A Road Ride up Mount Hamilton in the Bay Area
When you think of peaks in the Bay Area, at least in and around San Francisco, a few come to mind. There's Mount Tam, reclining over the North Bay, and perhaps Twin Peaks, rising up from the fog over the City, and of course Mount Diablo, visible for hundreds of miles from every direction, towering above the East Bay. I had never even heard of Mount Hamilton when my friend Christina announced she was getting people together to check this classic Bay Area road ride off her list.
At 4,256 feet above sea level, Mount Hamilton is the tallest peak in the Bay Area. To get to the start of our eighty-something mile ride with seven-something thousand feet of climbing, our group hopped on the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) train in downtown San Francisco and sat down for the hour or so long ride. It is so cool to be able to take public transit to and from rides. There is so much car-free infrastructure available from BART, Cal Train, and Amtrak, it is one of my favorite parts of living in the Bay. Today's ride would go from one end of a line to another. We hopped off in Berryessa and pedaled toward the peak. It has been said many times that cycling takes you at just the right speed to see a place, but that felt extra right on that day as the urban sprawl of San Jose melted away and we were carried up into wide open grassy hills. We turned a corner to a green tree-lined valley and then we were pretty much out in the country for the rest of the day.
We didn't get the memo that there was a vintage road bike ride going on the same day, so we were treated to an unexpected show of cool classic bikes on the way up and many hellos to other happy cyclists. As far as road riding goes, there were very few cars. All the friends in our group would exclaim in wonder at the scenic vistas as we navigated up every switchback.
The forecast had called for clouds and rain but it seemed like we were on the lucky side of things as we reached the summit still dry, or only sweaty, from the big climb. We treated ourselves to Cokes from the vending machine and some warm coffees from the gift shop at the historic Lick Observatory before a ripping switchback descent off the peak. There were some sprinkles and my brake fingers were a little frozen, but once down and on Mines Road, we were treated to my favorite part of the ride – rolling, winding roads through the marshy riverside. The rain let up and we even saw a few splashes of sunshine. The birds were singing, crickets were chirping, and it felt like the plants were all happy from the rain too. The hillsides were no longer grassy coastal oak spreads but felt more like high desert chaparral. Gotta love a ride where you move through different ecosystems.
The crew regrouped at the junction store, where we got some treats and hunkered under an awning as the rain came back. Eventually it was time to go, even if it was raining, so we pedaled into it. We got a little wet, but it let up for the most part as we enjoyed 30 miles of net-downhill. Such a fun combo of coasting and that kind of flat-but-still-a-little-downhill that you can stand up and feel really strong, even 60 miles in.
We made our way out of the hills and the sun poked out again. Back to the urban sprawl in Livermore and Pleasanton and straight to the In-n-Out next to BART for burgers. After some celebratory and well-deserved dinner, we got on the train and headed back to the city.
Road biking is fun. I rode my "Secret Ti Road Bike" that I have been enjoying for the last year or so and that thing is sweet. Since moving to SF I have been doing less of the long endurancey rides and more 20-30 mile rides, so it was really nice to get on a bigger one. There is something special about that all-day-ride-tired.
So would I recommend riding up Mount Hamilton? Definitely. This ride opened my eyes to a whole new side of Bay Area riding. I am really excited to go check out Del Puerto Canyon in that area. Find a route, find some friends, and go see what's out there.