Ride up Mt. Diablo the day after Thanksgiving

[aka_kim]

You'll be feeling your mortality (of or relating to death) on the final 17% grade .

Add another excuse: brakes rubbing (and, boy, does that suck when climbing).

[jobob]

Those are all perfectly acceptable excuses ... mind if I co-opt a few?

Seriously, one thing Lee and I learned was that you have to do it at your own pace, and if it's slow as mo-lasses, so be it. If you struggle to keep to someone else's pace you might burn out.

I wouldn't mind re-grouping at various spots along the way, there are a lot of logical places: the South Gate, Rock City (those of you who have never seen it before will want to poke around there a little anyhow), the Junction, and, if we get past that, there are a lot of scenic spots on the way up to the Summit.

Those of you who want to scoot on ahead, that's perfectly fine, just give me a wave as you whiz by on the way back down.

[jobob]

You'll be feeling your mortality (of or relating to death) on the final 17% grade .

hah, I walked that sucker ! I figured I made it up 99% of the way, so I felt no shame.

[Veronica]

Well Jo, this time you'll have to ride that 17%. If Thom and I can do it on the tandem, you can do it.

I usually stop in the lower parking lot, get a drink, blow my nose, make sure I'm in my lowest gear and that no vehicles are coming. AND if one does come up behind you, stay in the middle, some idiots will try to squeeze by you if you are on the side and there really isn't room.

V.

[jobob]

I usually stop in the lower parking lot, get a drink, blow my nose, make sure I'm in my lowest gear and that no vehicles are coming.

Ah, there's the rub, the Vehicle Intimidation Factor. Nothing like creeping up a near vertical incline with a big ol' SUV a bit too close to your posterior for comfort, oy. That's what happened with us, except the lady driving said SUV was quite nice and she probably wouldn't have minded creeping up behind us. But I needed an excuse to bail and that one was handy

[jobob]

We're not scaring anyone off, are we?

[Adventure Girl]

Originally posted by jobob We're not scaring anyone off, are we?

I'm scared, but I'll be there. I'm in a yellow beetle with a bike rack on top. I hope I can find you all. See you in the morning. Mapquest says it takes 1 hour and 36 minutes. I should leave my house around 8:00ish. That gives me a little time to get a little lost or to chicken out!

[jobob]

No fear, AG! Lee and I are slooow climbers. We'll probably drive Veronica & Thom nutz

Even if we go only part of the way up, maybe to the Junction, it's still a lovely ride. And it'll be great to finally meet you & Dita (you'll be there, right, Trek???). And it would be great if you could make it, Kim.

I forgot to mention, be prepared for it to be warm on the climb and chilly (or downright cold) on the descent. Long-fingered gloves are very nice to have.

See ya, - Jo.

[Veronica]

Yseterday the temp at the top was in the low to mid 40s, so plan your clothing accordingly.

V.

[aka_kim]

I'm planning to come too. Are we meeting at 10, or riding at 10?

[jobob]

Hopefully we can head off at 10-ish, but we'll wait for you.

Just spoke to Dita, she's coming too. This'll be great

[Trek420]

wheee, that was fun, let's do that again sometime! Perfect conditions for the ride, great views (yeah, that's why I'm stopping, pant pant, just for the view, pant wheeze) great company, the puhrty steel lugged bikes got to talk to each other, good to meet the west coast Team Estrogen (and TE mens auxilliary too!), gotta do this again sometime soon.

[aka_kim]

It was fun! Thanks to Jo for organizing it.

[Trek420]

yes, thanks Jo! Also thanks for the tip Kim, it helped a lot to brake from the drops, who knew? You and everyone else it seems.

[jobob]

It was wonderful, ladies!

Congratulations to Trek for making it very nearly all the way up - when we met up with you coming back, I think you were less than a mile away from the summit. That is a major accomplishment! Now you know you'll be able to do the whole thing next time.

And kudos to AG, who made it all the way to the top including, I might add, all the way up that nasty 17% incline to the upper lot. Lee made it all the way up to the parking lot too. And me, wellll, notsomuch .... I made it about 1/3 of the way and decided, nope, this ain't fun anymore, and I got off and walked And yet, I shall feel no shame

I was a little worried about the ride down, since so many cars passed us going up to the Summit, I thought it would be a steady stream on the way down too. But we encountered surprisingly few cars on the way down, so we basically had the road to ourselves The ride down is such a blast - AG confided that she was really worried about it, but you wouldn't know it riding with her - I suspect she was having fun, at least as we approached the bottom

Lordy, it was cold though - it was chilly to begin with, then when you factor in the wind chill generated by a 30 mph descent .... brrrr. But nothing a Latte at Starbucks couldn't cure!

I posted some photos here
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/jophot...Uk2HCBJKjVYtCt

The photos don't capure how beautiful it is up there. It was a bit cloudy so visibily wasn't too great - someday I'll make it up there on a clear day!