Sunday, April 14, 2013

Team Camp: Chattanooga

Sunday atop Signal Mountain

The skinny:
  • Friday we climbed Raccoon Mountain and rode the River Gorge RR course.
    • 42.03 miles, 2:26, 17.2 mph (48.4 max), 4064' ascent, 4066' descent
  • Saturday morning we rode Lookout Mountain twice, once halfway up and once all the way up.
    • ~40 miles, ~2:43, ~14.8 mph (46+ max), ~5114' ascent, ~5342' descent
    • I accidentally turned my computer off for ~5mi/the entire descent off Lookout
  • Saturday afternoon we rode the State TT course, and I did one out-and back section plus cooldown.
    • 13.15 miles, 44:57, 17.6 mph (32.8 max), 843' ascent, 851' descent
  • Sunday morning we rode Signal Mountain twice, and it hurt!
    • 60.73 miles, 3:48, 15.9 mph (49.1 max), 5632' ascent, 5706' descent

The pictures: 

Friday atop Raccoon Mountain

#2, including Shannon

Saturday, climbing Lookout Mountain

Saturday, my fast teammates climbing Lookout

Saturday morning pre-ride

Saturday atop Lookout Mountain

Saturday pre-ride

Sunday atop Signal Mountain, having fun

The details:

We headed down to Chattanooga Friday and rode the River Gorge course (2012 race, 2012 pre-ride, 2011 race, 2011 pre-ride). Saturday morning we left from the house we were staying at to get a feel for the US Pro Road Race that is coming up at the end of May. It climbs up Lookout Mountain from Ochs Road, cuts off on Sanders, climbs a little more, and then descends down Scenic Highway. Repeat. This will be a hard race! The second time we climbed, instead of descending down Scenic Highway, we continued climbing until we reached the top. We rode around there for a while and then got to descent the whole Scenic Highway. Amazing! Shannon did a lot of our route planning, and it was nice to have someone along who knows that area well.

Saturday afternoon we rode the State TT course. I loved the park we parked at and want to go back there to hike through it! The TT course will be fast and is a power-rider's course, not a climber's course, so that is great for me. There will be 4 turnarounds, one end on flat ground and the end right at the top of a hill. Hello, fast descent to begin the second lap! It will be approximately 30K, and I like the course. Two right-hand turns to the first turnaround, two left-hand turns and a hill to the second turnaround.

Saturday night we had fun. T got us pizza so we could eat in, and we sat around and chatted all evening. Then we wanted ice cream. We walked to a place we thought would have ice cream, Aretha Frankensteins, but instead of being a coffee/dessert shop, it was more of a bar with a few breakfast items for "dessert." We weren't having any of it! So we continued walking until we got to Clumpy's, which thankfully was open and satisfied our cravings for ice cream. Yum! It was also super fun to get out of the house, and a nice treat to be able to walk rather than ride somewhere.

Sunday after packing up (we stayed at a great house that required minimal cleaning prior to checkout) we drove to the parking lot of Whole Foods and left from there for a double Signal Mountain climb. Up and down the first time was the same route we'd done for Ragnar (2012, 2011, 2010), so I knew it well and had fun on the descent. We rode in the valley for a while and then climbed again, a way I didn't know. It was about a 5.7-mile climb, and then for the next several miles we did a lot of rollers and a few little descents. But finally we made it to the actual descent, and I started at the front (where I like to be on descents!). Todd was driving sag, and he went down first, so I just imagined following his wheel. It was a very non-technical descent, and I hit 49.1mph mph going down. He has hit up to 60mph before, but there wasn't enough road for me and I had cars in front of me, so ~50mph was pretty good for this time :-)

After rolling back into town and getting drizzled on, we hit up Whole Foods for lunch (not nearly as good as Wegman's) and headed home, where I threw everything in the washer.

This was a super fun weekend. We got a lot of miles in, had a blast with each other, all got along well, ate enough, slept mostly enough, and rode well. I am proud of everyone for riding as well as they did. I love this team!

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