2020 WNR 04

Justin's daughter had an appendectomy last night and needed her dad. So Charlie and JB and I discussed appendix stories under beautiful blue skies, with just a bit of chill in the air, and a little breeze.  Charlie saw a bobcat on The Bump while descending, but I was a ways back and didn't see it.  Seeing one bobcat per year is about average - two in the same month is rare indeed...even if it was the same one twice.

Next week Charlie and I will both be no-shows.

No poppies yet, but I'll let you know.

2020 SMR 04

新年快乐

Happy New Year to all my fans who celebrate Chinese culture. 💥

No snow, no ice, no rain, not cold... but there was a dark, low, fog lingering over the Diablo Valley.  At altitude though, it was all blue skies, sunshine, and magic.

JB said it was the first time his Della Santa had been to Summit since April.

Wildlife Encounter:  coyote at the ZigZag.

This coyote was much closer than it looks - he could've pounced on us easily...
we were lucky to get past him with our hides intact.

Nice custom Davidson.  You used to see a lot of those around here.

Groete

2020 WNR 03

Me and Charlie tonight.  We talked about vultures, and emergency rooms, and Australian drop-bears.

Wildlife Encounter:  a whole deer family on The Approach

I dressed for kinda cold... tights and LS jersey.  Got to The Church and took off my tights - shorts in January - ARE YOU SERIOUS?

Not a lot of riders tonight, but some... mostly singles.  I noted that the car drivers on Wednesday afternoons are more relaxed than the Saturday morning drivers.  And there were a few contractor trucks doing something; it wasn't road repair.

Threw my chain again on the descent... I need to do some adjustments.

2020 SMR 03

MDSP put out the word yesterday that Summit Road was closed at Juniper for ICE; and they expected the same for Saturday. And they posted some nice snow photos of the Summit.  Of course nothing brings out the Park visitors like snow, so there were tons of folks up there on bikes and in cars.

JB and I talked about ice skating in Iowa.  Neither one of us really enjoyed it but there was nothing else to do most of the winter, and that's where your friends would be too.

Sure enough, the Juniper barriers were down, pylons on the road, and A-frame DO NOT ENTER signs.  A few riders went up anyway, risking tsk-tsking.  I talked to one guy who was coming down and he said a Ranger told him to go ahead but be careful.  That was surprising.  I've seen this same scenario where the Rangers barked at us not to even think about jumping the barriers, and they watched us like we were terrorists or something. There wasn't any ice up there until almost Summit, but there's hardly any places for cars to park or turn around between Juniper and Summit, and no other place to close the road, so Juniper it is.

Anyway, JB was bonking and I didn't object to calling it a day at Juniper.

Threw my chain coming down though and wrapped it around my crank and had to stop to untangle things.

2020 WNR 02

Big storm is coming in tonight, but it was nice for the ride.  Everything is looking green and lush too.

Charlie said he went to the bike store for a new shifter cable and almost bought a new bike.

Justin's been doing extra training and he finished pretty close to the rest of us today.  He and Charlie went down SGR and around.

One guy came around us pretty fast near Coyote Flats and I picked up my pace to stay with him until just past Chainbuster, but he had 40 seconds on me by the time he got to Junction.

Wildlife Encounter:  three deer - they were just up the embankment so weren't worried about me watching them from pretty close.