# Mount Hamilton on Saturday morning (12/13/2008)



## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

Is anyone interested in riding Mt Hamilton on Saturday morning? I'd really like to get one more hilly Bay Area ride in before the weather arrives, and I've been meaning to get back to Mt Hamilton for a long time. The weather looks to be cold and cloudy with sunny intervals. At least the rain is not due to arrive until later that day or even Sunday.

The only time that will work for me is around 9am on Saturday morning. This is rather early and it will be particularly cold I'm afraid. I have to be in downtown San Jose by around 1.30pm for a family thing. It will be a moderate to fast pace, rather like the A group on the RBR monthly ride. I'll probably be doing a timed run for fun, so no stopping on the way up.

It was supposed to be the first ride for my new bike, but currently I have a rather large pile of bike components in my garage but no frame on which to hang them.  Unless Santa gets a move on, the old bike will have to do for this ride.

Cheers!


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## robwh9 (Sep 2, 2004)

*from the SJ Murky News:*

"A cold air mass is barreling toward Silicon Valley from Alaska, and though you probably won't need to break out your snow machine like the First Dude, there should be a mantle of white on Mount Hamilton by Sunday. The National Weather Service doesn't expect more than a dusting, but it should be enough to get everyone thinking about a white Christmas.

"For sure, Mount Hamilton will get some snow out of this," said Ryan Walbrun, senior meteorologist at the National Weather Service center in Monterey. But with snow levels descending only to 3,000 feet, what most of us will get this weekend when we look up at the snow-capped peak is a face full of wet.

The forecast is for a 30 to 40 percent chance of showers Saturday and Sunday, but it may all add up to only a quarter-inch of precipitation. That's literally a drop in the bucket. San Jose's rainfall total for the year is 1.52 inches, just 44 percent of what used to be considered "normal." Last year at this time, the city was at just 59 percent of normal, so parched seems to be the new normal."

Sounds cold.


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## BlackSteel (Jul 10, 2007)

Just did the Mt Hamilton Challenge loop today. I too went all out all the way up MH. I wish I hadn't because it took a while to recover and I still had 90 miles to ride. I did recover somewhat but Calaveras almost bonked me. It was very warm on MH today. On the back side there were patches of ice on the road though for about 10 miles until it opens up about 5 miles from the Junction.


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## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

BlackSteel said:


> Just did the Mt Hamilton Challenge loop today. I too went all out all the way up MH. I wish I hadn't because it took a while to recover and I still had 90 miles to ride. I did recover somewhat but Calaveras almost bonked me. It was very warm on MH today. On the back side there were patches of ice on the road though for about 10 miles until it opens up about 5 miles from the Junction.


Nice, that's a really great ride! The ice on the back side sounds heinous. The current forecast is rain overnight and lingering through to Saturday lunch-time. And with the mid-40s temperature (at valley level), this is looking like a no-go. I tried Mt Hamilton in these conditions back in January, got turned around at about 3000 feet by hail and then got soaked by near-freezing water on the descent.


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## Dr_John (Oct 11, 2005)

Darn... I was really looking forward to it all week. Too bad, but yeah, sounds best to pass.

But it sounds like it's going to rain for the next 5-10 days? :mad2: I really wanted to get some climbing in, but it looks like I'll be on the rain bike tomorrow. I'm riding my Allez a lot more than I ever thought I would.:cryin:

Anyone care to join me for a nice 40-miler around the Bay Trail, starting at Oracle?  Yeah, you'll probably get wet.


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## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

And now it is a beautiful, but cold, sunny morning with nary a cloud in the sky! The Bay Area radar looks completely clear. It is probably sunny, but really cold and frosty on Mt Hamilton right now. Unfortunately, ukwife woke me up at 6am to tell me that she is sick and now I'm taking ukchild to a birthday party. Another time, then.


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## HammerTime-TheOriginal (Mar 29, 2006)

Current conditions at the top of Mt. Hamilton http://mtham.ucolick.org/techdocs/MH_weather/pub/


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## Dr_John (Oct 11, 2005)

http://mtham.ucolick.org/techdocs/MH_weather/pub/ 

Thanks for the link. I don't think I have suitable clothing to ride in a 12 F windchill. 

I'm intent on getting some climbing in today, so off to Portola Valley I head.


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## wipeout (Jun 6, 2005)

Looks like fun! I heard the road up Mt Hamilton was now closed due to ice and snow.


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## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

I did get away on Saturday after all for a ride late in the afternoon. After taking my daughter to a birthday party and then the Nutcracker ballet, and before my wife went to get her massage, I found a couple of spare hours. I cycled up to almost the end of the second pitch of Mt Hamilton to about 2000 feet. It was fairly cold but not a lot of wind, and pretty good fun on the way up. It was really cold on the way down as the sun started to set, and cycling back across town to Santa Clara was not a lot of fun. Mind you, there was some poor soul sitting kerbside at Grants Ranch, wrapped in blankets, and that looked like an absolutely miserable place to hang out.

I'm hoping that there'll be a decent break in the weather tomorrow for a lunch time ride in Portola Valley.


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