2009 Cherohala Challenge (20 June 2009) Tellico Plains, TN
 

Event Information

A few BikeForumers are planning on doing the century ride. This is a chance to meet and ride with other members, while enjoying the legendary Tail of the Dragon and Cherohala Skyway.

i'm in. see ya there. :)

Which bike are you bringing?

:eek: Do I want to move there???
My wife said we should drive up that way to look for a "retirement" home. We want to get away from the noise, traffic, and congestion of Atlanta.
The skyway looks very nice but the tail of the dragon looks like a place to avoid. :eek: ;)

which one do you think i'm bringing? :D

People always think that retirement would be great in places like the area around the Skyway. But, it gets old having to drive long distances to get to a store, there is no good hospital within at least an hour drive and no real activities other than self motivated outdoor sports. I can tell you riding alone everyday gets old fast.

I will be extra impressed if you bring the fixie.

:lol: not likely. i value my knees too much to even attempt anything like that ride on something like that bike...besides it has a huge gear on it....Ruby will be there. :)

Lots of people retire in Tellico Village and nearby areas. It's close to (or on) the water and not too far from the mountains.

I do that now. :twitchy:

Not interested in the water but the mountains would be nice -- as long as you're not talking about the "tail" type mountains. :)

No one lives along the Dragon, or the Skyway for that matter. One of the notable features of this ride is how remote it is. You only pass a handful of gas stations along the entire 115-mile route.

Count me in too. I will be driving up from Chattanooga on Sat. morning. Not looking forward to getting up that early to make the 7am start. :twitchy: I hope to meet some of you guys on the ride.

I'll be there and am looking forward to it. Its an epic ride of sorts. Lots of diversity in the landscape. The finger style lakes are particularly scenic.

Yes, tell me about it. I'm coming from Knoxville. The event starts 1/2 hour earlier this year. I didn't vote for that change. :rolleyes:

I expect that some of us will start together this year, and see how it goes. As far as I'm concerned, you can join us until you grow weary of the slow pace. :lol:

It has four distinct sections, each of which bears little resemblance to the others.

--Rolling countryside in Monroe and Blount Counties

--Tail of the Dragon

--Tapoco Dam through Lake Santeetlah

--The Skyway

That's four rides for the price of one. :)

Perhaps I can keep up in the flatlands. Me dropping the pack in the hills = not going to happen! :roflmao2: I will be in conserve mode as much as possible.

Checking the long-term weather forecast, looks like it could be a little toasty for the ride (95 F on Fri and 90 F on Sat). Sat is still a ways off though. Pray for cloud cover! I did not see much shade when I did the CC metric route a few weeks back. Maybe the NC side of the skyway has all the shade. :rolleyes:

Went for a 6 hour ride with some climbing this past Sat and was boiled like an egg (heat index was 96 F in Chattanooga)!

Unfortunately, no. Once you turn onto the access road to the Skyway (just past the lake), you're under the mercy of the sun. If it's hot/sunny, the first 1,500-2,000 feet of climbing can be pretty miserable.

Due to time of day/elevation, I doubt we'll see anything above 90F on the course, but 80s + direct sun can be bad enough.

We should start the Skyway climb about 11am, no? :rolleyes:

yea, i'm sure you guys will. i plan on carrying my extra water bottle for on teh bike showers. i hate the heat. :(

Second or third time in the last 24 hours I've seen "wolfpack" with this typo. I am so glad that I am not the only one that does that repeatedly. :D:o

LOL @ skiffrun. :)

it's a common typo i do believe. (and thanks - you should know what i'm talking about. :) )

I was happy with the earlier start this year. It should work to our advantage, a little.

You better be on time Velo V.

I'll be there. But I will be in enjoying-the-scenery mode, and I plan to spend the day off the back.

That will be extra weight. :p

A question for those who have done it before: How safe is riding on The Dragon? I have been up there before and driven it and saw the tuner cars and cafe bikes absolutely flying and using all of the road through the corners. Do they shut down the road?

+1