Saturday, February 26, 2022

2022 Diablo Day 15 - Saturday Juniper

Forgot my jacket today - had it all laid out, but then I was wearing my regular coat when I loaded up the truck and left the cycling jacket in my garage. So I had a s/s jersey and arm warmers, good thing it wasn't too cold. 

Lots of riders this morning - and I was FASTER than some of them!  I did lots of knee exercises last night and the patella felt like it was in a good place. Did a slower pace than Wednesday but then we kept going to Juniper. So that was the first Juniper since NYD, and only my second Juniper since the knee fracture and I felt pretty good!  That really felt like some progress. I prescribe more of the same to myself, and I'm a compliant client.




This guy had an impressive MP3 player in his pocket - I think it was a JBL Flip.
He was playing some loud hip-hop and it blasted away my little jobber
with the electronic dance music.








JB hypothesized that this shirtless guy lost a bet.
No way he was comfortable in this cold unless he was Siberian.


Oh-oh... had to pull over for the Ranger with siren on going down.


The famous Ceyhan - who was the Legend of the Bump before I de-throned him. I had never met him but recognized his bike from previous fly-bys so I introduced myself and he was a pleasant guy.

The reason for the Ranger Response - didn't look *that* bad, and I didn't see a car parked nearby so I don't know why this happened... but it WAS clavicle cracker.

Well, accident guy will be well taken care of with the crew of Engine 7.

Wednesday, February 23, 2022

2022 Diablo Day 14 - Wednesday

Woot. It was cold... at least the air was cold, but the sun was warm, which made for a weird combination.

JB showed up but then turned around at The Church because he wasn't fully recovered from his colonoscopy. So it was just me and Charlie. We talked about staph infections, Russian peace-keeping missions, and his new pedals.

Like last week, I figured I could stay with Charlie for the first three miles, and then ride tempo for a decent Junction time. Last week I did 57-some, and today I did sub-56.

Reiterating my current recovery and fitness plan - I'm going to go HARD on Wednesdays, and then a little easier on Saturdays. By the March Equinox I hope to get my Klein off the hooks... I've been riding my Eddy Merckx because it has lower gears and SPDs... so that will be a quantum leap in returning to knee-normal. 

The Hard Wednesday seems to be working - PROGRESS!






Here's where Charlie stopped pretending I wasn't slowing him down.












Saturday, February 19, 2022

2022 Diablo Day 13 - Saturday

Kind of a slog today. I kind of like the plan of going hard on Wednesdays and going through the motions on Saturdays. My knee felt OK and I'm hopeful I'll be ready to ride my Klein by the March equinox... at least I'll give it a shot.

Met a guy at Junction with a USPS Trek and he saw my Merckx and said something about being Eroica appropriate. I told him I had done Eroica to celebrate turning 60 and he said he was looking for something epic to do for his 70th later this year. We went over some epic rides like Davis Double, Death Ride, etc. and he decided that was a little too epic for him. He was thinking more like Eroica Gaiole in Chianti.

The poppies have exploded even more than Wednesday... lots of color on The Mountain. Appreciate it now, dear readers.

Had a semi-close call with a completely clueless driver passing around a blind corner... he got an angry shout-out... see photo last.










Wednesday, February 16, 2022

2022 Diablo Day 12 - Wednesday

 Kind of warm and kind of windy. I felt pretty good and the knee didn't hurt too much so I went hard and got tired.  Best Junction time since the patella fracture. Definitely have to work on my cardio fitness now. Lungs and heart and legs all get tired about the same time... I probably need to do some intervals.

Charlie started fast and I stayed with him until The Bump, and JB held back. Then I slowed down and JB passed me at Chainbuster. So I came in last and it was still a decent finish time. That was a good ride.


Stopped for a poppy photo - happened upon this cool pose.


Charlie got new wheels from Rivendell - they rebuilt his old hubs with some white Velocity rims that look pretty cool on his big frame with white logos.

If you're a traffic flagman, NGR is a great place to do it; everyone is friendly and safe.





Here is where Charlie stopped pretending I wasn't slowing him down.






NEW TIRE DAY!  I really milked these old tires for everything they were worth, but a chunk of rubber out of the tread is unignorable.  Glued on my last pair of Vittoria Pavès. Will have to find a new model for next time.

After (I think) two years of lots of riding, my glue job still exemplified professionalism.

Photo by Charlie (R)