Cherohala Challenge Detail
HRM Route Profile: PDF
HRM Climb Data: PDF
I’ve spent most of my ‘rest’ day thinking about how to write about the epic entity that is the Cherohala Challenge. It is difficult because my experience was vastly different than what had been put into my head by the ringleader of this year’s adventure, one Craig “my worst day ever on a bike” Carroll.
It is further complicated by the fact that only seven days earlier I completed what was my personal epic entity for the year, in the form of a double century. That makes just about anything else seem easier by comparison.
I have been teasing Craig a lot over the last couple days, responding to his fear-mongering emails about “here’s what’s coming” with responses like “Big deal” and basically blowing it off. Then… to sum up what is to follow in a very short statement, it really wasn’t all that challenging.
Now… before Craig blows a gasket, here’s the vindicating part of my teasing. Yes, I thoroughly believe how incredibly hard the ride was in ’06 compared to what we did this past weekend. All throughout the next paragraphs I’m going to use his experience as a reference point to show how we ‘got off easy’.
Two things I remember distinctly about Craig’s ’06 Challenge:
- A voice mail I got late on a Saturday afternoon – from Craig, sounding like death-warmed-over… he sounded horrible and it was actually a little scary.
- Seeing him at Fred’s Ride two days later (unless it was longer than that), his face sunken and the weight loss and dehydration plainly showing. Dude, ya looked like death-warmed-over!
So, when I subtitle this entry as ‘Myth vs. Reality’, what I really mean is ‘two different realities a year apart’. Each section below will highlight the extreme differences. Like so:
Last year: Craig came down to Cherohala on a whim, deciding the night before, with no preparation and full of Ramble and other hard miles all week.
This year: He came down as a goal, deciding after 3S3M, with a month of preparation and tapering during the week.
Pre-Ride
We arrived in TN on Saturday evening, picked up our registration packets and then settled into our hotel room to rest for the evening and try to get some sleep. Only real detail here, which will become significant later, is that I took the rear dérailleur guide off the Bianchi, and flipped it over so it was on correctly. I had noticed down in Helen that it was rubbing in a couple of gear combinations and that I had put in on reversed after cleaning it. It was still wrong on 3S3M, but I never needed those gear ratios.
Saturday morning we woke up early after all of us having broken sleep in a stuffy over-warm room, and headed out to the Tellico Plains school to await the 7:30 mass start. At 7:15 we headed over to the starting area, where there was nobody to be found. People started trickling in and lining up behind us. Maybe it was the matching Mad Cow jerseys and we looked like a hard core team or something, I don’t know.
Last year: mid to upper 80′s and high humidity at 7:30 am
This year: mid to upper 60′s and only moderate humidity; no wind
Challenge Phase 1 – the Peloton
The Challenge is a mass start event of roughly 300 riders. The first 40 miles are flat to moderately rolling and the way it works is 5 to 10 guys pull the others for 40 miles at a fast pace – all the way into the base of ‘The Dragon’. We rolled out behind a sherrif’s patrol car and got an escort for quite a while.
This part of the ride was my first real experience in a large pack of riders. The benefit of drafting was clearly evident as we were cruising at anywhere from 24 to upwards of 30 mph and my heart rate was about the same as if I were riding 17-18. We did hit some short steep grades, roughly the equivalent of riding the 201 rollers, and the HR would go up as I had to do my own work, but overall it was a cinch. Craig, based on his previous experience, stayed roughly about 30 riders back while Ron and I followed his wheel.
At one point on a wide state route I saw a county sign coming up. Just for laughs I pulled out of the pack and ‘sprinted’ up beside Craig. I couldn’t beat him before we got there, as I had to ride through some gravel in the berm, but I got the desired roll of the eyes and laughs.
At about the 30 mile mark the ride seemed insanely easy and I began to wonder why we were going so slow. It was obvious that many others were thinking the same, and I began to hear complaints and rumblings of irritation. At this point I said out loud and to nobody in particular.. “Well, I suppose if we want to go faster, we could go to the front and do some of the work!”. Curiously, everybody else around stopped complaining.
Last year: Craig reported that the average speed at the base of the Dragon was 25.5.
This year: The average was barely over 22.
Challenge Phase 2 – Tail of the Dragon
This was the reason I came to the Cherohala Challenge. I wanted to see the famous/infamous/notorious Tail of the Dragon, aka Deals Gap, aka 318 turns in 13 miles. The key to this is obviously the technical aspect of the winding road, not necessarily the difficulty of the climbs. This part of the ride consisted of two main climbs.
The first is about 4.5 miles long and gains 900 feet in total, the grade being between 4-4.5% with a short bit of flat or descending about 2/3 of the way up. Then there’s a 2.5 mile descent of about 400 feet. The second is very similar, 4 miles and about 4% over the first 2/3, then a short descent and closer to 5% on the last 1/3 as you near the top.
At first I got myself settled into a rhythm and worked on staying on Craig and Ron’s wheel. I soon discovered two things.
- The riding was very comfortable even though the pace was high and my HRM said 180-1821
- Craig and Ron weren’t going fast enough for me, so I took over.
Now… if you are shocked to read #2, there are a number of reasons this happened. The first is that I’ve lost 12 pounds since we got back from Helen two months ago and the difference is unbelievable. The second is that I came to Cherohala not for the whole ride, but to ride this particular section. The third is I wanted to win the NC sign. I was super motivated and didn’t care if I crawled the rest of the way back. So I had nothing to lose.
By way of comparison, our average speed on these climbs was 12-13 mph instead of what would normally be about 10-11.
When we got to Rest Stop at the top of Deal’s Gap, Craig announced to fuel up quick and keep going. I went right past the stop and sprinted the extra 25 yards to win the state sign, then came back to fuel up. Priorities.
Last year: Craig stayed with the leaders to the top of the Dragon.
This year: We started out roughly in 40-50th position and though we caught and passed a fair number, were not with the leaders at the top.
Challenge Phase 3 – The River Valley
After a quick descent from Deal’s Gap, we started into a 14 mile section that mostly followed a river, climbing steadily at 1.5%. Ron, Craig and I traded pulls, me sitting on the back more at first as I recovered from the effort on the Dragon. We had four other guys with us who shared the load and we kept a brisk but comfortable 17-18 pace.
About 9 miles in, we hit a steep section that started out at 5% but then went over 7. I dropped off the back and said “Later, boys!”. I figured we’d be on steeper climbs from then on, and it was time to go my own pace. As it turns out, that was just a teaser and as things leveled off I closed the gap back up and got on.
Last year: I have no idea.. but it was miserably hot and humid from here on out. The sun was out and baking the road surface.
This year: The weather stayed cool until we hit the valley floor again at the end of the ride. There was also a lot of cloud cover and the road surfaces never heated up.
Intermission – The Mechanical
Remember that rear dérailleur cage I mentioned earlier? Well… just as we were about to begin the real climbing of the day, I shifted into my big ring on a short descent and things felt, and sounded, all wrong. I looked down and saw my upper jockey wheel hanging crooked and the bolt about to come out. I cursed, told the guys what was up, and told them to keep going. As I said, I really didn’t expect to stay with them anyway, and I REALLY had to pee.
I got off the bike and quickly evaluated the situation. I couldn’t just tighten the bolt as it had come loose of the guide and the chain had slipped off when I got off the bike. I removed the jockey wheel, realigned it and put it back on (#1), only to discover I left the chain in the wrong place. (Duh). Then, as I removed it I noticed that one of the metal caps was missing. I assumed it had come off further back when the bolt loosened, since it wasn’t anywhere near me. This could be bad.
I put the wheel back on (#2) and it wouldn’t turn – at all. Shit. I was beginning to think my day was done and I’d be sitting there for a couple hours waiting on a SAG from the most remote part of the route. All the while, people are riding past – “Are you OK?” “Need anything?”. I sent them all on past, not willing to give up just yet.
At this point it is worth mentioning the wonderful display of humanity during this little ‘adventure’. Of the roughly 8-10 groups or individual riders that went past me, every single one of them asked if I needed help. In fact… I started to get annoyed at having to answer!
Using a little bit of logic, I figured I’d put the jockey wheel back on again (#3) but with the remaining cap on the outside of the wheel, not the bolt side. This worked, and the wheel would turn, as long as I kept the tension light. This meant that for the next 3-4 hours and 45 miles, I’d be looking down constantly to make sure it didn’t come loose again. But hey… at least my ride was back on.
I picked up the bike, turned it around to face uphill, and lo and behold… the missing cap had been under the front wheel! I had some serious karma working for me that day. So… I unpacked my tools again, took the jockey wheel off and put it back one more time (#4) and finally had a fully functional bike once again.
Meanwhile, my Mad Cow buddies were 10-15 minutes up (literally) the road. Ah well… I took my nature break (which I had forgotten until then) and started into Phase 4.
Challenge Phase 4 – The Skyway Climb
The Cherohala Skyway is quite similar to the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was split into two parts with a Rest Stop part way up. The bottom part consists of 5.0 miles, 2.5 at 5.5%, then a short 1/4 mile descent, then the remaining quite a bit steeper at 7.2%. At this point I had had a rest, while fixing the bike, but I had also cooled down and lost a bit of my Dobo-mojo. I was relieved to be back on the road, but disheartened to have lost my chance to try to keep up with Craig and Ron. I let that get me down for a mile or so, but then realized I had a new motivator right in front of me. No less than 30 people went past me, and I could now make a game of chasing them down one by one. Gradually my spirits lifted (as did the elevation). I caught a few people and found myself really enjoying the climbing. The only minor problem was a bit of an upset stomach, which I am assuming is the result of the H.E.E.D. I drank at the top of Deal’s Gap. Note to self: don’t do that again.
I hit the rest stop with surprisingly little fluid gone, but noting that it was quite cool up there and I wasn’t sweating much. Still, I would make a conscious effort to drink more. I started out again quickly and hit the upper part of the Skyway climb. This consists of a short .5 mile that continues at the 7+ from before, a short descent, a 5 mile section at 6%, another short descent, then levels off for a mile, another .5 miles at 5% then another mile along the top to another rest stop.
At this point I was very happy to be at the top, as it did get a little long. But I was feeling real good and looking forward to the descent. I stopped a little bit longer here and ate some trail mix and cookies, then got ready to fly. I was also starting to consider total time at this point. There was a guy at the top saying to the Rest Stop volunteers that he didn’t think he could make the 6.5 hour time he did last year. I began to think that maybe I could (although I was going to ‘cheat’ and subtract the mechanical time). So I set my sights on beating 7 hours for sure, but trying for 6:45. This seems a little silly – as I had never done this ride, and although I knew the profile, still had no experience. I love to set these little mid-ride intermediate targets though.
Challenge Phase 5 – The Skyway Descent
The descent of the skyway is not pure descending. Just as the climb has a number of little .25-1 mile drops, the other side consists of a few minor, and a couple difficult, climbs along the way. Both of the hard ones are .6 miles at 8%, and although they are short, they are really hard mentally when you are wanting to be flying down the hill. I met them head on though, determined to finish my ride strong. Even at 8% I was averaging about 7 mph.
As I neared the top of what I thought was the last hard one, I talked to a guy who had obviously ridden the route before, and he confirmed that most of what was left was small rollers after a nice long 6 mile descent. I followed him down the wheel, trusting his experience and following his line, completely leaving off the brakes. At the bottom he suggested we wait for a couple guys and work together the rest of the way, but one of them wasn’t interested and I was pretty sure I was stronger alone than all of them, so I took off on the next small climb and hammered in.
Challenge Phase 6 – The Rolling Finish
The final 15 miles is like the Skyway Descent, only less grade change… mostly downhill with a series of ‘sawteeth’, small climbs that vary from .2 to .5 miles at anywhere from 3-7%. The last 5 miles is actually quite flat. I had a surprising amount of legs left, and plenty of lungs, so I hammered as hard as I could, hoping to make two goals now – under 6:45 (6:30) and average 18.0 for the ride.
I was pretty sure I had it locked up, except that those last 5 flat miles were into a W wind that seemed to come out of nowhere. I started my HRM just a little bit before the official start, so I made goal to hit 6:45 on the watch knowing I would actually be a couple minutes less than that. This ride is cruel, in that to finish you have to get up a .1 mile driveway that hits 7%. I dug the registration number out of my jersey pocket, stuck it in my teeth for the photographer, and sprinted.
The staff at the finish line laughed at the number in my teeth, some people cheered, and I turned to look at the finish clock which read – 6:43:00. I found out later that my mechanical cost me 3.25 minutes, so I actually did get in just under the 6.5 hour mark. And I also managed an 18.1 for the 115 mile ride.
I got to the car to find a freshly washed Craig and Ron and cussed ‘em out for not being at the line to see me finish. I was kidding of course, and they claimed they were on their way there. I then cursed them for assuming I would take longer to finish than what I did. Again – kidding.
Conclusion
I’m not sure if I can claim to have done the Cherohala Challenge. We obviously had ideal conditions to ride in, and my experience was wonderful. It hurt at times, but only on my own terms. I went only with the intent of riding one section all out and merely surviving the rest, and ended up with a consistent good result and a lot more endurance than I would have predicted going in. About halfway up the skyway my double did hit me a bit in a bit of soreness and fatigue, but it didn’t last.
Craig says he’s never doing this ride again. He had his worst ride ever a year ago and got his revenge this year. I’m more of a masochist, I guess – I want to experience the worst of it, so I may have to come back. Or maybe I’m just full of shit.
I’ll post the unofficial results once they’re published.
- my usual climbing threshold is 174-176 [↩]
