9 hours into 2009 we started our first ride of the year.
All of the Diablo Valley has been socked in with fog for several days, and Thursday, January 1 was no exception. The temperature was in the low 40's when we left the truck near the base of Mt. Diablo. Vince and I immediately met up with Mickey, and within only a mile, had caught up with another group of riders, most of which were friends or acquaintances of Vince and / or myself. Our group of over half a dozen began the cool ascent through a stagnant mist. The group was taking its time getting to the top, and I was personally in no hurry to ride alone. At around 2000' we started seeing the sun peek through the fog, and then rather abruptly, we were above it, being dazzled by fluffy white drifts.
The number of riders on the mountain was astounding. I literally had to wake Vince up to get him out, and figured that would be the general consensus of the balance of Bay Area riders. Not so. We were many. There may have been a couple hundred on the mountain just during the couple of hours we were there.
No records were broken, except for maybe the most times off the bike during one ride up the mountain, or longest descent as we coasted through the thickening layer of pea soup hovering around 2000'
I had to rush the end of the ride, as I had promised my wife to be home by 11:30 to help remove the turkey from the oven. I didn't make it on time, but did get there soon enough to keep her from attempting the baking bag removal procedure on her own.
I've managed to post this only 2 weeks late, but nevertheless am looking forward to a great year of cycling and blogging.
Those picture are amazing!
ReplyDelete