...Trying to ride my ten speed up to the top of Mt Diablo...BY MYSELF!!! It is very high, and is some sort of Geographical Measure Point in CA.

...My mental illness, bi-polar, kicked in during my Jr Year of HS. I didn't need to sleep, school was easy, and I practiced for long hours on my cello and piano. I also caddied at the Country Club, and saved a lot of money. I bought a very nice 10-speed bicycle, and rode it all over town. Our house...(Where I am living, now, helping my elderly mother)...is about 10 miles from the base of the mountain. As a child, I would sit in the back yard, drink a coke, and use my binoculars to see radio antennas, and some kind of building on top.
...So, one morning in my Jr Year, I was sitting in the back yard, eating my pancakes, and thought...
..."WELL, WHAT THE HECK, RIDE UP THERE AND SEE WHAT IS THERE!!!"
...For most of my life, I have had good judgement, that is how I earned the letters after my name, and earned money...but...
..."I was a KID...in the throes of Bi-Polar...
...So, I finished my pancakes, and showered, and put on my riding clothes...(No helmet...we didn't wear them back then)...checked over my 10-speed, and dropped a bottle of Tab into the holder. I didn't tell my parents what I was going to do...and headed out. I was excited as I quickly rode the level ground, and got onto the road that led to the top. It was a somewhat rustic two lane road, and a few times I just pulled over to the side, and stopped, so the cars that were backed up against me got by. I recieved a few rude comments, but didn't respond...I was getting winded.
...I had to pull over a number of times when I was about half way up...I had my gear set in 1st...and was slowly spinning my feet...and would pull over when I heard cars coming up behind...MY BIKE DIDN'T HAVE MIRRORS...I didn't want to be distracted, seeing my opponents in a race behind me. I actually got off, and walked the bike to a side road, and then rode my bike into a cheap little lodge. I had seen the lodge when I had driven by...and...and...and...
'''THEY HAD A POOL!!!!!
I greeted the Manager, and asked to buy a coke. He took pity on me, and handed one to me and waved off the quarter. I drank it, and got revived a bit, and said, "You have a pool." He smiled, and nodded, and said, "You can use it if you want." I said, "I don't have a bathing suit." He smiled, and returned with a cardboard box that was half full of women's bathing suits. My eyes got a bit wide, but I was very hot and tired, so I sorted through them. I just pushed the two pieces to the side, and pulled out a brown one piece that looked like it would fit me. I asked, "How much?" He laughed and said, "Give me the quarter, and you can rent it." I did.
It fit fairly well, and I went to the pool, and looked in, and it was clean. I jumped in, and swam a bit, but mostly relaxed. I was in the pool for about an hour, and then got out, feeling much better, and dried myself and got back into my clothes. I gave him back the bathing suit, and sat...he gave me another coke...he was probably amused by my arrival. (I was very lucky, that he was an honest man, I suspected that he had been watching me...not for the wrong reasons...but...I did look good back then...but he was probably astonished to see a teenage girl this far up the hill, on a 10-speed...by herself!!!)
I told him that I had wanted to ride to the top of the mountain, and he just nodded, and said..."Next time you want to try, get with an organized group that does that. They have cars and trucks following the cyclists, in case someone needs help." I finished my coke, and said, "Good advice, thank you."
I planted my butt on the bike and just coasted down the hill, back to home.
