Me after a triumphant summit
The view from the top is spectacular. I'm told summer days are sometimes hazy, and the best viewing is often on the day after a winter storm. Then, you can look to the west, beyond the Golden Gate Bridge, to the Farallon Islands; southeast to the James Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton at 4,213 feet elevation; south to Mount Loma Prieta in the Santa Cruz Mountains at 3,791 feet elevation; north to Mount Saint Helena in the Coast Range at 4,344 feet, and still farther north to Mount Lassen in the Cascades at 10,466 feet. North and east of Mount Diablo, the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers meet to form the twisting waterways of the Delta. To the east beyond California’s great Central Valley, the crest of the Sierra Nevada seems to float in space. With binoculars, I'm told you may even be able to pick out Half Dome in Yosemite National Park. I also was told hiking Half Dome might be too much for me. If you believe that I'll sell you the Golden Gate Bridge. Mount Diablo is a sacred mountain to California Indian people. Just about every California Indian community who viewed Mount Diablo would, at one time or another, make a pilgrimage to the summit area for ceremonies. It thinks today's ride could be considered a pilgrimage of some sort, although there wasn't too much carnage.
A bit of history.
The reason Mount Diablo is so sacred to the California Indian people is that it was the creation point for the Miwok people or genesis for some California Indian people. 1851, the mountaintop was selected as the starting point for a survey of the public domain. Ignoring the excitement of the Gold Rush, Leander Ransom and his men erected a flagpole at the summit of Mount Diablo and began to extend the base and meridian lines that are still used in official land surveys.
Much of the rock that makes up Mount Diablo is sedimentary in origin. It was laid down millions of years ago on the floor of the ocean. Within the last one to two million years, a piece of hard, red 160-million-year-old Franciscan rock was pushed up through six to eight miles of overlying rock and soil, tilting and distorting the rock layers and in some places turning them completely upside down. As a result, the fossilized remains of many sea creatures, as well as those of mastodons, saber-toothed cats and three-toe horses have been discovered here. Elevations in the park range from 300 to 3,849 feet. This wide range of elevations creates broad variations in temperature, rainfall and wind exposure that have resulted in a wide variety of plant life on the mountain. Summers are hot and dry, so many people prefer to visit in spring and fall. Tim actually had his favorite birthday party ever in this park. Somebody gave him a really cool sword that he stills plays with daily and he got to go climbing on the rocks.
I'm told the park is also popular in winter,when Bay Area residents occasionally enjoy the unusual experience of a snowfall on the mountain’s peak. Bruce has a story of how one New Year's Day he was the first to Summit Mt. Diablo. He actually didn't start riding until noon and the real early birds had been forbidden to summit the climb due to snow an d ice. Still he was the first one to the top that year.
Most of the park is typical central California oak and grassland country with extensive areas of chaparral. Riparian woodland occurs on the lower slopes of the mountain, where the streams have water in them throughout most of the year. Several isolated stands of knob cone pine occur within the park, and foothill pine is found in many places. The northern most groves of coulter pine occur on the lower, northerly slopes of the mountain, near the old mining ghost towns of Nortonville and Somersville just outside the park. Other trees include the coast live oak, big leaf maple, California laurel (Oregon myrtle), maul oak, blue oak and buckeye. In all, over 400 species of plants have been identified within the park’s almost 20,000 acres. Wildlife is also abundant. Coastal black tailed deer, raccoons, California ground squirrels, eastern fox squirrels and gray foxes are often seen, but striped and spotted skunks, bobcats, mountain lions, coyotes, deer mice, cotton tail rabbits, black-tailed hares and many other animals call the mountain home. Mount Diablo is known to harbor red-legged frogs, tarantulas, and the rare Alameda whip snake, as well as its cousin the northern rattlesnake. To think Tim said that Bruce carried pepper spray for protection from kids, not mountain lions.
So back to the ride as we are riding to the mountain we have a nice long warm up with some rolling hills. Bruce tells us we have to make it to the park in one hour. This terrain easily allows me to roll 20mph plus I can draft Tim so I am not worried but I'm also careful not to take the bait. Bruce told us about the trick he'd played on Seth (Tim's brother) the other day. Bruce was tired and didn't want Seth to drop him at the end of the ride. Bruce pushed the pace a little so Seth would jump in front and tire himself out while Bruce backed off a hair and saved energy. When he shared this story I realized exactly what fire I was playing with and that I have to fight fire with fire. I know because I am on a TT bike I am set up more efficiently getting to the climb, once there the situation will be reversed. I efficiently stay on Tim's wheel. We descend a long hill and I yell to egg Bruce on. "IDB, IDB" I hope he will pass me down the hill. I'm hoping he will waste his energy on the downhill and will have less to fire with on the climb. By the way, IDB stands for "I drop boys." I know this is very dangerous for other reasons but when we get to the climb I do my best to antagonize Bruce in hopes he will take the bait. He's a little too smart though. You can't kid a kidder. Bruce says we need to reach the summit in less than an hour. I tell him I'm not playing . I'm saving my energy for my brick run after our ride. I invite Bruce to join Tim and me for this run. We keep telling Bruce he is ranked 11th in the World for his age at the 1/2 IM and he should be going faster. We tell him to sprint and show us how it is done. Tim then asks Bruce what his best time is and well lets just say it's a little more than 59 minutes. The ride is fun and beautiful. I don't make it to the top quite as fast as the boys but I am pleased with my climb just the same. The descent is long and slow on my TT bike. TT bikes are designed to go fast in a straight line so the handling isn't as precise as my road bike. I feel as if I am snowplowing down the mountain instead of carving my turns. No worries though. I enjoy the views and it's still free speed.
After the descent we motor home. We see another cyclist. He tries to pick up the pace and drop us because there is a girl in the mix. He learns otherwise. We roll home very quickly. We have a few sprinting contest in the neighborhood just before we finish. Bruce tells Tim and I to load up our legs with lactic acid and then do our run. "Go, go"he yells. You got to load up your legs. Fill them with lactate. I'm not falling for that one.
After our brick we have dinner then head to Sunday evening service. We attend the Catholic Church. Apparently Sunday evening is a very popular service and we have a difficult time finding parking. We park a fair distance from the church and have to walk. By the time we enter the very large and modern church it is standing room only. There are no pews but it is acceptable to sit on the carpeted floor. The Catholic church is not for the weak of heart or the feeble and we still sit, stand, and kneel with the rest of the congregation. This task was executed without difficulty for all of us except Bruce. Apparently he had stressed himself a little more than he let on because he had to get up in three steps. It sort of resembled a turtle on it's back. We gave him beyond a hard time about this on the way home. Bruce claimed that he was the first to summit Diablo. I claimed that though he won the stage, I won the race because I rode at a pace appropriate to allow me to complete tasks of everyday living.
* References made from California State Parks Visitors Guide
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