JB and Charlie opted out today. Another solo ride for your humble blogger.
Looking at the weather forecast - this may have been my last Diablo Day of 2022.
No wildlife, no roadkill, no unique characters... a few hard core cyclists, and a few sight-seeing motorists.
Threw my chain off the big ring on the way home... I should get to that bike maintenance task I keep postponing.
Diablo Brother sent me some nice light full-finger gloves for X-mas that were perfect for today's weather.
Christmas Eve and it was just cold enough to feel festive. I had my jingle bell hanging from my spare tire, and holiday music on my speaker... it was right out of a Hallmark Special.
I forgot to wear my knee sleeve and it turned out I didn't really miss it - maybe I don't need it as much as I thought... every once in a while my knee just sort of goes noodley and the sleeve helps with that... but that happens more while walking than riding.
Then my Garmin battery went dead - my fault for not checking before I left... so I didn't feel any pressure to care how fast I was. I chuckled at the thought of renaming it my FUBARmin.
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| These guys passed us racing each other up The Bump... then they fizzled out. |
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| This guy had a pretty cool gravel bike that was set up for road riding. |
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| Bharat and I swapped stories about work and life. |
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| Coming LEFT! |
Solstice 2022 was at 1:47 PM on
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| Charlie showed up in his spiffiest bike togs. |
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| JB wore his normal thrift store bike stuff. |
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| This guy wins the prize for orangest bike. |
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| Christmas decorations are a little better than last year. |
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| JB's Clavicle Doctor has a Calfee Bamboo bike. I call him Dr. Bamboo. He had some kind of neck issue and switched stuff around for a more upright position. |
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| VAM - that's a good name for a climbing bike! |
JB bruised his ribs last week but mostly healed now.
We met at The Gate at 2PM, I'd forgotten how much school traffic there would be at that time of day.
Wildlife Encounter: lots of deer on The Approach. We made a mental note to be careful on the way back.
I pulled ahead on The Bump and got a good gap on JB - I faded after Chainbuster but managed to keep my lead.
JB injured himself and texted to say he wudn't cum'n. I took the opportunity to rub some extra liniments into my knee... seemed to work. Lots of people trying to pedal off the Thanksgiving poundage... I passed them ALL!
Roadkill Report: a snake between the Ranger House and the Junction - belly up and picked clean by scavengers... not much except skin.
At Junction a rider was telling a story about snow skiing when she was a kid - she sliced her head open with a ski but the blood froze into a clot. Then when she went in the lodge for cocoa, the blood cube melted and the wound opened up and liquid blood started pouring out of her and the whole place freaked out... she was an accomplished story teller - filled in with details and reactions.
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| Dr. Bamboo |
