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05-04-08, 07:16 AM
Unlike Will, I was able to ride 3 states in one day. Well-we didn't go across 3 states but we just clipped the corners of Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia. It was a loop out of Chattanooga and called the 3 State 3 Mountain ride and was 100 miles. There were almost 2500 riders signed up but I suspect the weather caused the actual number to be much, much less. I debated not riding but had driven 320 miles and had spent tons of money on gas so what the heck.
If the weather had been cooperative I'm sure the views would have been incredible up on the ridges. However, most of what I saw was clouds, rain and mist. As suspected with the rain, there were lots and lots of riders with flats.
This should have been a fairly fast century as almost half of the ride is excellent paceline stuff. However with the weather and the time trial I did earlier in the week plus following golfers at the Wachovia for 2 days Wednesday and Thursday turned into more of 6 hrs of sightseeing for me. I suspect playing golf the day before on a really hilly course didn't help the cause very much either.
Over half the climbing was in the 3 distinct climbs. The climbs weren't too bad but the 3rd one had a nice 14% grade for about the last quarter mile. The steepest hill wasn't very long but came at the 80 mile mark. I saw 26% on my Garmin while riding up it and after downloading it, it looked to be almost 24%-a nice little grunt.
Here is the elevation profile:
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa36/jppe/3State3Mountain.jpg
If the weather had been cooperative I'm sure the views would have been incredible up on the ridges. However, most of what I saw was clouds, rain and mist. As suspected with the rain, there were lots and lots of riders with flats.
This should have been a fairly fast century as almost half of the ride is excellent paceline stuff. However with the weather and the time trial I did earlier in the week plus following golfers at the Wachovia for 2 days Wednesday and Thursday turned into more of 6 hrs of sightseeing for me. I suspect playing golf the day before on a really hilly course didn't help the cause very much either.
Over half the climbing was in the 3 distinct climbs. The climbs weren't too bad but the 3rd one had a nice 14% grade for about the last quarter mile. The steepest hill wasn't very long but came at the 80 mile mark. I saw 26% on my Garmin while riding up it and after downloading it, it looked to be almost 24%-a nice little grunt.
Here is the elevation profile:
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa36/jppe/3State3Mountain.jpg