2010 WNR 13

Four days post double-red blood donation. This time, my hematocrit dropped from 43.8 to 38.7 so I ended up a couple percent higher than I did last time. I felt pretty good and was hoping there wouldn’t be much noticeable effect.



Parked on Doncaster and happened upon old-regular Dan who used to ride with us before changing jobs and moving around. We started off together since JB was a no show. Dan announced that he needed to set a good time as a standard and that he’d be riding frequently from now on so he needed a yardstick to measure his progress. He got about 20 seconds on me when the Gruppo Taleo rode by and I got in their wake and passed up Dan again. Didn’t last long though because my heart rate shot up pretty quickly after the Dumpster Gate and he came back around.

Got my new chain on over the weekend and was very happy to see that my shifting and adjustment problems were completely gone. Since I had to abandon last Wednesday and didn’t ride on Saturday, this was my first good ride in a week and a half.

So by the time I got past the Bump, the wind was strong and I had pushed into my anaerobic range and wasn’t recovering very much and I decided it was my blood’s fault… hope whoever received my donation appreciates that sacrifice! Very strange to be riding up a not too steep grade at 5mph with a pulse of 170.



Then a couple guys caught me from behind. One guy was obviously stronger and providing some tips to his buddy who was lagging. So the stronger guy started talking to me and I told him my RBC was down because of donating blood and he said he hadn’t eaten or drunk anything at all since 4 o’clock this morning because of Ramadan which just started today. I decided that was a pretty severe handicap but it didn’t slow him down much; he did high intensity intervals and kept circling back to talk to his buddy in the recovery phase. He was probably pretty hungry by sunset.

2010 WNR 12

Abandonee at Moss Landing.

Ed started up before me so I was looking forward to chasing him down. JB hadn't started yet so it seemed like a good beginning. Talked to a guy named Steven on Doncaster and he was looking for a group but didn't know when they were supposed to be there. I said, "Just go, you'll find somebody to ride with."

So just after the dips, the Gruppo Taleo came by with another half dozen riders including blog reader Ward in a good pack and it wasn't much of a grade yet so I hopped on too. I made a joke about everyone attacking me when I buggered up a shift; I'm not sure anybody heard me. Then just a few minutes later, I really did have some shifting problems and suddenly my chain totally jammed up in the back.

Turned out one of the plates had come loose from the pin. While futzing with it on the side of the road lots of people offered their assistance but I was pretty sure none of them would have been any help. Anyway, I have a mini chain tool on my multi tool thingy and managed to get the link out and the chain reconnected after about 20 minutes. Of course it was not one of the links that's generally removable so it was kind of a crappy connection, and now my chain was covered with ditch dust too, so I gave up and turned around; happy I didn't have to walk back to the truck.

I've got a new chain still in the box that I bought a couple months ago. Been telling myself I need to replace it soon. I'm going to have to start listening to myself. I think I'll stick a master link in my saddle bag too.

And maybe some hand cleaner.

Gate-Juniper-Gate

No JB. I rocked the post.

Got to Moss Landing and wow...

Wildlife Encounter: Bobcat at Little Pine Creek Trail




My first thought was, "is that a mountain lion?". And my second thought was, "you don't see mountain lions... they see you." But it was definitely the biggest bobcat I've ever seen. He saw me too and crouched behind some weeds for a while. I stopped and waited for him to walk away so I could get a better photo.

Which I kinda got.

Surprisingly cold and windy at the bottom, got much nicer above a thousand feet.

Went right past Junction, took a break at Toyon, and then went to Juniper.

2010 WNR 11

Very enjoyable, ordinary ride tonight. Then Blog Reader Ward came zooming by. First he passed me, then he passed along these photos. He must have a fast shutter because I'm pretty sure I should be blurrier here.

Space time was warping in his wake.

Blog reader Joe wrote me asking if I might know anyone who would like to buy his "near mint" Klein USPS Masters Team Quantum Pro XX. Well, do I? I told him about $1200 would be a good deal. It's in Texas.

Gate-Junction-Kiosk-Gate

Got to the Gate a little early so did some stretching, then figured I'd start up so as I went to put a rock on the post, I see there's already one there... wasn't sure if JB had gone up or if it was leftover.

Then about 20 riders went by and it looked like I was faster than most of them so I gave them a head start with the thought of running up the score on my passing ratio. It was a little harder than I thought but I managed to pick off about 8 of them.

Sure enough, JB was waiting at the Junction. We talked a bit and then he went home and I went down SGR to the Kiosk. Dozens of riders hanging out there, must not be any big organized rides today.

Wildlife Encounter: One jackrabbit and a bunch of turkeys on North Gate, and a coyote on South Gate.

On the way back down NGR, right in front of me, a squirrel fell out of a tree onto the road. He injured himself pretty bad and couldn't get up... he just squirmed around waiting for a car to run over him I guess.

And then at the residential area below the Gate I saw a loose Chihuahua that looked like a stray - I tried to catch him to check for tags but he ran away.

2010 WNR 10

Not a bad moon rising.

JB was late to the Gate. Played dog and rabbit with a couple guys and that was fun.

It was pretty windy but still managed a sub-shameful time.

Quickie Junc Run

Met JB at the Gate. Warm and windy. We both had stuff to do today so Junction was the end.


On the way home on San Carlos I looked down and saw something stuck to my front tire - I envisioned myself doing a sew-up style tire wipe with my left hand, knocking out a goat head, and then hearing that PSSST PSSST PSSST and then fixing a flat. And then it all happened just as in my prophecy. Now I'm envisioning winning the lottery.


Treat Blvd was closed again over night - I think they're pouring concrete in the trays or something. Getting really close to completion now.

You don't really notice how much the bridge curves when you see it from street level.

Later, me and Diablo Daughter went to the grand opening of the new Walnut Creek Library - super nice! The bike racks were full too... we had to lock the tandem to a light pole.

2010 WNR 09

Wildlife Encounter: Three small deers near Wunderbar. Only one stopped to pose.

Hot today - I made a mental note not to melt my sew up glue and Beloki the descent... then I remembered I wasn't riding my sew ups.

Wildlife Encounter: Two jackrabbits at the Loading Dock.

On my way back down I came upon a group of about 20 riders on their ways up. Must have been TnT or something.

Earlier this week I offered some promotional suggestions to the organizers of the Best Buddies Challenge and they sent me a free event jersey! The ride is a charity event for a group that's sort of like Big Brothers for kids and teens with developmental disabilities. Here's the link to the ride LINK. The 100 mile route is a point to point ride from Carmel to San Simeon, comes with a massage, BBQ, concert, and shuttles back to the start. It's also interesting because they have a relatively low maximum participant restriction, and the highest minimum donation number I've ever seen. It's either an amazingly fun event or an amazingly worthwhile cause, or both, and they've already raised more than $2million just from this event (they have others around the country. Bonus: raffle prizes include megabuck bikes and there will be several celebrity participants. Here's the jersey I won.

Gate-Junction-Summit

The Death Ride is today, so only we weenies were on the Mountain.
Livestrong San Jose is also today.
Seattle to Portland is next weekend... there goes my consecutive streak of one.
JB's on vacation so I gave myself an extra half hour before starting. It was already pretty warm... frozen Cytomax thawed right on schedule.

So, didn't push too hard to Junction, then went to Juniper.

Wildlife Encounter: SNAKE! This guy was half hiding under the outhouse at Juniper... didn't see him until I was within striking distance. Looks like a pit viper head... I contemplated throwing some pebbles at him(1) to see if he'd rattle, then thought better of it. He didn't mind a few photos from a safe distance though.

(1) - I didn't check "his" gender either.

And then on to the Summit.

Diablo Spy Cam!

On the way home I stopped at Sports Basement because they were having a bone marrow registry drive http://www.marrow.org/ I filled out a health questionaire and swabbed my cheeks with Q-tips and someday, if I'm lucky, I'll have the opportunity to donate marrow and save the life of someone with leukemia or something... easier than Team in Training! I guess now I just sit around and wait for my perfect marrow match to get sick.

Bonus! $10 gift card to Sports Basement.