Wednesday September 3 Diablo Juniper
I got a late start and everyone had already gone. I rode solo and didn't pass anyone until I got up to the upper ranches where I passed Amy and another familiar DC woman whose name I don't know. I was 20 minutes flat at the upper washout so I had a chance of breaking 40 minutes but that Greek calzone thing I had for lunch was sitting hard in my gut and I couldn't muster up the motivation to go for it. I finished in 40m38s and I was reasonably happy with that. We never did see Adam and Leif - they must have gone down South Gate Road.
Somehow I forgot my gloves today - almost never ride without gloves. My hands got slippery with sweat which was more annoying than dangerous.
The bugs at the Junction were vicious. Most of the riders were lounging around but JB and I decided to go up (actually I twisted his arm a bit - he wanted to go get a beer). At Juniper we talked to a guy who was working a temporary electronics job at Bishop Ranch paying $65 an hour but he lived in Sonoma County so he was sleeping in his van in the campground. Last night there was a huge thunderstorm so he said he didn't sleep well. Seemed like a nice guy in a tough situation (unemployed for several months, away from his home and family).
Wildlife Encounter: Spotted my first tarantula of the season. They get pretty numerous in October and November and it's always fun to see them out on their mission.
There was also a guy parked along the side of the road planting flowers or something in the ditch - I'll be surprised if they take hold though.
Saturday, August 30, 2003
Saturday August 30 Diablo Juniper 28 miles
JB and Nicole couldn't come today, so I called Will we arranged to get an early start so Rick would catch us. He agreed but Rick showed up early too so we all rode very slowly to the Junction. It's nice to see Will get enthused about riding again but he's got a lot of fitness to regain. Peter came up around us with about a half mile to go and I hopped on his wheel - Rick either didn't try or couldn't hold it. Wasn't much of a sprint but I did just barely manage to cross the line in front of him (Peter). Time to Junction isn't worth reporting since it's meaningless anyway… very slow.
At the Junction there was this old guy on a fairly modern Trek road bike with a triple crank. A couple of other guys in their 60's were talking to him and he told them to guess his age. He looked about 80 but a very healthy 80 and the two guys were making him feel good by guessing he was late 60's early 70's. Then he said "I'm 82, and I've been riding since I was a teenager." I asked him if he was famous and he got a laugh out of that. Anyway, he didn't look young but he did look like he was still enjoying life and bike riding and I suppose that's all a guy can ask.
We talked Will into going up to Juniper but it was painfully slow. Rick went up with Peter and got way ahead of us very quickly. Will and I paused at Juniper long enough to soak in the smoggy view and then we both went home. On the road below the Gate I saw a guy packing up his Klein and I talked to him a bit - he said he'd had it about 3 years, it was a Quantum Race with the Icon Air Rail parts and a cool blue/purple paint job. He must have ridden part way up and turned around while we were still up on Summit Road because otherwise I would have seen him earlier.
JB and Nicole couldn't come today, so I called Will we arranged to get an early start so Rick would catch us. He agreed but Rick showed up early too so we all rode very slowly to the Junction. It's nice to see Will get enthused about riding again but he's got a lot of fitness to regain. Peter came up around us with about a half mile to go and I hopped on his wheel - Rick either didn't try or couldn't hold it. Wasn't much of a sprint but I did just barely manage to cross the line in front of him (Peter). Time to Junction isn't worth reporting since it's meaningless anyway… very slow.
At the Junction there was this old guy on a fairly modern Trek road bike with a triple crank. A couple of other guys in their 60's were talking to him and he told them to guess his age. He looked about 80 but a very healthy 80 and the two guys were making him feel good by guessing he was late 60's early 70's. Then he said "I'm 82, and I've been riding since I was a teenager." I asked him if he was famous and he got a laugh out of that. Anyway, he didn't look young but he did look like he was still enjoying life and bike riding and I suppose that's all a guy can ask.
We talked Will into going up to Juniper but it was painfully slow. Rick went up with Peter and got way ahead of us very quickly. Will and I paused at Juniper long enough to soak in the smoggy view and then we both went home. On the road below the Gate I saw a guy packing up his Klein and I talked to him a bit - he said he'd had it about 3 years, it was a Quantum Race with the Icon Air Rail parts and a cool blue/purple paint job. He must have ridden part way up and turned around while we were still up on Summit Road because otherwise I would have seen him earlier.
Wednesday, August 27, 2003
Wednesday August 27 Diablo Juniper 20 miles
At lunchtime today I went to Performance because I needed to spend another $20 to get another $10 in Team Performance Bucks. They were having a sale (as always) and I figured I could find a cheap jersey or something. I didn't like any of the $20 jerseys so I decided to get this $45 jersey:
So I was feeling good, had my new jersey on, it was perfect weather… time to put up. I got to the gate a few minutes early; I knew JB and Adam were not too far behind so I gave myself a head start. I began at a very fast pace and held it all the way past Moss Landing before I settled down into endurance mode. I passed up about a half dozen riders by the time I got to the bump. I rode the entire bump stretch out of the saddle but in not too big of a gear and I got to the upper washout at 19m30s - usually my time at this point is about half of the total time so a little multiplying in my head told me I was on a 39 minute pace! That really jazzed me up and I started to focus on the next milestone which is the 2-miles to go point at the speed limit sign. I can usually do the last two miles in 14 minutes (15 minutes is an easy pace, 13 minutes is very fast); so anything under 26 minutes at this point tells me I can break 40 to the Junction and I love to break 40. I was 24m55s - damn this was gonna be a good Junction time. Mark passed me about this time so he was a good rabbit to chase - NOT - he was out of site before the next switchback. I really pushed it but held a little in reserve too the rest of the way until the final sprint when I gave it my all - 39m11s! My fourth best time ever.
Adam and JB showed a few minutes later, followed by about a dozen Diablo Cyclist members. Marty the Rivendell guy that I wrote about in the Marin Century entry was just back from doing Paris-Brest-Paris - his time was 84 hours; what an accomplishment! He was riding a titanium Colnago today though, I think he borrowed it from somebody.
The three of us started up Summit Road after a recovery period but JB turned around at the top of the Horseshoe. Adam and I continued on to Juniper. On the way down we got stuck behind an SUV who apparently thought it would be uncool to pull over and let us pass, but finally capitulated. Adam was allowing me to lead down the bump and when we hit Moss Landing I was doing 44mph - just as two Ranger pick-ups were coming up. I started to think one of them would turn around and ticket us but they didn't. A great day on the mountain.
At lunchtime today I went to Performance because I needed to spend another $20 to get another $10 in Team Performance Bucks. They were having a sale (as always) and I figured I could find a cheap jersey or something. I didn't like any of the $20 jerseys so I decided to get this $45 jersey:
So I was feeling good, had my new jersey on, it was perfect weather… time to put up. I got to the gate a few minutes early; I knew JB and Adam were not too far behind so I gave myself a head start. I began at a very fast pace and held it all the way past Moss Landing before I settled down into endurance mode. I passed up about a half dozen riders by the time I got to the bump. I rode the entire bump stretch out of the saddle but in not too big of a gear and I got to the upper washout at 19m30s - usually my time at this point is about half of the total time so a little multiplying in my head told me I was on a 39 minute pace! That really jazzed me up and I started to focus on the next milestone which is the 2-miles to go point at the speed limit sign. I can usually do the last two miles in 14 minutes (15 minutes is an easy pace, 13 minutes is very fast); so anything under 26 minutes at this point tells me I can break 40 to the Junction and I love to break 40. I was 24m55s - damn this was gonna be a good Junction time. Mark passed me about this time so he was a good rabbit to chase - NOT - he was out of site before the next switchback. I really pushed it but held a little in reserve too the rest of the way until the final sprint when I gave it my all - 39m11s! My fourth best time ever.
Adam and JB showed a few minutes later, followed by about a dozen Diablo Cyclist members. Marty the Rivendell guy that I wrote about in the Marin Century entry was just back from doing Paris-Brest-Paris - his time was 84 hours; what an accomplishment! He was riding a titanium Colnago today though, I think he borrowed it from somebody.
The three of us started up Summit Road after a recovery period but JB turned around at the top of the Horseshoe. Adam and I continued on to Juniper. On the way down we got stuck behind an SUV who apparently thought it would be uncool to pull over and let us pass, but finally capitulated. Adam was allowing me to lead down the bump and when we hit Moss Landing I was doing 44mph - just as two Ranger pick-ups were coming up. I started to think one of them would turn around and ticket us but they didn't. A great day on the mountain.
Tuesday August 26
Commuting home on my Eddy Merckx road bike with the 25mm Conti's and Mr. Tuffys - picked up my first goathead of the year. The existence of these things prove without a doubt that there is no god.
I was able to successfully patch the puncture - I think it's the first time in the last 10 attempts that my patch held! For some reason my patches keep curling up at the edges... maybe it's the baby powder on the tubes.
Commuting home on my Eddy Merckx road bike with the 25mm Conti's and Mr. Tuffys - picked up my first goathead of the year. The existence of these things prove without a doubt that there is no god.
I was able to successfully patch the puncture - I think it's the first time in the last 10 attempts that my patch held! For some reason my patches keep curling up at the edges... maybe it's the baby powder on the tubes.
Sunday, August 24, 2003
Saturday August 23, 2003 Diablo Summit, 32 milles
Nicole wasn't at work yesterday so we weren't sure she and Rick were coming today. JB and I decided to start up the road at about 8:05 when they hadn't shown up yet. He commented that he never feels like riding hard on Saturdays, and saves his big efforts for Wednesday afternoons (that was his way of telling me that we would be doing a slow ride today). So we rolled along at well below anaerobic pace the whole way up North Gate Road until about 300 meters to go when we set up for the sprint. Normally if I'm not completely knackered by this point I can easily outsprint him but today he outsmarted me; increasing his speed at a steady pace rather than trying to get a jump so I wasn't sure when I should come around him. With about 50 meters to go I kicked it up another gear and dropped my cadence just a bit too much and he beat me across the line… he was pretty happy about that. I recorded my elapsed time as 44m12s and noted what a huge difference in effort 4 minutes makes… today was a very relaxed pace whereas a 40 minute ride is a near-maximum effort.
Will was at the Junction waiting for us. He's lost a lot of fitness since he used to ride regularly with us but is trying to make a comeback and he got a head start on us this morning. We talked for a while and then Rick showed up too… he started about 10 minutes after JB and me. We all convinced Will to start up Summit Road "at least for a little ways". I rode with Rick, and Will rode with JB at a slower pace. When Rick and I got to Juniper I pulled off and told him I was going to wait for Will. Rick went on to the Summit and Will showed up a few minutes later; JB had turned around to make a commitment in Danville. So then I convinced Will that we should at least do the Muir Picnic area because by then Rick would be coming back down and it would be a good point to re-group. Surprisingly he agreed and he said he felt pretty good by the time we got there. Sure enough Rick was coming down at about that time and we convinced Will to go "just a little farther" and before we knew it we were on the finishing stretch to the Summit. We didn't do the Summit Wall but did hang out in the lower parking lot for a while looking out over the whole Bay Area. Will was quite satisfied with his performance and he's a good sport.
Later in the day I hooked up the Burley bike trailer to my commute bike and the whole family went to the park until dark. We fed the ducks and played in the sand, it was a veritable Norman Rockwell kind of evening.
Nicole wasn't at work yesterday so we weren't sure she and Rick were coming today. JB and I decided to start up the road at about 8:05 when they hadn't shown up yet. He commented that he never feels like riding hard on Saturdays, and saves his big efforts for Wednesday afternoons (that was his way of telling me that we would be doing a slow ride today). So we rolled along at well below anaerobic pace the whole way up North Gate Road until about 300 meters to go when we set up for the sprint. Normally if I'm not completely knackered by this point I can easily outsprint him but today he outsmarted me; increasing his speed at a steady pace rather than trying to get a jump so I wasn't sure when I should come around him. With about 50 meters to go I kicked it up another gear and dropped my cadence just a bit too much and he beat me across the line… he was pretty happy about that. I recorded my elapsed time as 44m12s and noted what a huge difference in effort 4 minutes makes… today was a very relaxed pace whereas a 40 minute ride is a near-maximum effort.
Will was at the Junction waiting for us. He's lost a lot of fitness since he used to ride regularly with us but is trying to make a comeback and he got a head start on us this morning. We talked for a while and then Rick showed up too… he started about 10 minutes after JB and me. We all convinced Will to start up Summit Road "at least for a little ways". I rode with Rick, and Will rode with JB at a slower pace. When Rick and I got to Juniper I pulled off and told him I was going to wait for Will. Rick went on to the Summit and Will showed up a few minutes later; JB had turned around to make a commitment in Danville. So then I convinced Will that we should at least do the Muir Picnic area because by then Rick would be coming back down and it would be a good point to re-group. Surprisingly he agreed and he said he felt pretty good by the time we got there. Sure enough Rick was coming down at about that time and we convinced Will to go "just a little farther" and before we knew it we were on the finishing stretch to the Summit. We didn't do the Summit Wall but did hang out in the lower parking lot for a while looking out over the whole Bay Area. Will was quite satisfied with his performance and he's a good sport.
Later in the day I hooked up the Burley bike trailer to my commute bike and the whole family went to the park until dark. We fed the ducks and played in the sand, it was a veritable Norman Rockwell kind of evening.
Wednesday, August 20, 2003
Wednesday after work - Diablo Junction
Today is Nicole's last Wednesday night ride because she starts an evening class next week. Adam was kept late at the office and couldn't ride even though he planned to. I met Nicole at the place she always parks and pretty soon JB showed up and we all started riding toward the gate. Before we crossed the line the Diablo Cyclists surrounded us and we all started at the same time. JB said "I don't know if I feel like going for it, or not." I said "You better make your mind up pretty soon!" A few of the faster DCers had opened up a gap but then I put my head down and closed it. JB kept up an even faster pace and I hopped on his wheel and took about four other guys with me. I was working hard to stay with him and two of the DCers dropped back. When we reached the bottom of the bump I pulled off and JB flew up the 10% grade solo, with two of the DCers shortly behind. So now I was behind JB and the two fastest guys and still a minute or so ahead of the two guys we rode away from earlier as well as all the other DCers further down (Mark wasn't there today). I held this position until the second ranch when the two guys caught me. I slowed down some but didn't let the gap get too big and kept my two rabbits in sight. On the finishing stretch I knew I could have a good time if I increased my pain factor a little so I started to close down the gap between me and the two guys in front of me. Just below the ranger house JB met up with me; he likes to turn around at the Junction and ride up again with us slower riders. He said he did a 35-something which is really an awesome time, but as soon as I saw him I clicked up a couple gears and pounded the pedals all the way across the line - inches behind my two DC rabbits and way ahead of JB.
So I did a 40m40s - a good time and my last three rides have been within 20 seconds of each other. That's pretty consistant; I'd rather be consistently SUB40 though!
Today is Nicole's last Wednesday night ride because she starts an evening class next week. Adam was kept late at the office and couldn't ride even though he planned to. I met Nicole at the place she always parks and pretty soon JB showed up and we all started riding toward the gate. Before we crossed the line the Diablo Cyclists surrounded us and we all started at the same time. JB said "I don't know if I feel like going for it, or not." I said "You better make your mind up pretty soon!" A few of the faster DCers had opened up a gap but then I put my head down and closed it. JB kept up an even faster pace and I hopped on his wheel and took about four other guys with me. I was working hard to stay with him and two of the DCers dropped back. When we reached the bottom of the bump I pulled off and JB flew up the 10% grade solo, with two of the DCers shortly behind. So now I was behind JB and the two fastest guys and still a minute or so ahead of the two guys we rode away from earlier as well as all the other DCers further down (Mark wasn't there today). I held this position until the second ranch when the two guys caught me. I slowed down some but didn't let the gap get too big and kept my two rabbits in sight. On the finishing stretch I knew I could have a good time if I increased my pain factor a little so I started to close down the gap between me and the two guys in front of me. Just below the ranger house JB met up with me; he likes to turn around at the Junction and ride up again with us slower riders. He said he did a 35-something which is really an awesome time, but as soon as I saw him I clicked up a couple gears and pounded the pedals all the way across the line - inches behind my two DC rabbits and way ahead of JB.
So I did a 40m40s - a good time and my last three rides have been within 20 seconds of each other. That's pretty consistant; I'd rather be consistently SUB40 though!
Saturday, August 16, 2003
Diablo Summit - 32 miles
As of last night it looked like only JB and I were going to be riding today - Adam was planning on doing the Corral Hollow road race and Rick and Nicole were having a birthday party for their son. So I told JB I was going to get a 2 minute head start on him and leave the gate at 7:58.
Well I crossed the line right at 8 o'clock and started out with the assumption that JB was already ahead of me. It was absolutely perfect riding weather - no wind, just warm enough to feel comfortable in shorts. There were a lot of slower riders on the mountain today and every time I passed a group I really pushed it to make sure they wouldn't pass me back. When I got to the Upper Washout I was at the same time as on Wednesday so that made me jazzed to keep it up. I got to the Junction in 40m37s which was good enough for a top ten ride.
JB wasn't there but I talked to a couple guys who came up South Gate. One of them (about a 50 year old guy) said he was having chest pains after knocking 3 minutes off his best time! But then he said he did the ride in an hour and 40 minutes!!! We were worried he was going to have a heart attack but he promised he was OK. Suddenly I looked up and saw Adam sprinting across the line and JB was about 30 seconds behind him. Adam had decided not to do the race and JB had simply overslept. Peter showed up on his second ascent also and we all headed up to the Summit.
Peter and Adam rode together up to the Summit and JB and I rode at a little bit slower pace. We chewed up another dozen slower riders on the way there and I got to the top of the Summit Wall in 80 minutes flat from the Gate - I think that's another top ten but I don't keep track of that statistic as closely - usually though it's closer to 90 minutes I think. In the parking lot we met a couple on vacation from Ohio who convinced Peter to take their photo in front of the mountains (they don't have any in Ohio I guess). Also Adam gave us a lesson on lactic acid threshold training using a heart monitor. JB just got a new heart rate monitor and said that his max pulse for the ride was 173 bpm.
As of last night it looked like only JB and I were going to be riding today - Adam was planning on doing the Corral Hollow road race and Rick and Nicole were having a birthday party for their son. So I told JB I was going to get a 2 minute head start on him and leave the gate at 7:58.
Well I crossed the line right at 8 o'clock and started out with the assumption that JB was already ahead of me. It was absolutely perfect riding weather - no wind, just warm enough to feel comfortable in shorts. There were a lot of slower riders on the mountain today and every time I passed a group I really pushed it to make sure they wouldn't pass me back. When I got to the Upper Washout I was at the same time as on Wednesday so that made me jazzed to keep it up. I got to the Junction in 40m37s which was good enough for a top ten ride.
JB wasn't there but I talked to a couple guys who came up South Gate. One of them (about a 50 year old guy) said he was having chest pains after knocking 3 minutes off his best time! But then he said he did the ride in an hour and 40 minutes!!! We were worried he was going to have a heart attack but he promised he was OK. Suddenly I looked up and saw Adam sprinting across the line and JB was about 30 seconds behind him. Adam had decided not to do the race and JB had simply overslept. Peter showed up on his second ascent also and we all headed up to the Summit.
Peter and Adam rode together up to the Summit and JB and I rode at a little bit slower pace. We chewed up another dozen slower riders on the way there and I got to the top of the Summit Wall in 80 minutes flat from the Gate - I think that's another top ten but I don't keep track of that statistic as closely - usually though it's closer to 90 minutes I think. In the parking lot we met a couple on vacation from Ohio who convinced Peter to take their photo in front of the mountains (they don't have any in Ohio I guess). Also Adam gave us a lesson on lactic acid threshold training using a heart monitor. JB just got a new heart rate monitor and said that his max pulse for the ride was 173 bpm.
Wednesday, August 13, 2003
Diablo Junction - 16 miles
Typical Wednesday after work ride. Adam, Leif, and JB rode from the office, Nicole and I drove. By the time I got parked and unloaded my bike the three guys rolled up and then we all rode together up to Nicole who was just going through the gate. It was hot but not oppressive, and there was the slightest of warm breezes.
As we approached the line I reminded Leif that to be official you have to be slowly rolling over the start line when you start your stop watch. So all five of us were together at the gate - we all hit our buttons at the same time and then Adam, Leif, and I did a sprint start. Leif took the early lead with Adam right behind. I hugged Adam's wheel for two and a half minutes to the top of the second double dip but then too much of a gap opened up and I lost contact. I put my head down and cranked for another couple miles trying to stay ahead of JB (who didn't take part in the sprint start) for as long as possible, but he caught me near the bottom of the Bump.
Rather than honk on the Bump I tried to set a consistent pace and then did some out of the saddle big gear (ha!) pushing to the Upper Washout, which I crossed at 20 minutes flat. I knew I was going to have a good time now so I got a little more serious and went into time trial mode. With 2 miles to go I was at 26m20s and with 1 mile to go I was at 33m50s so I figured I could probably do under 41 minutes and I was happy to see my time was 40m20s at the finish.
Adam and Leif were waiting around at the Junction - Leif inspected my bike and told me my brakes didn't have enough clearance. I told him I like them close and he thought the wheel might rub against the pad unless it was a really stiff wheel. He rides Look pedals too so I told him to try it out. He took it a hundred meters down North Gate Road and then did a little sprint back to the line and pronounced my bike "stiff". Adam and Leif then went down South Gate, the Diablo Cyclists started to show up and tell stories, JB had gone down to ride back up with Nicole. The DCers were all gone by the time JB and Nicole got to the Junction.
The bugs were terrible tonight - I have a weird scabby-rash all over my legs (not sure what it is) and the bugs really seemed attracted to the scabby bits... it was really annoying. The Eagle Scout guy who was collecting money a couple months ago finally got his benches built and installed. They look really nice and they're much more comfortable than the traffic posts we usually sit on. JB thinks he should have used some different joining techniques though.
Typical Wednesday after work ride. Adam, Leif, and JB rode from the office, Nicole and I drove. By the time I got parked and unloaded my bike the three guys rolled up and then we all rode together up to Nicole who was just going through the gate. It was hot but not oppressive, and there was the slightest of warm breezes.
As we approached the line I reminded Leif that to be official you have to be slowly rolling over the start line when you start your stop watch. So all five of us were together at the gate - we all hit our buttons at the same time and then Adam, Leif, and I did a sprint start. Leif took the early lead with Adam right behind. I hugged Adam's wheel for two and a half minutes to the top of the second double dip but then too much of a gap opened up and I lost contact. I put my head down and cranked for another couple miles trying to stay ahead of JB (who didn't take part in the sprint start) for as long as possible, but he caught me near the bottom of the Bump.
Rather than honk on the Bump I tried to set a consistent pace and then did some out of the saddle big gear (ha!) pushing to the Upper Washout, which I crossed at 20 minutes flat. I knew I was going to have a good time now so I got a little more serious and went into time trial mode. With 2 miles to go I was at 26m20s and with 1 mile to go I was at 33m50s so I figured I could probably do under 41 minutes and I was happy to see my time was 40m20s at the finish.
Adam and Leif were waiting around at the Junction - Leif inspected my bike and told me my brakes didn't have enough clearance. I told him I like them close and he thought the wheel might rub against the pad unless it was a really stiff wheel. He rides Look pedals too so I told him to try it out. He took it a hundred meters down North Gate Road and then did a little sprint back to the line and pronounced my bike "stiff". Adam and Leif then went down South Gate, the Diablo Cyclists started to show up and tell stories, JB had gone down to ride back up with Nicole. The DCers were all gone by the time JB and Nicole got to the Junction.
The bugs were terrible tonight - I have a weird scabby-rash all over my legs (not sure what it is) and the bugs really seemed attracted to the scabby bits... it was really annoying. The Eagle Scout guy who was collecting money a couple months ago finally got his benches built and installed. They look really nice and they're much more comfortable than the traffic posts we usually sit on. JB thinks he should have used some different joining techniques though.
Saturday, August 09, 2003
Diablo Junction, Saturday morning, 28 miles
Today is the day of our company picnic. Rick and Nicole were planning on going but JB wasn't, so we were all going to do a quickie ride to the Junction. I got to the start a little early and rode up about 2 miles before I turned around to meet everyone at the gate. No one had shown up by 8:10 so I thought about getting started but I decided to ride down to the place where Rick parks his Explorer and there were the three of them.
There was a pretty good headwind as we started up and nobody lead off with a starting sprint. Rick did set a pretty mean tempo but not enough to break any records. I would normally have opened up a gap and tried to maintain it until the top of the bump but today I decided to just ride Rick's wheel. JB drifted off and caught back on a few times - there was very little conversation. Up the bump Rick joked that he was defecting to the Republic of Anaerobia which was the theme of a jersey we saw on the Marin Century. I held on up to the ranches but then started to fatigue and slow down. Rick kept going and JB started pushing the pace as I lost sight of them around the switchbacks up ahead. As similar as Rick and I are in our century pacing we're very different when it comes to riding The Mountain; he likes to start out at a pretty easy pace, pick it up to quite fast in the middle and hold on during the last few painful miles. JB likes to start out at a medium pace, continue at a medium pace over the bump and through the ranches, and then totally hammer the last few miles. For my best attempts I start out very fast, go totally anaerobic over the bump, do some intervals with recovery through the ranch section, and then try to keep a steady high aerobic pace for the last two miles (not always successful). Those disparities in relative strengths are what make riding with each other interesting.
I hit Junction at 43m14s and didn't hang around long before I headed back down. I dinged my bell at Nicole as I passed - she still had about a mile of climbing to go by then. Lots of riders this morning - everything from fatties on Costco bikes to shavers on TiMegabucks and at least two Postie posers.
Today is the day of our company picnic. Rick and Nicole were planning on going but JB wasn't, so we were all going to do a quickie ride to the Junction. I got to the start a little early and rode up about 2 miles before I turned around to meet everyone at the gate. No one had shown up by 8:10 so I thought about getting started but I decided to ride down to the place where Rick parks his Explorer and there were the three of them.
There was a pretty good headwind as we started up and nobody lead off with a starting sprint. Rick did set a pretty mean tempo but not enough to break any records. I would normally have opened up a gap and tried to maintain it until the top of the bump but today I decided to just ride Rick's wheel. JB drifted off and caught back on a few times - there was very little conversation. Up the bump Rick joked that he was defecting to the Republic of Anaerobia which was the theme of a jersey we saw on the Marin Century. I held on up to the ranches but then started to fatigue and slow down. Rick kept going and JB started pushing the pace as I lost sight of them around the switchbacks up ahead. As similar as Rick and I are in our century pacing we're very different when it comes to riding The Mountain; he likes to start out at a pretty easy pace, pick it up to quite fast in the middle and hold on during the last few painful miles. JB likes to start out at a medium pace, continue at a medium pace over the bump and through the ranches, and then totally hammer the last few miles. For my best attempts I start out very fast, go totally anaerobic over the bump, do some intervals with recovery through the ranch section, and then try to keep a steady high aerobic pace for the last two miles (not always successful). Those disparities in relative strengths are what make riding with each other interesting.
I hit Junction at 43m14s and didn't hang around long before I headed back down. I dinged my bell at Nicole as I passed - she still had about a mile of climbing to go by then. Lots of riders this morning - everything from fatties on Costco bikes to shavers on TiMegabucks and at least two Postie posers.
Thursday, August 07, 2003
Wednesday August 6 2003 - Diablo Junction 16 miles
Old friend Karl is down from Seattle this week and I let him use my Eddy Merckx for the ride tonight. I was out on a job and got back late so I rode the whole thing solo.
It was warm with a slight breeze. My legs felt good - no signs of soreness from the century on Sunday. I did some intervals but didn't really go for it and I did a 42m25s at the Junction. Karl was there and so were about 15 Diablo Cyclists. Karl said JB, Adam, and Leif had gone up to the summit. Karl did a 41-something and was pretty happy with that since he doesn't get to ride big climbs in Seattle - maybe that Merckx magic had something to do with it. Leif did 29m29s for his first sub-30... very impressive.
Not a very interesting ride tonight, but I was glad that my legs felt stronger rather than rubbery. Maybe I'll go for a fast time on Saturday.
JB had his commute bike stolen from the BART station in Walnut Creek! Bike thieves should be tortured and dismembered and their corpses put on public display.
Old friend Karl is down from Seattle this week and I let him use my Eddy Merckx for the ride tonight. I was out on a job and got back late so I rode the whole thing solo.
It was warm with a slight breeze. My legs felt good - no signs of soreness from the century on Sunday. I did some intervals but didn't really go for it and I did a 42m25s at the Junction. Karl was there and so were about 15 Diablo Cyclists. Karl said JB, Adam, and Leif had gone up to the summit. Karl did a 41-something and was pretty happy with that since he doesn't get to ride big climbs in Seattle - maybe that Merckx magic had something to do with it. Leif did 29m29s for his first sub-30... very impressive.
Not a very interesting ride tonight, but I was glad that my legs felt stronger rather than rubbery. Maybe I'll go for a fast time on Saturday.
JB had his commute bike stolen from the BART station in Walnut Creek! Bike thieves should be tortured and dismembered and their corpses put on public display.
Sunday, August 03, 2003
Sunday August 3 - Marin Century, 103 miles, 5,000 ft vertical, 5h58m
Ride Summary:
Route: A Winding hilly roads scented with salt air, fennel, and cow dung.
Organization: A+ Friendly volunteers and numerous SAG wagons, flawless production.
Food: A+ Very large selection at every rest stop and a great après-ride meal.
Joe bailed out of the ride because he crashed his bike Friday night and was hurting too badly to ride. Sarkis and his friend wanted a later start time so Rick and I my house alone at 5:10am. Check in was very quick and we started riding by 6:30. The boys' locker room was kind of gross and there was a long line for the two toilets - I'm glad I only needed to whizz. Here's the profile (although I'm not positive this depicts this year's route exactly):
(.gif file removed because it blew out my blog - go here to see the profile)
http://www.marincyclists.com/assets/images/marin100_profile.gif
We headed out of town and very quickly started the serious climbing. It was cool and foggy and in some places there was a very light drizzle - not even enough to wipe off my sunglasses though. I had on my warm weather gear and I never felt chilled but I did think that a little sunshine would feel good. Rick and I rode up all the hills at a nice clip and we bombed the descents and we got to the first rest stop at 7:37 am. I mixed up some chocolate HammerGel in my water bottle, popped an e-Cap, and had a bagel with some Brie (!) on it. The stop was at Lincoln School which also was a rest stop in the Holstein Century that Rick and I did last year. I saw one of the Rivendell guys here that I talked with on Mt. Diablo last Wednesday - his name is Marty, he's a classic retro Rivendell guy and a very strong climber.
Still feeling fresh and zippy we headed out toward Tomales Bay over the hilly Marshall-Petaluma Road. Rick and I have done so many centuries together that we just groove. I frequently noticed that we were in the same gear pedaling the same cadence and would get out of the saddle at the same point in the road. We also know each other's relative strengths and do some pretty efficient two-man pace lines. When we got to Tomales bay we rode up over the curvy undulating Highway 1 taking in the magnificent rocky shoreline before we turned northeast toward Valley Ford. The rest stop here was in the gravel parking lot of a bank and there was no plumbing; there was a potable water tanker truck parked just off the street with a hose for the volunteers to fill up the Coleman coolers and the drinking water tasted like sucking swimming pool water through a rubber glove. I cannot emphasize enough how horrible the water was, even mixed up with Cytomax. The other food stuffs here were very good though and had just enough bread and cheese and fruit to get me to the next stop. It was only 9:30 am and we'd gone almost 50 miles already.
Back in the saddle for the much smaller hills on the trip from Valley Ford to Petaluma we picked up some other good riders and made really good time. The sun also started to burn off the fog by this point and it was also in this leg that I first started to feel the lactic burn from such hard efforts. We had ridden away from almost everybody who tried to come with us but there was one guy who was riding very well - turned out he was a local and not doing the century so he didn't already have 70 miles in his legs. We got to the Petaluma rest stop at a very nice little park at 11:20 am. This rest stop was also part of the 100km route and there were hundreds of riders there. I was glad to see ice chests full of Pepsi as well as all the usual stuff like banana bread, bagels, and PB&J. A handful of cashews was also a nice treat. We hung around this stop a little longer than the others because it felt good to sit on the cool grass in the shade. The water here was free of swimming pool/rubber glove flavor too. After popping another e-Cap and a Clif Shot we launched our assault on the final 25 miles.
By noon we were well over 80 miles into the ride and I wasn't in too much pain; usually my neck is really sore by this time but today it was tolerable. Our route was taking us the long way from Petaluma to Novato around Red Hill and for the first time in the ride I felt my hamstring start to cramp up over one of the longer climbs. I was able to prevent it from seizing up by sitting way back on my saddle, but just barely. We hammered up and down all the little rollers and rolled into the finish at 1:24pm for a sub 6-hour ride time and a sub 7-hour total time so it was a very good effort for both of us. The PhotoCrazy.com photographer got this great shot of me about 15 miles before the finish.
The post-ride meal was super - they had pizza, burritos, lasagne, pasta salad, green salad, fruit, breads, cookies, cakes, juice, and pop. Biggest selection of food I've ever seen at a century and probably 400 people sitting around the campus enjoying their accomplishments. There were also a DJ and some cycle exhibition booths set up to look at for fun. A very memorable day, one of my favorite centuries so far.
Product Review: e-Caps ...supposed to help you keep hydrated and prevent cramping. I took four over the course of 6 hours. Couldn't tell that they did anything. Best thing about them is that they didn't cause any stomach problems. My weakest recommendation. Definitely not worth the price (I got a free sample, thanks anyway Adam.)
Ride Summary:
Route: A Winding hilly roads scented with salt air, fennel, and cow dung.
Organization: A+ Friendly volunteers and numerous SAG wagons, flawless production.
Food: A+ Very large selection at every rest stop and a great après-ride meal.
Joe bailed out of the ride because he crashed his bike Friday night and was hurting too badly to ride. Sarkis and his friend wanted a later start time so Rick and I my house alone at 5:10am. Check in was very quick and we started riding by 6:30. The boys' locker room was kind of gross and there was a long line for the two toilets - I'm glad I only needed to whizz. Here's the profile (although I'm not positive this depicts this year's route exactly):
(.gif file removed because it blew out my blog - go here to see the profile)
http://www.marincyclists.com/assets/images/marin100_profile.gif
We headed out of town and very quickly started the serious climbing. It was cool and foggy and in some places there was a very light drizzle - not even enough to wipe off my sunglasses though. I had on my warm weather gear and I never felt chilled but I did think that a little sunshine would feel good. Rick and I rode up all the hills at a nice clip and we bombed the descents and we got to the first rest stop at 7:37 am. I mixed up some chocolate HammerGel in my water bottle, popped an e-Cap, and had a bagel with some Brie (!) on it. The stop was at Lincoln School which also was a rest stop in the Holstein Century that Rick and I did last year. I saw one of the Rivendell guys here that I talked with on Mt. Diablo last Wednesday - his name is Marty, he's a classic retro Rivendell guy and a very strong climber.
Still feeling fresh and zippy we headed out toward Tomales Bay over the hilly Marshall-Petaluma Road. Rick and I have done so many centuries together that we just groove. I frequently noticed that we were in the same gear pedaling the same cadence and would get out of the saddle at the same point in the road. We also know each other's relative strengths and do some pretty efficient two-man pace lines. When we got to Tomales bay we rode up over the curvy undulating Highway 1 taking in the magnificent rocky shoreline before we turned northeast toward Valley Ford. The rest stop here was in the gravel parking lot of a bank and there was no plumbing; there was a potable water tanker truck parked just off the street with a hose for the volunteers to fill up the Coleman coolers and the drinking water tasted like sucking swimming pool water through a rubber glove. I cannot emphasize enough how horrible the water was, even mixed up with Cytomax. The other food stuffs here were very good though and had just enough bread and cheese and fruit to get me to the next stop. It was only 9:30 am and we'd gone almost 50 miles already.
Back in the saddle for the much smaller hills on the trip from Valley Ford to Petaluma we picked up some other good riders and made really good time. The sun also started to burn off the fog by this point and it was also in this leg that I first started to feel the lactic burn from such hard efforts. We had ridden away from almost everybody who tried to come with us but there was one guy who was riding very well - turned out he was a local and not doing the century so he didn't already have 70 miles in his legs. We got to the Petaluma rest stop at a very nice little park at 11:20 am. This rest stop was also part of the 100km route and there were hundreds of riders there. I was glad to see ice chests full of Pepsi as well as all the usual stuff like banana bread, bagels, and PB&J. A handful of cashews was also a nice treat. We hung around this stop a little longer than the others because it felt good to sit on the cool grass in the shade. The water here was free of swimming pool/rubber glove flavor too. After popping another e-Cap and a Clif Shot we launched our assault on the final 25 miles.
By noon we were well over 80 miles into the ride and I wasn't in too much pain; usually my neck is really sore by this time but today it was tolerable. Our route was taking us the long way from Petaluma to Novato around Red Hill and for the first time in the ride I felt my hamstring start to cramp up over one of the longer climbs. I was able to prevent it from seizing up by sitting way back on my saddle, but just barely. We hammered up and down all the little rollers and rolled into the finish at 1:24pm for a sub 6-hour ride time and a sub 7-hour total time so it was a very good effort for both of us. The PhotoCrazy.com photographer got this great shot of me about 15 miles before the finish.
The post-ride meal was super - they had pizza, burritos, lasagne, pasta salad, green salad, fruit, breads, cookies, cakes, juice, and pop. Biggest selection of food I've ever seen at a century and probably 400 people sitting around the campus enjoying their accomplishments. There were also a DJ and some cycle exhibition booths set up to look at for fun. A very memorable day, one of my favorite centuries so far.
Product Review: e-Caps ...supposed to help you keep hydrated and prevent cramping. I took four over the course of 6 hours. Couldn't tell that they did anything. Best thing about them is that they didn't cause any stomach problems. My weakest recommendation. Definitely not worth the price (I got a free sample, thanks anyway Adam.)
Thursday, July 31, 2003
Wednesday evening, Diablo Junction, 16 miles.
Drove in to work this morning with my bike and Rick's birthday mountain bike on the roof. Nicole will be giving Rick his present when she gets home from the ride - it's been hidden in my garage for about three weeks (since Performance had the "no sales tax" sale).
We transferred the mountain bike into Nicole's Explorer at the start of the ride and then Tom and Edgardo showed up to ride also! Hadn't seen either of them for quite a while and even longer since I'd seen them on their bikes. We headed out and noticed that the Diablo Riders were still grouping up in the church parking lot so JB and I decided to get a little head start. As we passed the gate JB asked me to give him a lead out like I did for Rick on Saturday. It was very humid but not too hot so it seemed like a good time would be possible. There was a pretty stiff breeze though and my lead out didn't last as long as I would have liked before I started to fade and started to draft JB. Another mile up the road and JB just rode me off his wheel.
I dropped back into a sustainable pace and shortly Mark came around and passed me quickly and easily. At the top of the bump I looked back and saw someone I thought was Tom! I thought "No way am I going to let him catch me when he hasn't ridden more than a dozen times the last 5 years!" so I dug a little deeper and found a slightly anaerobic pace that I thought I could maintain for a few miles. I did put some extra space between us but by the lower ranch I realized he was going to catch me, then I realized it wasn't even HIM! That was a big relief. I passed up a few more people before I got to the Junction and managed to avoid letting anyone else catch me but the Diablo Cyclists started arriving very shortly after that so it was pretty good timing.
At the Junction, Paul (the guy whose legs cramped up a few weeks ago as I was passing him) talked about Saturday's Climb to Kaiser - he said it was harder than the Death Ride, pretty much a "suffer fest". Mark had done a road race last weekend and placed 5th in his age group and several others had done either the race or the Kaiser ride so there were a lot of stories. The racoon showed up again also and seemed disappointed that no one had any snacks.
After the ride the five of us went to Round Table for beer and pizza bread.
Drove in to work this morning with my bike and Rick's birthday mountain bike on the roof. Nicole will be giving Rick his present when she gets home from the ride - it's been hidden in my garage for about three weeks (since Performance had the "no sales tax" sale).
We transferred the mountain bike into Nicole's Explorer at the start of the ride and then Tom and Edgardo showed up to ride also! Hadn't seen either of them for quite a while and even longer since I'd seen them on their bikes. We headed out and noticed that the Diablo Riders were still grouping up in the church parking lot so JB and I decided to get a little head start. As we passed the gate JB asked me to give him a lead out like I did for Rick on Saturday. It was very humid but not too hot so it seemed like a good time would be possible. There was a pretty stiff breeze though and my lead out didn't last as long as I would have liked before I started to fade and started to draft JB. Another mile up the road and JB just rode me off his wheel.
I dropped back into a sustainable pace and shortly Mark came around and passed me quickly and easily. At the top of the bump I looked back and saw someone I thought was Tom! I thought "No way am I going to let him catch me when he hasn't ridden more than a dozen times the last 5 years!" so I dug a little deeper and found a slightly anaerobic pace that I thought I could maintain for a few miles. I did put some extra space between us but by the lower ranch I realized he was going to catch me, then I realized it wasn't even HIM! That was a big relief. I passed up a few more people before I got to the Junction and managed to avoid letting anyone else catch me but the Diablo Cyclists started arriving very shortly after that so it was pretty good timing.
At the Junction, Paul (the guy whose legs cramped up a few weeks ago as I was passing him) talked about Saturday's Climb to Kaiser - he said it was harder than the Death Ride, pretty much a "suffer fest". Mark had done a road race last weekend and placed 5th in his age group and several others had done either the race or the Kaiser ride so there were a lot of stories. The racoon showed up again also and seemed disappointed that no one had any snacks.
After the ride the five of us went to Round Table for beer and pizza bread.
Saturday, July 26, 2003
Saturday Morning – Diablo Junction and part of South Gate Road, 30 miles
Rick e-mailed me yesterday and said he’d reached his intermediate weight goal of 155 lbs and he was putting on his Campy Neutron race wheels so I knew he would be going for a PB. JB told me he had a wedding to go to so he would only be doing a quick Junction ride. Nicole had final exams so she wouldn’t be riding. I took another look at the sidewall cut in my tire and decided I needed to replace it. I had a red and black 23mm Michelin HighLite Prestige in my box of bike stuff so I put that on last night too. Looks a little odd with red front tire and purple rear, but oh well.
I had the Tour de France on TV and as I was leaving Lance and Jan were exactly even at the first split. I would have to wait until after the ride to see what happened. I didn’t do anything special to prepare for Rick’s assault on the mountain but I just had some coffee and a bottle of Accelerade instead of breakfast. I felt good but not really amped up for a sub-40 attempt.
At the gate I met a nice woman with a black Cannondale who was waiting for a friend. She asked me if Klein bikes were popular with triathletes and I said I didn’t think so because they’re not aero enough but that the people who like Kleins are pretty much the same people who like Cannondales. Rick showed up shortly and we waited around for JB but left without him at a few minutes after 8. It was the best weather for riding that we’ve had in months – cool and calm.
I took off with a strong start to give Rick a good rabbit to chase, hoping to stay ahead until the Upper Washout of so, but he caught and passed me well before the bump. When I did get to the Upper Washout I checked my time and realized I was going to be pretty close to 40 minutes at the end so Rick must have been doing a great ride. I kept looking up to try and see Rick but couldn’t spot him. Then I found JB coming down from the Junction and he explained that the wedding was earlier than he had thought so he had to do an earlier ride. I slowed down a bit after the ranches and finished with a very good time of 40m23s. Rick sure enough set a PB with 37m25s! I told him I needed to get some of that “155” stuff too.
We joined up with Peter coming down from the Summit and we all went down to the South Gate kiosk for a few extra miles. On the way back up to the Junction Peter did his usual fast steady pace and I held on for about 2/3 of the trip, Rick hung on until the finish but Peter still beat him to the line.
Just Wednesday night’s ride remains before the Marin Century next Sunday. I think I’ll do well but I’m definitely going to watch my calorie and fat intake this week.
Rick e-mailed me yesterday and said he’d reached his intermediate weight goal of 155 lbs and he was putting on his Campy Neutron race wheels so I knew he would be going for a PB. JB told me he had a wedding to go to so he would only be doing a quick Junction ride. Nicole had final exams so she wouldn’t be riding. I took another look at the sidewall cut in my tire and decided I needed to replace it. I had a red and black 23mm Michelin HighLite Prestige in my box of bike stuff so I put that on last night too. Looks a little odd with red front tire and purple rear, but oh well.
I had the Tour de France on TV and as I was leaving Lance and Jan were exactly even at the first split. I would have to wait until after the ride to see what happened. I didn’t do anything special to prepare for Rick’s assault on the mountain but I just had some coffee and a bottle of Accelerade instead of breakfast. I felt good but not really amped up for a sub-40 attempt.
At the gate I met a nice woman with a black Cannondale who was waiting for a friend. She asked me if Klein bikes were popular with triathletes and I said I didn’t think so because they’re not aero enough but that the people who like Kleins are pretty much the same people who like Cannondales. Rick showed up shortly and we waited around for JB but left without him at a few minutes after 8. It was the best weather for riding that we’ve had in months – cool and calm.
I took off with a strong start to give Rick a good rabbit to chase, hoping to stay ahead until the Upper Washout of so, but he caught and passed me well before the bump. When I did get to the Upper Washout I checked my time and realized I was going to be pretty close to 40 minutes at the end so Rick must have been doing a great ride. I kept looking up to try and see Rick but couldn’t spot him. Then I found JB coming down from the Junction and he explained that the wedding was earlier than he had thought so he had to do an earlier ride. I slowed down a bit after the ranches and finished with a very good time of 40m23s. Rick sure enough set a PB with 37m25s! I told him I needed to get some of that “155” stuff too.
We joined up with Peter coming down from the Summit and we all went down to the South Gate kiosk for a few extra miles. On the way back up to the Junction Peter did his usual fast steady pace and I held on for about 2/3 of the trip, Rick hung on until the finish but Peter still beat him to the line.
Just Wednesday night’s ride remains before the Marin Century next Sunday. I think I’ll do well but I’m definitely going to watch my calorie and fat intake this week.
Wednesday, July 23, 2003
Wednesday, Diablo Junction, 19 miles
Adam and Leif left early so we wouldn't slow them down. Nicole's road bike is still OOC so she rode her MTB again. I drove to the parking spot and took off on my own, hoping to beat JB and the Diablo Cyclist folks to the Junction. I had only salad and bread for lunch (left over from a vendor presentation I guess), I ate a Powerbar at 4 o'clock and a Clif Shot in the car with a bottle of Cytomax; no Coke today because I just forgot to get one; I see those Tour de France riders drinking Coke from those little mini Euro-cans while they're riding so it must be good fuel, right?
There was absolutely no wind at all as I went through the entrance gate. It wasn't too warm but was really muggy and I wasn't sure how that would affect my performance but I felt pretty good so I started off fast. I had a good dripping sweat worked up by the time I got to the Upper Washout; I still felt pretty good but I could see it wasn't a stellar time. At the 2 miles to go point I was at 27 minutes which would put me at about 42 minutes finishing time so I was pretty happy with that. JB and another guy caught me just past Chainbuster and as JB passed me he said "Don't give up now!" and I asked "Does this really look like I've given up? I must really be losing it!". I tried to big-gear it the rest of the way to the Junction and I noticed that the other guy had completely blown up - I beat him to the Junction by a couple minutes. It seems I'm able to hold a higher speed in the last 3/4 mile these days - even after a hard efford up to that point so maybe I'll be able to use that knowledge on my next PB attempt. About a dozen Diablo Cyclists rolled in over the next few minutes and we had quite a crowd for a while.
Wildlife Encounter: At the Junction there was a very friendly racoon who hung around hoping for a food handout - I think he was used to being fed by the campers on a regular basis because he seemed a little hurt that nobody offered him a Clif Bar or anything. Several of the Diablo Cyclists were planning on doing the "Climb to Kaiser" which I had thought about doing but decided I wasn't ready for, maybe next year. Check out this profile!
(hey I'm getting kind of good at this - a hotlink, an uploaded jpeg, and a mailto button near the archive section!)
I kind of wanted to go up to Juniper but JB wanted to go down so we rode down NGR until we ran into Nicole and then we rode the rest of the way back up again. On the way back down Nicole was behind me and she said that a coyote ran across the road just after I went by and in front of her - I didn't see it but it could have been a close one!
Adam and Leif left early so we wouldn't slow them down. Nicole's road bike is still OOC so she rode her MTB again. I drove to the parking spot and took off on my own, hoping to beat JB and the Diablo Cyclist folks to the Junction. I had only salad and bread for lunch (left over from a vendor presentation I guess), I ate a Powerbar at 4 o'clock and a Clif Shot in the car with a bottle of Cytomax; no Coke today because I just forgot to get one; I see those Tour de France riders drinking Coke from those little mini Euro-cans while they're riding so it must be good fuel, right?
There was absolutely no wind at all as I went through the entrance gate. It wasn't too warm but was really muggy and I wasn't sure how that would affect my performance but I felt pretty good so I started off fast. I had a good dripping sweat worked up by the time I got to the Upper Washout; I still felt pretty good but I could see it wasn't a stellar time. At the 2 miles to go point I was at 27 minutes which would put me at about 42 minutes finishing time so I was pretty happy with that. JB and another guy caught me just past Chainbuster and as JB passed me he said "Don't give up now!" and I asked "Does this really look like I've given up? I must really be losing it!". I tried to big-gear it the rest of the way to the Junction and I noticed that the other guy had completely blown up - I beat him to the Junction by a couple minutes. It seems I'm able to hold a higher speed in the last 3/4 mile these days - even after a hard efford up to that point so maybe I'll be able to use that knowledge on my next PB attempt. About a dozen Diablo Cyclists rolled in over the next few minutes and we had quite a crowd for a while.
Wildlife Encounter: At the Junction there was a very friendly racoon who hung around hoping for a food handout - I think he was used to being fed by the campers on a regular basis because he seemed a little hurt that nobody offered him a Clif Bar or anything. Several of the Diablo Cyclists were planning on doing the "Climb to Kaiser" which I had thought about doing but decided I wasn't ready for, maybe next year. Check out this profile!
(hey I'm getting kind of good at this - a hotlink, an uploaded jpeg, and a mailto button near the archive section!)
I kind of wanted to go up to Juniper but JB wanted to go down so we rode down NGR until we ran into Nicole and then we rode the rest of the way back up again. On the way back down Nicole was behind me and she said that a coyote ran across the road just after I went by and in front of her - I didn't see it but it could have been a close one!
Saturday, July 19, 2003
Saturday - Mt. Diablo Summit, 33 miles
JB, Rick, and me this morning. We all got to the gate right at 8, the way it’s supposed to be. I had passed a group of shavers with Sharp Bicycles jerseys on back on Bancroft and they caught us just a little ways up North Gate Road. They weren’t setting a super pace and it was a little irritating that they passed us and then didn’t go any faster down the double dips so I went first and did a couple of little intervals before I kicked it down to an aerobic pace.
It was nearly 80° already by this time in the morning and very humid. I felt like I was doing a hot weather ride even though it wasn’t really that bad. Rick took off and dropped everybody, JB and I stayed together until Big Shady Oak where he finally shed me.
At the Junction Peter and Will were there. Peter said it was even hotter on Summit Road so we decided to go up! I kind of figured we would right from the start since Rick had just gotten back from Seattle to Portland and Nicole wasn’t around. So Will went back down and the other four of us went to the Summit. Rick and Peter set the fastest pace and JB and I rode a bit slower. Around Muir Picnic area JB speeded up and dropped me again so I took it easy and prepared for the Wall. Just before I got to the lower parking lot about 20 cars passed me up – turns out there was some kind of Boy Scout event going on – so I circled around the lower lot until I was pretty sure I’d have the road to myself and it worked out just right.
We all discussed the Tour de France, Peter said he wasn’t planning on doing the Marin Century but was thinking about Napa in the end of August. Rick said he mailed in his registration for Marin and said Joe maybe wanted to do it also so that would be four of us (me, Rick, Joe, and Sarkis). Peter and JB left early and Rick and I hung around for a while before going down.
Wildlife Encounter: saw a coyote next to the side of the road just below Chainbuster.
Down on the switchbacks below the ranches I hit a rock and flatted – it turned out to be a snakebite type puncture but it left a scar in the sidewall of my Michelin Pro Race that I hope isn’t too serious. I plan on putting a boot on the inside to hopefully forestall any tearing. I fixed up the flat in no time and then we went to Jamba Juice for a cold one.
43m15s to the Junction
87 minutes to the Summit
JB, Rick, and me this morning. We all got to the gate right at 8, the way it’s supposed to be. I had passed a group of shavers with Sharp Bicycles jerseys on back on Bancroft and they caught us just a little ways up North Gate Road. They weren’t setting a super pace and it was a little irritating that they passed us and then didn’t go any faster down the double dips so I went first and did a couple of little intervals before I kicked it down to an aerobic pace.
It was nearly 80° already by this time in the morning and very humid. I felt like I was doing a hot weather ride even though it wasn’t really that bad. Rick took off and dropped everybody, JB and I stayed together until Big Shady Oak where he finally shed me.
At the Junction Peter and Will were there. Peter said it was even hotter on Summit Road so we decided to go up! I kind of figured we would right from the start since Rick had just gotten back from Seattle to Portland and Nicole wasn’t around. So Will went back down and the other four of us went to the Summit. Rick and Peter set the fastest pace and JB and I rode a bit slower. Around Muir Picnic area JB speeded up and dropped me again so I took it easy and prepared for the Wall. Just before I got to the lower parking lot about 20 cars passed me up – turns out there was some kind of Boy Scout event going on – so I circled around the lower lot until I was pretty sure I’d have the road to myself and it worked out just right.
We all discussed the Tour de France, Peter said he wasn’t planning on doing the Marin Century but was thinking about Napa in the end of August. Rick said he mailed in his registration for Marin and said Joe maybe wanted to do it also so that would be four of us (me, Rick, Joe, and Sarkis). Peter and JB left early and Rick and I hung around for a while before going down.
Wildlife Encounter: saw a coyote next to the side of the road just below Chainbuster.
Down on the switchbacks below the ranches I hit a rock and flatted – it turned out to be a snakebite type puncture but it left a scar in the sidewall of my Michelin Pro Race that I hope isn’t too serious. I plan on putting a boot on the inside to hopefully forestall any tearing. I fixed up the flat in no time and then we went to Jamba Juice for a cold one.
43m15s to the Junction
87 minutes to the Summit
Wednesday, July 16, 2003
Wednesday - Mt. Diablo to Muir picnic area, 22 miles.
Seems like forever since we've had good riding weather on a Wednesday after work ride. Today it was in the mid 90's. Adam's friend Leif was planning on joining us today - Adam said he is a time trial specialist. Also Nicole's bike was damaged in transit coming back from the Seattle to Portland ride so she was going to ride her mountain bike. I had my two bottles of Cytomax perfectly frozen as I left work and I planned on getting a little bit of a head start to maybe play rabbit for Adam and Leif.
I started out pretty fast thinking I could do a pretty good time despite the heat but by the time I got to Clavicle Cracker turn I had to reduce my speed some to not overheat. I kept looking for the dogs to chase me down but I didn't see anybody until Leif passed me up around Son of Chainbuster; I hadn't met him before but he had a Davis Bicycle Club jersey on and he looked like a time trialer so I said "You must be Leif" and he said he was and kept on going. I took a time check and figured that he was doing about 2 minutes per mile faster than me! When I was about 200 meters from the Junction I turned around and saw Adam coming up fast so I threw my best sprint at him and managed to hold him off until the last 50 meters when I gave up and he came around me easily. JB showed up a few minutes later. Leif's time was 30m20s, Adam's was 32+, JB's was 37+, and mine was 43m48s. The frozen Cytomax plan worked really well with the melting rate just a little faster than the drinking rate so I still had nice cold fluids at the end of the climb.
Adam, Leif, and JB started up to the summit pretty quickly but I needed more time to recover from the heat so I hung around for a while. I told them I'd cover any attacks from the rear and one of the other guys there thought that was pretty funny. The Diablo Cyclists started showing up pretty soon after that and a lot of them had done the Death Ride last weekend so there were some good stories. Apparently the weather was perfect and that's unusual in Markleville.
I finally started up Summit Road about 10 minutes after the other three guys and rode an easy pace up to the Muir picnic area where I met JB coming down so I turned around and came down with him. We met up with Nicole at the top of the bump where she had finished her mountain bike ride and we all (including Adam and Leif) regrouped at her car and then split up for the evening.
Sent in my check for the Marin Century this week. Sarkis is going too but we haven't convinced JB to do it yet. Rick is interested but hasn't committed so far. E-mail me if you're doing it! DiabloScott@Terra.es
Seems like forever since we've had good riding weather on a Wednesday after work ride. Today it was in the mid 90's. Adam's friend Leif was planning on joining us today - Adam said he is a time trial specialist. Also Nicole's bike was damaged in transit coming back from the Seattle to Portland ride so she was going to ride her mountain bike. I had my two bottles of Cytomax perfectly frozen as I left work and I planned on getting a little bit of a head start to maybe play rabbit for Adam and Leif.
I started out pretty fast thinking I could do a pretty good time despite the heat but by the time I got to Clavicle Cracker turn I had to reduce my speed some to not overheat. I kept looking for the dogs to chase me down but I didn't see anybody until Leif passed me up around Son of Chainbuster; I hadn't met him before but he had a Davis Bicycle Club jersey on and he looked like a time trialer so I said "You must be Leif" and he said he was and kept on going. I took a time check and figured that he was doing about 2 minutes per mile faster than me! When I was about 200 meters from the Junction I turned around and saw Adam coming up fast so I threw my best sprint at him and managed to hold him off until the last 50 meters when I gave up and he came around me easily. JB showed up a few minutes later. Leif's time was 30m20s, Adam's was 32+, JB's was 37+, and mine was 43m48s. The frozen Cytomax plan worked really well with the melting rate just a little faster than the drinking rate so I still had nice cold fluids at the end of the climb.
Adam, Leif, and JB started up to the summit pretty quickly but I needed more time to recover from the heat so I hung around for a while. I told them I'd cover any attacks from the rear and one of the other guys there thought that was pretty funny. The Diablo Cyclists started showing up pretty soon after that and a lot of them had done the Death Ride last weekend so there were some good stories. Apparently the weather was perfect and that's unusual in Markleville.
I finally started up Summit Road about 10 minutes after the other three guys and rode an easy pace up to the Muir picnic area where I met JB coming down so I turned around and came down with him. We met up with Nicole at the top of the bump where she had finished her mountain bike ride and we all (including Adam and Leif) regrouped at her car and then split up for the evening.
Sent in my check for the Marin Century this week. Sarkis is going too but we haven't convinced JB to do it yet. Rick is interested but hasn't committed so far. E-mail me if you're doing it! DiabloScott@Terra.es
Saturday, July 12, 2003
Diablo Junction - 23 miles
Will called me yesterday and said he'd like to ride and asked if I'd consider starting a little earlier so we agreed to meet at 7:45. I told JB about it so he wouldn't wait around for me and I knew he wouldn't have any trouble catching us because Will hasn't ridden much in the last couple years. Rick and Nicole are doing Seattle to Portland this weekend so it was going to be a small group.
Well I knew I needed to get on the road but the Tour was on TV and there was a good breakaway with Richard Virenque and Paolo Bettini and I couldn't tear myself away from the race until I knew what would happen. Once I was pretty sure RV would take the stage I hopped on the bike and sprinted all the way to the Gate. I happened on a guy with a Cal Triple Crown jersey and I pulled him at about 25mph for 3/4 mile before I pulled over for him to take a turn and instead of coming through he turned off on to a side road! While I was riding solo on Bancroft I saw Mark Abele going the other way and I figured he had already done his ride and was on his way home by 7:40. So anyway I got to the Gate at about 7:50 and I was already tired but I knew Will had already started up so I just kept on going.
I caught Will just below the Bump and JB caught up with us a few minutes later. Will faded pretty fast so JB and I rode together to the Junction. There was a guy already at the Junction who asked us if we'd seen a guy with a flat anywhere down below and we said "no". He said the guy climbs like a goat and was wearing a gray jersey, we again said "no". JB had another BBQ to go to and he left but I hung around Junction until Will got there. A little while later Mark Abele shows up! I asked him if this was his second time this morning and he said he got a flat and his spare tube failed so he rode home on a soft tire, got three more spare tubes, replaced the leaker and came back. Turns out Mark was the guy in the gray jersey who climbs like a goat! I should have known!
So "Kaiser" Will was totally spent after just a Junction ride and we went down to Jamba Juice to catch up and cool off.
Wildlife Encounter: A coyote with little fear of high speed bicycles ran across the road in front of us near Moss Landing.
Century Sign-Up: Today I sent in my registration for the Marin Century on August 3. Hope to see you there! e-mail me at DiabloScott@Terra.es
Will called me yesterday and said he'd like to ride and asked if I'd consider starting a little earlier so we agreed to meet at 7:45. I told JB about it so he wouldn't wait around for me and I knew he wouldn't have any trouble catching us because Will hasn't ridden much in the last couple years. Rick and Nicole are doing Seattle to Portland this weekend so it was going to be a small group.
Well I knew I needed to get on the road but the Tour was on TV and there was a good breakaway with Richard Virenque and Paolo Bettini and I couldn't tear myself away from the race until I knew what would happen. Once I was pretty sure RV would take the stage I hopped on the bike and sprinted all the way to the Gate. I happened on a guy with a Cal Triple Crown jersey and I pulled him at about 25mph for 3/4 mile before I pulled over for him to take a turn and instead of coming through he turned off on to a side road! While I was riding solo on Bancroft I saw Mark Abele going the other way and I figured he had already done his ride and was on his way home by 7:40. So anyway I got to the Gate at about 7:50 and I was already tired but I knew Will had already started up so I just kept on going.
I caught Will just below the Bump and JB caught up with us a few minutes later. Will faded pretty fast so JB and I rode together to the Junction. There was a guy already at the Junction who asked us if we'd seen a guy with a flat anywhere down below and we said "no". He said the guy climbs like a goat and was wearing a gray jersey, we again said "no". JB had another BBQ to go to and he left but I hung around Junction until Will got there. A little while later Mark Abele shows up! I asked him if this was his second time this morning and he said he got a flat and his spare tube failed so he rode home on a soft tire, got three more spare tubes, replaced the leaker and came back. Turns out Mark was the guy in the gray jersey who climbs like a goat! I should have known!
So "Kaiser" Will was totally spent after just a Junction ride and we went down to Jamba Juice to catch up and cool off.
Wildlife Encounter: A coyote with little fear of high speed bicycles ran across the road in front of us near Moss Landing.
Century Sign-Up: Today I sent in my registration for the Marin Century on August 3. Hope to see you there! e-mail me at DiabloScott@Terra.es
Wednesday, July 09, 2003
July 9, 2003 - Diablo Junction, 16 miles
So I haven't ridden in a week and a half other than just tooling around. JB's still on vacation (or so I thought, keep reading), Adam had a company softball game, and Nicole and I get a little bit of a late start and it's HOT so I figure I'll just ride at her pace and make conversation. Well I could only ride at 4 mph for so long and when we got to the bottom of the bump she pulled over to rest in the shade for a while and told me to keep going so I did. I picked it up to 8 or 9 mph which was appropriate for the heat level.
Just after Chainbuster I saw JB coming down from the Junction. He had come home from vacation and ridden with the Diablo Cyclists and since Nicole and I got a late start he hadn't seen us. We talked for a bit but then he continued on down. My Junction time was pathetic of course so I won't report it. The DCers were all still at the Junction when I got there including Mark and Grant on a tandem - there was much talk about how that ride went - apparently Mark really did a power-stoker job for a fast ride, and about the upcoming Death Ride. Then they all split up, some down South Gate and some down North Gate, leaving me alone for a while. A few other folks came up in groups of one or two and we just sat around getting eaten up by bugs. I talked to one guy named James who had UC Davis shorts on but I didn't tell him I knew Adam.
Finally Nicole arrived and she did tell James that we work with Adam so we all gossiped about how he'd rather play softball than ride a bike. On the way back down Nicole led the way and James was behind me. When we got past Moss Landing I pretended to slow down and James came around me but then I hopped into his wake and then out sprinted him up the double dips.
Wildlife Encounter - we saw a RAT run across the street in front of all those expensive North Gate homes.
So I haven't ridden in a week and a half other than just tooling around. JB's still on vacation (or so I thought, keep reading), Adam had a company softball game, and Nicole and I get a little bit of a late start and it's HOT so I figure I'll just ride at her pace and make conversation. Well I could only ride at 4 mph for so long and when we got to the bottom of the bump she pulled over to rest in the shade for a while and told me to keep going so I did. I picked it up to 8 or 9 mph which was appropriate for the heat level.
Just after Chainbuster I saw JB coming down from the Junction. He had come home from vacation and ridden with the Diablo Cyclists and since Nicole and I got a late start he hadn't seen us. We talked for a bit but then he continued on down. My Junction time was pathetic of course so I won't report it. The DCers were all still at the Junction when I got there including Mark and Grant on a tandem - there was much talk about how that ride went - apparently Mark really did a power-stoker job for a fast ride, and about the upcoming Death Ride. Then they all split up, some down South Gate and some down North Gate, leaving me alone for a while. A few other folks came up in groups of one or two and we just sat around getting eaten up by bugs. I talked to one guy named James who had UC Davis shorts on but I didn't tell him I knew Adam.
Finally Nicole arrived and she did tell James that we work with Adam so we all gossiped about how he'd rather play softball than ride a bike. On the way back down Nicole led the way and James was behind me. When we got past Moss Landing I pretended to slow down and James came around me but then I hopped into his wake and then out sprinted him up the double dips.
Wildlife Encounter - we saw a RAT run across the street in front of all those expensive North Gate homes.
Monday, July 07, 2003
Wow - lots of hits last week. Sorry to report that the whole family got sick and my only riding was pulling my daughter in the trailer to the 4th of July festivities at the park.
Also sorry to report that the trailer is now in the trash - the nylon fabric that forms the seat was rotted and torn and the canopy was also wasted. It was a present from my brother (thanks again Clark!) a couple years ago after his kids outgrew it but since my garage is full of junk the trailer got parked outside and the sun and rain took quite a toll.
Anyway I'll try to do something worth writing about soon. Rick and Nicole are going to do Seattle-to-Portland and JB is on vacation too so who knows what'll happen.
Thank you loyal readers!
e-mail to diabloscott@terra.es
Also sorry to report that the trailer is now in the trash - the nylon fabric that forms the seat was rotted and torn and the canopy was also wasted. It was a present from my brother (thanks again Clark!) a couple years ago after his kids outgrew it but since my garage is full of junk the trailer got parked outside and the sun and rain took quite a toll.
Anyway I'll try to do something worth writing about soon. Rick and Nicole are going to do Seattle-to-Portland and JB is on vacation too so who knows what'll happen.
Thank you loyal readers!
e-mail to diabloscott@terra.es
Saturday, June 28, 2003
Diablo Junction, Blackhawk, Danville Blvd - 40 miles
Just me and JB today and he had to prepare for his birthday party tonight so he didn't want to get done too late. We had discussed doing the summit so I ate an extra bowl of generic Cheerios and a banana for breakfast. On the way out to the mountain I came across a pretty large Leukemia Team In Training group and figured they would be riding with us but they turned east on Ygnacio.
It was already hot on North Gate Road by 8 am and I was feeling the effects even in my sleeveless Zoic jersey (X-mas present from my brother - thanks Clark). I had two bottles packed full of iced Cytomax and the coolness really felt good going down. Then JB announced that he was going to go down South Gate to Blackhawk and stop at a friend's house in Danville so I said I'd come with him. That would give me extra miles without having to suffer the heat on Summit Road.
There were not as many Death Ride types training today as I would have expected. Usually the Death Ride is cold and rainy so maybe it wouldn't have been good training anyway. We didn't hang around the Junction for very long and as I rolled down I got that great chill that happens when you're all sweaty and you suddenly get a blast of air to evaporate it. We set a sub-blistering pace through Blackhawk until we got to the end of Crow Canyon where JB turned off. I kept on going to Danville Blvd where there were hundreds of cyclists going south - some really big groups, a lot of smaller groups, and a lot of solo riders. I think it may have been some kind of benefit ride or something.
Just me and JB today and he had to prepare for his birthday party tonight so he didn't want to get done too late. We had discussed doing the summit so I ate an extra bowl of generic Cheerios and a banana for breakfast. On the way out to the mountain I came across a pretty large Leukemia Team In Training group and figured they would be riding with us but they turned east on Ygnacio.
It was already hot on North Gate Road by 8 am and I was feeling the effects even in my sleeveless Zoic jersey (X-mas present from my brother - thanks Clark). I had two bottles packed full of iced Cytomax and the coolness really felt good going down. Then JB announced that he was going to go down South Gate to Blackhawk and stop at a friend's house in Danville so I said I'd come with him. That would give me extra miles without having to suffer the heat on Summit Road.
There were not as many Death Ride types training today as I would have expected. Usually the Death Ride is cold and rainy so maybe it wouldn't have been good training anyway. We didn't hang around the Junction for very long and as I rolled down I got that great chill that happens when you're all sweaty and you suddenly get a blast of air to evaporate it. We set a sub-blistering pace through Blackhawk until we got to the end of Crow Canyon where JB turned off. I kept on going to Danville Blvd where there were hundreds of cyclists going south - some really big groups, a lot of smaller groups, and a lot of solo riders. I think it may have been some kind of benefit ride or something.
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