Classic & Vintage Group Ride up Mount Hamilton

I heard about this ride through several of my social media accounts. It's been a long time since I rode Mt. Hamilton, and I decided this would be a righteous challenge.  

The folks that organize it are general vintage bike enthusiasts, and while that's not exactly my focus, I certainly qualify.  In fact - the question frequently comes up "How 'vintage' is vintage enough?" so I developed this scorecard below.  This will not meet with universal approval, but it gets most of the way there. I usually explain to non-cyclists that the dividing line is about the era where building bicycles was a craftsman enterprise and ended in the era of exotic materials, aerodynamic components, and machine assembly. This scorecard is not copywritten - I authorize its use by anyone who wants to post it for whatever reason.  Mention me if you're feeling generous.  I propose a minimum score of 60 to qualify for C&V events.

The organizer "JoeBass" met me at the start and gave me a copy of the poster above, and took this photo of me. He was enthusiastic and supportive. Note the vintage jersey - it has no pockets and it's itchy, so I wear a modern jersey underneath.

There were all kinds of bikes, but the riders were predominantly old white guys.

I attached myself to a group that I figured was about my speed and hung with them for the first 4 or 5 miles, but mountains have a way of separating riders based on climbing prowess... and I was off the back after that.

The only rest stop was a staging area for hikes - they had a disgusting porta potty. This was about mile 7 and I think a lot of people turned around here because the upper mountain was not nearly so occupied.

Pretty good weather; a little chilly and foggy down low, a little warmer and sunny up high. For some reason - totally my fault - I was thinking the summit was at 14 miles; I paced myself and fueled myself for a 14 mile climb... but it was really 18.5 miles.  So I was running on empty the last few miles - my quads were turning to rubber and my hamstrings were cramping up. I'd left my Endurolytes in the car and I was stopping every 10 minutes or so toward the end just to massage the pain out of my legs.  Those rolling/downhill sections always trigger my cramp response - I think it's the frequent change in cadence... once I get the first one, I'm going to have them for the rest of the ride.

I also had technology issues with the Diablo Bike Cam - it's been going wonky with not recording or short battery life, it gave up the ghost at about mile 15... I think it was an SD card problem and may have been a one-time glitch, but I gotta keep an eye on it.

There aren't any really steep bits anywhere on this side of Hamilton - so any particular section is easier than any particular section of Diablo... but the total effort to reach the summit is quite a bit larger. Took me three hours to get up and one to get back down.

Good ride, friendly people; I'll probably do it again next year.

2026 Diablo Day 17 - Tuesday Morning Junction

Managed to somehow bugger up the SD card in the Diablo Bike Cam so I don't have any ride photos - but here's one of a poppy I picked on the way home:

Charlie's going to Holland for vacation and to watch the Amstel Gold Race - he said he got a hotel right on the race course. We talked about Monuments and Classics and exercycles and airports. We saw some soaring birds that we thought might have been condors... unlikely but one day maybe. Here's a cool story about Condors on Diablo... LINK

There was a road crew just above the Kiosk where it looked like they were removing a downed tree or something. I stopped on the way down to get a photo (see Paragraph 1) and talked to a guy with a hardhat and shovel - he said the culvert just filled up with dirt and they had to clean it out - the big pile of debris looked like sawdust.

I over-dressed with tights and winter jacket - it wasn't too bad going up though; I just unzipped everything.  On the way down the wind was kind of tricky so that put the kibosh on my pretend Pitcock descending skills.

2026 Diablo Day 16 - Wednesday Morning Junction

On Saturday I discovered my flat repair from last Thursday's ride didn't hold and I had a tube to fix it but then I wouldn't have a spare so I cancelled the Diablo ride and went to SportsBasement for some new tubes.  Far fewer choices than there used to be thanks to the tubeless tire revolution (HA!)... but they had some that were fine and now my seat pack is packed again.

Me and Charlie are trying to make Wednesdays a regular thing... it was certainly nice today.

Wildlife Encounter: turkeys, deer, vultures, really fat squirrels.

There are still a few poppies dotting the hillsides - smaller and farther apart now.

Looking at some spring showers in the forecast, good thing I'm flexible.

I wondered what this fellow was thinking about - sure wasn't his own safety.

Charlie put the hurt socks on right from the start.

Team VeloRaptor did a re-group at Junction and Charlie took club photos for them.

Vulture gulch never disappoints.

This atrocious driver received some angry admonishments!

2026 Diablo Day 15 - Thursday Morning Junction

Charlie and I were hoping to ride on Wednesday, but the rain was just a little too proximate... didn't get heavy until about 1pm but today was pretty nice. There were a few chilly sections, but I had my Belgian socks and arm-warmers on to remind me how tough I am.

Nothing eventful - a normal number of riders, a normal number of drivers, no weirdos.

Wildlife Encounter:  one turkey.

1. Wonky knee
2. Belgian socks

Then on the way home - off The Mountain and in traffic, I had a heart-stopper... my front tire went soft and I didn't realize it until I was making a fast turn in traffic and I heard that aluminum on asphalt sound and I got that unmistakable squirmy feedback.  Took all my skills, but I saved it. Video below:

#thelastflatigot

Stopped around the turn, pulled off my wheel, found a sharp thingie in my tire and dug it out. Opened up the bead and pulled out the tube. That was a Pirelli TPU tube... must be 5 years old. I remember buying two of them when Sports Basement didn't have any latex ones so they gave me a good price. My saddle bag had two spare tubes one latex and one butyl - I went for latex just because.  Also had all the right stuff for a quick change so it wasn't a big deal, but I gotta repack my bag now.

2026 Diablo Day 14 - Saturday Morning Junction

Pretty warm today. I started late and there was a lot of traffic.

Wildlife Encounter: one turkey and lots of butterflies.

These two guys wear the kit well.

2026 Diablo Day 13 - Wednesday Morning Junction

 Wildlife Encounter:  LOTS of turkeys.

Me and Charlie met at St. Tim's... it would be nice if this turned into a regular event, but he has some international travel plans, so it won't be THAT regular - at least for a while.

I had more stamina than last week, but my power spikes have a pretty short timespan... I can put out some extra Watts when necessary but then I dip back down too soon.

Met a pair of chatty riders at Junction - we talked about the old days, when things used to be NORMAL.

Then another guy started a conversation about unicycles on Diablo... we didn't have much to add.

The MDSP page said that some California Condors are headed toward Mount Diablo and maybe they would take up permanent residence here - that would be pretty cool.

Cathy and Becky - normal names

Charlie and vulture at Vulture Gulch.

Condor photo by Save Mount Diablo

2026 Diablo Day 12 - Wednesday Morning Junction

At the end of Monday's ride when I encountered Charlie, we decided Wednesday would be a good day to do a Junction together.  Charlie's been travelling and not training his hardest so I figured I could keep up with him, but I was clearly the weaker one.  

Wednesday morning rides might be kind of a nice new-normal... we'll see.

Saw quite a few riders, but nobody I knew.

Wildlife Encounter: turkeys

Roadkill report: snake

On the way down, a vulture flew over my head - I didn't see it, but it cast a big shadow across the road that startled me because I thought it was some kind of ground animal crossing in front of me. My years of experience in these situations kept me from a panic skid.

In the afternoon I attended a webinar by Trek Travel about gravel bike vacations... thinking about a bucket-list trip to New Zealand... it was enticing.

EBMUD laying pipe in my neighborhood.

Charlie joked that the oncoming driver thought Charlie might've put this little bridge over the posted weight limit... but they were probably thinking more about the one-lane warning, so they waited for us to go first.

There are always vultures over this section.

2026 Diablo Day 11 - Monday Morning Junction

HEAT WAVE! Burnin in my soul!  I had some lame excuses for not riding over the weekend, so I made up a reason to ride on Monday.  Pretty quiet up there. Just a bunch of old retired folks.

Roadkill Report:  snake... barely worth mentioning.

Saw Charlie out on a ride on the way home and we got caught up and decided to think about doing a ride together soon.

This is the view you see when it's time to shift into the BIG RING.

 

Hey - is that Charlie on Old Orchard?  YEAH!

2026 Diablo Day 10 - Saturday Morning Junction

 Kevin said "Let's ride!"  so we rode - on a Thursday!

It was a little chilly so I went with tights and long sleeves but no jacket.

We met on DIABLO ROAD and then we RODE DIABLO!

Wildlife Encounter:  bunch of turkeys, two deer, some more turkeys, and a snake.

We were about half way up to the Kiosk when I started to get cramps in my calves... so we stopped and I took off my tights and massaged the legs a little and then took off again.  It was warmer but windy up high.  Poppies and lupines at BBQ Terrace.

At Junction we met Diablo Legend Keith... we talked about old man knees and mechanical shifting.

If I'm being photographed... I'm putting on my game face!

Keith

2026 Diablo Day 9 - Saturday Morning Junction

Last week snow - this week sun and shorts. First ride of the season on my fair-weather bike.  I must've put him away well at the end of last season because he didn't need anything except some air in the tires.  It's always fun to make the mental switch from downtube shifters to brifters.

Lots of cyclists enjoying The Mountain along with me... most of them enjoying it at a faster pace than I was.  Quite a few of them had Berkeley club jerseys on.  Fourteen of them passed me in one segment. I'm getting used to this.

POPPIES at BBQ Terrace  #FirstPoppy

SHORTS IN FEBRUARY!!!

BBQ Terrace is frequently the #FirstPoppy location

EBMUD has been replacing the water line in my street... great entertainment for a retired engineer.