Northern California - I finally climbed Diablo!

After road biking for almost a year, I finally took the trip up the big hill. The weather was perfect yesterday and there were only a few cars on the mountain.
My time from Athenian School to the summit was 1'20".04. I'm hoping to continue to ride Diablo throughout the summer and work on getting that time closer to 1 hour flat.
I encourage anyone that has not ridden Diablo to get on their bike and take the trip to the top...The downhill is awesome!

Congrats. Someday I will attempt it, but I've got my sightson Mix Canyon right now. Diablo is definitely on my list, but not in the Summer, too blazing hot.

Great! Congradulations. Now that wasn't that bad, was it? Don't you just love the downhill?

It definately wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. I'm glad I got my first trip up to the summit out of the way early in the season. The downhill was awesome, but I couldn't wait to start pedaling again...

How many miles is the climb?

Welcome to the club.

That's quite a respectable time, regardless of it being your first.

Congrats. Someday I will attempt it, but I've got my sightson Mix Canyon right now. Diablo is definitely on my list, but not in the Summer, too blazing hot.

Man, my CAR whined and complained about Mix Canyon. Cheers to anyone who can cycle up that. Good luck!

How many miles is the climb?

Diferent starting points, different climbs. Ballpark: about 11 miles and a little over 3,100 feet. Locals please correct this.

Very similiar to the Pine Flat climb in Sonoma county only PF had better pavement and far less traffic. Oh, and a short chunk of 20% grade.

Diferent starting points, different climbs. Ballpark: about 11 miles and a little over 3,100 feet. Locals please correct this.

Very similiar to the Pine Flat climb in Sonoma county only PF had better pavement and far less traffic. Oh, and a short chunk of 20% grade.

I've ridden quite a bit in Sonoma County (went to SRJC) and don't know Pine Flat. But "far less traffic" than Diablo? Mount Diablo is a state park, motor vehicles have to pay at least $6 just to get in so that keeps traffic down. Weekends sometimes see caravans of boy scout troops or the like but normally on a Saturday morning I'll see a dozen cars or less in two hours on the Mountain. Weekday evenings the norm is zero to one. How much is "far less" than one? Bikes far outnumber cars most any time of any day.

1 hour 20 minutes? That's awesome- I went up for the first time a few weeks ago, it took me more like 1 hour 40 minutes. Well done.

JB

Wow, congrats! Now I really want to try it. Although I may have to stop several times to catch my breathe!! So 2 hours may be more my speed! hehe!

Not sure if this is common knowledge but I found this link with lots of info on the Bay Area climbs:
http://cycling.stanford.edu/

Which side would you recommend for a realtive newbie to climbing? The North Gate or South Gate?

Thanks!

Wow, congrats! Now I really want to try it. Although I may have to stop several times to catch my breathe!! So 2 hours may be more my speed! hehe!

Not sure if this is common knowledge but I found this link with lots of info on the Bay Area climbs:
http://cycling.stanford.edu/

Which side would you recommend for a realtive newbie to climbing? The North Gate or South Gate?

Thanks!

South side is "the easy way up".
I should have my own FAQ.

One of the WW LDT rides went up Mt. Diablo, then after the fast downhill, went out to Morgan Territory. Now that was a workout!

One of the WW LDT rides went up Mt. Diablo, then after the fast downhill, went out to Morgan Territory. Now that was a workout!

Hey, we'll be doing that on May 5th - although after Morgan Territory, we'll also go up Altamont Pass Road, and then head back down Patterson Pass Road, wind through Livermore for a while and head up Collier Canyon before returning to Danville. Ends up being more than 100 miles, with about 9,000 feet of climbing.

JB

One of the WW LDT rides went up Mt. Diablo, then after the fast downhill, went out to Morgan Territory. Now that was a workout! Whee, workout indeed !

And then there's the Devil Mountain Double, which is being held tomorrow.

Mt. Diablo, then Morgan Territory, Patterson Pass, Mines Rd, Mt. Hamilton, Sierra Road, Calaveras, Palomares, Crow and Norris Canyons - about 20,000 feet in 200 miles. Booyah.

My hat's off to the hardy souls who attempt that ! :beer:

I'll be there Saturday morning.

Thanks DiabloScott! I hope to see you up there...I'm going to make this climb part of my training route...

Whee, workout indeed !

And then there's the Devil Mountain Double, which is being held tomorrow.

Mt. Diablo, then Morgan Territory, Patterson Pass, Mines Rd, Mt. Hamilton, Sierra Road, Calaveras, Palomares, Crow and Norris Canyons - about 20,000 feet in 200 miles. Booyah.

My hat's off to the hardy souls who attempt that ! :beer:

I attempted it. Maybe next time I'll finish...

I attempted it. Maybe next time I'll finish...

My best friend did it, and finished. He was on the course from about 5am Saturday to the following morning, finishing at 1:30am Sunday.

He said it was awfully hot, especially the Mines Road portion.

I made it over Hamilton and threw in the towel at mile 150 or so. Yeah, it was really, really hot, and I just kept cramping. Kudos to your friend for sticking it out.