Diablo Part Deux

I'm trying a new regiment of waking up early to ride, so I can have the rest of my day to bask in unemployment (this blog is quickly turning into an ode to not having a job). Today was my day set for a long ride though, so riding was the main focus. At 7 AM, my alarm went off. Rolling out of bed before I changed my mind, I rapidly threw on my jersey and shorts, grabbed an energy bar for breakfast, and hit the road.

Today was not about the Oakland Hills, so I'll spare the discussion of those roads I've written about on here incessantly. Nonetheless, I cut into Moraga, followed the Lafayette-Moraga trail into Walnut Creek, where it ends, not in Lafayette, like the name would suggest. From here I rode through the outdoor mall that is the WC. Beelined straight to where I want to go unlike last time.

It was cloudy in Oakland, but on the other side of the Hills, Pinehurst was sunny.

Lafayette-Moraga Trail.

Last time I ended up in this same spot, except my tires were 12 mm thinner and much smoother. Now I came prepped for the trail. Unlike the earlier mentioned bike path, the Briones-Mt Diablo Trail actually does connect the two places in its name. I headed west towards Diablo, growing larger and larger with every pedal stroke. The trail had some technical bits at first, including a straight drop down that was mostly jagged exposed rock. I bumped down it and then sped along on mostly hard packed Fire Roads. Diablo kept growing the closer I got. Eventually I was staring it right in the face from the top of one of Diablo's foothills. Erected base to summit, I could take it all in from that spot.

Mt. Diablo-Briones Trail, where I gave up last time.

The Diablo Foothills are surprisingly a lot higher than the towns below.

Forests are great, but the way the trees stand out so singularly here in the hills is pretty majestic.

It wasn't until I actually crossed into Diablo State Park that things truly revved up, literally, up. Coming out of Pine Canyon, the last drop on Burma Road before the climb back up Burma Road. Unfortunately my granny gear was giving me trouble (road riding with no added weight means I never use this gear), so I gave up and did something that would make any road rider sick, I pushed it. But today I'm no road rider. The hope is to make it all the way up to the top by trail.

40 mm Mondials at home on trail.

Cheating the weather, clouds over Oakland.

Pine Canyon

That was quickly defeated. Once I crossed pavement at the junction of Burma Road and North Gate Road the trail kept going up. 7 miles from that point to summit. I'd be there in no time at all. Well, 7 miles means the way the crow flies and that's their advantage, they can defy gravity, I can't. Burma Road was a wall. I've hardly seen hiking trails go up as steep as this one. I decided to get off and carry my bike up seeing if it levels out after this climb. I pushed with my toes, as the physics of it made it impossible to do otherwise. My calves burned and the grade stayed. There was no let down. This was it. Carry the bike to the summit or turn around and ride the road.

Well, frankly, riding sounded better. I almost felt like turning back with 30 miles in and about 10 of that on trail, but I was there, I should summit. Up I went. North Gate was the same road I took up last time, a no holds-bar, elevation busting, gut-wrenching, gear spinning climb. I settled in to my cadence and pressed on. I started around the 1,000 ft elevation thanks to the some bit of climbing on trail. The 2,000 mark didn't seem to come much later. I had my legs under me, for now.

Once I reached the junction my legs were starting to give a little, but hell, push through it. Since I couldn't summit by trail, my new goal was no stopping. Like most mountains, Diablo gets steeper closer to the top. After the junction I minimized out my middle ring (even though I did fix my granny gear on the road) and spun and spun and spun. I kept around 7 mph for the final 4.5. Just focusing on time not distance helped me over come the mental block, and before I knew it, it was my second summit of Diablo. I enjoyed the views, chatted with some folks doing the same, then began the descent.

The view from the top.

The descent was down South Gate as it let me out further West and I was hoping to ride home today, with not getting lost like last time. The South Gate descent was as fun as the North Gate descent, except a little more hair-raising. It reminded me of the last couple miles of the Big Horn descent in WY, where the road just drops off to nothing at times, meaning I hugged those brakes. I swooped around the bends and once the road flattened out I was in the town of Diablo, then turning due north through Danville and Alamo. With a dead GPS I didn't really know where I was, but I knew the hills to my left were the Oakland Hills, so I figured I'm heading north. Unfortunately, I was heading Northeast, so I ended up back in the WC. Not wanting  to get lost again with no GPS I grabbed BART back. 60 mile days before 4 PM aren't so bad anyway now are they?