As I mentioned last time, I enjoyed riding the routes recommended by biking books. Two books I found invaluable are Foghorn Outdoors Bay Area Biking by Ann Marie Brown and Bay Area Bike Rides by Ray Hosler. I have done quite a few routes exactly following their directions, e.g., the Mount Hamilton ride, Big Basin, and Calaveras. When I have plenty of time (like today), I like trying long and faraway ones. This time I don't mind burning all my energy so I ended up doing not one but two routes from the books combined (I actually learned about the route from Strava when I looked for metric century, i.e., 100km, routes in the area. The other routes recommended by my friends is a 100km ride in Marin that includes Mt. Tam and the Seven Sisters, which seems equally interesting and I plan to do it next time) This is my longest ride since the Vienna-Melk ride. (More difficult climbs this time but I rode 75+ two days in a row then)
I always wanted to climb Mt Diablo since I've already done 2 out of the Big 3 Mt in the Bay Area (Mt Hamilton and Mt Tam) and I think it's the right time to go. The books recommended against going in Summer 'coz its lack of shades. I thought a cloudy Spring day would be ideal (which is WRONG and you'll see why later) The two routes I combined are: Mt Diablo Summit Ride, and Clayton (including Morgan Territory) The books suggested parking at or near Blackhawk Plaza Shopping Center and I followed. Started from there, I took Blackhawk Road, which passed a few gated communities (affluent neighborhood!) Then turned into Mt. Diablo Scenic Blvd at 3.5 mile mark (I wasn't too confident about getting my route right and stopped at the turn to read the map, which should not have been necessary. Of course it's supposed to be scenic!) From that point on you really can't go wrong since it goes all the way to the Summit at 3849 ft above sea level. MapMyRide actually broke down the climb into 2 sections. A cat 2 climb starting at the South Gate 'til the entrance kiosk. There's a short flat section to catch your breathe, then a 6-mile cat 1 climb all the way to the top. At the 10 mile mark there is a junction ranger station. This is where to return to after reaching the Summit. From junction to the Summit it's ~4.5 miles with the Juniper campground exactly in the middle between them, which was another good place to rest. I was not only a bit tired from climbing but more importantly very much bothered by the poor visibility due to dense fog and mist. Anyway, I made it to the top and as my friend told me already, the very last section before the Summit was steep (kinda like Golden Oak in Portola Valley, which I found manageable and less torturing than Joaquin)
You would think the trickiest part is done. Well, not quite, because the dense fog and mist was still there, if not worse, when I needed to go back down (also needed to negotiate the turns on the slightly slippery road and avoid getting hit by cars going downhill, which I could only hope the drivers were skillful enough to handle) I couldn't feel safe until I got back to the junction, where I regained visibility finally (that 4.7 mile descent felt like eternity!) From there it's a comfortable ride down North Gate Rd all the way to Walnut Creek. There is a round-about, be careful and ride onto Oak Knoll Rd. Then turn into Ygnacio Valley Road, where I watched the Stage 3 of Amgen Tour of California in 2012. BTW, the route today overlapped the route of that stage quite a bit (also this year's Stage 7) The cars are very fast on the busy Ygnacio but bikes should be safe on their own lane.
Finally it became less busy, especially after turning into Clayton Rd and the town of Clayton (seems like another upscale neighborhood) After leaving the shopping centers on Marsh Creek Rd, it became rural again. It took me longer than expected to arrive at the Morgan Territory Rd (at the 38.5 mile mark) and I checked the map a few times!
The first few miles of Morgan seemed too mild and that worried me coz' I knew it went up to 2000+ ft above sea level eventually so the later the climb start, the steeper it would be! Finally I started climbing at the 42 mile mark (where the road is buried deep in the woods and my friend warned me there's no phone reception) and the Summit (2087 ft) is at 48. I took some breaks in between and of course at the campground near the Summit, where I replenished my water bottles and sat for 5 minutes. Overall, Morgan wasn't that bad (I had similar if not worse experience with long climbs on the Sea Otter ride, Tunitas Creek and West Portal on the Peninsula.) It's just that I was tired from the prior climb and rides. And coming down the Summit felt safe even though it's steep (the riders will go the opposite direction than mine to Morgan's Summit on Stage 7) but it's paved well. The descent from 2000 to ~600 ft leads to Manning Rd (turn right) and then Highland Rd (another right), which are also part of Tour of California's route! And it's all flat and fast back to Blackhawk/Danville on Camino Tassajara, where you could see a bronze statue of a horse for an equestrian school. I think I'll feel more connected to the Tour of California this year!
You would think the trickiest part is done. Well, not quite, because the dense fog and mist was still there, if not worse, when I needed to go back down (also needed to negotiate the turns on the slightly slippery road and avoid getting hit by cars going downhill, which I could only hope the drivers were skillful enough to handle) I couldn't feel safe until I got back to the junction, where I regained visibility finally (that 4.7 mile descent felt like eternity!) From there it's a comfortable ride down North Gate Rd all the way to Walnut Creek. There is a round-about, be careful and ride onto Oak Knoll Rd. Then turn into Ygnacio Valley Road, where I watched the Stage 3 of Amgen Tour of California in 2012. BTW, the route today overlapped the route of that stage quite a bit (also this year's Stage 7) The cars are very fast on the busy Ygnacio but bikes should be safe on their own lane.
Finally it became less busy, especially after turning into Clayton Rd and the town of Clayton (seems like another upscale neighborhood) After leaving the shopping centers on Marsh Creek Rd, it became rural again. It took me longer than expected to arrive at the Morgan Territory Rd (at the 38.5 mile mark) and I checked the map a few times!
The first few miles of Morgan seemed too mild and that worried me coz' I knew it went up to 2000+ ft above sea level eventually so the later the climb start, the steeper it would be! Finally I started climbing at the 42 mile mark (where the road is buried deep in the woods and my friend warned me there's no phone reception) and the Summit (2087 ft) is at 48. I took some breaks in between and of course at the campground near the Summit, where I replenished my water bottles and sat for 5 minutes. Overall, Morgan wasn't that bad (I had similar if not worse experience with long climbs on the Sea Otter ride, Tunitas Creek and West Portal on the Peninsula.) It's just that I was tired from the prior climb and rides. And coming down the Summit felt safe even though it's steep (the riders will go the opposite direction than mine to Morgan's Summit on Stage 7) but it's paved well. The descent from 2000 to ~600 ft leads to Manning Rd (turn right) and then Highland Rd (another right), which are also part of Tour of California's route! And it's all flat and fast back to Blackhawk/Danville on Camino Tassajara, where you could see a bronze statue of a horse for an equestrian school. I think I'll feel more connected to the Tour of California this year!
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