• Difficulty: 8 out of 10
• Distance: 23 miles
• Terrain: Paved road
• Type: Road, Mountain, e-bike
• Elevation: 3450 ft climbing

Mt. Diablo is one of the four iconic Bay Area climbs.  It’s less tranquil than Mt. Hamilton, less steep than Mt. Umunhum, and less scenic than Mt. Tam, but it’s grand nonetheless.  No other ride gives you such a distinct sense of “climbing a mountain.”  It’s a long climb but never brutal until the last 100 yards.  It’s an iconic ride, and there isn’t a serious cyclist in the Bay Area who hasn’t done it many times.  The view from the top is a tourist attraction, and for good reason—they say on a clear day a person looking north and east can see further than from any other spot on the planet except Kilimanjaro.  OK, that turns out to be a myth perpetrated by real estate developers—it’s not even the biggest view in California, Mt. Whitney’s being much larger—but you can see bits of 40 of the 58 California counties, you can see the mountains around Lake Tahoe, and you can see rock formations in Yosemite.  That’s pretty cool.

The climb is actually two climbs, the road up South Gate Rd. to the Ranger Station at the junction with Summit Rd., and Summit Rd. itself.  The first is a fairly easy climb, 4-6%, with lots of variety in the road contour, so you don’t get bored, and a delicious rolling flat through pretty oaks in the middle. Summit Rd. is one notch steeper than what you’ve just ridden, more like 8-9%.  A sign says the summit is in 4.5 miles, and it’s dead right.  Here you will do some work, but again the road contour is constantly varied so the tough stuff isn’t interminable and you don’t get bored.  The final 100 yards are just ridiculously steep (briefly at 17% in grade), but oh so fun!

Optional lunch after the ride.  Co-hosted with Harvard Club of Silicon Valley.

Route and elevation profile:

https://www.strava.com/routes/3198351876883473778