Wow. Believe it or not, the road up Mt. Umunhum is actually going to be open to the public on Saturday, September 16. This has been so long in coming that I thought it was never going to happen in my lifetime. Mt. Umumhum is the site of the old Air Force radar tower, the “Cube”, which can be seen throughout the South Bay. It’s been closed for decades after the Air Force abandoned it, and it ended up being a hazardous waste site that needed to be cleaned before it could be opened. Then locals opposed opening the road. I won’t go into the entire history of delay–it’s now over!
Although some, ahem, have been riding on Mt. Um for years, it’s not been legal and some of the locals were downright dangerous. Now we can all go up there on our bikes without fear of being ticketed or shot. The big deal about Mt. Um is that it’s at the top of Hicks Road–you know, that road that has a four-mile section that is over 10% and a half-mile that is 14%. Surmounting Hicks is a private victory and now you can add another 2,000 feet of vertical by turning right and heading up Mt. Um. This threatens to enlarge the Three Peaks In A Day challenge to four peaks!
You can read a bit more about it here and here. I think this calls for an official Different Spokes venture, don’t you think? Stay tuned to the DSSF Ride Calendar for the date!
The Chain Letter 