Cherohala Challenge:  "100 Cows Staring"

June 11th, 2005. Tellico Plains, TN.

This was my last event ride before a long 2 month summer break off the road bike.  This event was advertised as 115 miles, 9000 feet of elevation gain and 348 curves on an 11 mile stretch of the famous Dragon's Tail.  This ride is in a beautiful part of the southern Appalachians on the border of western North Carolina and southeastern Tennessee.

We woke to rain as a tropical storm was approaching the southern US.  I had flash back memories of the Assault on Mt Mitchell start a month earlier where we rode the first 2 hours in the rain.  Once we got to the start of the Cherohala Challenge however, the rain had subsided and it was just wet. Approximately 310 riders registered for this ride.  We took the start behind motorcycle escort.  My intension was to stay up front in the lead group for as long as possible and do well on the long 20 mile climb up 4000 feet on to the Cherohala Skyway.

First thing I noticed was this group was a quiet group of riders.  You didn't hear the normal callouts, "hole", "right turn", "left-turn", "slowing"....just a lot of hand signals.  Another thing that I noticed was the cows really took interest in the close proximity biomechanical broadcast of our cutting fleet during the 4 or 5 pastures we rode past.  I interpreted their awe-struck marvel of confusion similar to the seconds between a post alien encounter and pre alien abduction.  We managed to start a small stampede of cows galloping in the final pasture that we passed.  For the most part though, they would just stop what they were doing and stare at us like "what in the world is that!"  A 100 cows staring!  I commented about it to some fellow cyclists, but I'm sure they thought I was strange for even noticing in the first place.

CRASH! A cyclist went down just in front of me as the huge group of bikers made a left turn on the wet roads.  It looked as if his tires just slid out from underneath him.  Everyone close to me managed to get around him and he seemed to be okay. I even asked,  “Are you okay?”  The sound of bike parts scraping along the asphalt stuck in my mind.  I was having a bad feeling at the beginning of the ride that I could suffer the same fate since I had put on a slicker rear tire a few days earlier...and the roads were wet.  I also recently noticed that my brake pads were really worn and every once in while they would not respond like I was used to.  Oh my, "I'm in for it and I need to be prepared”, was my thinking.  Sure enough we took a turn around a curve on a descent and my brakes could not grasp my wet wheel to well.  I managed to keep it up and not run the guy next to me off the road.  But now my senses were really heightened.  I made sure to check my brakes often before the descents.  I managed not to have any further issues throughout the rest of the ride, much of which was due to the weather improving and the roads drying up throughout the day.

I'd never been on the Dragons Tail before, in a car or on a bike. This was at mile 40 of the route.  I have heard a lot about it with its advertised unending curves of banked pavement to facilitate daring mobility of motor sport enthusiasts, some of which has resulted in sad demonstration of human mortality.  I made a special effort to be sure that I was focused on maintaining my line.  I was under the false impression that the Dragon’s Tail section of the route was relatively flat, however I was surprised to learn that it was the first real climb of the day.  I got off the front of the main group with about 16 other cyclists.  We were the new breakaway group.  I quickly realized though that I could not hang with these guys and fell off the back of the group.  I managed to keep them in my sites for some time.  But, after a while it was just me and the occasional other cyclist climbing the Dragons Tail together and trying to make good time.  About 7 or 8 other cyclists got past me before we reached the top of the climb, but I was optimistic that I could catch them later on.  But actually, they made it really easy for me. They stopped at the rest stop at the top of the climb and I kept going, which was a part of “the plan”.

Once I eventually descended past Deals Gap I was in familiar territory as I had ridden this area several times before.  “Okay, now I'm ready!”  I quickly caught a Chattanooga Bikes cyclist on the descent who was originally in the lead 15 on the first climb where I lost contact.  I estimated that put me about number 16 on the road.  We managed to ride together and he had said that the "lead group were several minutes up the road”.  Soon we were joined by 7 or 8 other cyclists who came up from behind.  We worked together  along the Cheoah River and started a very gradual, barely noticeable, climbing section of the an ascending 20 miles, and 4000 feet. Once we turned on to a rough Joyce Kilmer road I lost that group of about 8 cyclists.  I typically do not do well on rough surfaces and it was wearing me out.  So, I decided to let them go up the road while I took some time to regain some energy and go a slower pace.  I really wanted to do well on the steeper section of the long 15 mile climb.  I figured that I could regain some energy and catch them on the climb.  They were going pretty hard and I was hoping that they would eventually tire out and slow down only to see me again later.

After a very brief road side nature break, and my only stop of the day, I set my pace and reassessed my goals for the day.  A part of "the plan" was for me to meet my friend Andy part way up the steep Cherohala Skyway climb.  He was going to provide me with a fresh a water bottle to ride to the finish. This way I would not have to stop at any of the rest areas. On the long steeper sections of the climb I planned to empty out any fluid I had remaining in my bottles to get rid of some weight, and make the climb “a little” easier by reducing some weight.

As I made the turn from Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest up Santeetlah Road to the Cherohala Skyway, I refueled with a clif bar.  I was set. I started to go hard now.  I quickly caught several of the cyclists on the initial steeper section of the climb.  I figure I had about 23 cyclists in front of me and I wanted to catch and pass as many as possible on this long climb that I love so much. It is a beautiful climb up the mountain with fantastic views.

As I passed cyclist after cyclist in the first 2 miles of the climb, the sun had come out and it was indeed and fantastic day to be on a bike.....this considering that the first waking 5 minutes of the day left me pretty pessimistic about what the day was going to hold.  I was feeling good and glad that I took it easy just a few miles back to recover some of my energy. As I got on the Cherohala Skyway itself, I passed a few more cyclists and I was feeling good and spending a lot of time out of the saddle.  Then, I saw my friend Andy driving his Toyota 4Runner in the opposite direction down the Cherohala.  It was about 11:30 AM and we had planned that I would arrive about 12:30 PM a little further up the climb.  I WAS EARLY and he was surprised to see me already.  He turned around and drove along side of me for a bit.  Andy was saying there were not that many cyclists in front of me. I was going as hard as I could go.  This was my last event ride before my long summer break off the bike and I wanted to give it everything I could…..and I was!

After a short chat, Andy drove up the road to take up his position, I thought.  I could see two more cyclists in front of me and I was sure that I could catch them.  After a little while, I saw Andy coming back down the road.  He was delivering what was to be the first of a couple race reports. “Frank, you are doing GREAT! You only have 13 cyclist in front of you!”…..” You’re doing great!”.  Andy drove back up the mountain.  I caught number 13 and passed him.  I was now number 13 on a very hard ride.  I could see number 12 but had trouble catching him.  Shortly, Andy was back beside me in what was now my support vehicle, ”the lead rider just reached Huckleberry Knob (the top of the climb) and number 2 is chasing”.  I just laughed to myself as I imagined the action unfolding several miles ahead of me. Andy also reported that the cyclists in front of me were really strung out and not together at all.  I figured I would just catch as many as possible, but I was elated to be number 12 on the road!  I figured I had a good chance to catch a few more since I had planned not to stop at any of the rest stops…..and expecting that the others would stop.

As I came around many familiar bends in the climb, I finally saw Andy standing along side of the road at our agreed location with a water bottle in hand.  There was still “that one” cyclist in front of me that I couldn't yet catch.  Andy and I did a very professional exchange of water bottles.  My bottles were both empty.  I threw one to the ground at Andy’s feet and then he gave me a ¾ full sport-water mix as requested, “Thanks Andy!”  I decided to reach for my other bottle and figured that I did not need that either.  So I grabbed it out of my bottle holder and threw it over my left shoulder to skid across the road to Andy feet.  “Thanks Andy!” again.  I then pursued the next cyclist.  As I got closer to him, he pulled over to a rest stop and I kept going.  I was now number 11 on the road and looking for number 10.   The thought of finished in the top 10 was very satisfying.  I was making good time.

Andy drove up the road to the top of the climb.  He was obviously enjoying himself.  I finally came around to the last section of the climb and Andy snapped some pictures of me and wished me luck.  I was thinking to myself “the shiraz and smoked gouda are going to taste good tonight!”  We had planned to go camping in the area after the ride and I was looking forward to a night beside the camp fire and listening to the pitter patter of the forecasted rain on the tent.  I pressed on and continued to go harder than I ever have before.  I was always near my red zone and was able to pull back my effort when needed.  I imagined that my friend Rob, who is serving in Kuwait and who was also the first person that rode with me up the Cherohala last September, would be very proud of me since I was not wearing a heart rate monitor and had not been for the last several weeks on the bike. “After you’ve been riding a while, Frank, you can just tell how you’re body feels without all the gadgets”.  My mentor's words live true.  I had a few rollers remaining and then a long fast descent down into Tellico Plains.

I finally saw number 10 in front of me just before the long descent.  He was in a familiar Chattanooga Bikes team gear.  There were several of these guys that got off with the front group on the first climb.  This guy, however, was taking it slow now.  To be sure, I had to ask him if he was doing the century, as I was also starting to pass the tail end of other cyclists who were doing the 62 mile metric century and not the 115 mile ride.  I asked him twice and he finally took out his head phones….and said “yes, I’m doing the century”.  I’m now thinking to myself, “you are now number 11 and I am number 10”.  I quickly realized how obsessed I became since the beginning of the long climb.  Mr. Chat Bikes and I descended together on the long drop down the Cherohala Skyway approaching speeds just under 50 miles an hour. 

Once at the bottom, I figured that he would stay with me. He did for a while.  Then, as I picked up the pace it in an effort to catch the next cyclist, I soon realized that he had dropped off my wheel and back into music land.  He really wasn’t too competitive about the whole situation.  But for me, I was trying to achieve a personal best.  I hit a series of rollers, up and down, up and down, up and down.  I quickly made it over them and into another long descent where I hit 52 mph before the road went flat.  The motorcyclist following me on the descent seemed to be pretty darn excited and flashing repeated hand signals of “55” “55” “55”.  That’s how fast they apparently were going as they followed me.  I did not catch any further cyclist.

After a long flat section along the beautiful Tellico River, I finished the 115 mile ride in 6 hours and 20 minutes.  I recorded 8457 feet of total climbing.  I only stopped once for a very brief nature break.  Assuming that Andy’s count was correct, as well as my keeping track during the first climb, I do estimate with confidence that I was the 10th cyclist to cross the finish line.  But please remember though, that this “is not a race, it is a ride”.  For me, however, it was a race…a race against myself, in my last 115 miles, 6 hours and 8400 feet of the first 2755 miles, 180 hours, and 212,203 feet since January.  In doing so, I was able to achieve a personal best ride. This was one of three events that I had targeted in early January.  I ended the day with a good pasta dinner and a night of camping with great friends at Andy’s remote mountain property just off the Cherohala Skyway. The Shiraz and Gouda were very good with our veggie-fied foil wrapped fire meals and stories of coyote encounters!

Given my performance on the Assault on Mt Mitchell of 7 hours and 47 minutes, I honestly figured that I would finish no earlier than 7 hours on the Cherohala Challenge.  However, I did much better.  The first cyclist crossed the finish line 30 minutes ahead of me with a time of 5 hours and 50 minutes.  I later found out that this rider was Mr. Kent Bostick, an Olympian and two-time Pan American Games Gold Medalist with12 national titles, two world records, and eight national records. VeloNews and Visa US Cycling Master's Rider of the Year in 1999……yikes!   I did my first 100 mile century only 9 months ago.  The goal then was “just to finish”.  I keep raising the bar for myself, and making the sport more exciting.  I’ll be back on the road bike in the late summer early after a couple months of riding the tandem with my 9 year old daughter. 

-Frank