JB wanted to sleep through the rain, but I got up to check and it was FINE!
Also, Robert was at The Gate so we had a nice ride up together. He's a strong rider; I didn't have trouble keeping up with him but I did a very different ride than I would have alone. We determined that the worst weather was to the southwest, and the wind was coming from the southwest so we were going to get it pretty soon. Mostly it was pleasant riding right at the brink of the rain, but I decided to quit at Junction.
JB and Justin had good excuses not to ride in the foggy slop today.
Sloppy fog is a good reason for me and Charlie to enjoy a Winter Wednesday Junction. We discussed his recent trip to Washington and Christmas music by old-timey crooners.
We both were dressed exactly right for the weather, it wasn't windy and there were just a few sprinkles.
Didn't see many other riders, didn't see any wildlife. We descended nice and slow.
Closed at Juniper for ice on the road. Well OK - I'm all for traffic safety. And it WAS cold.
It wasn't supposed to start raining until after 11am though, and that's usually the time I get home after a Saturday Morning Summit... but it started raining about 9:30. JB turned around at Junction and I was good and wet by Juniper. I'm re-thinking my Amazon Wish List to include some better wet-weather cycling gear.
Using the Fahrenheit version in the Holiday Spirit.
Cal House Flag Autoblog
Only the toughest of the tough were on The Mountain today.
OK, storms are happening. Hardmen are riding their bikes.
Justin just quit his job so he'll be a regular Winter Wednesday Rider.
Charlie is in Seattle this week, so it was three of us tonight.
There was some snow up there somewhere - we didn't find it.
Got hailed on on the way down... sounded like popcorn popping in my helmet... pea sized ice chunks on my jacket sleeves.
JB still doesn't have his Della Santa back... rode his Trek tonight. Got a flat and didn't have a tube, but Justin did and gave it to him. Changing tire with frozen hands is difficult and painful.
Justin had his disc-brake bike, my rim brakes were sub-optimal in the wet descent.
Big Game day, so I wore my Cal jersey... didn't see any other ones.
Supposed to rain Tuesday... we'll see; that'd be nice to clean up the air.
JB said Ed Litton isn't returning his calls; hope all is well, but he wants his bike back.
Earlier this week I heard someone complain that Christmas music was already being played in some stores - so I put a Christmas playlist on my phone and played it all the way up on my little speaker. I'll put my little jingle bell on later today.
Charlie and I talked about current events and weather and such.
He said on Alpe d'Huez, the switchbacks are level... not like the steep turns on Diablo. We opined on the reason for the difference; he thought maybe because they were constructed for horse-drawn wagons. I offered that it was probably because the French are pansies... then I joked that they would see Chainbuster and surrender.
A yellow ladybug appeared on my computer at Junction and stayed on for about a mile and a half of my descent. The crosswind at The Ranches was about the stiffest I've seen... it was a slow descent.
Very pleasantly cool this mornng. There was a little fog in the valley.
Not very many people on The Mountain, me and JB wondered if there were some event going on elsewhere.
At Junction, a guy drove up and asked me if I would help him carry a bench. He was a volunteer that was refurbishing the Pete and Monica benches, so the first one was done and we put it back next to the Ranger Door. And then I helped put the other one (by the stairs) in his vehicle so he could take it home and refinish it as well. Make sure you notice them next time you Junction.
There were a lot of hikers today, most of them parked at Juniper. At Summit one of them asked if she could take a photo of my bike. I asked "Why?" and she said she was an Eddy Merckx fan!
Going down from Summit I sight Linda K coming up. I turned around and rode up with her to the Lower Lot and congratulated her on her ONE MILLION FEET OF CLIMBING IN A YEAR trophy that she will be completing on Friday. I won't be able to ride with her that day but hopefully she has a good group to celebrate with. By the way, a million feet in a year is an average of Six Summits per week for 52 weeks. I told her she made it look a little too easy; finishing a month early.
Putting the Monica bench in his vehicle for refinishing.
This guy said "nice bike" when he passed me. So he gets blogged.
This rider about hurled at the top of The Wall... HAZZAH!
I really like this color of blue for a jersey. As a bonus, it gives a sort of fluorescent shimmer to the snot on my sleeves.
Two of Diablo's celebrities!
This rider passed me at Moss Landing and then slowed down. I followed her for the next 6 miles thinking it'd be rude to pass her back.
You will love this... trust me.
Culture Club, No Doubt, Italian cotton sew-ups, and my shadow, harmonizing on Summit Road from Blue Oak to Juniper... artfully edited and produced.
First ride since Standard Time started. I must admit, it was nice to have had El Sol warm things up for an extra hour before starting. Went with tights and LS jersey and was mostly comfortable.
Big group from Hercules Cycling Club on NGR today... those guys are always friendly.
JB's joke: "What does an electrician say when he gets a shock? That Hz!".
Spare the Air day today, but it wasn't really too bad, especially up a little higher.
JB quit at Junction, said he was just tired. I didn't know what my best Junction-Summit time was but I figured I'd do a hard effort and see how I measured up. Answer: 2nd best ever... missed it by 34 seconds.
