{"id":2636,"date":"2015-07-30T14:57:36","date_gmt":"2015-07-30T18:57:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.brianarner.com\/weblog\/?p=2636"},"modified":"2015-07-30T14:57:36","modified_gmt":"2015-07-30T18:57:36","slug":"2015-cherohala-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.brianarner.com\/weblog\/2015\/07\/2015-cherohala-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"2015 Cherohala Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On 20 June 2015 I completed my 9th <a href=\"http:\/\/www.smwbikeclub.org\/cherohala-challenge\/\" target=\"_blank\">Cherohala Challenge<\/a>.\u00a0 It&#8217;s become a tradition&#8211;my annual cycling Super Bowl, if you will.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/ridewithgps.com\/routes\/4015199\/embed\" width=\"100%\" height=\"500px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The biggest issue going into this year&#8217;s edition was the weather.\u00a0 When I checked the forecast at 4:something a.m., I saw that it called for\u00a0 a 60% chance of rain, with a thunderstorm watch.\u00a0 I&#8217;m no fan of cycling in the rain under the best of circumstances, and I certainly didn&#8217;t want to get caught in a thunderstorm in the mountains.\u00a0 But as I embarked for Tellico Plains in the pre-dawn darkness, there was no way of knowing how the day would unfold.\u00a0 I could luck out and stay mostly dry, or it could turn into a miserable wet day.<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/eLJqjbwW0X5hnmW0-jgPFnSD9DzGCCdQ9BX-1NVZXS4=w800\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Event registration at sunrise<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Registration check-in went smoothly.\u00a0 The only issue was that we had to park in a field that&#8217;s farther away than the previous field.\u00a0 This year there were nearly 400 riders, the most in over five years.\u00a0 Due to the added walking time, I got rolling about five minutes after the mass start, when most of the century riders departed.<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/sAcvM3S9yPUTYpxXSWXuVqPC_ZzyQdkYcPDpX7OPZJk=w800\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Two miles into the ride, looking back at the plains<\/p><\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/GhRQrdgF4ID4U43YnTYD7gM7XMASFRv-NbpntcLGXG4=w800\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/GCaWTMRAkFklO-lfjYQDuwJrkZbsY2qRRr6Ell1SodM=w800\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Corn<\/p><\/div>\n<p>At some point during the Challenge I inevitably ask myself, &#8220;Why am I doing this?&#8221;\u00a0 Usually the question pops up 70-80 miles into the ride, while toiling up the mountainside.\u00a0 But on this day it came much earlier, when it started raining 30 minutes into the ride.\u00a0 Not a good omen.\u00a0 It wasn&#8217;t a hard rain, but enough of one for me to question my sanity and contemplate how miserable conditions would have to get for me to turn back.<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately, it only rained for a few miles, rendering my doomsday scenario moot . . . for the time being.<\/p>\n<p>I stopped at the first rest stop for water and the porta-pottie, then continued.\u00a0 The next several miles went without incident.<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/cy1jBEjN_HGz0YOL5x7_1gEBan_4TbnWnvgFtTBEYWc=w800\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Vonore, TN<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/B7Ovo0SqKKxHlUe8cM6Pq_WMUY1w2hOorPAtSMjDaM0=w800\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Along TN 72<\/p><\/div>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/AnW1xnfVYrF0XxEp6vcEDpXcdK2ihykJJzn1y_Avbfw=w800\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/3ZylWGllAgbLPC6Gzy1wwD1MAlS8lNIOghDCveFpDc4=w800\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><\/p>\n<p>At this point my camera went kaput, and I couldn&#8217;t take pictures for the rest of the day.\u00a0 You can see pictures from the last 70 miles in my <a href=\"http:\/\/www.brianarner.com\/weblog\/2014\/07\/2014-cherohala-challenge-ride-report\/\" target=\"_blank\">2014 report<\/a>.\u00a0 The scenery this year was mostly the same, only much cloudier and wetter.<\/p>\n<p>I encountered another short rain shower on the Chilhowee Lake section of the route.\u00a0 One positive aspect about the conditions was that there wasn&#8217;t much wind in the morning, which can be taxing along the water.<\/p>\n<p>After that it was on through the famed <a href=\"http:\/\/tailofthedragon.com\/tail-of-the-dragon-info\/details\/\" target=\"_blank\">Tail of the Dragon<\/a>, with its 311 curves in 11 miles.\u00a0 Professional photographers stationed along the road captured some action pictures.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/tqOlMxumadvfm4X-iAxEWeyABVeMTz9ib1QxtXUzVGs=w800\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/Xd8U6p76Xm05Abcr-modohn8-O-dAP3UGQO4i0Cojrg=w600\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/GWb67w9GTSGO23snef0Mw8E0E1tVVAj9GBqz60qWdNw=w600\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Traffic wasn&#8217;t too bad on the Dragon.\u00a0 The dampness kept some people away.\u00a0 A majority of the motorcycle traffic was of the Harley touring variety.\u00a0 Most of them were courteous enough.\u00a0 I didn&#8217;t get buzzed by many crotch rockets.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/M84J4ZP7n8SC_ycDM8MgRmD0j3Ah1xk9c4yjMzj4i4Y=w600\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/ZdgV_s_it5fUERP4aAfRKjboL_A9LFBpc5FQ81KMrs4=w600\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" alignnone\" src=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/ZEYm2mAJmPPg1UbTMNs-IBgU5L17081WhFbfcH3CvtQ=w600\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><\/p>\n<p>I stopped for lunch at the second rest stop, at the North Carolina border.\u00a0 It had been 5+ hours since breakfast, and I was hungry.\u00a0 So I ate a lot.\u00a0 In addition to the usual assortment of junk\/high-energy food, they had hot French toast.\u00a0 I enjoyed the meal.<\/p>\n<p>Thereafter I braked down the steep descent past Cheoah dam and then made the gradual climb through the Cheoah River gorge.\u00a0 There&#8217;s little traffic on this road, and its remote setting&#8211;nestled along the river between ridges&#8211;lends itself to deep contemplation on life.\u00a0 Or at least it does for me.<\/p>\n<p>At the third rest stop I took stock of my physical condition in anticipation of the 12-mile mountain climb ahead.\u00a0 I felt as good as could be expected, I just didn&#8217;t know what lay ahead on the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cherohala.org\/index.php\" target=\"_blank\">Cherohala Skyway<\/a>.\u00a0 The sky was teasing us with a few breaks in the clouds.\u00a0 So I applied sun screen, just in case.\u00a0 But I knew that a thunderstorm could fire up at any point with little warning.<\/p>\n<p>Onward through the woods bordering Lake Santeethlah on <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Joyce_Kilmer\" target=\"_blank\">Joyce Kilmer<\/a> Road.\u00a0 Not only is this road secluded (just a handful of buildings and some camping spots) but it&#8217;s also rough.\u00a0 Not a particularly enjoyable part of the ride, frankly.<\/p>\n<p>But the scene quickly changes once you skirt the west end of the lake and turn onto Santeetlah Road.\u00a0 You round a bend and suddenly it&#8217;s up, up, up the mountain on the unshaded roadway.<\/p>\n<p>I climb relatively fast for my level of cycling.\u00a0 Not that I climb <em>fast<\/em>, but compared to similar riders, it&#8217;s faster than my flat or downhill riding.\u00a0 In short, most of the passing I do is going uphill.\u00a0 Then the passees often catch back up either when I stop or on a downhill section.<\/p>\n<p>Because of this I pass some riders 2-4 times.\u00a0 One rider joked, &#8220;There goes 310 [my jersey number] again!&#8221; as I lumbered by.<\/p>\n<p>A conundrum I encounter at rest stops: the toughest stretches are the ones immediately after I take a break.\u00a0 My leg muscles tighten up when I stop, rather than rejuvenate.\u00a0 It takes several minutes of pedaling to loosen them up again.\u00a0 It makes me wonder if stopping is worth it.\u00a0 But I have to stop, either for water\/food, or to give my sit muscles\/contact points a break.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s a problem.<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/FdKa0SfvwnS2wj-Kow7MD-0fuSFbOV0daqLmodN89aA=w600\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Riding the Cherohala Skyway<\/p><\/div>\n<p>It takes a couple hours to ascend the Skyway climbing at 6-8 m.p.h.\u00a0 And during that time the weather can change, sometimes dramatically.\u00a0 I <em>almost<\/em> made it to the top dry.\u00a0 But with two miles to go it started sprinkling, then raining (the third time of the day).\u00a0 Not a downpour, but enough rain that it got sloppy and difficult to see when I accelerated to 15 m.p.h. on the flatter stretch near the top.<\/p>\n<p>The rain tapered off as I recharged at the peak rest stop.\u00a0 But the wind picked up and visibility declined as a cloud enveloped the mountaintop.\u00a0 By the time I started rolling downhill it was down to ~100 feet.\u00a0 The first couple miles I was riding the brakes much more than normal because you couldn&#8217;t see around the corners.\u00a0 Thankfully, things cleared up quickly once I got out of the cloud, because that segment was slow and nerve wracking.<\/p>\n<p>The atmosphere got brighter and warmer (by about 20 degrees) as I wound down through the range into Tennessee and finally back to Tellico Plains.\u00a0 My bicycle computer blanked out shortly before I finished, so I don&#8217;t know exactly what my riding time was for the 113-mile course. I finished at 4:40 p.m.<\/p>\n<p>For the first time (that I&#8217;ve done it) participants got medals.<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 810px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/g4bPEUS94Fa5YGUNNeNW1tHKOcDahWgWUEEpmg9S-eI=w800\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Everyone (who finishes) is a winner<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Sadly, no podium girls awarded me the medal.\u00a0 Just a middle-aged bald guy standing at the finish line.<\/p>\n<p>All in all, it was another enjoyable cycling experience.\u00a0 I would have preferred a warm, sunny day, but the rain showers were tolerable.\u00a0 The event support and rest stops were good, as usual.\u00a0 Given my health challenge the last two years (psoriatic arthritis), I&#8217;m thankful I can still tackle this demanding course.<\/p>\n<p>I look forward to doing it again in 2016.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<a href=\"http:\/\/www.brianarner.com\/weblog\/2015\/07\/2015-cherohala-challenge\/\" rel=\"bookmark\" title=\"Permalink to 2015 Cherohala Challenge\"><p>On 20 June 2015 I completed my 9th Cherohala Challenge.\u00a0 It&#8217;s become a tradition&#8211;my annual cycling Super Bowl, if you will. The biggest issue going into this year&#8217;s edition was the weather.\u00a0 When I checked the forecast at 4:something a.m., I saw that it called for\u00a0 a 60% chance of rain, with a thunderstorm watch.\u00a0 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n<\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","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-2636","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\/2636","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=2636"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/www.brianarner.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2644,"href":"http:\/\/www.brianarner.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2636\/revisions\/2644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.brianarner.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.brianarner.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.brianarner.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}