I’ve come to really love this climb. It’s short, sweet and pending traffic, isn’t that far from San Francisco. Mt. Diablo can be heaven or hell, depending on the weather. Get on it early enough, as the sun is rising and you’ll be descending just in time for the heat to set in. Get on it later than ten or eleven in the morning and you’re in for a scorcher. After climbing up to the KOM during the ATOC this year (that story is still coming), I told myself I’d make it up every time I visit SF.

The Monday after The Ends photo show, I rallied Lyle and Evan from Mission Workshop and Marc Marino to hit the climb early. It was the first time I had taken the North Gate road and I think we saw three cars total that day, along with only a handful of riders. At the top, “the Devil’s elbow” awaits, a steep ramp up to the ranger station. Once there, we had a Coke, a chat and talked about how we’d head back down. After a roundabout way back to our vehicles, we had totalled around 37 miles and 3,900′ of climbing. Next time I’m taking the trails down!

I have to say, this part of California is very photogenic and these photos came out great. See for yourself in the Gallery.

Tools of the trade:
Yashica T4 / Neopan 400