In years past I have ridden down the trails of Downieville, rode the insane traffic of the East Bay, or just rode my bike around with my kids. This year was a good year, not only did I get to do one of my favorite road rides (oxy-moron, but you take what you can get) but I got to ride it with a good friend.
Chris, aka Burrito (sorry Chris, that's for my Dad), met in Danville to ride Mt. Diablo from the South Gate to the summit, down to the North gate and back to the summit, then back to the truck...hopefully. A great climbing day....not so great weather. But the roads Chris and I have each been down the past several years, we were riding regardless.... Keep in mind the last time we attempted this ride we were turned away 1.5 miles from the summit as the road was closed due to snow and ice. So, we ride, regardless.
Chris rolls in a few minutes late with a borrowed bike from Sharon's cousin, so I hop out in the rain to get the bike ready. I grab the bike out of the back of the truck and turn my flasher on to which Chris then enlightens me that he has to change out the seat and pedals to his own. My California-Fall "b" hops in his car with the heater on as he changes out the bike.....No wait a minute, this is Chris....so it turns out that he has forgotten his saddle (not a big deal) and his pedals (a very big deal)...I am clued in by the expletives coming from the rear of the vehicle...hmmm...surely it was Sharon's fault?!
Hmmmmm, like I said, we were going to ride. I suggested we buy some cleats for the spd's on the borrowed bike, but no, Chris wants to buy the pedals to match the cleats on his shoes....okay, same deductive reasoning works for that option as long as you leave out the economics of it out of the discussion....but this is Chris, so it makes perfect sense.
New pedals bought, plus the $20 dollar install and we are off...no wait, we have to go back to the car to drop off the old pedals....now we ride. Sloppy and wet, cool, but not too cold, we ride out to the climb. It was a great day going uphill. The rain was refreshing. Chris was climbing well, he will never lead on to it, but the man has come a long ways...lets see, "widow-maker" to century for 1yr anniversary of widow-maker, helping raise 3 kids and the tiredness that goes with that, i.e. the perfect reason (no I refuse to say excuse here for fear I might hurt his feelings) to tell yourself "I don't have the time." Oh yeah, and the most impressive was Chris' 24hr race that he raced, again he'll deny it, but coming out for his first one he nailed it! SO he spent 4+ hrs crying, trying to convince me "you don't understand how this feels" at 3a.m., but hey he pulled himself out of the depths by 8a.m. So anyway....
We had a nice casual climb to the summit, threw on our rain shells, dry gloves and started down. Here is a spot to explain, what I think, sums up the day. Here we are, two fathers who are completely obsessed with bikes and getting ourselves in the best shape possible to ride them. I am proud when I ride through less than favorable conditions because a lot of people likely won't ride, I mean what happens when it starts raining at a race say at 8pm and the race doesn't end until noon the next day...gotta deal....so here was Wednesday, at least for me these were my thoughts:
- On the way up, "That's right, here we are riding while everyone else in home warm and dry. I am a bad-ass!
- On the way down upon passing another cyclist climbing up...the only other cyclist we saw that day, "Man there's someone else as dumb as me, didn't think that was possible...whoa this pavement is 'wavy'...oh wait, it was just resurfaced... I'm just shivering uncontrollably..."
There's really nothing else to say here...when we reached the ranger station at the "Y" we headed down to the South Gate, I tried my best to sound sincere and ask Chris why we weren't going to the North gate and back up, but he just laughed and mumbled something I couldn't quite make out. Don't think I was convincing though.
Despite the grim description, it was a great ride, one that will stand out. A new baseline for cold on the way down, I guess our California-Fall temps being in the 80's really haven't acclimatized me yet, go figure.
We grabbed some toasty soup and some grub and headed to our families for turkey's eve. Another Thanksgiving Holiday ride, continuing my tradition....of course I would love every holiday ride to be an epic one, maybe that day was epic in its own way... Its a day for me to put life in perspective...
I always used to look at what was wrong with my life, wrong with the world...several years ago I woke up and now I remember I am responsible for my life, my happiness, now I relish in my two beautiful children and hope I can instill in them the importance of making a difference, persevering, and being happy with what you have.
I think about my family and how I wish we were all closer, the many friends that I have and the ones that have come and gone in my life and the special ones that, even though we seldom get to talk, its like we spoke only yesterday.
I think about how lucky I am to have Marja in my life, how much like me she is (poor woman) and how much she isn't like me (lucky her) and relishing in that.
I think, wow life is good! a day like yesterday, as cold and wet as it was, choosing to be riding in it and appreciating the fact that I can.
For those of you who forgot, yeah I am a sap...
"Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional..."
-Zen
Why not enjoy life, every second of it!
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