Tennessee 600K Ride Report - Jeff Sammons

TENNESSEE 600K RIDE REPORT
June 2nd & 3rd 2007
By Jeff Sammons, Tennessee RBA

I left work early on Friday, hoping to get to the Best Western hotel before everyone else did so I could get my stuff together prior to 7:00 PM when bike inspections were due to start. However, when I pulled into the parking lot, several people were already there checking into their hotel rooms. I resisted their prodding to start bike inspections early and went about my business of getting my truck unloaded and room set-up. I made a short trip down to the Kroger for some food and beer, and picked up a barbeque sandwich and fries up at Charlie’s on my way back. As I was eating my sandwich and drinking my beer, they assaulted me again to start the bike inspections, so I relented to their demands. A short time later, our drop bag driver Danny Broetzmann showed up. He and I would be sharing a room tonight. Danny volunteered so he could find out more information about our Brevet series as he was interested in doing some longer rides. About 8:30 PM, the last two riders from North Carolina arrived and completed their bike inspections.

I was up early, by 2:30 AM, getting ready for the ride start at 4:00 AM. We had 13 hardy Randonneurs and 1 Randonneuse at the start. I gave some last minute instructions and we were off. The pack stayed together thru the first 14 miles of rollers, and then Glenn Brown and I fell off the back when we hit the first climb on Baker Mountain Road. Climbing has never been one of my strong suits. We kept the pack in sight for a while but never caught back up with them. We encountered a few more rollers going thru the scenic “Fall Creek Falls” state park. By the time we got to the first control (38 miles) just outside the park, everyone was gone. Glenn and I had planned to ride together anyway as this was his first 600K. After a short stop, we were off to Pikeville. Just before the descent down to Pikeville, Kevin Warren came riding up behind us. Seems he got dropped by the pack at the first control, made a wrong turn, and got in four bonus miles. This would be Kevin’s first 600K as well.

The 2-1/2 mile descent down into the Sequatchie River Valley and the town of Pikeville was fast and furious. Since the valley wasn’t that wide, it wasn’t long before we were climbing up Dayton Mountain on the other side. From this side, the grades were easy on the way up so I was able to ride it all in my middle ring. Once on top, we had almost six miles of rollers before the 3-1/2 mile (8% grade) descent down to the town of Dayton, famous for the 1925 religion-vs-evolution "Scopes Monkey Trial". After crossing the Tennessee River and another short climb, we made it to the third control in Riceville (97 miles). While we were stopped, Dave Penegar came riding up behind us. Seems he had made the same wrong turn before Kevin did after the first control and got about twelve bonus miles in before he realized his mistake. More rollers followed as we completed the first 200K into the control at Tellico Plains, arriving around 1:45 PM. I looked down at my Polar Cyclocomputer and it showed approximately 8,000 feet of climbing elevation gain. We had a couple of cabins rented here that we used for our control. After completing the next 200K loop, we would be back here for our overnight control. Robin Ferguson was staffing this control and handling all the food prep. She would later be returning to McMinnville with the drop bags and manning the finish control. Robin did an excellent job for a first time volunteer!

After eating a good lunch, Glenn, Dave, Kevin, and I started out on the 200K loop that would take to the “Tail of the Dragon” and then up and over the “Cherohala Skyway”. After 44 miles of relatively flat riding, we were at the start of the Dragon’s Tail. There are 318 turns in this 11 mile section of US-129 that takes us up to Deal’s Gap (1,962 feet elevation) at the North Carolina state line. This is one of the premier areas in the US for motorcycle and sports car enthusiasts. As we started the climb, we were greeted by light rain showers. This probably had some dampening effect on the amount of motorcycles; however we were buzzed by quite a few on our way up the climb. After the descent from Deal’s Gap, darkness had finally set in and we were slowly gaining elevation on the 18 mile approach into Robbinsville, NC. Glenn was really charging up this section of road, and after several miles I finally had to tell him to slow down. We were also riding along side a river and passed thru several swarms of flies (hundreds of them) that blanketed our bodies. We finally made it to the sixth control in Robbinsville around 9:15 PM, and then headed down to MacDonald’s for some food. It was here that Dave started discussing his plan to “DNF”, but he couldn’t reach our SAG driver as he was out of range.

As the four of us left Robbinsville, it was now time to tackle the Cherohala Skyway. The first 10 miles of rollers were relatively easy, but then we started the long, arduous climb up to Santeetlah, the highest point at 5,377 feet elevation. The ascent to the top was approximately 3,400 feet over 14 miles. We meet our SAG driver on the way up and Dave promptly abandoned the ride. Kevin is a better climber that either Glenn or I, so he sailed up the mountain ahead of us. Several miles up the road, Glenn and I were buzzed by some kids in a car throwing water bottles at us. They made two passes and missed us both times. We later find out that they stole our cooler from the top of the mountain and were throwing our own bottled water at us. It was pitch black outside and the only indications we were getting closer to the top were the occasional elevation signs we saw at each of the scenic overlooks. As we gained altitude, the temperatures were dropping. After 3 hours of hard climbing, we finally reached the “fog shrouded” top at 2:20 AM. My jersey was soaked with sweat from all the climbing we had been doing, so we put on some warm clothing for the ride down the mountain.

David Collings was our SAG driver on this section of the road. He is a member of our bike club in Nashville and drove down Saturday morning to help us out. He drove the 200K loop since early afternoon and logged approximately 700 miles in his car over the weekend. Glenn and I were David’s last customers for the evening. After we headed down the mountain, David drove back to the cabins to try and get some sleep. The descent to the cabins was approximately 4,300 feet over 30 miles. Glenn and I weren’t making very good time on the way down as we were both slow descenders. The fog and wet roads slowed us down even more, and when sleep depravation set in and I reached for my supply of caffeine tablets and caffeinated gels in an effort to stay awake. We make several more stops on the way down as I struggled to stay awake. There were two, one mile climbs on the way down that added some challenge to the descent. But we finally made it to the cabins at 5:00 AM. I looked down at my Polar Cyclocomputer and it showed approximately 18,000 feet of cumulative climbing elevation gain, or 10,000 feet on the 200K Loop.

By the time we got to the cabins, a group of riders were getting ready to leave for the 200K leg back to McMinnville. Since neither Glenn nor I could sleep at this point, after all the caffeine, we made preparations to leave as well. I loaded up on food and fluids and put some fresh clothes on. Glenn, Kevin, and I were joined by John Shelso as we left the cabins. John also completed his first 600K Brevet this weekend, but he didn’t stay with us long and rode off the front. Shortly after we left I ascertained that Kevin and Glenn were not eating properly for a long ride and handed Glenn a roll of donuts and told him to eat them. When we reached Etowah after 16 miles, I pulled into a gas station and made them get some food to eat. We made the next control in Riceville around 9:00 AM and ate some more. Kevin and I took a power nap and Glenn woke us up after 15 minutes or so.

As we left the control, I started to push the pace. We had 59 miles and two substantial climbs before we reached the next control, but had almost eight hours to do it in. Just as we entered Dayton, Dave and Robin showed up on their way back to McMinnville. Dave offered me one of the cold beers in the truck and I quickly downed it at a gas station parking area. Glenn took one look at the truck and started to think about abandoning and taking the SAG in. He didn’t, so we rode on to the base of the climb at Dayton Mountain. The climb up this side of Dayton Mountain was a lot slower due to the 8% grade as indicated by the TDOT signs. Kevin was the first to the top, then me in my triple ring all the way up, and Glenn brought up the rear. Glenn looked well worn out at this point, but we pushed on and I kept the pace in high gear. Just before the descent back down to Pikeville, we stopped at a market to get some food and beverages. The market had a small deli inside, so we all got sandwiches. As we sat down to eat our sandwiches, Glenn announced that he wanted Kevin and I to go on without him so we could finish in time. Glenn said he would either call for a ride back in or ride back at a lot slower pace. Kevin and I felt sorry that Glenn had gone so far and would not finish.

Kevin and I left Glenn behind and descended down to Pikeville. This was a winding, 4-1/2 mile descent with shallow grades so I was able to enjoy the ride down. We quickly crossed the valley and were now on our last big climb of the day. There were no TDOT signs on Old Spencer Road, but the grade up felt every bit of 10% until it got extreme at the top. Kevin, of course, was the first to the top but I had to walk for about a quarter mile as my legs were shot. Kevin reckoned the grade at the top was at least 18%. Once on top, it was an easy ride to the control. We made it with over an hour to spare. I had a root beer float before we left.

It was 38 miles to the finish and we had four hours to do it in. Yesterday, the first 38 miles seem to fly by. But now I was struggling up each of the rollers on the return. Going thru the park, I had to walk up one of the rollers. And to make things worse, we had strong headwinds all the way back in. The ten mile stretch of rollers on SR-30 seemed to never end and I crawled up each one. Jeff Bauer would later tell me that this is how we would feel on the return leg of PBP. As we neared the finish, I told Kevin we could finish before 7:00 PM if we pushed the pace some more. Kevin and I completed the 382 miles course with no sleep, in 39 hours. I looked down at my Polar Cyclocomputer one last time and it showed approximately 26,000 feet of cumulative climbing elevation gain, or 8,000 feet on the 200K return leg.

I had a message on my cell phone when I arrived, it was Glenn. His message said he was about ½ hour out from the finish and would be there before the cutoff time. Somehow, he had an amazing recovery after Kevin and I left him. Glenn finished in 39 hours, 35 minutes.

We had 13 finishers from the 14 that started with times ranging from just over 32 hours to 39 hours, 35 minutes.

After everyone packed up and left the hotel, I called my wife, showered, ate some food, had a few beers, and slept until 6:00 AM the next morning.