Northern California - Pine Flat Road -- Has anyone else tried it?

I was camping last weekend near Healdsburg and I figured I would sneak in a quick climb up Pine Flat Road. It was gorgeous (easily in the top three most beautiful rides I've ever done). Traffic is almost nonexistent because it's a dead-end road (there is a gate at the end that looks like it might be pipeline access). Four cars (plus three bikes and one Harley) in 22 miles! Even though it is not far away at all, it feels very remote. Again, the scenery is out of this world (perhaps part of the joy was because it was so quiet and free of traffic). The last couple of miles felt very steep to me (about 1000 feet of climbing in around 2 miles) with some stretches in the mid-high teens. I even had to walk about 1/4 of a mile.

Would be curious to hear if others have tried it. I personally found it harder than Diablo and. Even though the total climbing is a little less (around 2800 feet of climbing in 11 miles), there are several stretches that are much steeper than anything on Diablo (other than the Wall). I had not ridden for over a month, but it felt like one of the hardest climbs I had ever done.

Highly recommended if you are in the area and don't mind a bit of punishment at the end. Even if you don't do the final steep part (or walk it, like I did), it's still well worth the effort!

http://www.strava.com/segments/pine-flat-hill-climb-618001

Here is the profile. Note that you actually lose 200 feet going in the uphill direction that you have to make up later (and that you have to climb on the way back). Each tick on the vertical axis is 200 feet and each tick on the horizontal axis is a mile.

http://www.srcc.com/img/profiles/pine_flat_rd.GIF

Total climb in forward direction: 3150 feet
Total climb in reverse direction: 201 feet


Here is a video of Team Astana:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqT_CZjVzMU

Her is Levi descending:


http://vimeo.com/8939902

Another description here: http://www.wombatnation.com/2009/05/sliding-down-pine-flat-road

That road is awesome, if only it weren't so far away. They used to have a race there, "Ross' Epic Hill Climb", a few years ago. The descent is magical!

There is also the Pine Flat Time Trial which is run twice a year in the spring/summer. One is a mass start, the other a true TT. It is a club ride put on by the SRCC. I used to ride that quite often when I lived only 16 miles from it. I saw my first snow in norcal up there, and got hypothermia on the descent. It can get very hot on the wall, the part that goes between 18 and 19 percent for a quarter mile.
While you are in Healdsburg you can check out Geysers Rd. which is used in the Terrible Two, as well as Pine Mountain at the end of Geysers Rd.
Once you get maybe 6 miles up the road, it starts to feel like you've gone a thousand years back in time if you can ignore the power lines and tarmac.

I did Ross' Epic Hill Climb a couple of years ago (whatever happened to that race..??).

That is one steep climb! The first video is awesome (Contador needs easier gears;)) and really shows how steep that road is.

I did Ross' Epic Hill Climb a couple of years ago (whatever happened to that race..??).

That is one steep climb! The first video is awesome (Contador needs easier gears;)) and really shows how steep that road is.

...and how fast Contador goes up it. Beeftastic!