Training Ride 8/15: Mt. Hamilton

I joined a group of friends and friends of friends who were training for a ride up Haleakala at the end of the month.  According to Wikipedia, Haleakala is a "a massive shield volcano that forms more than 75% of the Hawaiian Island of Maui."  It climbs 10,000 feet in 36 miles.  For those who don't know, that is way more climbing in 36 miles than exists around here and is very, very difficult, not only for the huge amount of climbing, also because of the changeable and serious weather, the elevation, and the typically cold temperatures near the top.

I wouldn't mind a trip to Maui, but not to climb that volcano.  However, I was happy to join them for the training ride.  One of the members of the group lives part way up Mt. Hamilton (San Jose), so we took advantage of the climbing opportunity it provided.  

To get in all the possible climbing, we went down hill from Keith's house to Alum Rock Avenue, which is where many people start their climb up the mountain, but we headed over to Miguelita so we wouldn't be doing a complete out and back.  We started climbing on Miguelita, then connected to Mt. Hamilton Road and continued up to the summit. It sounds easy, but it took about 2 hours and 40 minutes to go just over 17 miles for a 4,200 feet of elevation gain.  I did the last two miles in my granny gear.

It was also a hot day.  The high in San Jose was 93. I was worried about overheating and not having enough water.  I thought carrying my usual two water bottles wouldn't be enough, so instead I brought a 100 ounce insulated hydration pack, filled to the top, partially with ice, as well as a small frozen bottle of Gatorade, and a water bottle in case I needed to open an electrolyte packet.  I also wore a very thin summer weight wool jersey.  I love the way wool breathes.

As it turned out, there were sufficient opportunities to refill water bottles along the way, especially as we go through Joseph D. Grant County Park.  We got an early start, also, to try to beat the heat.  There was more shade than I expected, especially near the top.  I also stopped three times to rest in the shad and stretch my back (which did not figure in to the total climbing time).  Prolonged climbing can bother my lower back.

At the top of Mt. Hamilton is Lick Observatory.  Lick is owned and operated by the University of California and serves all the campuses.  We took a rest at observatory.  There are several services at the observatory: visitor center, gift shop, post office and most importantly for cyclists, vending machines, water fountain, and restrooms.  Cyclists are requested to take off their shoes to go inside the building to use the services because of the cleats that most wear.

Shoes off before entering the observatory.

Cycling friends taking in the view.  Notice that I am taking the picture from the shade.  I'm not good in the heat, but they didn't seem to mind.

 The air quality started pretty good but got worse as the day went on.  Photos from the observatory showed the haze coming in.  As we headed down the mountain, we could also smell a fire, depending on which direction we were facing.  We found out that it was not due to a local fire, but blowing in from the fires around Napa.

View from observatory deck.

View from observatory deck.

It took about an hour to return down mountain as far as Keith's house where we had a BBQ and jumped in his pool.  The climb up does have some flat and down hill sections, which can be a good break, but it does mean that those down hill sections becomes up hill on the way back.  

Stats:
37.36 miles
4,813 feet of elevation gain.