New Year's Day 2022

Almost a year since the last time I rode higher than Junction - my knee feels OK but I've lost a lot of fitness and strength and NYD is a LONG standing tradition to ride to Summit so I planned on the old college try.  Made it to Juniper.

I needed to go early because my new dog isn't adapted to the routine of my being gone, so I took her for a walk and fed her and sent her back to bed.

HOO BOY it was cold; thick frost on the windshield of my truck. I had plenty of warm clothes though and by about 8am it had warmed up quite a bit.

Wildlife Encounter: dozens of turkeys and three deers.

Got passed by two guys going up - I knew one of them.

Also saw my neighbors Mark and Amy coming down in their camper van - that was a surprise. They said I was the first rider on NGR. They must've camped out overnight and got up early to get out.

I still felt pretty good at Junction where I stopped for a stretch and a Clif Bar. There was a van there with supplies that I figured was a running club support vehicle or something, but it turned out to be Dr. Julia Salvador, a professional bike fitter and physical therapist there just to pass out goodies and drum up business.  You can find her website here:  

https://www.americancanyonbikeshop.com/bike-fit-pt

Since I was the only other person there at the time we talked for a while - she said she was an avid cyclist but she just had a baby so wasn't back riding yet and looking for more customers. I don't know enough to recommend her, but her service is certainly worth considering if you're looking.  Then her husband came out and showed off their new baby and admired my old bike.

Above Junction I was enjoying the feeling of going farther up than I have since my patella fracture, but my legs were telling me it wasn't going to be a Summit day - plus it got kind of windy and I was having a little trouble holding a straight line, and vehicle traffic was picking up, things were starting to ache, so I decided on Juniper.

This is what New Year's Day is supposed to feel like.

Sunrise:  0730

I put my helmet light on my spare tire - BRILLIANT!

If you click back and forth on these photos you can re-create the flashing effect of the red blilnky.

Famous Ted was on his Team Brooklyn Gios today instead of his usual Colnago.

Mark and Amy's new camper van.

Litespeed guy and I had a short conversation before I let him go.

Dr. Salvador wants to measure you.

And... that'll do.

Update on Diablo Statistics per Strava on January 01:

NGR:                 77 riders

SGR:                116 riders

Summit Road:  142 riders