caloso

Thinking of driving down to the Devil's Mountain one of these days. Can anybody recommend a good place to park the car, preferably near a decent coffee for before and a decent burrito or burger after?

jeffremer

I've been wondering this too. Caloso - this route might be the answer to your question. Coming from Sacromento I'd take the 5 down to 580 and get over to Livermore.

I make it out to Marin on a regular basis but I haven't taken BART or driven out to the East Bay yet. I don't always have my truck in the city, so taking BART would be preferable. Anyone have a good route accessible from a BART station? I think Dublin/Pleasanton is the closest I can get to the linked route by BART

DiabloScott

From the north: There's a shopping center called Countrywood at Treat and Bancroft - Starbucks, burrito shop, Noah's bagels, Jamba Juice, nice place. They don't really like people to park there and go riding but it's a pretty common practice. A half mile down the bike trail to the west is Heather Farm park, lots of space for cars there and an easy ride to Countrywood. You get there from Ygnacio Valley Road though. About 2 miles from the freeway turn left into the park, go all the way to the end and you'll see the bike trail that goes to Countrywood.

From the south: No place close to South Gate Road, but Blackhawk (off of Crow Canyon Rd) has a big shopping center with everything you could want - then a couple miles of rolling hills to the entrance.

Let me know if you want more details.

DiabloScott

That route is suboptimal. Take BART to Pleasant Hill and you've got an easy ride to North Gate Road.

Then if you want to go around the Mountain you can catch Highland Road and Tassajara and skip the Livermore bit.

law_in_motion

I usually just park at the Athenian School which is at the base of Mt. Diablo Scenic Blvd. (2100 Mt. Diablo Scenic. You turn left from Diablo Rd. to get to Mt. Diablo Scenic, and then it's your first right turn.) I guess it would depend on how many additional miles you want to do. [I get my fill just going up and down Diablo without the extra mileage.] There's a bunch of shops if you take Diablo Road and go west. Plenty of parking there too. Probably only 3 - 4 miles from the base of the climb. Also, you can take one exit further south on 680, Sycamore Valley Road, and go east which will take you into downtown Danville. Again, lots of shops and parking.

caloso

Hey thanks, guys. Awesome responses.

jeffremer

Wow, yeah, this sounds a lot better. I know Marin and San Francisco really well, but I know next to nothing about the East Bay save for a bit of Oakland and Berkeley.

So I think the the route I want to take from the Pleasant Hill BART is something like this:

East on Treat to Bancroft
R on Bancroft/Walnut to N Gate Rd
Follow N Gate Rd to the Summit
Back down Summit and either go back to Pleasant Hill or continue on N Gate Rd/Mt Diablo Scenic Blvd.
L on Blackhawk Rd
L on Camino Tassajara
L on Highland Rd
L on Morgan Territory Rd to Marsh Creek Rd
Through Clayton to Ygnacio Valley Rd back to Bancroft

Sounds like ~60-70miles, ~6000ft climbing? Quite a ride. I might go for just the summit first and then give the whole loop a try next.

My Edge 305 just came this afternoon, I've been tinkering with it - once I get this route mapped out I'll throw it on and give it a try one of these weekends coming up.

Thanks, Diablo Scott, great help.

DiabloScott

From the PH Bart, you'll want to take the Iron Horse bike trail (well marked) to the south/east a couple hundred meters to the Canal Trail intersection, and then take that about a mile east to Bancroft. Treat is not cycling friendly. I can help you with the details but it's hard to go wrong.

Other than that, you've got it down perfectly.

Some folks really love the back side (Morgan Territory), I'm not one of them.

jonathanb715

Morgan Territory is a very poorly maintained road north of Morgan Territory Regional Park (which happens to be close to the highest point on that road). I have some friends who like to ride this, but they will only go North to South, so that they are climbing up on the poorly maintained part North of the park, and descending on the better maintained road south of the park.

Also, no cell phone coverage on the section just East of Mt. Diablo and the road is very lightly travelled - many are not comfortable riding it alone.

JB

jeffremer

Great, thanks. Relying on Google Maps/Toporoute/Routeslip I often miss the convenient things like bike trails and if I'm on an unfamiliar route will get myself on one of those unfriendly streets a couple times before I figure it out. I'll have to get a hold of the EBBC maps.

jeffremer

Good to know. I try to ride in loops whenever possible to keep the terrain fresh - but I might wait to do the Morgan Territory portion with a riding buddy. For now I'll stick to exploring the North side.

caloso

Has anyone done this route that starts from Sproul Plaza?

UmneyDurak

Yeah I did it as part of a century. Not too bad. Directions are pretty clear, and after the Tunnel climb it's fairly flat until you hit Mt. Diablo. Coming back you can either do their route or go through Happy Valley. Which is what I ended up doing. If you do it on Saturday and willing to start at 9:30 you can ride part way with the team.

bigbossman 

If you're going into downtown Danville for lunch, I highly recommend Norm's Bar and Grill for burgers and assorted other items that are very,very good. I won't eat anywhere else when passing through Danville.

Also, there's a Starbucks a couple of doors down from Norm's. So, you can start there, warm up on the way up to Southgate road and the climb, and then return down to town and lunch at Norm's. That would be a good trip.