Must be my week...

[Veronica]

Last summer I started mountain biking again just a wee bit. With the time change Thom and I have been going out every Wed. night. It's a nice change of pace.

My first ride last summer was up Stewartville Trail - known around here as The Wall. (See thread First Mountain Bike Ride in Ten Years) My Krebs map gives it 3 arrows, for the entire climb. For comparision the same map gives most of the North Gate Road on Diablo 1 arrow, there are two arrow sections on Summit Road, the only 3 arrow road section on Diablo is the final two tenths with the 18% grade.

I conquered that sucker last night! No walking, no stopping until I got to the top. It was even more exhilerating than Saturday's ride (maybe 'cause it was way shorter! )

This is the bottom half of the trail. The hump in the middle is Mount Diablo off in the distance.



You can see the top half over my left shoulder here.



I've started to really like off road. I'm thinking maybe I need to get a bike with front suspension. Those descents are pretty brutal on my hands.

Veronica

[spokes]

holy cow!!! good for you. nice pics too-- it must have been a beautiful ride!

[fultzie]

WOW that view is gorgeous!!
looking at that hill-- awesome job!! i'm totally impressed

[Irulan]

suspension would really help. You might want to review what I put on my tips page about riding "light" and using your body as a spring.. be sure you are getting out of the saddle.

Where exactly is this trail? I am a "Danville Girl" MV'77 and that is some gorgeous country, especailly this time of year. Mtn bikes had barely been invented when I last lived down there. My hubby used to bike all over Briones without susupnesion on a first generation m-bike.

penny

[Veronica]

The ride starts in Contra Loma Regional Park and then goes into Black Diamond Regional Preserve. It's on the Sacramento River side of Diablo.

Thanks for the reminder about your biking tips. I'll check them out. I am out of the saddle on the descents, but have a hard time keeping a good grip on the brakes. The ground is pretty rutted since they let cattle roam up there through the winter.

Veronica

[hibiscus09]

Excellent!! Great job, Veronica -- it looks like a beautiful ride!

[Barb]

Wow I am so jealous! No, no I am not...those hills would KILL ME!!! Congrats.

[Veronica]

I used to think that. We bought our first bikes back in 1988. I never really liked mountain biking then. I had no skills and no strength. A couple of years ago I started road riding again and I'm doing things I never thought I would back then - including getting up The Wall. I think Spin and riding my bike in the trainer have really helped me to develop an awareness of my form on the bike. So don't ever count yourself out Barb. You may surprise yourself.

V.

PS Welcome back hibiscus. Love the avatar.

[hibiscus09]

Thanks, Veronica!! I love the way tweety flaps those wings!! Tweety is also shaped exactly like me. LOL

[Veronica]

I was thinking about this thread today as I ran, yes ran! this trail. I remember how excited I was to finally make it up The Wall on my bike. I didn't run the whole thing today, but just attempting it felt pretty amazing - and tiring. It was those things I thought I'd try "when I became a runner."



As you can imagine The Wall is the section that climbs up to 1200 feet.



This is one of the pictures we took from the summit in 2004 when we biked it. No camera with me today.

Veronica

[OakLeaf]

Seriously, 45% grade? Is that accurate? Is that scrabbling with your hands and feet??? I think I've probably been on mountaintops that steep in Colorado, and that's when I stopped climbing because I didn't think I'd be able to get down.

[Veronica]

It's a Garmin - who knows how accurate it is.

There are some short sections that do really resemble a wall.

Veronica

[Catrin]

Wow! Beautiful photo as well, you have the coolest adventures!

[Veronica]

Black Diamond Mines Regional Park. You don't want to move there unless you like spending your winters with cows and don't mind your summers getting brutally hot.

Yeah, it was a thread resurrection. I was happy to bike it, I was even happier to run it!

Veronica

[Veronica]

Summers here are 90 - 100 degrees every day for about 5 months. We get essentially no rain in the summer. Humidity is very low though.

Veronica