Andy Schleck in the maillot jaune (with long shirt sleeves scrunched up). As happy faces go, I think we’ve all seen him do better.
(via Luxembourg’s Andy Schleck Poses - Yahoo! Sports Photos)
Andy doesn’t look too excited. Almost 2 years after…..
Movistar’s Andrey Amador of Costa Rica (L) reacts as he crosses the finish line ahead of NetApp’s Jan Barta of Czech Republic to win the 206-km 14th stage of the Giro d’Italia from Cherasco to Cervinia May 19, 2012. (via Photo from Reuters Pictures)
COSTA RICA
COSTA RICA
COSTA RICA
From his morning-time perch above the southbound lanes of Highway 85 in Monterrey, Mexico, photographer Alejandro Cartagena catches images of people on their way to work.
this is beautiful.
3 State 3 Mountains CHALLENGE RECAP
After the Cheaha Gran Fondo Challenge a couple of weeks before, some of us from SCC (Southern Crescent Cycling) took a trip out to Chattanooga, TN for another mountain/climbing Challenge Century.
In case you missed the recap on the Cheaha Challenge, the links are below:
http://cyclingforever.tumblr.com/post/21712768903/cheaha-challenge-gran-fondo-century-recap-part-1
http://cyclingforever.tumblr.com/post/21780502472/cheaha-challenge-gran-fondo-century-recap-part-2
Rumor was that this mountain century was easier than the Cheaha. The 3 State 3 Mountain Challenge has a reputation for being among the prettiest rides in the South east. It visits 3 states (Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama). Each state offers a different mountain, different roads, different foods, different accents on their people, and even different weather…darn Alabama poured rain on us.
The toughest one of the mountains happens to be Lookout Mountain ( Burkhalter Gap) on the Georgia side. This century was a great example of “save the worst for last”. At mile 82 or so, they throw at you the toughest climb. Never in my life have I seen so many people dismount their bikes. You are very likely to see a toddler learning how to walk pass a person on their bike…yep…that’s how steep that last mountain is. Once again I found myself reaching for gears that I did not have.
The crew from SCC traveled on Friday morning and afternoon to Chattanooga, TN. From SCC we had: Obie Ingram, Dr John Harsch, Mike Dozier,and myself
We had a bigger group going but injuries among other factors prevented the rest to attend. Josh “Catch me if you can” Reeves was still out with an injury and stayed home enjoying watching THOR beat the life out of people on the AVENGERS movie.
Chattanooga, TN is just a beautiful town. The Aquarium is much smaller than the one in Atlanta, but in my opinion is much more fun and interesting. The way it is built makes it that way.
TENNESSEE AQUARIUM
Most of us decided to stay at the Marriott Courtyard by the IMAX and Aquarium.
The Hotel was beautiful, and very well located. It offered a central location on the downtown are. Very easy to access all local activities within walking distance. The only problem we found, was the time breakfast started. Making this difficult for us to eat there and be on time to the start of the event.
Right away you would notice that this little city has a lot of character, and love towards the sport of cycling. You can see people of all ages riding around their bikes at all times of the day. All it took for me was just to open the window of the Hotel and look outside.
The downtown offers parking spots that lock your bike. A great idea that I wish we could implement here in Henry County.
OK….It was out of order, but it is still a great idea.
The more I looked around, the more different kinds of bikes I saw. All brands, all colors, all ages, all sizes. A town in love with the sport of cycling.
And when I say that there were all kinds of bikes, I really mean that.
This picture I took walking along WALNUT STREET BRIDGE, which happens to be one of the longest pedestrian bridges in the world. More info on this beautiful bridge is below. Walking across this bridge while in Chattanooga is a must.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walnut_Street_Bridge_(Tennessee)
Here are some other pictures taken from the bridge with either my iPhone or my Canon Camera.
Picture I took using HDR feature on my camera. The picture was taken while we walked the WALNUT STREET BRIDGE.
As the night came in, it was time for the SCC folks to grab a good dinner prior to next days Mountain Challenge. We opted for the BIG RIVER GRILLE.
http://www.bigrivergrille.com/
A wonderful restaurant that brews their own beer. It was a no brainer. Only a block away from our Hotel. Thanks to Obie, and Dr. Harsch, we did not have to wait at all to get sited. Quite a relief since that place was packed. Most of us went for the beer sampler and pasta. It was a great decision. It offered us the chance to sample all of the beer produced at the restaurant on eight small cups. I don’t drink usually, but how could I pass that ?
Don’t let the small cups fool you, those little guys were strong…too strong. After the bread pudding dessert (Obie stole most of my portion), we headed back to the Hotel where I found myself a little happy…too happy.
The following morning we found ourselves without breakfast at the Hotel due to the later time they served it. We were advised to go to the CITY CAFE DINER, only located a few blocks, and opened 24/7.
We ran into Mike Dozier over there, and we all enjoyed a great breakfast. Can’t complain about this place. It was inexpensive, fast, and the food was great tasting and healthy OK…I am lying, but with 100 miles coming we needed our fuel.
Obie, Diane, and Mike having breakfast.
OBIE had the French Toast (HULK VERSION).
I opted for the Waffle with Pecans and Bananas.
After breakfast, we proceeded over to the start point of the 3 State 3 Mountain Challenge. The ride started just a few blocks from City Cafe Diner at Finley Stadium. Plenty of parking space was available. We couldn’t pick up our packet the night before, and that was a good thing. From what we heard, the bulk of participants tried to pick up their packets the night before, and the wait was almost an hour. We picked up our packets an hour prior to the start of the event, and there was no wait at all.
Here we see Dr Harsch getting his number and timing chip. John was a monster that day climbing as well as Obie Ingram.
Inside Finley stadium, it was very organized and there were very few riders early on. Most of them had already picked up their numbers the night before. The only flaw was the long lines to use the bathroom. Many other bathrooms were available at the stadium, but they decided to keep them closed.
A cyclist observes the sunrise 45 minutes prior to the start. Approx. there were 1500 or more who started the Challenge.
I decided to place my cell phone inside the car, and not take it on the climbs…yes I was trying to stay as light as possible. Reason being I have no pics from the actual ride. Right before I put my phone away, I was able to snap a picture of an abandoned building that caught my eye. The Challenge actually started next to this building.
That decision paid off, as during the last climb I wish all I had was my bike, shoes and bibs. The topography map of the ride looked something like the picture below, except that the first mountain was changed due to construction on a bridge. This made the ride a little longer and steeper…..My luck. Suck Creek Mountain was replaced by Aetna Mountain due to construction.
2011 ROUTE
2012 ROUTE
The Century was full of breath taking mountains.
AETNA MOUNTAIN (Tennessee)
The first mountain was long and steady.The climbing started maybe around mile 10-12. In my opinion the easiest one of the three. You could say a smaller less steep version of Neil’s point at the 6 Gaps. Concluding the first mountain there was a rest stop. After the rest stop, rain started to come down hard on us.
This picture was taken after the first mountain. Right after it rained on us. Here we were on our way to the second climb
SAND MOUNTAIN (Alabama)
This was the second mountain. It reminded me a lot of WOLF-PEN GAP. A very steep but shorter climb. Roads were curved and lots of turns. You could see finally people really starting to struggle and getting off their bikes. This mountain was very pretty secondary to all the trees surrounding the road. Once again, after the climb there was a rest stop. Here you could see more people stopping for obvious reasons. This climb was around mile 50 but it felt earlier on the ride.
LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN (Georgia)
Prior to lookout mountain, there was along, long section of rolling hills. This gave everyone a chance to draft, and recover. A very much contrast to the Cheaha Challenge where no recovery was given.
Those rollers were from mile 55-60 till about mile 82. Right before the climb to Lookout Mountain, there was a rest stop. It was calm before the storm. You saw people quiet, and pacing around. Everyone knew what was coming. After the rest stop, within .6 miles we took a left turn and BAM….There it was. You could see all the way up people dropping like flies. This in my opinion was the toughest climb up to date. The fact that it came at mile 82 or so, made it extremely hard. I could swear that I saw ants go faster than me on my bike. This thing was plain nasty, specially at the top where it went to a 18-20 percentage grade incline. You could hear those cowbells, and people yelling. It was a sign that the climb was coming to an end. People on the side were wearing masks and stuff. It had a TOUR DE FRANCE FAN FLAVOR for sure.
After the third mountain we got hit with what I called the fourth mountain. Maybe it was just a baby one, but with 85 miles on your legs, this last segment of rollers was just plain nasty. I don’t think our descent started until like mile 98 or so. The descent was quick, fast, and SUPER dangerous because of how curved the road was, and the upcoming traffic. If you have been up to Ruby Falls before, that’s the same road. Towards the bottom of the mountain, the lanes were separated by cones. One lane was just for cyclists. The police made sure to block traffic on the last 3 miles or so completely, making it safe and exciting for all of us.
I must say we all got challenged by this century. Not as hard as the Cheaha or the 6 Gaps but by far very much more organized than the 6 Gaps. The views were spectacular.
As far as the t-shirt, they did a great job with it. A picture is worth a thousand words, so here is a picture of it.
My son Max and a very tired me hanging out at the hotel a few hours after the century.
Will I do this century again ? Absolutely.
I have also copied and pasted a description of the ride.
The following is an extract from the website regarding this century ride.
“Riders will leave Finley stadium and head south toward Lookout Mountain. You will ride along the toe of the mountain and into Lookout Valley. Cummings Highway becomes Hwy. 41 and the climb begins soon. Hwy. 41 follows the river for several miles with an early long hill, followed by some rollers before the final 6 miles of “up”. The descent is a blast! Nothing tricky, just tuck and enjoy the ride down to the water.
The route picks up the old route at this point and continues over Ladd’s Mountain (a little stinger thrown in for good measure!) and on to Sand Mountain. The route does not go up the highway but takes a much less traveled county road up the mountain, lovingly referred to as the “goat path”. (Private sags - please take the highway up the mountain. You can meet your riders where the event route joins the highway at the top.) On top the route continues through Bryant, Flat Rock and Ider, Alabama, along the East brow and down the mountain.
Once down the mountain, it’s just a short ride over to the final climb up Burkhalter Gap, and the site of the Conquer the Gap timed climb. After a few more rolling hills and a few miles of steady rising grade on top of Lookout Mountain the route descends Ochs Highway into downtown and to the finish at the stadium.
There are 5 to 6 rest stops on the route.
Note: As for the gradients of the climbs … The mountains increase in difficulty. Aetna is long and gentle - around 5 miles at a 4-7% average grade. Sand is shorter and slightly steeper - 2.5 miles at a 6-7% average grade, with steeper switchbacks. Lookout is by far the steepest - 2.3 miles at a 8-10% grade with a 18 - 20% grade at the top.
The website for this event is the following:
http://www.chattbike.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=63&Itemid=37
