THE CHEROHALA CHALLENGE
www.memphishightailers.com
Three Hightailers
(Jeff Harris, Amanda
Hassner, & myself)
made it to this years Cherohala Challenge on June 12th
in
The three of us had a late
start, 30 minutes behind everyone else.
This ended up a good thing since the main group ran into a downpour
while making their way up the main climb.
I was very lucky and felt only a few sprinkles throughout the ride. On the other hand, it was very humid because of
the rain that had fallen earlier. The
first 43 miles consisted mostly of rolling hills with a few steep but short
climbs making it a fairly easy ride, especially with mostly an overcast
sky.
The first real climb of the
day is a section called the Tail of the Dragon that consists of 318 curves in
11 miles with about 2,000 feet of climbing.
I thought that this was the prettiest part of the ride. Most of this winding section was shaded with
trees, which was nice since the sun came out making it very warm & muggy. The road followed a fast flowing stream, and I
passed several small waterfalls coming off the mountain and emptying into the
stream. The climb was not too bad. I was able to average around 11-12 mph while
keeping a nice, comfortable rhythm.
Coming down the Tail of the Dragon was a lot of fun with all the curves,
but it was still wet from the storm ahead so I couldn’t go as fast I would have
liked.
At about mile 64, where the
elevation was approximately 1,600’, things started to get pretty
tough. For 6 miles, there were quite a
few very steep sections that I soon found out were just teasers for what was to
come. The big climb that makes this whole ride a monster started at about mile
70 with an elevation of about 2,000’.
For the next 13 miles there was a non-stop climb with a grade that
ranged from about 5 to 9 degrees and didn’t level off until an elevation of
5,390’. The only saving grace for me was
a SAG stop at mile 75. At mile 74, I
started to overheat (slowing from 7 mph to 5 mph) and it was the only time
during the ride that I actually asked myself “Why am I doing this?” To top off my agony, there was a 1/4 mile
steep 9 degree grade up to the SAG stop.
I took about 35 minutes at the stop to recover (eating, drinking,
drinking, eating, drinking, etc…). The
scary part was that I still had 8 more miles of climbing before the summit.
Surprisingly, I felt much
better during the last half of the climb and actually was able to pick up my
pace. The temperature dropped about 10
degrees or more with low humidity during the last 8 miles of the climb, and
this made it a much better experience.
Coming down was the most fun I’ve ever had on a bike. The pavement was dry and most of the curves
could easily be taken at 42+ mph. Coming
down the mountain was not all pleasant, there were a few sections that I was
flying down and then all of a sudden I would find myself in an uphill section
that felt like an 8 or 9 degree grade.
One of these climbs went on for about 1 mile before the road continued
back down the mountain. Halfway down the
mountain, I felt the temperature change, and it felt like I stepped through a
door from an air conditioned room to a very hot & humid summer day.
The last 15 miles were
mostly rolling hills. The organizers
could not let us end the ride without one final climb. The start/finish was at the Tellico Plains
high school which is located at the top of a very large hill, so everyone had
to grind our weary legs one last time. I
really enjoyed the experience and even though I started 30 minutes late, I
passed around 60 – 70 riders so I felt pretty good with my performance.
If you are looking for a
challenge, I highly recommend this event.
SAG support was exceptional and the view was beautiful. After 3-State 3-Mountain in