The Cycling Addiction: 2010 3 State 3 Mountain Century

(video and photos by Gary Quellet - quelletcycling.com)

2010 100 Mile Route Information & Downloads
Mapmyride Link
TCX | GPX | KML

The Group: We had a good showing from our local rides go up to do this ride. There were too many to list each name. The amazing thing is how long our group stayed together through most of the ride. I was the one that dropped out about mile 82 from really bad cramps in both legs so I did not finish with the group, but at least I did finish.

The Ride Organizers & Helpers: To me what is impressive about this ride is not only the route, but the amount of help at every point for the number of cyclists. From the start location at the stadium providing a good facility, to the amount of police who work at about every intersection in town along the route and even out in remote areas. The sag stops are well stocked and have a lot of helpers and are located in ideal places. No wonder this ride has a lot of cyclists attending each year. Big salute and appreciation to all of those who helped make the ride more pleasurable. I also liked some of the minor route changes this year.

The Ride: I will be honest that I was concerned that I had done enough training this year in preparation. I know I could have used more and do feel like I was behind schedule. Today my goal was to conserve as much energy as possible so I am not surprised by the power output numbers being low. Heading out of Chattanooga with hundreds of cyclists grouped around you makes it a bit unnerving, but our group stayed in tact and within view going up Suck Mountain. Climbing Suck Mountain felt easy, but it comes early in the ride and the gradient is not too bad. For me it can be an easy lure to put out more effort to hang with those hammering up the hill, but I just stayed focused on the power meter and kept it lower effort. This was the first year that I was able to descend on dry roads, but still did so with caution, whereas, many were having fun letting it rip down the twisty fast downhill.

The stretch between Suck Mountain and Sand Mountain seemed to go fairly fast for me this year. Our group worked well together in a pace line formation and the speeds were fairly quick. Climbing Sand Mountain took a bit more effort to climb, but still was not too bad once I was in my own zone, which was slower than my group. I was the last one up by a couple of minutes. On the top of Sand Mountain there is not really a descent for a while and not much of one when you get to that point. One can keep a fairly fast pace riding on the top of Sand Mountain plateau.

As we approached the 80 mile mark we knew that hardest climb of the day was getting near. There is a short steep climb before you get there, which will give you an idea of how your legs are going feel climbing Burkhalter Gap. This short climb certainly had me coming out of the saddle using a compact chain ring and a 28 cog. I stopped at the sag stop at the base of this last mountain climb with the group, but did not refill the bottles. I had just enough fluid in my bottles to make this short steep climb.

And there it was. Burkhalter Gap Road is a couple miles long at about 10 to 13% gradient. It is unlike the other twisty type climbs. This road takes a direct path uphill. The road is straight and it is deceptive in appearance. It does not look as steep as it is, but when you look ahead you see many cyclists pedaling really slow with a lot of effort in their legs. Your eyesight of the road has you thinking it should not be this hard and your legs may be asking why it is that hard. There were a few that were climbing as if it were easy, but not many in my view. I could have gone harder myself, but I knew the wall was coming in that last 500 yards so I tried my best to keep my heart rate as low as possible, but the nature of the climb and the effort to keep the bike upright will still tax the heart. I could feel a tremendous amount of heat coming off my upper body and off my head. The sweat was streaming and not dripping at this point as the climb just does not seem to end. That two miles of seems like it will never end, but when the road hooks hard to the right there is the wall and it turns upward to over 20% for a duration. I was worn out before I got to the wall and when I made the turn to the right I simply could not imagine finishing the climb. Mentally and physically I was cooked, but I just kept saying, "determination" to myself to defeat the negative thoughts. I gave everything I had to keep the bike moving forward and made it all the way and into the the sag stop. I stood up and then collapsed on the my top tube of my bike feeling tremendously exhausted, shaky, and overheated. It took me a few minute to regain my composure so that I could refill my bottles and get back with my group, who all looked fresh and ready to finish the last 20 miles. Gary told me that he had some muscular and knee issues on the climb as well, but he finished strong.

Leaving the sag stop after the climb there is another big rolling hill ahead and as we were climbing I could feel spasms starting to fire in various areas of my legs and then they all went toward the summit of this roller. Both legs were cramping from the top down to the calves. All I could do is sit down on the top tube and not move. I looked back at the sag stop and wonder if I should turn back because I knew there were rolling hills ahead, but I also knew that I would be very disappointed to go that far and fail with just a few more miles ahead. After a period of time the cramps started to reduce and I was able to get the bike going again using a small gear and try to lightly spin out the remaining cramps. As I went my legs were starting to recover and I was downing as much water as possible. I hooked up with a guy from Florida walking his bike up a roller as he had experienced some cramping. I rode the remaining miles with him and one of his buddies. Scott and James I believe were their names. Finally we reached the downhill of Look Out Mountain and that was an enjoyable descent into Chattanooga. The remaining miles were on the city streets were partitioned off with the orange cones and police at the intersections controlling traffic for the returning cyclists. That part is a sweet feeling because you know at that point it is about over and you have made it.

Even though I conserved a lot of energy before Burkhalter, I still was more tired than I had expected. My group seemed to do very well and for some of them it was their first time. They all did very well and it was a great day for our group. The storms held off this year and we all had a great day despite me having some issues at the end. I must recover because next weekend I have Up the Creek Without a Pedal century, which is more flat and can be very fast.

The Climbs:
Suck Creek Mountain - Starts near mile 11.2 and ends near mile 16.6. It is approximately 5 miles long at 4 to 6%
Sand Mountain - Starts near mile 52.6 and ends near mile 55.9. It is approximately 3.3 miles long at 6 to 7%
Burkhalter Gap Road (Lookout Mountain) - Starts near mile 81.6 and ends near 84.4. It is approximately 2.3 mile long at 10% and about 1700 yards at ~20%+.

Other significant bumps in the road occur between mile 44 to 45 and from mile 78 to 79.

Ride Data (My Powertap hub was not working correctly)
    Duration:     6:50:09 (7:45:56)
    Work:          2111 kJ
    Distance:     99.9 mi