Mount Hamilton

After three consecutive mornings of pottering around on minor hills it was time at the weekend to tackle a big ride. I decided to pick a HC category climb near San Jose.
Mount Hamilton is a 30 kilometer climb gaining 1200 metres of elevation.

I took a train down to San Jose and set off through downtown out East towards the foothills. After 10 kilometeres I reached the turn off to the mountain road and the climb started immediately. The first 10 kilometeres of climbing were quite pleasant with some excellent views of San Jose which was now getting smaller. The route then turns inwards and you get the first view of the James Lick Observatory twenty kilometeres in the distance and high up in the hills.

It is a popular route and there were several groups of riders hurtling down the return. There were several flat and downhill sections to give relief to the constant uphill grind. At about 11 kilometeres from the finish the final climb starts and the grade gets a little steeper. I pulled off to the side of the road to take some food in and then set off again on the final push.

The observatory is in constant view around the many twists and turns giving you a reminder of just how much elevation is still to be gained. There is a final sting in the tail as you reach the parking lot and realize there is a steep 200 feet more to the very top.

After a quick tour of the observatory and a few snaps it was back on the bike for the fantastic 30 kilometer descent. There were some rough patches of road to negotiate at speed but also a lot of fabulous new tarmac which made for a smooth and exciting descent. In no time all I was back at the mountain road junction and heading back into San Jose for a flat finish.

It was a fairly tough ride, especially this early in my training schedule when my legs don't yet have the power I would like. But as a taster for what to expect in the Etape it was great. It is sobering though to compare it to the Tormalet and realize that the Tormalet involves a couple of hundred metres more elevation gain in only 20 kilometeres.

I will probably try this ride again in 3 months or so and hope to knock 20 minutes off my time.

The key stats:

• 80.1 km

  DISTANCE

 
• 1,583 m

  ELEVATION (?)

 
• 04:22:30

  MOVING TIME