The finish of today’s stage of the Tour of California is at the summit of Mt. Diablo, near Walnut Creek. Click here for the Tour Tracker live video of the finish, which is within the next hour. I did a race up Mt. Diablo way back in the day. Photo below.
I have a better picture of this, but in the photo is George Mount, Dale Stetina, me, Bob Roll, Roy Knickman, and others. It is great seeing Peter Stetina riding the climb today, following in his father’s footsteps.
I did it in the late 80’s if I recall. It was by far the most difficult climb I’ve ever done. I’ve never had to Crisscross the road to maintain forward motion till the final assault of the summit. The climb through the clouds was surreal. I still have a pick of me passing the 3849 Summit sign wearing my Brancale Helmet, Vittoria shoes, and Oakley Pilots. Oh yea, I was riding my Guerciotti aluminum. It flexed just a bit.
It is in my backyard and I climb it probably 20-30 times a year. Seeing pro’s going twice as fast is unreal, They are like aliens.
Aliens from a world twice our gravity and half our oxygen. A planet called Epo in the Needle galaxy.