| RIDE REPORT: 2008 Cheaha Challenge Century |
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I've been reading the emails about the 3S3M and wanted to share my
experience at the Cheaha Challenge in Piedmont, AL this past
Sunday.This ride benefits the Chief Ladiga Trail a Rails to Trails
trail that runs from the Gadsden, AL area all the way to Atlanta, GA
and is put on by the Northeast Alabama Bicycle Club (neabc.org). In a nutshell...great weather, challenging climbs, fast descents, Tour de France Podium girls, Satan, well stocked rest stops, hula dancers, and great volunteers. The ride leaves out of the small town of Piedmont, AL and heads south through the Talladega National Forest passing very near (a few hundred feet) of Alabama's highest point atop Mt Cheaha. The ride headed out at 7:30am sharp to the song "Sweet Home Alabama". The weather was sunny and in the 50's and 60's. There were approximately 700 riders in attendance. The ride seemed to be well supported by the town, as we rolled through town, people were on their porches cheering us on. The first 20-30 miles are pretty flat and people were making good use of it. Right before the second rest stop the climbing began and from there on it was pretty much climb, descend and repeat for the next 50 or so miles. One of the fun climbs is Horseblock Mountain, its only about a mile or so up, what makes it fun is rest stop #3. It has a Tour de France theme, complete with Devil Guy and Podium girls. See the attached pictures. I'm the one between the Podium girls.The other big climb of the day was Mt. Cheaha. The rest stop there had people dressed in grass skirts. I made one of the ladies do the hula for me as I neared the top. After this you ride out to Adam's Gap where the road dead ends, you turn around a go back to Piedmont. This sounds like it might be boring, but its a totally different ride going back. Different challenges and the scenery looks different as well. I think its one of the strong points of this ride as well. The ride had super support. I never went more than a few miles without seeing a volunteer of some sort. There were club volunteers, HAM radio operators, guys on Harley's, and bike shops doing the wrenching. If you think about it they only have to handle 50 miles instead of a hundred, which makes all of this so much easier and better. Its held on the Sunday after 3S3M. I am thinking I want to try both next year. I've never ridden the 3S3M though, so that might change my mind. If you can't make the 3S3M or want something different, consider the Cheaha Challenge. One other thing. I had 4 flats within a few miles during this ride. The owner of Vicious Cycles in Sylacauga, AL helped me out 3 of those times (I changed the first one myself). We could not find what was causing the flat. The last time he reached in and just swapped my wheel out with a very nice one he had. He was going to trust me to find him at the finish and swap back. He caught up with me a couple hours later and had found the problem, fixed it and we swapped back. Anyway, if you are in Sylacauga, AL and need something for a bike, go see him. Thanks for letting me ramble on. |
