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Just started rolling this morning and had to stop short when I passed Mark and Amy's house; a huge chunk of the giant oak tree in their front yard had fallen down. It was an amazing bit of luck that it didn't hit their house, car, or power lines. The fallen limb spanned from the trunk all the way across the street.

After the ride, Mark told me the tree guy said this thing was 300-400 years old. It's gonna have to come down now for sure.
OK, met up with JB and Rick at the Gate. It was pleasantly cool and the riding was great. Rick did a Challenge warm-up and I didn't see him again and JB dumped me too, but it was still nice.
Roadkill Observation: A squishy frog. I don't think I've ever seen a live frog on the Mountain, maybe they're born already squished in the middle of the road.
Dudley Driveby: 0824 hrs at the Lower Ranch.
At the Junction Rick wanted to Summit, JB wanted to do the Hole, so we decided on the Tire Poppers. As soon as we started down, we ran into a thick cloud of cold fog. It bothered JB more than me so I got to the turnaround earlier and gave myself a head start. One rider started chasing me but I managed to stay away. Rick caught me and I gave him a lead out but then went lactic.

Then I had a good sprint up the Dips.
I volunteered to be a ... volunteer, for the Diablo Challenge. Don't know what I'll be doing yet but I'm looking forward to it. Look for me!

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Me, JB, Jeff. Fires in the area made the air thick with smoke. It wasn't enough to affect breathing but it made my eyes sting a little bit. We took it slowly. It was warm and there wasn't any wind. We hoped it would get better at the higher elevations - it didn't, but it didn't get any worse either.

Wildlife Encounter: three tarantulas (well four if you count the squished one).

Not many other riders up there tonight and the bugs were really bad so we went down quick. Got this cool shot at the Dips Ranch.

My water bottle roster: Three big ones, a Polar that I really like, a Team Pegasus that was a gift from Adam, and the Levi/Gerolsteiner/Specialized one that was schwag from the last San Francisco Grand Prix.

And six little ones. The Coke bottle is le bidon officiel de Tour de France and it leaks a little. Two Chain Reaction bottles that I got when my Klein was being built up - they're good but I wish they had screw lids. Jelly belly is from the Prologue of Tour of California, as were the Gatorade and Amgen bottles. The Amgen bottle is really a cheap POS, it'll be the next one rotated out of the line-up.

A couple charts I created comparing Mount Diablo to Palomar Mountain near San Diego.

Most folks park their cars in Pauma Valley - the climb is 12.5 miles from there.

But apparently the practice is to start your stopwatch at the turn off to South Grade Road, so I made this chart too. Looking at this image, I can see why.

I like making these charts - send me the elevation profile of your favorite climbs and I'll make more. See my photo page HERE.

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How do you know when your gloves need to be washed? This topic has been debated since gloves were invented. They pretty much always stink so that's not a good indicator. Today I decided that salt stains between all the fingers means they've got one more ride in them. These babies are going in the washer this afternoon.



Roadkill Observation: A cat (sad, but fortunately not gory) and a frog (slightly gory).

Blog Reader TBV asked if he could ride with us today, I agreed after making sure he wouldn't be half-wheeling me into oxygen debt. He runs the outstanding Trust But Verify website chronicling every detail of the Floyd Landis doping case and appeal. And he showed up in full Floyd kit:

He's also the guy who suggested to Floyd that he ride the Diablo Challenge next month... no confirmation but if he does come TBV thinks he'll cut seven minutes off the record.

Wildlife Encounter: three turkeys near the Dumpster Gate

JB and Rick went on ahead and I rode with TBV until the Junction. It was nice and shady and the bugs hadn't come out yet. Then Rick and I went to the Summit, JB went down, and TBV said he hadn't decided which way to go.

More heat on Summit Road, it wasn't smoggy though and the views of the East Bay were really clear. As always in September, there were a lot of riders obviously training for the Challenge. There was also a surprisingly large number of attractive female riders and they're always a welcome addition.

Coming back down, we saw TBV coming up near the summit - good on him. Then we stopped at Biff Point and Rick described his crash from a couple months ago. It really is easy to take that corner too fast - he didn't start braking until he was almost in the gravel, then he tried to hold it together but the front tire dug in and he endo'ed and the bike flipped. He still has a little hematoma on his hip but is otherwise fine - he got a new helmet and shorts out of the deal so that makes it a little easier too.

That Jamba went down extra good today.

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Donated blood yesterday, that always makes me feel proud of myself. I almost fainted in the chair; got all sweaty and dizzy - sometimes that happens, the blood takers said I should start off with my head lower by reclining the chair more. But how will donating a pint yesterday affect my ride performance today?

101°F WHEW!

OK, low blood volume and high heat means today was just to survive, I figured if I could get to the Junction in under 60 minutes without chundering or passing out it would be a success.

Roadkill Observation: a small rattlesnake and a lizard - the snake was all dried up but the lizard was still kind of juicy and the bugs were eating on him.

JB left me behind and I just plugged at my slow pace. I felt OK but my heartrate was a lot higher than it should have been for what I was doing - MHR = 180 and I was NOT pushing it. Usually when it gets that high I can feel my heart pounding in my chest and ear drums but today I wouln't have guessed it was that high were it not for my monitor. I thought I was well hydrated but not well enough I guess.

Two guys passed me, the first guy said "Hey my brother has that same bike" the second guy said "Isn't this insane?" (referring to the heat).

Even the ride back down was hot - didn't get that refreshing evaporative cooling rush.

Coyote Attacks Rider on Summit Road

Got this warning from blog reader Jay, about a Grizzly Peak club member and I copied a bit below. Scary and weird.

One of our members (we'll call him Bill) asked me to write this message for him. In short, a coyote chased and bit him Tuesday evening as he rode down the Summit before the Junction on Mt. Diablo. This was after he had seen a coyote the week before and it chased him, which he reported to the rangers. The attitude the first time, as he said, sounded like, "Huh, that's strange." It's unclear if they did anything in response the first time.

On his way up Tuesday evening, he noticed the coyote farther up Summit Road. At the top, he saw one other cyclist, who said he had seen it also.

Frankly, I can't remember exactly, but, I thought Bill said the coyote chased him a bit on the way up. So the two decided to go down together and watch out for each other. Below where Bill saw the coyote on the way up, he started to relax a bit and then noticed a flash of fur at his side before the coyote got his leg.

The rangers Bill then contacted got Fish and Game approval to take the coyote down, but, unfortunately, the ranger decided to aim at the hindquarters with a .223 caliber rifle. (I don't know these things, but, I understand that is a relatively low-level caliber.) As a result, he only wounded the coyote and it got away. It likely is dead by now. But Bill's getting rabies shots.

So be on the lookout at odd times on the Mount. Likely, this very isolated event is just another in a string of bad luck for my unfortunate friend. But it's possible the coyote is still out there, or, there is something else going on.

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Had a dog function today, so it had to be a quick one.



Rick's doing a race tomorrow so it was just me and JB again.


Dudley Driveby: 8:28 at the bottom of the Bump.


Passed six guys, got passed by four, so that's not a horrible day. Saw Waterford guy again - that's three weeks in a row, I should ask his name... anyway, managed to stay ahead of him all the way to the Junction this time.




Wildlife Encounter: A coyote at Chainbuster. It's always a special ride when I see a coyote but this time it was extra interesting because he was on that trail just off the switchback and there was a post with - not one but two "NO DOGS ALLOWED" signs on it. I chuckled imagining him thinking "THIS SIGN DOESN'T APPLY TO ME".

There were dozens of riders coming up but I didn't recognize any of them. Training for the Challenge is in full swing.

Phil Cam!

Phil Liggett on a charity ride, one of the cameras looks to be on his handlebars. The audio is Phil overdubbing with a speech he gave afterwards.

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It could have been a little hotter, but not much. Me, JB, and Cindy. They gapped me at the Bump and had about two minutes on me by the Junction. The heat can really sap your strength. Bugs were terrible up there and we came down.



Hardly saw anyone else up there. Didn't see any tarantulas. It was dead, but better than not riding. Even descending was hard - totally zenless.

BONUS POST !

Blog reader Mike is on the steering comittee for the Diablo Challenge and he asked me to help him stir up some enthusiasm for this year's event.

The Challenge is a benefit for Save Mount Diablo and the registration page is HERE.

There is also an on-line forum for asking questions and sharing information HERE.

This event is always special, but this year may have a special guest: Floyd Landis is rumored to be coming to do the ride. (edited to correct my mistake that the special guest might have been Bobke).

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JB got tired of waiting for me and left the Gate at 0807 hrs just as I was getting there, I had to chase him down and got all tired. Windy at the bottom too.



Saw Waterford guy from last week and rode with him for a while but then he dumped me.



Did pass up about 5 guys but they didn't look like they did much climbing. Got warmer and calmer in the middle, then JB dumped me.





Dudley Driveby: Top of the Bump, 0828 hrs.

Saw Jay K coming down also.

Hung around Junction and then went to Juniper.

JB said the weather report said 25 mph winds at the Summit.



Nice fast descent, I stayed about 20 meters behind JB, then below the Junction we saw three guys ahead of us and I started planning my spring. At first I wasn't sure I could catch them. Then I started to smell brake pads burning so I knew there was a car ahead that might slow them down. By the last bend I had them all in sight - one guy had already made his move and JB was passing the other two guys - I came around those three pretty fast and hammered to catch up with #1 and caught him with at least a half mile before the dips. He didn't seem to know the road too well and was slowing down too much around little sweeps. With 400m to go I knew I could take him easily and started a little early knowing he wouldn't take that bottom curve at full speed, so I blew by him and then I saw another guy at the top of Dip #2 and caught him with a few meters to go also - that was a good one and I let loose an ostentatious victory salute.

De Ronde van Vlaanderen voor Wielertoeristen

Some day I'll ride the cyclo-tourist version of de Ronde like these guys. This is the legendary Muur van Geraardsbergen.

No ride Wednesday - school function.

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This morning's contingent: me and JB.

Cool and very windy - not enough to make bike handling a problem but enough to really slow us down and also I had to be very careful with the snot rockets.

For a long time we were chasing a guy about 60 seconds ahead of us and we weren't making any progress and then suddenly he turned around and went back down.

It got warmer and calmer somewhere around Son of Chainbuster.

Dudley Driveby: not today, hope he's OK.

Then a guy in a Freddie Rodriguez US Champion jersey came around us pretty fast but his bike was really squeaky. I tried a long time trial but JB passed me and stayed ahead to the line.

Lots of riders at the Junction, I talked to one guy who had a custom Waterford and he said he had it made to match the geometry of his Eddy Merckx Corsa so we had some things in common. There was also a couple who was waiting for their son to ride up - they said he rides the Mountain a lot and has a Klein Quantum Pro! Can't believe I haven't seen him before. Then JB went down and I started up Summit Road.

Wildlife Encounter: a tarantula, this time I stopped to snap a photo.

There were a whole bunch of these cotton-like plants all over the Mountain.

There was some kind of event at Juniper - I got the idea it might have been a Buddhist retreat.

Seen from Mt. Diablo: Mt. Tamalpais

On the way up I had fun exploring some of the picnic areas - the DiabloScott challenge for today is to put all these signs in order from lowest elevation to highest.

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After work ride - this time it was ladies' night.

Roster: Steve K, EQ, JB, and the ladies: The Tami, Goofy, Blitz (the only one who's ridden the Mountain before), and Karen.

Tami had me check her bike since it's been a while and I just pumped up her tires and did a safety check which was fine. Then Goofy had me check her bike and it had a derailleur problem: stuck in the smallest cog and would NOT move - the shifter was broken or something. We managed to block out the high stop in a lower gear so she probably had a 28x16 or something... not looking good for this amateur.

JB waits patiently for everyone to unload.

Goofy is chomping at the bit to get going.

Steve K rides a lot but is new to the Wednesday night club.

Tami checks in with her stock broker one last time.

Almost everybody got to the Church on time but then EQ noticed his rear tire was low. He said he pressed it up in the morning so we decided it might be OK with just a top-off. Then we all rode out to the Gate and by then his tire was flat again so we decided to fix it. Everyone started up except him and me. First off it was a REALLY tight fit and I struggled getting the tire off. Finally got it and put in his spare and when he put his pump on it the valve core came out! By now we're at least 10 minutes behind everyone and I'm getting MY spare tube out for him to use. This one went a little more smoothly and I put in a CO2 charge to speed things up and we were off with a 20 minute handicap.


Caught up to Blitz and Karen at the bottom of the Bump and EQ noticed his wheel was askew so we stopped to straighten it and tighten the skewer; then he said he'd ride at their pace the rest of the way so I went on ahead. Goofy was a ways ahead but she got off and walked up the steepest part of the Bump when I caught up to her. I coaxed her back on and she made it past the Upper Washout before pooping out again.

Goofy really enjoyed the Bump in her big gear.

I don't know who this guy is, but I like to put photos of other people in here in case they read my blog.

Then we were all together for another half mile before they all called it quits so I did the last 2-1/2 miles solo. Steve, JB, and Tammy were coming down as I rounded Chainbuster and I gave them a quick update.

Wildlife Encounter: My first tarantula of the season! I would have stopped to take his photo but he was almost off the road and would have been gone too soon.

So a lap around the parking lot and I went down. Met up with everyone and rode very slowly (Tammy is afraid of descending) until Penny Lane where me and JB droped the hamer. I led all the way to the Dips and then shelled him for the finish. He said he was all he could do to stay in my draft. Then I stopped to take some photos but my little camera wouldn't click fast enough to get everyone.

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Muster Report: Me and Rick

Plan of the Day: Intervals

Weather: Hot and dry



Rick says "Let's warm up until about Moss Landing and then do intervals until the Junction. I said "OK but I'll be completely spent long before then."

This is the new retaining wall at the Loading Dock.

So we start off doing 1-on, 2-off and I was really going for it. I did three really hard ones and recovery took the whole two minutes. Rick was far out of sight after my fourth interval, which only lasted about 40 seconds. Then I reduced my interval sessions to 30 seconds. Some of those last few though were barely perceptable as intervals since neither my heartrate, speed, or cadence went up any.

This is the creek bed at the bottom of the Bump where I saw the deer on Wednesday.

Hot and buggy at the Junction but there were quite a few people there. Then down SGR we went.

Took a while to find a groove on Diablo Road and I didn't have any zip in my legs but it felt like good training. Managed to find some kick on a couple of hills on the way back to Walnut Creek. I was really rocking that Jamba afterwards.

40 hard miles, then yard work in the heat. Saturdays are the best.

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Amanda tried to organize a "Ladies' Night" on the Mountain but she was the only one to show up. Steve K and Collin came from work too though so that made six of us counting me, JB, and Adam. Oh and Jim Smith too but I hardly know him.

It was pretty warm, the Diablo Cyclists got a head start on us, I felt good until I started to get a little stomach cramp.

Wildlife Encounter: Two dear in the little creek bed at that hairpin right turn at the bottom of the Bump. They could have bolted across the road at any time, but they just watched me go by.

JB and Steve had a couple minutes on me by the Ranches, and Steve dropped JB a little ways after that. In fact he kept on going at the Junction and I never saw him again... he must be riding a lot - he's done the Death Ride and he ran a marathon this year so he's really fit.

Lots of bugs at the Junction so we turned around.

They're building this interesting retaining wall at the Loading Dock, nice to see some log work here instead of more concrete.

Back at the bottom, my niggling stomach cramp was turning into a full-fledged belly ache; made me think I may have not washed out my bottles well enough.

2006 Tour of California Stage 2: Levi/Kohl/Landis battle

That's me yelling "GO LEVI" with the California flag. Rick's next to me with the red jacket.

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Rick and me up for a quick one, didn't even get any fotos tooken.

Wildlife Encounter: a young deer off the road below the bump.

At the Junction there was a lot of Tour talk and I said out loud "You mess with the High Life and the High Life WILL mess with you... everyone cracked up.

Then Rick and I did the Kiosk and back up. There was a headwind down low so I didn't get a very high MXS - Rick said he couldn't even catch my draft.

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Felt pretty good today, drove to the church and parked. There was a woman there prepping her bike and chatting on her cell phone at the same time. She started riding just before I did and while I was stopped at the stop sign, she turned left and rode up the wrong side of the street like an idiot. I passed her right away.

Wildlife Encounter: a whole swarm of turkey vultures circling over the Loading Dock, must have been something about ready to die but I couldn't tell what it was.

Wow, it got very windy all of a sudden. A little ways up the road Mark A passed me up, said "hi neighbor" and then he was gone. In fact I got passed by a fast guy every couple minutes the whole way up!

Wind died down with about three to go and then I spotted a guy that I thought I could pass near the Upper Ranch. By the looks of him (skinny, shaved, Team Peg jersey) he should have been going a lot faster, maybe he was recovering from pneumonia or something. I accelerated and went around him with a big swig of schadenfreude.

JB and Amanda were already at the Junction along with way too many bugs so we didn't stay long.

Bonus Quiz: Where is this line of pennies in the asphalt? Crap, it's out of focus.

Danville Blvd-South Gate-Junction-Gate

Watched the Diablo Time Trial today - took photos at the Gate and at Son of Chainbuster; if you think I might have gotten one of you, see my photo site: HERE

JB met me at my house and we rode to South Gate - an hour ride at a very easy pace. Didn't see as many people going up as we thought, but there were some. Started off cool and then got warmer.

After the 1,000 foot elevation sign, we saw a group of three and JB decided to chase them down, and I decided... not to.

Wildlife Encounter: six turkeys near the helicopter pad. I stopped for a photo but then some cars came by and scared them away.

We saw Adam helping out at the TT finish line, watched people coming in for a while, then we went down to watch from a better perspective.

I stopped at Son of Chainbuster and took a lot of photos - I'm not PhotoCrazy but this would have been a good spot to take those kind of shots.





Then I took some more photos from the Start line and went home.