Sunday, May 6, 2007

107 miles, 8,000 ft. climbing and too much wind

The Mount Hamilton loop was the last big spring ride and the toughest. The route went from San Jose to Livermore via Mt. Hamilton, the only UCI HC climb on the west coast. With it's 22 miles and 4,100 feet of elevation it ain't no walk in the park. After the big climb there are rollers and flat with some horrific gusts of wind seemingly coming from all directions. After a long windy ride to Livermore the route went southwest through Pleasanton and up the Calaveras grade-part of the Tour of Calif. route. Luckily, the last two hours were with the wind at our backs so we all arrived capeable of staying awake for the drive back to Santa Cruz.