Northern California - 2009 Mt Diablo Challenge?

I'm keen to enter this year - but my web site experience was sub-optimal. Can any of you Mt D Challenge vets tell me when is registration open?

Mt. Diablo is open almost every day :roflmao2:

Oh, the ride you pay for...
Being as it's in October, I don't think soon.

OK, maybe this is a case of premature registration.

There is also the Mt. Diablo Hill Climb Time Trial sponsored by the Contra Costa Cycling Club: http://www.c4racing.org/www/events.htm - that one is in June!

Here is the website. (http://www.savemountdiablo.org/Bike%20Challenge/MountDiabloChallengeHome.htm)

It doesn't yet say when reg opens, but it is sometime in June I believe.

The first wave of 250 riders is supposed to be for riders planning on breaking an hour, and that wave always fills up real quickly even though last year only 128 people broke an hour. So, somebody's lying. :rolleyes:,
Though 250th was under 1:05, so I think a lot of people plan to break an hour, but don't quite make it.

I always hear from guys I know who could ride it in under 50 minutes that the first wave was filled and that they got stuck in the 2nd wave. So, if you know you can break an hour and want to be in the front group, then sign up early.

I'll be thrilled when I break an hour to the junction...

I really should do this. It's on my birthday. I could wear one of my 1980s Diablo Challenge tees shirts and really impress... well... no one.

BTW, Beakers sig is killer. If you haven't clicked it, do so now.

I'm not even thinking about this until I can consistently be faster than the unicycles!

JB

When I did it a few years ago they used timing chips. You don't have to be in the 1st wave to get a good time. But the fast guys will be there if you want to race them directly. If you get stuck in the last wave like I did then you'll have to fight your way through a lot of riders. The start was a mess- a lot of riders all amped up, it was like the start of a cat 5 crit where everyone thinks they have to sprint from the gun. When they got to the short bumpy descent it got ugly, with riders going off the road or crashing.

If you get stuck in the last wave it might be better to wait until the wave has gone before crossing the start line and starting your timing.

Thanks Guys. Actually Eric and Chris's entries make me think that maybe there's some morale boosting benefit to signing up for a slower group and then making yourself feel faster by....nah, forget that. I know by exactly how much I suck.


BTW, Beakers sig is killer. If you haven't clicked it, do so now.

When I stumbled across that post, I knew I had to steal it. I think that almost every thread that starts with any kind of request for advice in the road forum ends up answered this way. It's a modern classic.

When I did it a few years ago they used timing chips. You don't have to be in the 1st wave to get a good time. But the fast guys will be there if you want to race them directly. If you get stuck in the last wave like I did then you'll have to fight your way through a lot of riders. The start was a mess- a lot of riders all amped up, it was like the start of a cat 5 crit where everyone thinks they have to sprint from the gun. When they got to the short bumpy descent it got ugly, with riders going off the road or crashing.

If you get stuck in the last wave it might be better to wait until the wave has gone before crossing the start line and starting your timing.

I don't think this will work because the chips are read at the end, but not at the start. They just assume that you started in the wave that you were assigned to. It took me about forty seconds to reach the start line so my official time was forty seconds more than what I measured.

I don't think this will work because the chips are read at the end, but not at the start. They just assume that you started in the wave that you were assigned to. It took me about forty seconds to reach the start line so my official time was forty seconds more than what I measured.

Really? That's pretty lame. Seems like it misses the whole point of a timing chip if it only works at the end.

Really? That's pretty lame. Seems like it misses the whole point of a timing chip if it only works at the end.

For a point to point race it is a bit of a challenge to do the data communications to make it work in both places. In a race that has a start finish it is much easier. Pretty common thing.