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RACE TEAM REPORT – FEBRUARY 18, 2006
Quimby is a lovely climb, probably the closest I have yet come to a classic alpine climb in this area. What makes it like a climb in France? First, there is no real indication at the base of the climb that the road actually goes anywhere. Quimby narrows down significantly at a junction as you climb out of San Jose, and it initially looked like a dead end. Second, there are hairpin turns upon hairpin turns, and unlike a lot of other climbs in this area, you are able to often look down and see very clearly the gain in height over lower parts of the climb. You feel like you are making progress! At the summit of Quimby, there were the remains of the recent snows, and several families out playing. There were a lot of vehicles coming down as I climbed - I soon discovered why after I crested Quimby. Cars were being turned back on Mt. Hamilton Road at Grant Ranch. There were a lot and everyone obviously wanted to go and see the snow at the top of the hill. I was one such person, but I had an advantage over most - I was on a bike. The officer directing traffic was requesting that cyclists turn back at the Twin Gates trail head as there was "ice on the road". However, when I got there, there was only a little bit of scattered snow at the sides of the road. The road itself was clear, so I pushed on. I did see several vehicles which had obviously been let through by the police. It was very clear that if every car that had wanted to get to the top been allowed through, there would have been a terrible traffic jam. Instead, the almost fully closed road made for a great place to ride! The climb up the last section was really cool. Snow was on the ground from about 4 miles to the top, but the road was clear. There was one area where the snow was a couple of inches thick and still on all the trees - very nice. The last 500m or so before the turn for the Lick Observatory had a lot of gravel which had been laid for grip, and this had mixed with melt water. Getting to the top I found a few people about, including what looked like a father and his 2 kids who were having a snowball fight. got some water at the usual place, and realized exactly how cold it was when I got back outside - down to 36°F. Heading out, I noticed that the snowball fight had gained a spectator - a cameraman. The kids are shown on the front page of today's Mercury News. |
Sometimes a bicycle gets you to places not accessible by car... After leading the beginners' session at the velodrome yesterday, I set out from Hellyer looking to climb Mt. Hamilton. I decided on a whim to cut the corner and climb Quimby instead of going all the way north to Alum Rock.