{"id":2318,"date":"2008-06-23T13:51:27","date_gmt":"2008-06-23T17:51:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.brianarner.com\/weblog\/wordpress\/2008\/06\/2008_cherohala\/"},"modified":"2008-06-23T13:51:27","modified_gmt":"2008-06-23T17:51:27","slug":"2008_cherohala","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.brianarner.com\/weblog\/2008\/06\/2008_cherohala\/","title":{"rendered":"2008 Cherohala Challenge Photo Ride Report"},"content":{"rendered":"

On 21 June 2008 I made good use of the longest day of the year by completing my longest ride of the year–my fourth Cherohala Challenge<\/a>.
\nThe day started early. I left Knoxville at 5:45 am and arrived at Tellico Plains, TN, a bit after 7:00 am. This year the Challenge moved its start\/finish location from Tellico High School to the Tellico Plains Visitor’s Center. The new staging location worked out well, though I didn’t care for all the flies buzzing around during the outdoor post-ride meal.
\nThis year I rode the Challenge with NealH, a cyclist from Raleigh who I met on an earlier event<\/a>.
\nThe first 20-mile leg of the route to Vonore, TN, is a gently-rolling mix of quiet country roads. It’s nice terrain to get warmed up on in the early morning sunlight.
\n
\nStarting off in Tellico Plains
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\nEarly morning mist on the plains
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\nA quiet Monroe County road
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\nMonroe Country: America’s breadbasket
\nWe stopped briefly at the first rest stop at Vonore. Then it was a couple miles along US 411, riding through Vonore and over the lake. 411 is a main highway, but there’s a wide shoulder available, if you don’t mind dodging debris.
\n
\nA heavy police presence on hand to deal with traffic chaos in Vonore
\n
\nCrossing Tellico Lake
\nThe route leaves 411 and heads east on TN 72. There are a few more rolling hills to contend with, but the terrain remains easy. We encountered very little traffic on this road.
\n
\nAlong TN 72
\n
\nHeading to the mountains
\nThe course joins US 129. There’s an up-tick in motorcycle traffic, with several miles of flat riding along the lake.
\n
\nChilhowee Lake
\nAfter about 10 miles, U.S. 129 heads up into the woods in a section frequently called the Tail of the Dragon<\/a>–made famous due to its 318 curves in 11 miles. It’s a unique place to ride; unfortunately the experience is marred by the heavy motorcycle traffic–particularly by the riders who treat this as a personal race track. Luckily, there didn’t seem to be as many a-hole bikers out as there were last year.
\n
\nPosing at the Calderwood Dam overlook
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\nOne of the 318 curves in the Tail of the Dragon
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\nReal bikers and motor bikers mingle along the Dragon
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\nCyclists refueling at rest stop # 2 at the end of the Dragon
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\nDeals Gap at the Tennessee\/North Carolina state line
\nAfter the Dragon, US 129 descends sharply past Cheoah Dam (made famous from a scene in The Fugitive<\/em>), then follows the quiet Cheoah River gorge upstream (1%-2% grade) for several miles.
\n
\nCheoah (“Fugitive”) Dam
\n
\nFollowing the river upstream on Tapoco Road
\nAfter rest stop #3, the course turns onto Joyce Kilmer Road, an extremely secluded road that skirts Santeetlah Lake. There’s a few short climbs in this stretch–just enough to give you a taste of what’s ahead.
\nAt Challenge mile 70, the route turns onto an access road and begins an unrelenting 12-mile climb. Much of the ascent is at a 6%-7% grade, but there are stretches of 8%-9%.
\n
\nThe long climb begins
\n
\nView where the route turns onto the Cherohala Skyway
\nIf you like climbing, the Cherohala Skyway is a great road for riding. Traffic is light, the pavement is good, the grades are challenging, and the scenery is spectacular.
\nFortunately, it was relatively cool and mostly cloudy during this ride. Climbing this road under a hot sun can be brutal. The only downside to conditions was that the haze hampered visibility of the surrounding mountain ranges. The pictures here don’t do the Skyway views justice.
\n
\nAlong the Skyway
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\nSelf-portrait climbing at 6%
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\nNeal rolls into rest stop #4
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\nThe Madone takes a break from climbing
\n
\n
\n
\n
\nAt the top of the Cherohala Skyway (rest stop 5)
\nIt’s a great feeling to reach the top. I sat there in a pensive mood for a while, soaking in the experience.
\nMost of the last 30 miles is downhill. Some of it is very fast. You want to be sure your brakes work well on this slope. But there are three or four short “sawteeth” climbs along the way, lest your legs want a bit more punishment for the day.
\n
\nMountain haze
\n
\nThe Tellico River
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\nNeal and me after the post-ride meal
\nI really enjoyed this year’s ride. The weather was good, the climbing was good, the traffic was good, the road surfaces were good, the support was good, the company was good, and everyone around seemed to be in a good mood. I’m already looking forward to doing the Cherohala Challenge again.
\nRide stats<\/strong>
\nDistance: 113.8 miles
\nRiding time: 7:28
\nUPDATE: NealH posted more ride photos here<\/a>, here<\/a>, and here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On 21 June 2008 I made good use of the longest day of the year by completing my longest ride of the year–my fourth Cherohala Challenge. The day started early. I left Knoxville at 5:45 am and arrived at Tellico Plains, TN, a bit after 7:00 am. This year the Challenge moved its start\/finish location […]<\/p>\n<\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2318","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"h-entry","8":"hentry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.brianarner.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.brianarner.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.brianarner.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.brianarner.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.brianarner.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2318"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.brianarner.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2318\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.brianarner.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.brianarner.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.brianarner.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}