2023 Diablo Day 37 - Saturday Morning Junction. Turnout Pledge Ride #11.

The Mount Diablo Cyclists are fund raising for more bike turnouts! I have pledged to donate $5 for every time I ride Diablo until the end of September; won't you join me?  The State of California will MATCH our donations! Here's the link - tell them DiabloScott sent you.  

LINK->  Bike Turnouts

Wildlife Encounter: two deers in Blackhawk.

Beautiful weather today and I put in my best SGR time of the year. Didn't wear my knee brace again today and things felt pretty good - the weakness shows up sometimes in places I wasn't expecting... like getting back on the saddle after a period of pedal dancing.

Didn't see anybody I knew, didn't talk to anybody other than on-the-road acknowledgments, and didn't hang around at Junction.

Now that the Death Ride is over, it seems a little more quiet on The Mountain. Only 11 other riders showed up on my Strava Flyby... three of them were named John, and wan was Joann... I've estimated the odds of this happening as about the same as my chances of winning $1 billion in the lottery next week... so I'm buying a ticket. If you don't hear from me - just send me a Venmo request and I'll beam you over a couple thou.

2023 Diablo Day 36 - Wednesday Junction. Turnout Pledge Ride #10.

The Mount Diablo Cyclists are fund raising for more bike turnouts! I have pledged to donate $5 for every time I ride Diablo until the end of September; won't you join me?  The State of California will MATCH our donations! Here's the link - tell them DiabloScott sent you.  

LINK->  Bike Turnouts

Charlie caught the COVID from his grandkids so he's out for a couple weeks. I took the opportunity to do my regular Wednesday ride anyway... but today - I risked riding WITHOUT my knee brace. I felt pretty good but was always aware that I might have some kind of problem but I didn't. In fact I was a full ONE SECOND faster than I was on Saturday, so clearly that thing was slowing me down.

Wildlife Encounter: Alameda Whipsnake just above the Kiosk - it was fast and whippy. In the shadows so I didn't capture it on the Diablo Bike Cam. 

Saw Linda K and a friend also going up SGR - Linda is second in command to Colonel Al in the Diablo Bike Turnout campaign, and she knows everybody.

At Junction I talked to a couple and they asked me to take their photo in front of the Junction sign... they clearly had no idea that they were talking to the Supreme Ruler of Mount Diablo.

Linda K and Friend

The whipsnake is in here somewhere.

Let's have a closer look at that un-braced right knee:

Today's art project combines an epic chainring tattoo on old skin and a new pair of bib-shorts.

Diablo Day 35 - Saturday Morning Junction. Turnout Pledge Ride #9.

The Mount Diablo Cyclists are fund raising for more bike turnouts! I have pledged to donate $5 for every time I ride Diablo until the end of September; won't you join me?  The State of California will MATCH our donations! Here's the link - tell them DiabloScott sent you.  

LINK->  Bike Turnouts

Got out early to beat the heat. There's a lot of cool in all that shade. I usually put SPF 55 sunscreen lotion on my face and ears, and spay-on SPF 30 everywhere else, but recently I also started carrying a little spray can of sunscreen in my jersey so I can reapply to my neck at Junction, because I've seen too many photos of skin cancer patients and I spent most of my youth being sunburned so I'm a high-risk dude.

Roadkill Report: skunk on Blackhawk Road... fresh and juicy, broiled medium well.

Lots of riders going early today - most of them were probably afternoon riders usually... people who exercise in the heat know how much of it they can handle.

At Junction there was a big tent of people recruiting for State Parks rangers - never seen that before... they were probably hiring for the less desirable locations though - like a bait and switch - I can't believe they'd have difficulty hiring somebody to live and work on The Mountain.

Well I put in a decent ride, talked to the Junction folks, and re-applied my sunscreen. Then home to watch the videos and blog about it. Remind me to check my chain... I was getting some funny shifting noises, probably time for a new one.

This runner said I was looking good, so I had to post her photo.

I posted this guy's photo just because I passed his boomer tuchus.

I talked to this guy for quite a while. He said he switched from cycling to hiking after too many calls home to be rescued after crashes and breakdowns.

     SKUNK     

2023 Diablo Day 34 - Wednesday Junction. Turnout Pledge Ride #8.

The Mount Diablo Cyclists are fund raising for more bike turnouts! I have pledged to donate $5 for every time I ride Diablo until the end of September; won't you join me?  The State of California will MATCH our donations! Here's the link - tell them DiabloScott sent you.  

LINK->  Bike Turnouts

I suggested a 2pm meet-up... just for my own personal schedule but I didn't think it was going to be too hot. Charlie was good with that too. This was my first ride of the summer where I used sun screen - because I probably should've used sun screen on my previous ride and my neck skin is feeling a little tender. I've got a little spray bottle of sunscreen somewhere that's good for a jersey pocket... I've gotta find that... but in the mean time I have a big spray bottle of SPF 30 and a tube of SPF 50 which is a little like thick lotion for my face.

So within the first 15 minutes of climbing I started to get a stomach ache... probably a combination of that coffee flavored Perpetuem and the heat. I thought I might have to stop and take a break, which would've been OK because Charlie had already shed me. But after a while the heat got to me enough that I didn't have enough energy for a stomach ache. 

At Junction we took a good long break, talked about Le Tour and old cars. Charlie reminded me that it was 10 years ago that he gave me an international television shout out from Alpe d'Huez! I still had that sign in my garage until a few months ago.

 

Hi Scott! 

Back at home, I started to feel some leg cramps coming on, so I drank a free sample of Hammer Recoverite that I've had sitting around - I don't know if it worked but it didn't do any harm, and it tasted kind of like a vanilla milkshake with a little anti-freeze mixed in. The directions said to drink it immediately after exersise.

I'm hot - are you hot?

San Ramon has perhaps the best bike lanes in California.