(click to enlarge and do your best not to see a giant breast)

It took a little doing with SportTracks and MotionBased but I finally managed to excise an elevation map that really describes the “Cherry On Top” of Mt. Diablo much better. I’ve put it at the bottom.

Also – I’m not sure about the height of the Junction. I said 2200 then I found a grade map that said 1600 in one place and almost 2200 in another. Whatever. I knew there was a lot of climbing after that and I thought the rest of the climb was steeper and really dreaded the attempt but it turns out that until you get to the bottom of the cherry it isn’t that bad. It isn’t easy but it wasn’t the killer pitch I was expecting. Then I found a page that details the grade up Mt. Diablo and discovered it’s all about the same pitch all the way up except for the awesome part where you get some down at Rock City, just after the South Gate entrance. For the most part it is a 4 – 12% grade with the steep stuff coming mostly on the turns and not lasting very long. You just stand up and push down on the pedals until things flatten out a bit. And then there’s this – the last part:

11.06 4% 3630 sign: detour ahead
11.16 4% 3660 day-use parking entrance to the right
11.18 8% 3680
11.20 10% 3680
11.21 6% 3700 road splits This is the bottom of the driveway
11.23 10% 3700
11.24 14% 3700
11.25 16% 3710
11.26 16% 3720
11.28 15% 3740
11.29 15% 3750 This is about where I freaked out and then clipped out
11.30 15% 3750
11.32 16% 3770
11.33 15% 3770
11.34 15% 3780
11.35 14% 3790
11.36 13% 3800 sign: summit elevation 3849 11.37 9% 3810 entering 20-min parking lot at the summit this is where you come over the top and SHABLAM – you are in the parking lot! of the mountain top museum,

The real summit is inside this building which they built around the very peak of the mountain and left a little spot open in the floor so that you can have a ‘peak’ experience (it really says that on the sign!) This guy has a photo in his Picasa Album. If you click through you can see some great shots of the vistas from up there.

The out of range spots on the final elevation chart are me walking around in the building where McBikey and I went in search of calories. He bought us each a Snickers. A big one. For the first time in literally years I ate a WHOLE Snickers bar and had not one drop of guilt or remorse about it. It had to be the very best, most delicious candy bar I have ever eaten. mmmmmmmmmmmm……. I think I’ll do it again, next weekend because we all know that all of this training is about the food.