jobob

I was with a small group descending Summit & South Gate around noonish when I saw a guy with a cute little boy riding up.

I had just enough time to think "that was someone on bikeforums!"

So Alain, if that was you, hi again!

alainp

Hi Joanne! Actually, yes, that was us. We did a quick jaunt up to the junction and back to see how the South Gate Roads were progressing (since it's closed during the weekdays for all of August) and I thought that was you I saw with your group but I thought it would be creepy if I yelled out your name and it wasn't you. You gave us a warm friendly smile . Were you riding a purplish colored frame?

sweetnsourbkr

Sounds like South Gate is open now?

DiabloScott

As per plan, SGR will be open on Saturdays and Sundays, not weekdays.

jobob

Yep, that was me!

Your little boy was motoring, way cool.

Monica, South Gate was in pretty good shape on Saturday. Our original plan was to ride up South Gate then to the summit, then back down via North Gate and through Walnut Creek back to Danville. But when we saw that SG was in such good shape we opted to ride back down that way.

Now, that may change in the ensuing weeks, it looks as though they just started on the repair work. It's supposed to continue thru the end of the month, with SG closed on weekdays & open on weekends during that time. So South Gate might be a bit more chewed up on the weekends during that period.

By the way, does anyone know a good place to park your car for 4+ hours on Saturdays near Danville / South Gate Road?

We parked in the lot on Railroad Ave at Prospect in Danville between the Railroad Museum and the grocery store, but it has a four hour time limit on Saturdays, which is fine for a leisurely up & back on Diablo, but not so good if we wanted to go farther afield with lots of stops (which is the other reason we went back down SG, rather than via NG with a meander thru Walnut Creek).

Bryan C. 

There is a CalTrans park & ride lot near 680 and Sycamore. I am pretty sure there aren't any time restraints on that lot. Maybe about a mile or 2 from the Downtown lot you are talking about.

alainp

Or, you could park in Blackhawk Plaza/Blackhawk (Century One) Theaters at the intersection of Camino Tassajara and Crow Canyon Road which is about 4 miles to the Athenian School which is a good warm up ride before ascending South Gate.

jonathanb715

One other option is the old Albertsons at the Diablo Rd exit of I680. Tons of parking since the supermarket is closed, and the gas station has water and bathrooms.

JB

alainp

Actually, if you parked in the other parking lot on the opposite side of Lunardi's (the one with Peet's Coffee and Pegasus Cycle Works), you shouldn't have any problems with time limits. That's where most people parked last year when we did the Mt. Diablo/Morgan Territory Ride last year by Benridin. I'm pretty sure they haven't imposed any time limits since they repaved and restriped that lot.

jobob

We actually checked out that lot, and at the entrance there was a sign saying 2 hour limit.

Thanks so much for the suggestions, everyone!