Doing the Diablo Century

The Boyfriend and I spent Saturday night in Walnut Creek before Sunday's Diablo Century, in its second year. The BF booked the Motel 6. He knows how to treat his woman special. Speaking of special -- last week when I checked in for the Tierra Bella, the volunteer told me I was special. What can I say -- I know. When I checked in for the Diablo Century (I actually signed up for the Metric and The BF did the 100 mile), the volunteer told me to have a fabulous ride. What can I say -- okay! The above photo is not the Motel 6 but an interesting building we saw as we walked into downtown Walnut Creek for dinner.




It's been a long time since we decided to do a new ride. I'm glad we did. The Diablo Century is a lovely ride and well supported. The only ding I'll give it is the food is not on par with other rides like the Tierra Bella or Marin Century or Tour of Napa Valley. The BF and I rode together for the first 17 miles. There he is in the above photo at the first rest stop. Simply put -- I adore him.






The advantage of being a 5'2 weenie woman is having fun with playground equipment. Next up was the climb and of course The Boyfriend left me in the dust. Lots of men told me how they liked my 30th anniversary Tierra Bella jersey. The BF thinks that this is "code" for something else. I noticed several riders wearing this year's Tierra Bella jersey. It is a nice design - The BF and I both bought it.





Before the Morgan Territory descent (spectacular; above photo), and after the climb, at a rest stop, I met these wonderful guys who also hail from San Jose and had done the Tierra Bella last weekend. They looked like characters out of the movie Easy Rider. They knew about Country View, a steep hill off McKean in San Jose (this is for PP who introduced us to this road).

Parts of the route reminded me of the Cinderella ride. And we were blessed with green hills and lots of flowers plus miles of horse ranches, farms and well to do neighborhoods (another universe unaffected by the current economic situation). I met a cyclist, just like last week at the Tierra Bella, who wanted me to break from the route, and travel with him. Hmm..

When I met up with The Boyfriend at the end, I said to him, "Want to hear about all the men I met!" "Not again," he sighed. What can I say.

Super ride and recommended. The 100 mile includes more climbing according to The BF but either route is a great way to start off your riding season. P.S. The meandering through neighborhoods will affect your overall time.

Just the Stats:

63 miles
11.8 mph avg (man, I thought I was banging it out!)
32 mph on descent
5 hr 19 min.