Anybody from around there? Will be spending next week in the area, right next to Mount Diablo park.
Assuming my bike makes it out there, I’d like to get a few rides. Any links to routes or suggested roads, routes to do or stay away from?
I’ve got a few maps that show suggested bike routes…but HOLY CRAP the hills. TOPO shows the one I laid out has a 42% grade on it. I’m not sure I could climb that with a pick and spikes on foot…no way on bike.
~Matt
Hey Matt, I live in Danville…I’ll either PM you or post something here a bit later on.
By the way, what road is it that shows a 42% grade? Sure that’s not a firetrail? Or a cliff? 
Finley road just as it “T”'s into Morgan Territory Rd. This intersection is South West of Mt Diablo. It has a short spurt of 38-42% grade according to TOPO and is shown as a “Paved reccomended route” on the map I have. A portion of this climb, about a 1/4 mile shows up at 25%+, IOW WAY outa my league.
I was trying to do a loop around Mount Diablo. I figured I could just fuel up, do a loop, fuel up do a loop etc.
Any info would be appreciated.
~Matt
the climb of a lifetime: up mt. diablo…
or MTB: the open space around mt. diablo…
Right up Mt. Diablo of course.
i forget exactly where walnut creek is… i can say that there is some great riding in tilden park, which is back towards berkeley. some good roads are wildcat canyon, grizzly peak, canyon, and hillside. also, whatever road wildcat canyon becomes after it crosses whatever road that is it crosses, coming down from berkeley. yes, i konw, that’s not very specific. happy valley road is a good road to bike on, despite being the single most misleadingly-named road ever. there’s also a little town out there called canyon that is beautiful to ride through. one of my favorite rides would be to go out to canyon (i think it’s on canyon road), then up a road (parkside? not sure) that climbs all the way to hillside. it’s a long climb, but it’s great to get to the top.
there’s probably riding just as good if not better out by mt. diablo, but i don’t know it.
basically, it’s a great place for road riding if you like hills.
Finley dead ends as a paved road and then there are a series of trails that go both towards Morgan Territory preserve and Mt. Diablo…not recommended for road bikes!
More to follow…
Matt,
Though Topo indicates otherwise, Finley does not actually join up to Morgan Territory Rd. I laid that route out myself once and ran into a dead end. The only ways out to Morgan Territory are from Camino Tassajara in Danville to Highland to Manning Rd, or from Walnut Creek out over Ygnacio Valley to Marsh Creek Rd.
You definitely have the opportunity to ride some hills from Walnut Creek. If you’re looking from some route possibilities, try checking out the following links from area cycling clubs: Valley Spokesmen route library: http://home.comcast.net/~prathman/MainPage.htm Grizzly Peak Cyclists maps: http://www.grizzlypeakcyclists.org/map/ Grizzly Peak Cyclists routes: http://www.grizzlypeakcyclists.org/cue_sheets/ Cal Cycling routes and links: http://calcycling.org/routes.php
Hope that helps!
cramer
Very Cool routes there. Thanks everyone for the info and help.
~Matt
How nasty is “Up diablo”. According to TOPO it’s got some serious grades in area’s 30-35% but for only short distances. Frankly sounds over my head.
~Matt
I’m staying at my brother in laws so shipping it there. Hope it arrives in one piece and within a reasonable amount of time.
~Matt
Some good routes there, though on the Valley Spokesmen page I would focus on the “San Ramon/Danville/Alamo/Blackhawk” routes. Much more enjoyable than the “Walnut Creek/Pleasant Hill/etc” routes.
And of course there is that little hill smack dab in the middle. Northgate Road is the tougher climb to the Junction than is South Gate (which you get to off of Blackhawk Road) only because South Gate eases up a bit in a few spots; Northgate is a continuous climb. The weather should be nice and clear, so take a ride all the way to the summit, which is about 4 miles past the junction.
Be advised that Morgan Territory road, if you plan on incorporating that into any routes, has had signs saying the road is closed at some point—I’ve not been on there in a while, so I cannot say whether that is true or not. Marsh Creek Road, which comes out of Clayton more or less towards Byron on the low shoulder of the foothills of Mt. Diablo is a great road to ride, but has become increasingly dangerous through the years as more traffic uses that road. Weekend traffic might not be too bad, but folks have a tendency to overestimate their driving abilities and go much faster than they should. I’ve not ridden that road in many years.
Alot of this depends on how far you want to ride in terms of recommending some good routes. Contra Costa County in general is pretty bike-friendly and there is lots of good riding and hills o’plenty if you want them. You’ll have some fun!
Trails up Diablo: depends on whether you’re on road or off road. Some of the firetrails are nastily steep; the paved road has a very short section at the summit that is listed anywhere from 17-20%, depending on what guide you’re looking at. There are some brief sections of 10%+ on both approaches (North and Southgate roads) as well as Summit road. Tough, but not impossible, riding.
Be advised that Morgan Territory road, if you plan on incorporating that into any routes, has had signs saying the road is closed at some point—I’ve not been on there in a while, so I cannot say whether that is true or not.<<
I’ve ridden from Manning/Highland up to the top of “the wall/the plunge” and it was fine. I hear futher over towards Clayton, it’s not so good. JohnA or Hinds57 might know.
I agree…SR/D/A/BH routes are all way better than WC/PH routes.
clm
I need to get a decent length ride in 100 miler or so, alllthough doing so with all those freakin’ hills may be a killer. Defintely want to do a few rides as the trip is vacation rather than business I should have plenty of free time.
Lotsa routes to check out. Looking for some hills, preferably not alot of traffic, and not knowing where all of the “refueling deposit’s” are loops that I can go with 2-3 water bottles and be back to refuel would be nice as well. Although if some routes have “Stops” marked out I’d have no problem doing a one looper of 100+ or so.
Thanks again
~Matt
Ony road TOPO shows is Summit road…apparently paved. Looks tough.
10% I can handle. Recently did a ride with a few sections of 12-14%, but for only short stints…1/4-1/2mi not 10 miles.
~Matt
OOPs North and South gate…I see them now.
Most of the rides you’ll encounter have some rolling hills, nothing too major…but unless you want to do loops and get loopy, at some point you’ll have to decide to tackle some or do another loop that’s relatively flat.
What part of WC are you going to be staying?
I’m wondering—and I’m not an engineer and I don’t play one on TV—if the map you’re looking at is in degrees of gradient as opposed to percentage gradient…pretty major difference.
According to the map west part of Walnut Creek. About a half mile from the intersection of La Casa Via and Ygnacio Valley.
~Matt
Know right now that Ygnacio Valley Road sucks for riding a bike…you’ll want off of that as soon as you get on it. It’s as close to freeway riding as you can get without being on a freeway, except perhaps for early early weekend mornings.