2025 Diablo Day 48 - Saturday Morning Junction

Christmas is over - time to ride The Mountain. Nice day considering the last few days have been stormy.  It was actually sunny up until about 1800 feet where I rode into the clouds and it got cold, windy, and wet.

At Junction there were a bunch of old guys talking about old bikes in the olden days... it was glorious.

Wildlife Encounter: turkeys near the Ranger Village.

Nice and blue at the bottom.

 

This guy was fast and smooth - it was like being passed by an owl.

There it is - the cloud boundary layer.

That one crossing the road had a real attitude.

2025 Diablo Day 47 - Saturday Morning Junction

 Thickest fog I've seen this year - cold too. I had my wet-weather gloves on which don't have as much insulation so my fingertips were stinging. But then about 1300' elevation I popped out of it and it was sunny and warm. I love this Mountain.

Wildlife Encounter:  something ran across the trail and under the fence next to the creek... probably a coyote, but I didn't get a good look.

Wildlife Encounter: a bunch of turkeys making a mess just below the Tire Poppers.

JB came today on his first Diablo Day since his throat surgery. He came through OK, but he's got some recovering to do. We discussed some ride modification ideas at Junction - like starting later so it's a little warmer.

You can see almost the last mile of NorthGate Road from here -
I always look for JB around Chainbuster.

Back into the soup.

2025 Diablo Day 46 - Saturday Morning Junction

A little warmer than last week but the fog was even thicker. At Junction a guy talked about my bike and we swapped stories of the old days when steel was real and our experiences with Eroica - he is planning on doing Eroica Tuscany in May.

Wildlife Encounter: herd of deer just past the tire poppers.

Wildlife Encounter: bunny

Passed'em-Passed'me ratio:  0-0  The only people I saw riding were either stopped or going the other way.

Deer!

The jingle bells are on!

Bunny!

2025 Diablo Day 45 - Saturday Morning Junction

Just me again - JB will be out for several Saturdays... but he checks up on me so I can't weenie out.

This was the coldest ride of the season so far - I dressed for about 90% protection - everything except the neoprene booties, ear warmers, and my bulkiest gloves. It was about right.

Pretty thick fog between 1000 and 2000 feet.

Wildlife Encounter: Coyote near Rock City in the fog.

Triple Crown jersey holder - little chance I'll see him again.

I caught this SF Randonneur  though. 

Bottom of the fog layer.

COYOTE!

Above the fog layer it was glorious.

This guy recognized my classic bike and checked to see if I was somebody famous.

Quite a few riders were wearing face coverings... maybe the cold? ... maybe hygiene? maybe ICE?

On the way down, the fog layer was a little thinner.

2025 Diablo Day 44 - Saturday Morning Junction BIG GAME DAY!

Big Game Day and I had my Cal jersey and flew my Cal flag. Didn't see any red jerseys on The Mountain.

Wildlife Encounter: DEER - one crossed the road in front of me, but far enough away that it was no big deal.

At Junction I saw a talked to a guy who couldn't unclip from one of his pedals - turned out a screw in his cleat had broken off so the cleat was just kind of spinning and he had to take his foot out of his shoe to get his shoe out of the pedal. We tried some ideas and he eventually got it tightened down well enough to get home.