Lynn and Xing pulled up not long after I did and since Jim had bailed, Lynn offered Xing the use of Jim’s road bike which was already in the truck. I knew this was going to be a bad idea... Xing rides an older mountain bike. And he rides the heck out of it. As a matter of fact, even on the mountain bike up Diablo, with knobbies, it’s tough to drop him.
So, once he was on the road bike, had figured out the shifting and braking and gotten comfortable, well…..we pretty much never saw him again until we got to the junction where he was waiting for us.
The entire ride up Diablo is tough. There really are no easy parts, but the first section up to the junction usually isn’t as tough as the second section. Usually…. This week though, I was dying. The combination of the sun baking my head and the heat radiating off the asphalt together provided a convection oven aspect to the ride that allowed me to cook my brain more efficiently than if I had stuck it into a microwave.
Needless to say, when I finally arrived at the junction I was cooked to the point that I wanted to call it a day and head down the hill where I had beer sitting in an ice chest in my truck. I didn’t though. After refilling my bottle, drinking most of it and refilling it again I was starting to feel better and we decided to continue.
Xing stayed with Lynn and I in the beginning, but as soon as we were passed by a couple of the local guys in their team kits, he motored away. Lynn and I decided to take our time and cruised our way up the hill. Thankfully it had cooled a bit and a nice breeze now either pushed us or greeted us as we turned each corner.
With my head no longer set on “broil”, I was able to actually enjoy the beautiful evening and the views that greeted us at each turnout. Eventually, we reached the top and then the fun began. I love riding down Mt Diablo. It’s probably one of my all time favorite downhills in the area. The road is in good condition, there’s usually very little traffic and as I mentioned the views are incredible.
It almost made climbing it worthwhile…..
Oh yeah, and we ran into a friend of ours on the road, I guess he was enjoying the heat as well.
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