This week was up Mount Diablo. Anne pulled the trailer the whole way up, which really impressed me. Overall, I’d say Mt Diablo is harder than Mt Hamilton. It’s not as tall, but the grade is less steady and definitely gets steeper. There’s a section right before the summit which is 13+%. We walked for that bit.

The weather was cooler than the last couple of rides, which was nice. Above about 2500 feet it was foggy and windy, which wasn’t so great. The fog was thick enough that the pine needles dripped rain onto whatever was below. It was kind of cool to watch the fog roll off the hills and cliffs.

Animal sightings: not much.. some bluebirds, a deer of in the distance, plus some stuffed animals (both real and toys) in the museum/gift shop at the summit.

Next week: Mount Tam to complete our Bay Area mountain trifecta.

I was really worried about this ride. First, I was worried about the roof rack failing again. Second I was worried about doing 4500+ feet of climbing with just two short descents to break it up. We have an even bigger sustained climb planned in Oregon, and I was afraid that we’d do this one and say never again — or worse, give up entirely.

But somehow we made it all the way to Lick Observatory. Anne pulled the trailer most of the way up. I gave her a couple of short breaks, but I was carrying a full pannier load. Then I took the kid for the way back, but downhill is easy.

We could see the observatory from the distance. When we started getting closer, it was actually demoralizing. When you’re doing a climb, seeing the car that just passed you even 20 feet higher on the other side of a switchback is hard. Seeing the obervatory 500 or 1000 feet higher is tough. But you keep going and get there. This ride had a pretty steady and manageable 6% grade, although I think I was starting to feel the thinner air towards the top.

We may need to rethink our food plans. Anne carries the day’s supply of Clif bars and Gu in her handlebar bags. Part of my training load is a second day’s supply in a pannier. We had to dip into my stash. Yay, more weight!

Animal sightings: Deer (including one that ran out across the road right behind us during a rest), a horse chillaxing with some goats, a herd of cows trying (and failing) to all fit in the shade of one tree, woodpeckers, turkey vultures, ground squirrels, a motorcycle dude with a fuzzy helmet, and a lost dog wandering in the street.

Mechanical problems: My front derailleur isn’t quite right, but at least the chain stayed on.