{"id":2662,"date":"2015-10-22T22:27:42","date_gmt":"2015-10-23T02:27:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.brianarner.com\/weblog\/?p=2662"},"modified":"2015-10-23T22:36:54","modified_gmt":"2015-10-24T02:36:54","slug":"2015-cherohala-skyway-fall-foliage-ride-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.brianarner.com\/weblog\/2015\/10\/2015-cherohala-skyway-fall-foliage-ride-report\/","title":{"rendered":"2015 Cherohala Skyway Fall Foliage Ride Report"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week I drove to Tellico Plains, TN, to bicycle to the top of the Cherohala Skyway<\/a> and enjoy the fall colors.<\/p>\n

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It was as nice an afternoon as I could expect in mid-October.\u00a0 The temperature was 72F when I embarked at 2:00 p.m.<\/p>\n

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There was some traffic the first five miles along the Tellico River, less so the next six miles to Indian Boundary, and not much beyond that.<\/p>\n

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It’s easy pedaling along the river.<\/p>\n

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Thereafter, there’s a tough mile to the first overlook, then it’s rolling (but generally uphill) for the next five miles.<\/p>\n

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The serious climbing begins 11 miles into the Skyway.<\/p>\n

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I last did this ride five years ago<\/a>.\u00a0 Back then I reached the highlands after<\/em> the leaves had peaked; this time I arrived before<\/em> maximum color.\u00a0 So it goes.<\/p>\n

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Common status during the long, slow (6-7 m.p.h) slogs: standing on and mashing the pedals, eyes focused slightly ahead of the front wheel, attempting to keep audible grunts\/groans to a minimum, with a song repeating incessantly in my head.<\/p>\n

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The most vivid colors were red dogwoods and and other assorted red trees.<\/p>\n

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Conquering this road is a vastly different cycling experience than my typical rides.\u00a0 There are rolling hills around Knoxville, but nothing strenuous like this.\u00a0 It’s a tough climb–more so than going up the North Carolina side, I think.<\/p>\n

Just as notable is the solitude.\u00a0 No shopping centers, gas stations, or traffic lights.\u00a0 Not even a visitor center.\u00a0 Just a strip of pavement through the forest, with an occasional passing vehicle.<\/p>\n

The aloneness with nature is a powerful experience.<\/p>\n

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I ran into issues when I got above 4,000 feet, near the North Carolina border.\u00a0 By this time (~5:00 p.m.) shadows were extending on the east side of the ridge.\u00a0 It was also breezy up there.\u00a0 I got chilly, even while laboring uphill.<\/p>\n

Moreover, I inadequately fueled myself.\u00a0 All I brought was a granola bar and an apple.\u00a0 That’s not enough to eat; I was hungry and running low on energy.<\/p>\n

Finally, daylight was becoming an issue.\u00a0 I had planned to be at the top at 5:00 p.m., but I was 20-30 minutes behind schedule.\u00a0 I knew if I went all the way to the top I would be pushing it to get back before dark.<\/p>\n

So four miles into North Carolina, 3.5 miles shy of the summit, I decided to turn around and head back.\u00a0 I was bothered (still am) that after an afternoon of driving and climbing, I quit just short of my goal.\u00a0 On the other hand, the prospect of freezing\/cramping\/bonking miles from civilization, with no support, was not a good thought.\u00a0 Better safe than sorry.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, none of my doom scenarios played out.\u00a0 I warmed up once I got back in the sun.\u00a0 I had enough gas in the tank to overcome the three returning hill climbs.\u00a0 And no cramping.<\/p>\n

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I enjoyed one more hour amid ridges, lit by lengthening evening rays.\u00a0 I got back to my car a few minutes before sunset.<\/p>\n

Ride Statistics<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Distance: 55.2 Miles<\/p>\n

Time:\u00a0 4:02<\/p>\n

I didn’t see any wildlife during the ride, other than birds and squirrels.\u00a0 But I did spot these cute bears in the Tellico Plains visitor’s center.<\/p>\n

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The End.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week I drove to Tellico Plains, TN, to bicycle to the top of the Cherohala Skyway and enjoy the fall colors. It was as nice an afternoon as I could expect in mid-October.\u00a0 The temperature was 72F when I embarked at 2:00 p.m. There was some traffic the first five miles along the Tellico […]<\/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-2662","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\/2662","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=2662"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/www.brianarner.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2662\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2677,"href":"http:\/\/www.brianarner.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2662\/revisions\/2677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.brianarner.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.brianarner.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.brianarner.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}