3-State 3-Mountain Review
Steve, The posting from the century below was on the PA biking
discussion database. Forward to those in the club and otherwise that might be interested
in the feedback about the event. Good job to all in Chattanooga. Another fine event by a
bunch of classy folks. Regards and keep riding. Dave Mailander,
Mechanicsburg PA and Southerner by marriage. Not a Yankee.
From: Brett Weiser [mailto:rabbitlugboot@mindspring.com]
Sent: Tuesday, May 09, 2000 10:57 AM
Subject: Chattanooga 3 State 3 Mountain Challenge
Location: Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia
Distance: It was a Century, duh.
Time: About 7 hours riding time
Average: Around 14 mph
Ride: Tandem!
Total elevation gain: 7,200+ feet--gettin' up there!!
I like mountains. I like them a lot. I like being on top of them and
the act of getting to the top. That's probably why when I saw the original e-mail listing
this Century back in February(?), it struck a nerve. What was even cooler was that it
didn't take much to talk Donna into it--guess we're both nuts! The idea of climbing three
mountains in three different states in the course of one century ride sounded pretty
cool--how many centuries do that? And since I personally have never ridden a century, it
made complete and perfect sense that I should jump in the deep end with the sharks on the
first try. Except that Donna was willing to jump in with me.
So what if it took longer to drive down there than the entire ride?
This made sense! A century in foreign lands of Waffle Houses and Fireworks Supermarkets!
We rolled into Cloudland Canyon State Park in Georgia, on top of
Lookout Mountain at about 5:00 Friday afternoon--gorgeous, resort style state park!!! An
awesome canyon cuts the park in half, complete with waterfalls, cliffs, and precipices! We
got a tent site, settled in quickly and then went for a 10 mile spin on the tandem around
the park. GREG and RICK--thanks a TON for the last-minute work on the shifters! Got back
and carbo loaded on golden oats (a Quaker Oats based pasta alternative--if you're
interested, I might dig up the recipe), chips and salsa (Cinco de Mayo), and killer
chicken salad burrito wraps. Crashed early to make it into Chattanooga by 7:00 the next
morning!
Saturday morning bloomed clear and beautiful--couldn't really think of
anything else we'd rather do than go for a ride--well, maybe one or two other things. :-)
Some REALLY friendly Chattanoogans let us into a parking garage across from the ride start
so we wouldn't have to park in the sun all day. Awesome people. We guessed there were well
over a 100 riders at the start and we saw three other tandems--we weren't the only wackos!
I overheard some solo rider comment that the ride couldn't be that difficult with
"all these tandems"--I think he was one of the people we passed on the last
climb!
The first climb, Suck Mountain (1300' gain), appeared about 10 miles
into the ride and we took it easy, spinning up the 3-4 mile climb. Dave Mailander passed
us on the way up--he made it down for the ride! Rode with another couple on a Santana
tandem--they rode from Montana to Alaska the prior year! Paused at the first sag stop at
the top and barreled down the other side, topping 40 once or twice--we worked the drum
brake on this ride! cruised through many miles of rolling Tennessee countryside to the
lunch break and then cranked out towards Alabama. Sand Mountain (1100' gain) showed up and
we thought we were back in PA! The roads went to instant crapola the second we entered the
state! Luckily at the top we crossed on into Georgia and were blessed by those smooooth GA
roads. The views were phenomenal as we rode the top of the mountain for several miles
before the next sag--and then it was ridge running again for a bit before bombing down
again!
By this time, we were starting to feel it even through all the Cytomax
and bananas (we got tired of them that day!) and other goodies. We hit Burkhalter Gap Road
on Lookout Mountain (1100' gain) and it took a lot of mental fortitude not to get smashed
by looking up the never ending white road in the glaring Southern Sun. We didn't walk any
of it but paused three times to regroup. We took the mindset of, "It's only Stoney.
No big deal." Singing Rainbow Connection partway up really helped too!! Took pity on
another rider and gave him half of our remaining water as he was basically out and not
looking good. Screamed a well-deserved "WOOHOOOO!!!" while pulling into the sag
stop at the top and chugged some ice-cold water and ate some RACHEL COOKIES (RACHEL--you
are a goddess!!!). Rolled out the top of Lookout and down the hand-numbing, brake-smoking,
orifice-puckering descent to return to Chattanooga and the start. Chawed more golden oats
and returned to our state park for a beautiful evening with some friends that came up from
Atlanta. More recovery food came from Donna's Mom (Another big thanks!!!) in the form of
awesome tuna casserole.
Sunday was a 15 hour drive home but well worth it as we split off on
the Blue Ridge Parkway for dinner and a sunset. Neither of us wanted to go back down to
the valley life.
What an awesome weekend!! Great place, great people, great time!
brett and donna1
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