2023 Diablo Day 13 - Wednesday Junction

1. We're having some good weather.
2. Paris Roubaix is in the books.
3. Time to bring out the fair weather bike.

Yesterday I was getting the Klein (Mike) ready for today's ride; checking the brakes and tires and chain... that kind of stuff. I wasn't sure how I'd do since the foul-weather bike (Eddy) that I've been riding since October has lower gears and different pedals. But it was nice to polish him up and I enjoyed feeling how much lighter Mike is than Eddy.

The call was made, the ride would be at 1:30. It was the first day of the year with NO tights or knee warmers, NO jacket or arm warmers, and short sleeves... glorious... still had the knee brace on though.

We all got to The Gate at about the same time. JB made a joke about how he wasn't feeling super yet after a week of illness and injury, so it would be up to me to give Charlie a "ride for his money". I joked back that now he'd blown my secret attack it would be a good idea to hold back for a while. But suddenly, before The Bump, I started feeling good and Charlie started to fade, and I had a good gap. I didn't really think I could hold the lead the whole way but I gave it a shot anyway and wound up having the fastest time since last July. I was thinking my knee didn't hurt very much, although it was still causing some stability problems out of the saddle. And my cardio fitness has been improving over the last couple weeks. I had nothing left in the tank when I got done; heaving and quivering but it felt good to be able to push myself hard. Not saying I'll be able to continue this trend... but not saying not either.

Special note today - the Brontosaurus Tree fell down some time over the winter. It will be missed.

At Junction we talked about gun control, disk brakes, and road construction.

Then after a safe but exhilarating descent, I finished her off with a perfect bunny hop over the Bott's Dots at The Gate. Harbinger for a good year.

This guy told us he broke his rear derailleur and had already called for a ride home. Tough break.

The poppies yet bloom.