aka The 3 Mountain Ride Report.
This ride was ... AWESOME!
We began assembling in the parking lot in Walnut Creek this morning at around 6:00 AM. It was a bit chilly, around 38 degrees, but we were all anxious to begin our trek to the three mountains. There were 18 bikes in attendance and we decided to break this up into two groups. We decided to stage on Pine St. today because of the issues we experienced yesterday, and this worked much better.
Mountain #1:
The first leg of our trip took us down Hwy 24 to San Pablo Dam Rd, then over to the San Rafael Bridge via 80, Cutting Blvd, and 580. As I mentioned earlier, it was a bit chilly, but not as cold as it was last year when we did this ride. Group one managed to stay together for the entire time. When we got to the toll plaza we had a bit of a delay while our leader gave the toll collector a brief math lesson. 4x8=32, not 40. Then we were off again, across the bridge and down Hwy 101. We took the Blithedale Ave exit and cut through Mill Valley on Miller Ave to Hwy 1. Then up the hill we went. The farther we rode up the hill, the cooler it got, even though the sun was shining bright. Once at the top we took a few minutes to rest and check out the fantastic views of the bay on one side of the GG Bridge and the ocean on the other. There were no clouds or fog obscuring our view allowing us to see the city, bridges, and the bay clearly.
Group two arrived a few minutes later and we chatted with them a little before it was time to depart on leg #2. Then it was back down the mountain we go and off to mountain #2.
Mountain #2:
We took Hwy 1 down to 101 and backtracked to 580, then back across the San Rafael Richmond Bridge. We stayed on 580 all the way to Dublin where we merged onto 680 toward San Jose, then exited 680 at Bernal Rd in Pleasanton for our next scheduled stop. Group one refueled our bikes and then waited for group two to arrive. We waited ... and waited ... and waited, till finally the phone rang. Turns out group two didn't know where we were scheduled to stop and they had continued on to San Jose before pulling over. So group one jumped on our bikes and headed south to San Jose.
We took the Alum Rock exit up to Mt Hamilton Rd and the observatory. As we rode up Alum Rock we passed the Shell station where group two was taking their break. We continued up the hill figuring they would meet us at the summit. Mt Hamilton Rd is still in pretty poor shape. There are a lot of irregularities and potholes, not to mention the debris and dirt in the corners. We managed to circumvent all of these hazards and make our way to the observatory parking lot at the top of the hill. As we took a short break at the observatory we saw group two coming up the hill. (Click on the picture below to zoom in and you can see group two ascending the hill.)
Then we saw them go around the corner. Then we heard the sound of their pipes fade into the distance. Hmmmm I wonder if they missed the turn to the observatory. As we were debating this point the sport bike that had come up the hill behind group two pulled into the parking lot. Yep, they had missed the turn. If they don't figure this out soon they won't be able to find a spot to turn around till they get to the bottom of the hill on the other side. We waited for a few minutes until we were certain that group two had passed us by and then we departed for mountain #3.
Mountain #3:
So back down the hill we went. Again, lots of debris and dirt in the turns on the way down the hill demanding our full attention. Our route down the hill took us back to Alum Rock but then we turned off on McKee Rd, taking that back to 680. We exited at Bernal Rd again and returned to the Shell station where we had stopped for lunch. We refueled and checked our phones for any messages from group two. Nope, no messages. So we were off again to our third and final mountain of the day. It was a relatively short ride from Pleasanton to Danville where we exited on Diablo Rd. We followed Diablo Rd to the gate, where we stopped to pay the park fee. We gave the ranger all the envelopes with our entrance fees, but he decided that he now needed to see all of our stubs that were on those envelopes. Some of us had removed the stub and pocketed them while others had left the stub attached to the envelope. Now we had to fumble about and find those stubs to gain entry to the park, which we finally did. We continued up Summit Rd to the top of Mt Diablo. As we progressed up the hill one of our group heard group two talking on the radio and they were not far behind us, just exiting 680. We reached the parking lot at the top and parked, waiting patiently for group two to arrive.
After parking, we made our way to the observation deck for our group picture and to take in the sights. So now we needed to find something to eat. Most of the group rode down the mountain to Rocko's in Walnut Creek and had dinner. We had a great time and lots of memories of a great day riding with friends.
Thanks, Ted. I can't wait till the next one ...
