Day trip over Mt. Hamilton

[xsrider]

This is a short ride report from back in October, 2006.
 
The weather was just about perfect on Sunday, so I decided to ride out to Livermore and then follow the back roads over Mt. Hamilton, past the Lick Observatory, and on to San Jose, before returning home. The ride was about 170 miles.
 
I left my home on the San Francisco Peninsula about noon and took the Dumbarton Bridge across the bay, then took Niles Canyon out of Fremont too Livermore. Leaving Livermore on Mines Road, the sign says Mt. Hamilton 44 miles, San Jose 69 miles. During the ride to Mt. Hamilton from Livermore, I only passed about 10 cars and maybe 15 motorcycles going the opposite direction. For such nice weather, I was surprised to see so few people out on the road.
 
Up at the Observatory, there were only 5 or 6 motorcycles parked when I arrived about 3PM. inside the visitor center at the observatory are a collection of paintings from the 1950' and 1960's that depicted what spacecraft were going to look like 40 or 50 years in the future. They were pretty cool, I can't wait for the future to get here. Hey wait, this is the future. Now I'm disappointed all those predictions didn't come true. We were suppose to have people living on Mars by now.  And what about my flying car, I'm still waiting for that.
 
With the great weather and so few vehicles on the road, it made for a great ride. For a map of the ride, Click Here...
 
Here are a few pics from the ride.
 

 

 

 

[xsrider]

Here are a few more pics.
 

 

 

 

[dabrew]

Those are some really good pics. I've been meaning to go up there one day, but never got around to it......and it's so close

[JoelCool]

Nice pics.  That's a nice ride - one that you really need to be paying attention to.  

[Shizoku]

Damn, you guys have some nice roads to ride up there...

Shiz

[DogBoy]

I love that road. The views are spectacular. It can be really icy/snowy/sandy in winter. Last March, there was so much sand in many corners near the Observatory that you couldn't even see pavement. But when its dry and clean...

Thanks for the beautiful pix, Frank.

[Busy Little Whiner]

Thanks for the picture show... Mount Ham ranks as one of my favorite roads... You ought to see the pace my
Uncle Less will navigate that bugger on Lead Wing barge... truly inspirational...

[toddrod]

How is the road east of Lick Observatory now? A couple years ago, the county put gravel all the way from the top to the bottom. I am guessing now that most of the gravel has washed away, and the road is in great riding shape now? The last time I rode there it wasn't a fun experience cuz of the gravel.

[xsrider]

How is the road east of Lick Observatory now? A couple years ago, the county put gravel all the way from the top to the bottom. I am guessing now that most of the gravel has washed away, and the road is in great riding shape now? The last time I rode there it wasn't a fun experience cuz of the gravel.

I didn't have any real trouble with gravel on the east side.  There were a couple of places with gravel on the road on the west side of Mt. Hamilton, but nothing bad.  The road is better maintained in Santa Clara County, compared to the section of Miles Road in Alameda County and closer to Livermore. The section of Miles Road in Alameda County is also very twisty and speed is limited.  But, overall, the road is very good.

[toddrod]

   Good to know....now if I could only get a bike.