I'm going on one of my dream rides

[wavinwayne]

On the weekend of 4-21-07, I am traveling to Gatlinburg, TN. While I am there, I am going to do a bike ride that I've dreamed about for years. Basically, I'll be leaving Gatlinburg & riding into the Smoky Mountain National Park on Hwy 441/71. The road winds up through the Great Smoky Mountains for approx. 13 miles, then I'll make the right turn onto Clingman's Dome Rd. to climb to the peak at Clingman's Dome. That's the highest point in the Southeast AFAIK. Altitude tops out at 6643 ft. This will be the longest & highest climb I've ever done on my road bike & I am STOKED!!! Total distance round-trip is only approx 40 miles, but I expect it to feel like 3X that.

Have any of you guys ever done this ride? If so, I'd appreciate any pointers you might be able to give about the ride. Other than the traffic & the stray black bear, it should be an uneventful, exhausting, and absolutely beatiful ride. Pics will be taken & posted.

 

[wantin150]

Can't help you on that one. Some buddies and I are going to ride Hwy 11 from I-85 to Table Rock State Park (50 miles)and then "maybe" do the over 2200 ft of climing in 6 miles to the top of Ceasar's Head soon. I feel your excitement, really. Stay fueled, stay hydrated, and pray to the granny gear master!

Good luck!

 

[moribundman]

Quote:

---

The road winds up through the Great Smoky Mountains for approx. 13 mile

---

You are obviously starting at the wrong end!

 

[wavinwayne]

I just checked with one of my friends who has done this ride before. The total distance from the entrance to the National Park to the summit is 31.6 miles, and it's all uphill. I can't wait. I've trained since last summer for this ride.

The last time I drove through the Park, I saw a black bear a couple hundred yards off the road. This should be an interesting ride for sure. One of the neatest things about the Park is the old-growth forests. We don't have trees like that around my neck of the woods.

 

[gizzsdad]

Wayne,

Do you run a double or triple in front?

Interestingly, when Colorado people come to Iowa for RAGBRAI, some of them feel like our seemingly endless rolling hills are harder than riding in the mountains, which have a steady incline for which you can find a gear and grind away.

Will be interested to hear how it goes. Good luck.

Mike

 

[wavinwayne]

gizzsdad,

I run a compact 34/48 double crank. I have an 11/26 cassette. This won't be the steepest mountain I've climbed, not by a long shot, just the longest. I'll probably ride most of the mountain in a 34/22 to 34/24 gearing.

I can't wait!!! I've already talked one of my riding buddies into joining me. It's going to be FUN.

 

[Bill Kapaun]

"I'll probably ride most of the mountain in a 34/22 to 34/24 gearing." He hopes

 

[dailydriver]

Quote:

---

gizzsdad,

I run a compact 34/48 double crank. I have an 11/26 cassette. This won't be the steepest mountain I've climbed, not by a long shot, just the longest. I'll probably ride most of the mountain in a 34/22 to 34/24 gearing.

I can't wait!!! I've already talked one of my riding buddies into joining me. It's going to be FUN.

---

IF you're in shape, and have a decent power to weight ratio, that sounds like it should do the trick. Which brand offers a 48 big ring on a compact crankset?? (I'm only familiar with Campy stuff, and their 50 tooth)
What is the grade percentage of this climb (peak and average)?

 

[wavinwayne]

Quote:

---

IF you're in shape, and have a decent power to weight ratio, that sounds like it should do the trick. Which brand offers a 48 big ring on a compact crankset?? (I'm only familiar with Campy stuff, and their 50 tooth)
What is the grade percentage of this climb (peak and average)?

---

My 34/48 compact is a cheap Asian-made unit that I picked up extra cheap from a riding buddy. I don't think there are any commercially available 48T chainrings these days, but I could be wrong.

I don't know the grade of the climb exactly, but it probably averages less than 5%, with a couple of very short sections of 7-9%. Nothing too steep & nothing I can't handle; I am in very, very good shape, and I mean that.

 

[Papa Bear]

All the best to you W.W. !!
I dream of that ride on my old '65 B.S.A. Lightning 650.

 

[Bill Kapaun]

Forgot to post this link-

http://www.bikeforums.net/index.php

They have "Regional" forums along with various others of interest.
Set up similar to BITOG

 

[msparks]

Good Luck,

I need to go do that ride as well. Have you done the cheaha challange? I used to live in Jacksonville but never bicycled down there.

I'm working on getting my legs back now (took 4 months off) Maybe by the end of summer I could tackle something like that.

 

[wavinwayne]

The ride was the best of my life. I couldn't justify lugging my heavy digi-cam up the mountain, so the only camera I had was my picture phone. Here is a pic of me that I asked a stranger to snap, at approx the 1/2 way point:

The picture quality sucks, but at least I got a few pics from the ride. Also, I had come a LOT further vertically than this picture seems to suggest. The valley you can see in the picture is NOT where the road is. It's way over to the right of the picture (outside of pic.) & WAYYYYYYY down.

 

[Bill Kapaun]

I was wondering if you made it out alive!
How did the gearing work out?

 

[wavinwayne]

Bill,

My gearing was perfect for the ride. I spent the majority of the trip in 34x22 & 34x24. I never used the granny gear (34x26).

The ride was absolutely beautiful. Words written here can not do justice to the beauty of the Smoky Mtn. National Park. Like I said above, I rate this as the best bicycle ride I've ever done.

I started my ride at 7:30 am EST, and even though it was a Saturday, there was very little traffic going up the mountain, even on the road that leads the final 7 miles up to Clingmans Dome.

On the return trip down the mountain, the traffic was absolutely horrible. I'm glad I left early. Total distance up the mountain from the Gatlinburg visitors center (at the entrance to the Park) was only 20.5 miles.

This is the part that nobody will want to believe, but it's true: I saw 3 black bears on the trip back down the mountain, in the same place we had stopped in the car the day before, when we spotted the same 3 bears.

The scariest part of the whole ride was going up the mountain, past the area where I knew those bears tend to congregate. There was no traffic on the road as I rode past the bears' home. Fortunately, they were not in the mood for a wavinwayne breakfast.