Did You Ride Today?



A little late to the party , yes I did ride - but Friday. Had no service or ISP for a while. Visited the Mt Diablo St park in Danville ca for a training ride. Your basic 3400 -3500 feet of all uphill climb to the summit in less than 13 miles.

I hadn't entered South Gate road on Diablo since Mountain Challenge in 1996.
Was as remembered but with bike pull out lanes & much signage both up and down warning bikes and drivers of awareness each other. Been a few deaths , yup.
Wild turkeys crossing the road in a few places , that could be sketchy descending eh? So I parked miles outside the park for a 3 mile ride to get there and then the climb. Being Friday around 7:00 AM no cars on the road, and just a county sheriff passed me at the 300O elev foot mark. There was a group of 3-4 guys ascending that I was catching up with on the last 2/3 mile to the top. Just as i was congratulating myself , a petite female passed at double my pace without breath or word . Couldn't even tell what color bike ! As I ascended with the other guys we watched her hammer the switchbacks that lead up over the top. She was attacking out of saddle in some those steep hairpins. I suspect she was a racer.

As I neared the summits final 18% (??) she was already ripping down the hill. Bought a jersey at the gift store at the summit . A few pics and down I went incident- free , short of a runner using the space my torso and head would be while apexing my sharp right turn. She was coming uphill in sucide lane and over the fog line. I did stick out my elbow a bit. ( what a *****?!) Was a near kiss of lycra to spandex. Thats my space- that lane so don't F with it. Using my downhill lane for uphill run -FOOL!
To change my line could have put me over the center line into an oncoming cars path.

Of course very few smiles or waves from the runners road cyclists there on Danvilles rock pile.
Know for its exclusive gated communities . The kind that hire guys with the leaf blowers that walk across the road never looked or read a sign . Bikes descending. Nope he wont ever "get it" till it happens . Poor guy and cyclist when it does , and soon. I heard he does a good job though.

Rode down the mountain with this 15 dollar jersey ( last one , Womens cut -the mens were $90 bucks )and a few mother's day wildflower fitted t -shirts for wife and daughter stuffed in the back pockets . Do I look fem? LOL I do shave so maybe .
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Only my forearms and obliques hurt the next day from there climb. Got to try liquid IV caffeinated. Not real fond of the goober gobs of sticky on the bike. But it did help particularly last mile or so , kept me from bonking. Cant wait to go back. Have a similar 3600-3700 ft climb here at home up North for training . But is not continuous elevation like Diablo Gr8 ride!
 
Just as i was congratulating myself , a petite female passed at double my pace without breath or word . Couldn't even tell what color bike ! As I ascended with the other guys we watched her hammer the switchbacks that lead up over the top. She was attacking out of saddle in some those steep hairpins. I suspect she was a racer.

She must be very light. Me being lightweight myself, I only need to maintain 220 to 250 (at tempo) watts to climb at the power-to-weight ratio of pros. Not a lot.

Hint: You'll be able to sustain higher power output on the lightest possible equipment. It's easier to hold higher power output the faster you're going uphill. This means the gains in performance is potentially greater than the % you lose in weight. I can't explain it. I only have a vague idea it may have something to do with biomechanics and some basic physics 101 stuff I already forgot about! This is why most riders can hold higher power output or higher FTP in the flats but can't sustain the same FTP in climbs and will do less. Doesn't make sense right?
 
A little late to the party , yes I did ride - but Friday. Had no service or ISP for a while. Visited the Mt Diablo St park in Danville ca for a training ride. Your basic 3400 -3500 feet of all uphill climb to the summit in less than 13 miles.

I hadn't entered South Gate road on Diablo since Mountain Challenge in 1996.
Was as remembered but with bike pull out lanes & much signage both up and down warning bikes and drivers of awareness each other. Been a few deaths , yup.
Wild turkeys crossing the road in a few places , that could be sketchy descending eh? So I parked miles outside the park for a 3 mile ride to get there and then the climb. Being Friday around 7:00 AM no cars on the road, and just a county sheriff passed me at the 300O elev foot mark. There was a group of 3-4 guys ascending that I was catching up with on the last 2/3 mile to the top. Just as i was congratulating myself , a petite female passed at double my pace without breath or word . Couldn't even tell what color bike ! As I ascended with the other guys we watched her hammer the switchbacks that lead up over the top. She was attacking out of saddle in some those steep hairpins. I suspect she was a racer.

As I neared the summits final 18% (??) she was already ripping down the hill. Bought a jersey at the gift store at the summit . A few pics and down I went incident- free , short of a runner using the space my torso and head would be while apexing my sharp right turn. She was coming uphill in sucide lane and over the fog line. I did stick out my elbow a bit. ( what a *****?!) Was a near kiss of lycra to spandex. Thats my space- that lane so don't F with it. Using my downhill lane for uphill run -FOOL!
To change my line could have put me over the center line into an oncoming cars path.

Of course very few smiles or waves from the runners road cyclists there on Danvilles rock pile.
Know for its exclusive gated communities . The kind that hire guys with the leaf blowers that walk across the road never looked or read a sign . Bikes descending. Nope he wont ever "get it" till it happens . Poor guy and cyclist when it does , and soon. I heard he does a good job though.

Rode down the mountain with this 15 dollar jersey ( last one , Womens cut -the mens were $90 bucks )and a few mother's day wildflower fitted t -shirts for wife and daughter stuffed in the back pockets . Do I look fem? LOL I do shave so maybe . View attachment 5882

Only my forearms and obliques hurt the next day from there climb. Got to try liquid IV caffeinated. Not real fond of the goober gobs of sticky on the bike. But it did help particularly last mile or so , kept me from bonking. Cant wait to go back. Have a similar 3600-3700 ft climb here at home up North for training . But is not continuous elevation like Diablo Gr8 ride!

That's funny. Gina wears the men's Amgen jersey

A buddy of mine found some on sale for $5. He bought a few giving me 2 but XL way too small for me in a race cut.

But fit Gina. Several years ago then again, another good buddy found a box of them at a surplus store. Got a box of 15 maybe for $20. So Gina got a couple more.

Climbing Mt Baldy on this summer day. Hot and humidity so she removed the jersey wrapping it around her waist.

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The big 6-0!!! My birthday is Wednesday so I did my birthday ride a few days early.. I planned a solo ride but ended up meeting with friends on a tandem. Did 20 of the 60 together. He didn't seem to want to take the front at all so I forced him to the front a few times after like 6 miles on the front.

Birthday Ride, 60 miles.

The cheap Chinese jersey 20 bucks was just as good, maybe even better than my American jerseys.

5xl a little tight in the biceps so that is a good thing.
 

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One of those days. Should Have Stayed in Bed Tour. Waking up I knew but rode anyway. As I was starting out, I was thinking what the heck am I doing out here.

Finished the ride then thought, what the heck am I doing out here. :D

But a steak lunch at Outback, I deserved it. Then a trip to the mall where I found this coll t-shirt for my brother in law.
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One of those days. Should Have Stayed in Bed Tour. Waking up I knew but rode anyway. As I was starting out, I was thinking what the heck am I doing out here.

Also guilty of munching on fried foods after a long ride! It's probably unhealthy but don't care no more!
 
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Guts of steel too ! Beanz what make of helmet in that pic ?

I did ride but yesterday , just a trip one -way Hopland to Lakeport thru a.pass thru the mayamacas range . Most excellent surface mendocino or napa side the West facing side - however little to no shoulder most the route constant grade climb to the top . Embarrassingly few miles , unless you did an out and back to lakeport I was just curious , had SAG support (spouse & minivan )closely so wanted to see the terrain with no surprises.

Just a meager 2200 feet climb and then you drop into the lake county side which is a rocket ride.
There's cuts in the road for the snow plows for the road reflectors - a tad sketchy crossing over the center line when I ran out of road many turns
A lil hop here and there. Some lite gravel in some of the turns and of course , a rock quarry as you come out of the hills int the flats.

not many pics but what I could snap while riding up . A before departure shot as well . Nervous as hell as no time left to train for rotary challenge next weekend . Bam - out of time this year going so fast .

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43 miles today with a buddy. Conversation pace the first 30 miles. Then the final stretch meeting up with another buddy. 16.1 average speed.
 

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No rides for me this weekend. Caught the colds and then food poisoning. And either one of those gave me myocarditis. Had chest pains in the heart region, numbness in the hands, dizziness, headache, nearly fainted, and resting heart rate rose by 100% from 37 bpm to 73 bpm. No palpitations and docs would probably have seen it as normal since my RHR is still way below 90 bpm. I almost thought I'm having a heart attack but most of the symptoms quickly subsided and since it happened at the same time with food poisoning and colds, it's very likely myocarditis and loading up on milk chocolate took away the headache and chest pains.

I simply resumed HIIT in the stationary bike and surprisingly, my 5 minute power and heart rate seemed unaffected. Only my RHR seemed affected.
 
43 miles today with a buddy. Conversation pace the first 30 miles. Then the final stretch meeting up with another buddy. 16.1 average speed.

Why is everyone goggles on an overcast sky?:p I personally never them due to the very hot and humid conditions. The only reason I'll ever wear one is to keep my eyes from getting dry but so far, it never happened yet.

Though getting hit in the face once by a huge Asian carpenter bee might change my mind eventually. I didn't even get stung but the impact with the large insect still hurt and absolutely startling during a ride.
 
43 miles today with a buddy. Conversation pace the first 30 miles. Then the final stretch meeting up with another buddy. 16.1 average speed.
Sound like you were on fire!

Saturday was a good day. An out n back of 28 miles around 2 hours n some change. 2700 ft of gain/ loss. Beautiful solo ride. Early no traffic to speak of. Such pretty scenery.
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thanks Mr Beanz. ,
I’d sure like to ride with you when in So-cal sometime.

Typically 3-4 visits a year down that way. Love to see new places. Still have yet to ride those bike trails you had suggested earlier.
 
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