I had a pretty minimal cycling mileage in the Year of CoVid, as my daily commute got terminated early, and other competing things... I hadn't done a tough ride in many months, but it is now a new year and I'm hopeful I may be able to do some races. Time to gain some confidence by doing a tough climb. I'd not seen Mt Hamilton since the big fire singed parts of Lick Observatory - and that became my plan. It was a pretty warm day Jan 17, more like late Spring than mid-winter. Pefect conditions considering coming down would be long and normally darn cold. I was gratified to find that 2/3 of the ride was not marred by fire. It was at the fire station, at the end of the second descent that the fire got to. Above that, it was near total burnout. Tragic to see the old Barnard house completely burned to the brick walls. Otherwise, the Observatory fared pretty well. Even a few patches of unburned trees on the north side of the summit. I was about 25 minutes slower this time, on the ascent, than my last time (the final race of the 2018 Low Key Hill Climb series). Some was lack of cycling fitness, some was just easing off the accelerator.
Climate change on continental land, due to the loss of the Arctic Ocean ice, is predicted to be worse in Central California than anywhere else on Earth. So far, that has been our trend, sadly.
