Conquering El Diablo

This Saturday I went on a 50 Mi ride up Mt. Diablo from Dublin with my buddy Mike. The ride up was easier than expected. We snapped some photos, downed some shot blocks (my new favorite, just stay away from Raspberry), and headed home!







Coming down proved a bit treacherous. Wind almost pulled me off the road, squirrels were playing chicken, and multiple cars decided to park in the middle of the road around blind curves.

I thought my rides along the coast had wind, but there were times where I felt I was standing still while peddling. Makes sense why they have all the windmills along the 580!

Total Ride time ~4 hrs.

Map is below, but I don't have any sensor data yet as I still haven't decided on which bike watch to purchase. I used to be a big polar fan, but Polar doesn't have a big online presence and I've read is not very Mac friendly. I've been reading about Suunto and Garmin. If I was only a cyclist I would choose the Garmin hands down. It seems to be made for bikers, Garmin Connect is simple and easy to use, the maps are great, and everyone I've talked to loves their unit. So why am I leaning towards a Suunto? The main features that separates the Suunto watches and Garmin are battery life and being water proof. Suunto saves battery by having the GPS unit as a separate POD. If that POD dies you can still collect data from the rest of your ride. I'm hoping to use this watch for triathlons as well and having a watch that I can wear in the water is ideal. The Suunto also collects heart rate while you swim, but I've yet to see how useful that is.

Mt. Diablo Ride