Saturday, November 07, 2026

2026 Diablo Day 61 - Saturday Morning Juniper

Arm warmers and tights were just about right today - warmed up nicely on the climb, and then still got a nice cooling effect on the descent.

Talked to some MTBers at Junction about bike tech and local shops.

New Zealand in 11 days!  Trek Travel sent me some packing tips.

Wildlife Encounter:  possibly the biggest herd of turkeys I've seen on The Mountain.  One lizard too.










More vanity poses:



I had never before noticed that big steel mesh curtain up there -
must be some kind of rockslide measure.


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.