# MT DIABLO- Saturday which way up?



## datenschwanz (Jun 20, 2004)

Hey buddy!

I am planning on riding Mt. Dibalo Saturday afternoon. Should I go up Northgate Road or up Southgate Road? Is one way steeper than the other? How difficult is summit rd.? what grade is it?

cheers!

m


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## travis200 (Oct 29, 2002)

Never ridden up Mt Diablo but would love to some day. You might find some info on this page for the hill climb in October http://www.mtdiablochallenge.com/


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## walrus (Jan 29, 2004)

The South Gate route is a little easier, Summit Rd is very steep, but fairly short. It can be cold at the top it's a good idea to bring a jacket or arm warmers for the ride down.


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## sodade (Feb 21, 2004)

*Both!!!*

The route that I do is up southgate to the ranger station (the beginning of summit), then go down Northgate (awesome descent!) - turn around when it starts to level and then go up northgate and then up Summit - makes that last steep section all the more fun!


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## mohair_chair (Oct 3, 2002)

datenschwanz said:


> Hey buddy!
> 
> I am planning on riding Mt. Dibalo Saturday afternoon. Should I go up Northgate Road or up Southgate Road? Is one way steeper than the other? How difficult is summit rd.? what grade is it?
> 
> ...


I've climbed both sides in one ride, both times all the way to the top. I've done variations as well. Southgate is probably a little easier than Northgate, but really, they are about the same in terms of overall effort.

Try this: climb one side all the way to the top, come down the other side, turn around, climb back to the junction, then descend the original side. Now you've climbed the whole mountain! Even better, start at southgate, ride to the top, come down northgate, then ride completely <i>around</i> the mountain via clayton and morgan territory. That's a pretty good ride.

The last 1000 feet of summit road is very steep. I'd say at least 15%, maybe more towards the end. You can get somewhat of a flying start, but then you have to grind it out. Hopefully there won't be a pack of oblivious hikers taking up the whole road.


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## datenschwanz (Jun 20, 2004)

*i tried that...*

hi!

i parked at the bottom of north gate and rode around the bast to diablo rd then south gate up to northgate. i had a chicka with me and she was struggling. i didn't find it bad at all to the summit road the grade was never more than 4% or 5%. she was too tired to do anything but go down. (!) So we went down. Next time I'll go alone and hit the summit. thanks for the tips!


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