There's an easy (well, maybe not so easy) way to decide who is the best climber among San Francisco Bay Area bicyclists — take the Mount Diablo Challenge.
More than 600 cyclists completed the 30th anniversary of the event on Sunday, some in all seriousness and others for the pure joy of climbing 3,249 feet in 11.2 miles.
The fastest cyclist to the top of the peak that dominates the Bay Area skyline in Danville was Nathaniel English, 27, of Berkeley with a time of 43:56. That's less than 2 minutes off the course record set in 2009 by Michael Vetterli, then 51, of Alamo who did it in 41:25.
Jenny Swanta, 47, of Talent, Oregon, set the fastest time among the women with 53:33. She edged out last year's winner, Susannah Breen, 30, of Pleasant Hill, who finished second year year.
In all, 133 cyclists finished the challenge in under one hour, winning a free T-shirt for their efforts. Here's the list of all Mount Diablo Challenge finishers.
For all the others, they had the pleasure of spending a wonderful day on the mountain and feeling good about raising money for the Save Mount Diablo Foundation.
Photos posted by the Contra Costa Times show that not all the cyclists were hardened competitors. Some came on tandems, recumbents and handcycles, while others totted bike trailers up the mountain for a younger generation.
The oldest finisher this year was Joseph Sham, 77, of Lafayette, who finished in 1:47. Shirley Osmer, 75, was once again the oldest female finisher at 1:54. Not only did they finish, but neither was close to being the last finisher in their gender.
Congratulations to all.
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