more riding, less blogging: Double Diablo w/ Ramesh

Since the Woodside Ramble 50 km, my focus has shifted to cycling, and with that I've been riding to work more, riding home from work more, and if not riding full distance at least trying to ride to/from Palo Alto, Menlo Park, or even Redwood City rather than riding the train all the way between San Francisco and Mountain View.

Less time on the train = less blogging.

Here's a plot of riding distance per week since the Woodside race:

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There's a steady upward progression except for a week where I suffered from cold and/or allergies. That was, coincidentally, the week leading up to the Diablo Time Trial, so a bit of a taper made sense then anyway. That race went rather well relative to my modest expectations (at least my legs felt good) so the reduced distance paid off.

Yesterday I did a double Diablo day. Riding that second Diablo is more a psychological barrier than a physical one. Diablo is a long effort, and it's easy to lose motivation during the long effort. I was the only one to respond to a ride call Ramesh, an extensive SF2G participant and ride leader, had put to the mailing list. Thanks to Ramesh for taking the initiative.

One issue in the Bay Area is that the number of Strava segments has gotten truly out of control. This ride has so many matches it's hard to find the few in which I'm interested. It highlights the need for Strava to develop a superior segment quality metric. Various ideas come to mind.

Anyway, it was a windy day and that meant two things: clear views and chilly descents. I was dressed more for the descents than the climbs and so was borderline hot climbing: I had a sleeveless undershirt, a long-sleeve base layer, my jersey, arm warmers, long finger gloves, my regular gloves, shorts, knee warmers, calf sleeves, socks, shoes, and a cycling cap. On top of this I had a long-sleeve windbreaker for the descents. Ramesh had his jersey and shorts. He obviously handles cold better than I do.

Some photos from the ride:

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Looking west from summit after first ascent


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Ramesh finishing the first time up


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Summit parking lot, looking west, after 2nd ascent

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Eastward view from the base of the steep final 300 meters


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post-ride smoothie from Panara Bread

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