OK, maybe Mt. Hamilton after all.

After talking to Lorri and getting an idea of what Mt. Diablo was like, I decided to go back to Mt. Hamilton today.  I wasn’t feeling fully recovered and didn’t want to get myself into a really steep, hilly ride in unfamiliar turf.  Instead, I’m going to tackle Mt. Diablo on Monday, after two relatively short/rest days over the weekend.  Three hours should be enough time to get me to the summit, and possibly even back.  I think I’ll go up the south gate entrance, as it looks easier than the north gate, at least on the cycling map.

Mt. Hamilton was uneventful – slower than either of my previous two ascents, but I made it to the top in 3:30.  It was FREEZING at the top – fortunately I had just bought a pair of full-fingered gloves, and had brought along an extra windbreaker, which kept me from freezing to death on the way down.  The only problem I ran into was that my butt started getting extremely sore after the first two hours of climbing, so I had to stand and pedal or else pull over for a minute or two every ten minutes to get some relief.  It may be a “breaking in a new saddle” issue – I sincerely hope it is, otherwise I’ll have to look at my bike fit/saddle tilt again.

I’ve decided I like the GPS unit, but I’m not at all impressed by the battery life.  Over a 6 hour period, it went from full charge (four bars) to just one bar left, which suggests that the actual battery life is probably closer to 9 hours than the 12 hours advertised.  I plan to test it out further, and if it doesn’t meet the spec I may ask Garmin to replace the battery.  Meanwhile, I need to find a mini-USB to USB converter so I can plug my external battery pack into the Edge 305.

Tomorrow’s a short ride (only two hours), and then Sunday is off so I can go to Mike’s Impact graduation.  More on Monday, after I tackle Mt. Diablo!