Mt. LeConte

Great Smoky Mountains National Park
hike: Newfound Gap->AT->The Boulevard Trail->The Jump-Off Trail->Myrtle Point->Cliff Tops->Mt. Le Conte->Alum Cave trail. We set up a shuttle leaving a car at Newfound Gap, and a car at Alum Cave trailhead.
It was a 15 mile hike with high-temps in the mid 80's and lows near 38 degrees at the high-windy look-outs. 7 hours in the woods, with a big group of eleven. (7-11)

Cherohala Challenge

Mile-high at check point five, just over the crest of the mountain.

In an altered state, from the long climb, the dead tree and mountains in the background, was just one of many great views along the ride.


I had a hell of a day in my first century. Last nights decision to ride the full Cherohala Challenge was one of the best-bad -decisions eva!
I rode down with Brian, Jeff and Jonathon. The start blew off while I was still lubing my chain, and Forest waited for me. We chased down Jonathon, and I kept going for the front pack while Forest rode with Jonathon.
After about an hour of chasing, I reeled in the fast group, and caught Brian and Jeff right there in a 25 mph paced pack. I struggled to stay with them until we hit the tail of the dragon, where the group blew apart. I felt strong through it all and made a good pace having skipped the first rest stop.
We crossed into North Carolina and came up rest stop #2, where I met back up with Brian and Jeff. We made a good pace through the Natahala National Forrest and into the Joyce Kilmer Slickrock Wilderness where we started the long climb.
I felt a burst of energy as we made it onto the skyway and enjoyed the view! The energy burst faded as I watched other riders break, on the way up. I ran up against the wall over and over again all the way to the top. I've come to enjoy the struggle to increase tolerance for pain.
We topped the mountain and dropped down to the next rest stop at 5390, and we were back in Tennessee (Cherokee National Forrest.) People were loopy up there, including myself, although I was still grinning.
Coming down the Cherohala Skyway was awesome. Blasting corners at 44-mph is a thrill!
The final 15 miles were harder than the first hundred. Climbs came up out of nowhere, and I hurt.
I was stung by a bee at 2 miles to go. It flew into my helmet and stung me in the ear, as I swatted at it. I crossed the finish line in double pain. And some guy from New Orleans pulled the stinger out, when I asked him if there was anything noticeable on my ear.
I finished with 6:40 ride time in 115.46 miles. I'm not sure, but I think my official time was sub-seven hours.

photo credit: Smoky Mountain Wheelmen

I really know how to fall

Brian Nickleson,not crashing, at Raccoon Mountain

Hard-crashing feels good when you know how to "roll." Lately, I 've been tested with both bike riding-crashes and life-challenging-crashes. It turns out experiences from a pre-teen playground can prep you for "real-life." I remember crashing as a kid, and rolling out of a spill laughing. I'm still grinning in my mid-thirties diggers.

Last weekend, I made the quick trip down I-75 for a rip around Raccoon Mountain, with Brian and Jeff. We met a few of Jeff's old friends and rode the loop counter-clockwise, tearing it up. Near the end of a great loop, I made a move towards an un-scouted line. The adage look-before-you-leap had gone out the window. The rocks split 3 ways, with one staying low, the other shot the middle with a rolling drop back to the trail. The line I took went high on the rock and I imagined a transition from the height back to the trail, and there was none. I planted the front wheel and spilled into the rocks, and rolled away laughing. It wasn't until 24-hours later that I even felt the hard crash.

Without elaborating on any other crashes, suffice to say, I've chased a few dreams and when the time is right, it will all come together. I feel like I had a brush with a chance of a lifetime, that unfortunately was ill-timed. I'm sorry that I can't say more. But those who know, know that I was quite disappointed and am taking it in stride.

The stride of a long ride will be tested again tomorrow. I am heading down for the Cherohala Challenge. This will be my first road event. Having never done a century, (but come close on many long rides), this ride will be a challenge at 115 miles; up the tail of the dragon and over the Cherohala Skyway topping over 5,300 ft in elevation. That's my kind of road-ride, epic!


As my blog works towards the transition from "bikes, beer and dogs" to photos of a baby girl(!,) Erin has been doing great and having fun. She has been an amazing pregnant woman by being very active. The due date is nearing, just two weeks away.

Trans TN

Knoxville to Nashville by bike.

There is something to be said for impulse decisions and cross-state journey's by bike. The lack of planning made the journey slightly more interesting. I pieced together a map the night before, and made calls to as many people as I could to borrow a tent and Bob trailer. After gathering my gear, I jumped on the bike loaded with a 45# Bob trailer and headed to the bikeshop to meet Ryan, a young kid who reminded me of Alexander Supertramp.

Ryan: From a photo he had taken in Cosby, TN; he camped in this bus.


We left Harpers bikeshop by 5:30 Friday evening and worked our way out of Knoxville and into the wild of Tennessee-back-roads. Slight thundershowers pounded us on our way out of town, but only proved to be a foreshadowing for whats to come.
We stopped for pizza in Kingston, and it was dark by the time we finished dinner. So we grabbed a free hotel room; courtesy of my frequent travels.
Saturday morning we started early towards the plateau. I was prepared for the climb and surprised at how strong I felt towing the heavy load. Highway 70 was steep and wooded going up to the Cumberland Plateau. Grinding it out and enjoying the scenery, we made good time going up but got side-tracked trying to scout out an over-look on Mt. Rosevelt. We nabbed a partially tree covered view of the surrounding Crabtree Mountains.



Next stop: Ozone falls. 100 ft. waterfall.
On Haley Mountain, The Cumberland Plateau




Pressing on for a big day, I was eventually blasted by the sun; and later blasted by thunderstorms. 85 miles into the ride, we made it to a decision-making-point in the ride. We were near Ragland Bottoms, a camp-site on Center Hill Lake, where we had a BBQ restaurant and beer to-go; or keep going for more miles. After sitting under the shade tree for a few, I walked across and got a BBQ sandwich and a tall boy. The slow breeze was relaxing and we decided to ride back to the lake and check out the sites.


Ragland Bottoms was indeed a beautiful place to camp. The lake was inviting. I set up a tent, went swimming, got rained on, rode back to the BBQ market and got dinner, came back and put my i-pod on; and had a great dinner by the lake. What a great Saturday night. Ryan had gone into Smithville (8 miles up the road) and ate fast-food. I was happy with slow food and cheap beer.


Early Sunday morning I awoke to the loudest thunder, I have ever witnessed. The ground shook as the big-booms in the sky rattled consecutively for hours, followed by lightning burst. Rain beat down and blasted the tent. I shored up the rain fly waiting for daylight. I thought this might be the night I died. It felt like the shit had hit the fan and it was my time. 50 miles down the road it was hitting at my wifes parrents house, and I got a call at 5:15 from Erin checking on me. I felt an urgency to get on the road and make it to Nashville. So as the sun came up I was packing inside the tent. I couldn't get my riding partner behind the early departure time, so we waited out another round of storms. Finaly I said "I'm going to Smithville (8 hard miles away) for breakfast, meet me there. He grabbed his stuff and rode with me. We left in the pouring rain.
A few miles in, the rain quit but the sky was dark. We got to Smithville and the clouds cleared and the sky turned blueish. With the finish line in sight, we powered back to to the suburban Nashville town of Murfreesboro. 186 miles.
Ryan had come from Greensboro, NC through Boone, NC; Hot Springs, NC; Cosby, TN and Knoxville,TN. On his way to who-knows-where and eventually Bonaroo. A cross-country runner who had not previously done much biking, he's a cool kid with a strong spirit for adventure. He bought his road bike for $250 before his trip, and didn't even have a map. Meeting people along the way, he is riding the adventure of a lifetime. It was cool to be a part of.



Approaching dusk on the Tennessee River; Kingston, TN


View from overlook along Highway 70, descending from the Cumberland Plateau into Sparta.


I had made copies of 6 pages of the Tennessee Atlas and Gazetteer maps and taped them together. We were 3 pages along at this point.




Lascassas, next stop Murfreesboro


The final mileage: