3 States 3 Mountains

Imagine waking up at 4am, riding down to the packet and chip pickup. It’s already drizzling outside. You get back to your hotel around 5am; take a shower so that you feel somewhat fresh after having 4 hours of sleep the night before, then making some last minute tweaks to your bike. You get changed into your ride gear (unsure if you need arm warmers, vest, rain jacket, or possible a tornado shelter) and head down for breakfast around 6:30. You consume a big meal, take a big crap, and head the staging area around 7:30am with 2,500 other riders (still drizzly). You have 100 miles and three big climbs of nearly 6,000 feet ahead of you (not to mention you ran a half marathon the weekend before and intend on doing another century the very next day). Nearly at the moment the ride starts, it begins to pour rain. This is how 3 States 3 Mountains started this year.

For the first 14 miles, the rain didn’t stop; it was pounding my face like little shards of glass as we made our way through Chattanooga and out to the first climb. At times, you could hardly see the bike in front of you. During miles 14-20, it felt as though the rain had let up, maybe because the pace slowed to about 8mph as we made our 6 mile journey up the 6-8% grade. Once we crested the top and began descending the wet, switchback, road down the other side, it confirmed that the rain hadn’t let up. Once we hit the bottom around mile 25, there were about 600 riders grouped together under a carwash trying to stay warm and out of the weather. Everyone was uncontrollably shaking from the weather conditions. The porta-potty was the warmest place around. It was at that point that we decided we’d take the split off at mile 44 and complete only the 60 mile course. This was punishment.

Mile 44, the split off. The rain had backed off a bit and the temperature began to rise; rise enough that we all felt warm and decided that we were doing the entire 100 regardless of the rain. Maybe we were warm because we experienced a couple flats and ended up having to race the clock to the split off point before the century cutoff time elapsed. Either way, we went right… right towards the next climb and the remaining 66 miles.

The second climb was just around the corner. This climb was peaking around 10-12% but only lasted about 3.5 miles. Cadence slowed considerable as we made our way to the top. The rain had lightened a bit and everyone’s spirits were good. We road the crest of this mountain for about 10 miles and the rain completely stopped as we made our way down the other side; a much more enjoyable decent even though we still didn’t exceed 30mph due to the slippery roads.

Once we hit the bottom, the rain picked back up. We could hear thunder in the distance and a SAG truck told us there was a tornado watch out. We picked up the pace and made our way to the third climb at mile 82. Lookout Mountain (meaning from the top, you can lookout and see forever… meaning you were about to climb the toughest grade of the day between miles 82 and 85). It was only a 3 mile climb, but it was at 15-16% with the last half mile ranging from 17-20%. Yes, the rain pelted us as we climbed. We remained in the saddle, leaning way forward to keep the front wheel on the ground, because the back wheel would slip on the wet road when standing. Once we got to the top, it wasn’t raining. However, we were in the could itself. As we descended down the other side with only about 15 miles to go, the rain picked back up. As we approached Chattanooga, the rain slowly came to a stop. We rode the last 5 miles with partly cloudy skies and crossed the finish line shortly after.

3S3M was an incredible experience, and to have accomplished it while contending with the weather actually made it a bit more rewarding. We covered three states (TN, AL, and GA) and climbed three good mountains. After reading the next day’s forecast, “90% chance of sever storms capable of producing large hail,” we decided it might not be in our best interest to attempt that. We later learned that the course was evacuated by the EMA due to tornados. Maybe next year!