No Kings Day marches in Walnut Creek and Pleasanton - I decided to ride Diablo instead.
It was warm in the sunshine and cold in the shadows... how perfect is that?
Wildlife Encounter: three deer where the Ghost Bike used to be. I didn't notice them until I was eye-to-eye with one of them.
JB gave me a bottle of home-made hot sauce from his home-grown peppers... had it on my chili when I got home; a fresh pepper kind of taste without too much heat.
Very nice day, but boy summer is over and fall is in the air. I wore my arm warmers and that was about perfect. I couldn't find my Icy Hot though so the knee was complaining a little. It's about time to dust off the foul-weather bike.
People have been seeing tarantulas - not me... I mean I haven't seen any, I don't mean no one has seen me. Well there weren't many riders on The Mountain today so not that many people saw me today. Anyway - tarantulas.
Tomorrow I pick up my Burley Cargo Trailer - watch this blog for my pending Product Review. I'm going to be doing a lot of urban utility cycling starting soon.
Hey look - that piece of fence they cut out from the Easement is still there... probably waiting for another judge to overturn the order and be replaced.
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| Fall colors at Maple Rock! |
Diablo Challenge is next week and The Mountain was teeming with riders rehearsing for the big race.
Last hot days of summer are about over, and we're looking at rain this week... I should probably give the foul weather bike a tune-up.
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| Cactus jersey and orange shoes - this guy knows cycling fashion. |
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| Everybody and their brother passed me on the way up. |
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| Search and Rescue practice |
Today was the first time I've used the Hole in the Fence in probably 10 years... but it'll now be my standard entrance. I met Colonel Al near there and he said we should refer to it as "The Easement"... OK.
Didn't charge my camera batteries and they ran out before I even got to Diablo.
I passed a big group of riders stopped just before the Tire Poppers and they asked a quick link - I stopped to look through my bag - nope.
Then I got passed by everybody and their uncle on the way to Junction. Nice weather though.
Tarantella Tally: 1 near Live Oak
Wildlife Encounter: BIG pack of turkeys near the helicopter pad
Roadkill Report: Little snake, big raccoon, regular-sized squirrel.
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| I always marvel at how beautiful The Mountain is while I'm on the way to ride him. |
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| Here's where you get off the street and on to the trail. |
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| Here's where you enter the Sudetenland. |
Got drizzled on a little bit on the way out, but it never got wet.
A little windy and cool for the first Saturday Morning Junction of September.
I expected to see more riders with the Diablo Challenge coming up.
Wildlife Encounter: turkeys.
The tarantula signs are out - be on the lookout for the creepy crawlers!
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| I helped with this pace line for about half a Planck time before my legs went soft. |
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| I sucked these wheels for a full 2 nanoseconds. |
Warm today - maybe summer's last stand; last heat wave of the season.
Lots of riders, and some of them came through the NEWLY RESTORED HOLE IN THE FENCE!
Wildlife Encounter: a couple deer crossing the road on my way down. Also lots of bugs at Junction.
Passedem-Passedme ratio: zero to a bunch. Actually I passed two people but they were not very serious, and they weren't especially fit, and they weren't riding bikes. Actually I did pass two cyclists but they were stopped below the Tire Poppers at the same place I usually stop and I just got going before they did and I kind of know one of them ... so I'm not counting them since they weren't even moving.
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| Colonel Al with the publicity shot. |
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| There she is - after 3 years of denial. |
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| And there's the other side entrance. |
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| A happy Hole in the Fence new user. She had to ask me which way was up. |
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| Dierdre |