Chattanooga, TN
Another nice day Saturday and you know what that means: TB goes long! Roll from the St Elmo Food City aka Steady’s Ant Farm @ 8:00, River Front Pky, up Suck, Valley View, Jasper/South Pitt, over Ladd, and 299 back. Hard to find a better route than the one last week but this one is up there on the Best of Bubba list. 70 miles, 4000 feet. Easy for the strongmen to add more by heading up Scenic at the end to Sanders and down Ochs.
test
Bubba will stretch his legs again this week with another long one. Roll from the St Elmo Food City @ 8:30. After a short warmup we’ll get right to business with a climb up Nickajack. Left on Hinkle at the top all the way across 136, HOS, and down Daughtery Gap (CAREFUL!). Refuel at the store and then Hog Jowl to West Cove and back. (If the bridge is still impassible we’ll add a few miles by turning right at the end of Hog Jowl to follow it all the way to the highway.) 70 miles and around 4000 feet but it’ll feel like much more. Easy to short it by dropping down 136 and coming back Creek Rd or Marble Top depending on which side you drop down.
AND REMEMBER, IF YOU’VE BEEN EXPOSED STAY HOME UNTIL YOU GET A “NEGATIVE.” ABSOLUTELY NO NOSE BLOWING , SPITTING, OR COUGHING WHILE IN THE PELOTON – DROP OFF THE BACK FOR THAT STUFF (THIS ALSO INCLUDES URINATING BUT HOPEFULLY I DIDN’T NEED TO MENTION THAT). AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, YOU GET THE COVID BY SUCKING THE WHEEL OF AN UNCLEAN BUBBA AND THAT’S ON YOU. REMEMBER THAT WE CAN’T GET IN SOME STORES WITHOUT A MASK SO MAKE SURE YOU CARRY ONE – YOU NEED TO WEAR IT IN STORES WHETHER THEY REQUIRE IT OR NOT BECAUSE FOR THE MOST PART BUBBAS ARE GOOD CITIZENS. (I SAID “MOST PART.”)
Team Bubba rides remain paused. Check back in a week or two for hopefully some good news.
For small, unofficial groups that are forming, keep in mind the 9 person limit under the order in effect in Tn through 5/29.
And remember, TB ain’t endorsing group riding so if you get the covid from sucking the wheel of an unclean Bubba that’s on you!
While official Team Bubba rides remain paused, with the lifting of the state and county shelter in place orders the Bubbawear ban is also lifted. A Big Bubba Backslap to those who honored the request not to sport Bubbawear in groups during the lockdown. (Pictures of those who didn’t will be posted on the wall of shame soon.) As I said, Bubba has enough problems with motorists and didn’t need to add violation of pandemic rules to the list.
The lifting of the Bubbawear ban is not an endorsement of group riding by Team Bubba, so if you end up on a ventilator because you sucked the wheel of an unclean Bubba during a pandemic that’s on you.
Weatherman can’t make up his mind so we’ll pretend everything is fine. Roll from Mikes (Chilhowee lot) @ 8:30. Toe, Creek, Morganville Ridge, up Sand and across, down the good side, Ladd and 299 back. (Temps on top supposed to be the same as off the mtn so we’ll take advantage and get some time up top.) It’s a metric and 4200 feet. Easy to short it by going Murphy Hollow instead of climbing. Map is from Unum but WE ARE ROLLING FROM MIKES NOT UNUM.
Bubba is keeping an eye on publications by national bicycle associations for guidance about Covid 19. If the modeling is correct, there’s a good chance we suspend TB rides for a week or two beginning next week as it spreads through our community. Certainly none of us want to wreck the respiratory/cardio systems we work so hard to develop. More importantly we don’t want to spread it to elderly parents and elderly folks we sit on the pew with, or medically fragile folks we work or otherwise come in contact with, and we need to do what we can to flatten the curve on health care demands. (Look, Rudy enters the high risk age category in 2 weeks!) Perhaps the best thing we can do is stay fit but we can do that in smaller groups. Heck, may even be time to break out the mtn bikes – Unit says he “socially distances” from me on the mtn bike by always staying a mile or two in front. We’ll keep you posted about that. FOR NOW, DO NOT SHOW UP FOR A RIDE IF YOU DON’T FEEL WELL.
Roll from Suck Creek Cycle @ 9:00. (Let’s not take all of Moose’s parking and if the lot begins to fill there’s plenty of street parking on Bell and in the Mike’s overflow lot on Chilhowee.) It’ll be a cold start but things will warm up quickly with a climb up Suck, then down East Valley (crossing 127), up Henson Gap, across the top of Mowbry, down Montlake and back. “Official” route 68 miles and 5000 feet (see map). Easy to shave it to the 50 mile range by climbing the back of Signal instead of going to Henson Gap. Lots of additional climbing options for strong men including Hotwater, Mtn Rd, Signal, and yes David’s favorite – Robert’s Mill. (Big E will be here and promises to lead a group up Robert’s Mill at the end even if he has to push!)
Those who are still upright will tip their glasses to David post-ride at Mike’s.
So off we go again to remember David the way he would have liked to be remembered: on a bike suffering. And hey, if it happens to be a Privateer Bike, all the better……………..
TB will enjoy the warm weather Sunday! Roll from Mikes ( Chilhowee St Parking Lot) at 1:30. Toe, Creek Rd, up 136 and over. 57 miles, 3600 feet. We’ll keep this one moving with one brief stop on top to refuel.
TB will take advantage of the inverted temps tomorrow and spend some time on top. Roll from Mike’s at 9:30 – use Chilhowee Street lot please. It’ll be cold but warmer on top so we’ll head up quickly with a SPIN up the W, Marshall Creek Gorge, off the back, left onto East Valley, and up the back of Suck. Only like 57 miles but 5100 feet. (003, you can add a loop at the Bend to get a metric so you won’t feel poorly about yourself.)
Roll from Mike’s Hole at 10:30. Remember to use the Chilhowee street lot. Decisions must be made in the parking lot. If it’s a slower warm up than expected, we’ll do the north chatt hills. If it does begin to warm by then, the choices will be some version of the one posted for TB last week – Dry Valley rollers to stay warm, up 136 and over, Creek Rd. (map below) — or if it’s too cold for a descent a BeezleBub route down south but without the climb.