LKHC #9: Mt Hamilton
Meet at 9:30 am for a 9:40 am start
Pre-registration
This week's Low-Key Hill Climb is Mt Hamilton, the customary finishing climb for the series — and a tradition for Thanksgiving Day (so expect to see lots of cyclists heading up and down the mountain)!
We'll meet at Berryessa BART (the first train from Berkeley/Oakland arrives at 9:26 am), then stop at Penitencia Creek Park for water and bathrooms before heading to the base of the mountain.
The Mt Hamilton climb is 18.2 miles and 4,275' of gain, and is split into three distinct climbs, with two descents between them to rest your legs. It's a constant 5-7% the whole way — the road was originally built for mules to haul heavy equipment — so there's nothing 8% or steeper. Because it's a timed segment, ride leaders (and likely most riders) will be doing a max effort up the climb, but please feel free to ride it as hard or as easy as you like! We'll have climbers of all speeds, and we'll all regroup at the top.
The observatory at the top of Mt Hamilton will be closed for Thanksgiving, but there's a water spigot and a vending machine (bring small bills) with some chips/cookies/soda/similar small snacks to rejuvenate us. After triumphant photos at the top, we'll take the spectacular descent back the way we came (with a couple climbs where our descents were on the way up), then return to Berryessa BART to enjoy the rest of our day.
(Remember to register for Low-Key Hill Climbs before the ride if you want to show up on the official leaderboard!)