Diablo daughter and I did this ride in great weather through nut and fruit orchards, watermelon fields, pumpkin patches, horse ranches, and assorted agricultural acres.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Saturday, October 09, 2010
Gate-Junction-Hole
I'm losing my status as a morning person - had a real hard time getting going this morning.
No rock so I didn't try to catch JB.
Wildlife Encounter: Coyote
Tarantula Tally: three. Local paper did an article on them this week so there were a bunch of cars driving very slowly looking for them. Pretty easy to photgraph since they move pretty slowly.
No rock so I didn't try to catch JB.
Wildlife Encounter: Coyote
Tarantula Tally: three. Local paper did an article on them this week so there were a bunch of cars driving very slowly looking for them. Pretty easy to photgraph since they move pretty slowly.
Approaching Chainbuster, I see four riders coming down kind of excited and one of them asked another, "Was that that guy?" I chuckled thinking "that guy" was "Chris Horner guy". One of the others answered "Yeah, he was getting a ticket for..... (couldn't hear the rest). Then around Chainbuster here comes Chris Horner guy (who from now on will be known as "THAT GUY"... like the way Marlo Thomas was "THAT GIRL" ... gOOgle it if you're under 50) and there was a ranger pickup with the "pull over" lights flashing. I didn't ask what it was for, but I'm pretty sure THAT GUY deserved it.
Then while I'm eating a banana at the Junction, JB comes down from Summit Road. There had been a rock on the post when he got there so he thought I was ahead. The system is not perfect.
We went down SGR and through the Hole. One of the mansions on Alameda Diablo had some awesome Halloween decorations up... check it out:
There were five or six of these things hanging from the trees; witch, skeleton, I forget what all but they're like 30 feet tall.
I've been riding over the Treat Overpass all week in my commute - here she is in a sequence on my way home today.
Wednesday, October 06, 2010
2010 WNR 18
I was pretty sure this would be my last 2010 WNR.
Parked on Doncaster and both tires were flat!
Pumped up the rear and it seemed to hold, but the front had an audible leak from the valve area so I replaced the tube and got a late start.
On the way up I got passed by no one… seems not to be related to my actual speed though since most everybody on the Mountain was on their way back down already.
Tarantula Tally: three
Roadkill Report: snake
And so the sun has set on another season of Wednesday Night Rides – about 6:30 but it was pretty dark by the time I got back to my truck.
The Tour of California just announced the Stage Cities for 2011, and Santa Rosa has been SNUBBED!
There will be a mountain top finish (yay!), but not Diablo (boo!). I am not familiar with Mount Baldy northeast of Los Angeles so I prepared this chart:
That is a climb worth an HC rating!
Parked on Doncaster and both tires were flat!
Pumped up the rear and it seemed to hold, but the front had an audible leak from the valve area so I replaced the tube and got a late start.
On the way up I got passed by no one… seems not to be related to my actual speed though since most everybody on the Mountain was on their way back down already.
Tarantula Tally: three
Roadkill Report: snake
And so the sun has set on another season of Wednesday Night Rides – about 6:30 but it was pretty dark by the time I got back to my truck.
The Tour of California just announced the Stage Cities for 2011, and Santa Rosa has been SNUBBED!
There will be a mountain top finish (yay!), but not Diablo (boo!). I am not familiar with Mount Baldy northeast of Los Angeles so I prepared this chart:
That is a climb worth an HC rating!Tuesday, October 05, 2010
Volunteering at the Diablo Challenge 2010
My fourth year as a mule. Got to the Athenian at 6am and helped direct the volunteers, showed them where to park or where to go. Helped another guy who was coordinating the trainer drop off.
Rick's had a breakout year and was expecting a PB so I packed a "post PB recovery snack" for him (banana muffin and chocolate milk).
At about 8am I started loading backpacks into my truck. There were 4 drivers this year so that was plenty, but two of them didn't really know what to do and I think they went to the Upper Parking Lot instead of the Lower. Some folks had to wait a while to get their stuff.
At 8:20 my truck was full and I headed for the Summit. Parked and watched the first 80 or so riders come by. Rick was about 60th at 56m00s so that's a fine end to an awesome season for him.
The SMD folks finally listened to me about the course distance and they reported 11.2 miles in all their information instead of the 10.8 that's been in there for years - but they didn't change the distance for the average speed calculation on the results so I'll try again next year!
Rick's had a breakout year and was expecting a PB so I packed a "post PB recovery snack" for him (banana muffin and chocolate milk).
At about 8am I started loading backpacks into my truck. There were 4 drivers this year so that was plenty, but two of them didn't really know what to do and I think they went to the Upper Parking Lot instead of the Lower. Some folks had to wait a while to get their stuff.
At 8:20 my truck was full and I headed for the Summit. Parked and watched the first 80 or so riders come by. Rick was about 60th at 56m00s so that's a fine end to an awesome season for him.
The SMD folks finally listened to me about the course distance and they reported 11.2 miles in all their information instead of the 10.8 that's been in there for years - but they didn't change the distance for the average speed calculation on the results so I'll try again next year!
Friday, October 01, 2010
Beach Cruiser in San Clemente
OK, I'm 100% NorCal, but this was pretty sweet.
Was in San Clemente for family matters and had Friday morning free for sand combing, wave diving, and beach cruiser riding up and down the shore. I could get used to this.
This is apparently the equivalent of the Peet's in Danville.
If you get down this way, check out Urban Bicycle Outfitters - tell Pete that Diablo Scott sent you. He also sells roasted gourmet coffee beans roasted by one of the guys in his club, and cycling accessories. Beach cruisers are $6/hr... $30 for all day.
Was in San Clemente for family matters and had Friday morning free for sand combing, wave diving, and beach cruiser riding up and down the shore. I could get used to this.
This is apparently the equivalent of the Peet's in Danville.
If you get down this way, check out Urban Bicycle Outfitters - tell Pete that Diablo Scott sent you. He also sells roasted gourmet coffee beans roasted by one of the guys in his club, and cycling accessories. Beach cruisers are $6/hr... $30 for all day.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Late Start
Ready to roll and I position the bike for a tire pressup and was surprised to find I'd pushed the envelope a little too far on this tire. Not only could I see cords, the rubber was coming away from the casing. No way would this have made it through the ride today.
Now I always have an extra tire hanging in the garage. And my normal procedure is when the back tire shows cords, rotate the front tire to the back and put a new tire on the front; lots of reasons why this makes sense. But there really wasn't much life left in my front tire either. Very fortunately, earlier this week I received my order for two new tires so both front and rear wheels got new shoes and I still have one new one hanging in the garage. Wound up leaving home about a half hour late though.
Product Review: Vittoria Open Corsa CX - best clinchers in the universe.
Now I always have an extra tire hanging in the garage. And my normal procedure is when the back tire shows cords, rotate the front tire to the back and put a new tire on the front; lots of reasons why this makes sense. But there really wasn't much life left in my front tire either. Very fortunately, earlier this week I received my order for two new tires so both front and rear wheels got new shoes and I still have one new one hanging in the garage. Wound up leaving home about a half hour late though.
Ahhhh, new rubber is always nice.
Product Review: Vittoria Open Corsa CX - best clinchers in the universe.
Half an hour late and I'm about a mile from home and I feel the tell-tale thumping, periodic with wheel rotation that says "pinched tube". Stopped to inspect and yup, little bead bulge on the front. Let out the air, massaged the tire, burned a CO2 cart, and was back on my way... now 45 minutes late.
Things started to look better near the dips.
Roadkill Report: baby rattlesnake. The bees were all over this poor guy - made me wonder if they had killed him. Not sure why bees like blood but there was another identical scene a couple miles up.
Roadkill Report: rat at the bottom of the Bump.
Roadkill Report: baby rattlesnake. The bees were all over this poor guy - made me wonder if they had killed him. Not sure why bees like blood but there was another identical scene a couple miles up.
Rest of the ride was nice enough. Lots of people at the Junction but I didn't know any of them.
Product Review: Camelback Podium Bottle. The selling point of this thing is that there's no bite valve that you have to pull - just squeeze. Must be a new kind of plastic too because there wasn't any of that nasty new bottle rank. After 30 years of biting the valve though, the habit wouldn't go away and there's nothing there to bite - made it kind of tricky to sort of shift your hand from the "pulling it out of the cage" position to the squeeze position. It gets a lukewarm recommendation.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
2010 WNR 17
Last weekend, I unsuccesfully attempted to install the Velo Orange fenders on my Masi fixed gear commute bike. The directions sucked and it didn't seem like they gave me enough mounting bits... so I took it to the friendly pro's at Encina Bikes. They didn't have an easy time either. Fender mounting is frequently one of those things that requires a lot of creativity and kludgery and I just didn't have it... I didn't think I'd need to though, because the bike has all the threaded bits you generally need for fenders. Problem was though, they didn't mount under the fork or to the brake bridge the way they were ostensibly supposed to. Anyway, Encina got the job done and the results are pretty good, but not quite as clean as I'd hoped for.
The Velo Orange struts are way more stout than any other fender I've used before.
And use a "daruma" instead of a clamp to grab the fender.
Needed zip ties at both brakes... the provided bits just didn't work.
And needed some spacers at the chainstay bridge attachment; these are rollers from an old chain - I love that kind of resoursefulness.
P and S means "port" and "starboard"... inside joke to myself. The cockpit is nice and tight on the wide Ritchey road bars, leaves plenty of working room for my hands.
So anyway, Encina closes at 7 and I had to cut my Diablo ride a little short to get there in time. I took a couple photos of the sunset but they were blurry and had some flares so I deleted them.
No ride next week... probably just one more 2010 WNR left.
The Velo Orange struts are way more stout than any other fender I've used before.
And use a "daruma" instead of a clamp to grab the fender.
Needed zip ties at both brakes... the provided bits just didn't work.
And needed some spacers at the chainstay bridge attachment; these are rollers from an old chain - I love that kind of resoursefulness.
Nice touch bending the struts instead of just cutting them off - looks cool.
P and S means "port" and "starboard"... inside joke to myself. The cockpit is nice and tight on the wide Ritchey road bars, leaves plenty of working room for my hands.
So anyway, Encina closes at 7 and I had to cut my Diablo ride a little short to get there in time. I took a couple photos of the sunset but they were blurry and had some flares so I deleted them.
No ride next week... probably just one more 2010 WNR left.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Junction
Wildlife Encounter: two young deers below the Gate... wouldn't hold still for a good photo though.
Thick cool fog this morning, sort of like a locker room after many steamy showers but after it's cooled down and the condensation is on everything. Had to take off my sunglasses to see after a while.
Wildlife Encounter: tarantula.
Thick cool fog this morning, sort of like a locker room after many steamy showers but after it's cooled down and the condensation is on everything. Had to take off my sunglasses to see after a while.
Road was pretty wet too in the higher ups. Couple times I spun the rear wheel around a hairpin.
Wildlife Encounter: tarantula.
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