Wednesday, November 04, 2026

2026 Diablo Day 60 - Wednesday Morning Juniper

I did some saxophone busking at the ballot box yesterday; got rained on a little but it was fun and a few people waved at me.




Today started out pretty cold; on my morning dog walk I decided to go full winter gear, but by the time I rolled out of the garage it had already warmed up a little and the sky was bright and blue and clear. 

I got to St. Tim's a few minutes early and was surprised that I didn't see the VSBC folks getting ready.  I met a guy named Ed and he was with them and he didn't know either so he checked his phone and realized that they had re-scheduled for 9:30... looks like that's a seasonal thing that will stay the same for a while.  I invited Ed to start up with us but he decided to wait for his club. Then Charlie arrived and we got started.  The roads were still a little wet from yesterday, but not slippery.  There was a lot of sandy debris though and I made a mental note to watch out for that on my descent.

In the Country Club we saw a guy mowing the putting green with some kind of sideways mower - we contemplated the engineering decisions that went into that contraption. Charlie described the criteria that the golf association uses for greens; so many feet deep of layers of different kinds of soil, how high the grass is. 

I think it was my idea to do Juniper and Charlie agreed, so I said I would pace myself for a 50-minute Junction time... an effort that would leave me with Juniper legs and not wiped out.  I know what that effort feels like at every point along SGR and I know exactly how hard to push.  Proof:



At Junction we talked about politics and the weather and French bicycles. Then up Summit Road.  At Juniper there was a driver getting a speeding ticket from the ranger.  We kept going up to Dragonfly where Charlie showed me his new favorite energy bar and described the ingredients and nutritional data.  We had a good ol time breaking down calories per gram of each ingredient and discussing the merits of fructose over sucrose.




Wet sandy danger.



Wet sandy danger caution.




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