my first Junction climb.

Tomás had a rental bike from ENCINA.  He gives the experience his highest recommendation.  Said it was cheaper than flying his bike down from Oregon.

 

Ellen has a steel Bianchi with Campagnolo group... she seemed kind of young to be old school.

Some photos from Shawn, who uses his iPhone for these - the color looks off to me... might just be my screen:

A disciplined peloton awaits the first attack.

Alumni amigos.

Shawn also sent a photo of the ghost bike in memorium to the rider who died last week on South Gate.