2026 Diablo Day 27 - Saturday Morning Junction

Started a little early this morning, and felt pretty good. Split times were good too. It was a little chilly and I had a windbreaker. The news this week has a lot of stories about killer heat waves in Europe... so I'm not complaining.

I think I smudged some energy drink on my camera lens - these photos all have a blurry spot... I just cleaned it as I was typing this. Better photos next time I promise.

 

2026 Diablo Day 26 - Wednesday Morning Junction

Good weather and I felt good. Saw Colonel Al on the approach but I didn't know it was him until after I passed. We exchanged pleasant but very brief greetings.

I started a little later than VSBC did, so I didn't see too many riders.

At Junction, my Garmin computer told me the battery on my derailleur was needing a charge. This was the first time, so when I got home I set up the cradle and USB cord and everything went fine; I think it took about an hour and then I put it back in and made sure it worked for next time. The Trek guy said they usually last about a month and that's about what I got out of it.  There's also a SRAM app on my phone that I check before each ride and it tells me if the batteries are good to go... I didn't know it talked to my Garmin too.  There's a space on my Garmin for heart rate and last week it talked to my Garmin watch and I could see HR on the computer - but this week the watch and the computer weren't shaking hands... I gotta figure that out.

I felt good and I had a pretty good Junction time, but I still think my endurance is suffering from this anemia. Dr. T should be back from vacation and hopefully she'll have a remedy.

I don't know who this was walking with Al.

2026 Diablo Day 25 - Wednesday Morning Junction

I missed Saturday's ride because I was still a little sick so I slept in, and then when I thought I would go, it was too hot.  It kind of caught me by surprise, but better planning would've permitted me a Saturday Morning Junction.

Today started off a little chilly but warmed up fast and it was excellent weather with a little wind in the lower elevations.

The VSBC was at St. Tim's where Charlie and I meet up. Their guy Mark invited me to ride with them or have coffee in the parking lot after... nice folks.

Roadkill Report: snake.  He went fast.

Wildlife Encounter: mama deer and babies... so cute.

My gravel bike handles this punishing terrain with ease - even with 28mm road tires.

I had a good ride, but Charlie was faster so he had to wait for me a couple times.

No vultures at Vulture Gulch

Update on my diagnosis of anemia - here are my recent test results; I've always had good values until a couple years ago they started to drop slowly. Usually for anemia they look for things like internal blood loss like ulcers, or maybe cancers like leukemia, and even parasites. They didn't find anything like that fortunately. My doctor asked me about fatigue, and I said no but my endurance is down; she wasn't surprised, but she has no idea why this is happening.  Iron supplements are probably in my future and the side effect of those is severe constipation... what fun... but at least it's not leukemia.

2026 Diablo Day 24 - Saturday Morning Junction

 First ride in two weeks - I got a really bad repiratory infection and I've spend the last ten days in a Robotussin bender... so my endurance was down, my iron level is still down, my breathing is still affected, and it was HOT.

At Junction I talked to Steve who just retired from a fire fighting career
and has taken up cycling after a long absence.

I paid extra for the cycle computer that tells me I'm worthless and weak.