Name of Ride: Brisk Bunch - Mt Diablo Challenge Conditioning Ride 4 - Mt. Hamilton from Alum Rock
Type: Brisk with regroups. No sweep. 4B
When: 9:00AM
Starting/ending location: Intersection of Alum Rock Ave & Mt. Hamilton Rd., San Jose. Parking is available on wide road shoulders and is routinely used by cyclists
Estimated mileage: 37.5 miles
Elevation gain: ~5,000 ft
Ride Details
It's time to get ready for this year's Mt. Diablo Challenge on October 6th! Join us for some hill climbing.
There will not be a designated sweep for the ride. We will have regroups, and we will all look after one another. If you leave the ride, please text the ride host when you end your ride, or if you need assistance.
E-Bikes are encouraged because they allow riders to participate in rides that otherwise couldn't. E-bikes must be pedal assist only.
NOTE: 1) Bring at least two bottles of water. Water can be sparse. 2) There are vending machines at Lick Observatory at the back of the summit parking lot. Bring a few one dollar bills if you'll want a soft drink or candy bar, it is a long climb.
All participants must register online on the VSBC website or via the Wild Apricot app. You do not need to be a VSBC member, but we’d appreciate your support and you’ll appreciate the many benefits in being a member.
Not sure if you can make it? Register now and you can unregistered before the rolling time by going to the ride calendar event, clicking on “already registered”, and then clicking on “cancel registration”. Or, on the Wild Apricot app go to your event ticket and click “cancel”.
Ride Host: Randy Simpson
Cell Phone: 925-980-9304
Link to the ride ‘turn by turn’ instructions (RidewithGPS)
CLICK HERE FOR ROUTE
Mt Hamilton Trivia
Mt Hamilton was named for Reverend Laurentine Hamilton after he won a race to the summit with a botanist named Wiliam Brewery from the CA Geological Survey in 1861.
Mt Hamilton is part of the Mt Diablo Mountain Range in which our own Mt Diablo is at the northernmost end.
The observatory was constructed between 1876 and 1887, from a bequest from James Lick (1796 – 1876) of $700,000. Lick, originally a carpenter and piano maker, chose the site atop Mount Hamilton and was buried there in 1887 under the future site of the telescope, with a brass tablet bearing the inscription, "Here lies the body of James Lick”.
All of the construction materials had to be brought to the site by horse and mule-drawn wagons, which could not negotiate a steep grade. To keep the grade below 6.5%, the road had to take a very winding and sinuous path. Tradition has it that the road has exactly 365 turns.
The observatory was established in 1888. It has been managed by the University of California since its inception.
The first new moon of Jupiter to be identified since the time of Galileo was discovered at this observatory in 1892; Amalthea, the planet's fifth moon.
The asteroid 452 Hamiltonia, discovered in 1899, is named after the mountain.
In 1950, the California State legislature appropriated funds for a 120-inch (300-centimeter) reflector telescope, which was completed in 1959.
Claire Max, of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, led the team that built the adaptive optic system and sodium laser guide star for Lick Observatory.
