TELLICO HIGHLANDS
Will Boulware (1)
6/15/24
I meant to get all three of these ITT’s done last year, and then I didn’t. I failed and then subsequently finished the Death March Revival on both sides of a lovely ride through Nebraska at Gravel Worlds, and then never got around to trying the D130 or Highlands routes.
I’ve ridden a lot around both the Ocoee and Hiwassee areas, but Tellico gravel was completely new to me. I had to rely pretty heavily on ride reports posted here, so thank you for those! June in Tennessee being June in Tennessee, I knew I’d have to start early so I at least had a few hours to ride in less-than-stifling heat. I got up around 4:30 and managed to get to the course start around 7:00. I have a habit of taking forever to do anything, and it took another 10 minutes of puttering with things I checked yesterday before I got rolling.
Almost immediately, the scenery blew me away. I knew this area was supposed to be pretty, but it was really above and beyond expectations. The climb up wildcat was enough to shake off any sleepiness I had from my 4:30 alarm clock intrusion, and the descent down to Green Cove was another bout of scenery that an iPhone camera can’t do any justice to.
I refilled all the bottles I had at the game check station, which is a lot of bottles (a fact that some people seem to find humor with – you know who you are), and headed up the hill for the big climb of the day. North River Road had some of the nicest, smoothest gravel I’ve ever seen, and the dense rhododendron coverage and occasional cascade off to the side of the road made it even better. It also never seemed to end. Bike-wise, I brought my beloved Salsa Fargo running an 11-42 eleven-speed setup. I keep a 30-tooth chainring on it because I have the FTP of sickly Victorian child, so extended climbs are typically quite pleasant. This one wasn’t exactly Potato Patch, but it did require a few snack breaks.
I finally got to the top, rode past the North Carolina sign, made a loop, and hopped out on the paved road headed down the skyway. As I was grumbling up that small hill in the middle of the descent, I got a great look at about a dozen Porsches and a Ferrari 458 headed the other way. Again – the scenery was outstanding!
The rest of the skyway descent was fantastic. I broke 40 mph, which is a lot for a Fargo with John Deere gears, but a little less brake application would have yielded a bit more speed, so we’ll try harder next time. I made the turn into Indian Boundary, looped around the singletrack dodging tourists and campers, and got to the dam. A quick photo or two, a bit of concern that my handlebars wouldn’t fit between the fences, and I was on my way to the general store.
It was getting warm by this point, so a Gatorade and an ice cream out of the freezer REALLY hit the spot. I went back for another Gatorade to refill one of my bottles, topped the other three off with some spigot water, and headed toward the next hill. Up to this point, I was really thinking this route needed something like an endurance road bike with some 35c’s on it and you could just fly. Everything was smooth and the climbs were lengthy but not crazy steep or washed out. I was saying things in my head like “I’m having a nice day today!” and “This is a really good route!” Farr Gap brought that sparkly ray of positivity to an abrupt halt.
The next 30 miles got pretty real pretty quick. It was now HOT. My Garmin was showing 95-ish degrees, there was a decent amount of sun exposure, the champagne gravel from earlier was GONE, the gradient was absurd, there was no breeze, and I wanted another ice cream cone very badly. I chugged fluids and tried to keep track of what was going on with my core temp and my general sanity. I walked a lot. I pedaled a lot. I swore a lot. I had a few points where I seriously considered riding back down the hill just to get some air movement going, sitting in the creek for an hour, and calling this absurdity off until October. But I didn’t. I kept shuffling up the hill until I got to what appeared to be the top, where I ran into a few other cyclists who were out for a birthday ride. They looked happy. They looked well hydrated. They looked concerned. One recommended I ride down the hill and go sit in the creek. Nice people. I wish I’d gotten their names.
I rolled on to the piped spring at the bottom of Farr Gap, filled all my bottles, ate a snack, stared out into the void, and finally got moving again. The worst had to be over. I was almost there. Miller’s ridge, Turkey Creek, Pickup Truck With A Cooler. Let’s go!
The turn onto Miller’s gave me a good idea that we weren’t “Let’s Go-ing” anywhere. The rest of that section did not disappoint. When you’re a kid watching cartoons, you develop the idea that quicksand is going play a major role in your life because it features so heavily in so many animated situations. Then you grow up and realize that quicksand doesn’t exist. Then you ride your bike into what looks like a dry section of an unmaintained road and sink up to your brake rotors. Then you do it again 10 minutes later just to be sure it’s real. If anyone sees two embarrassingly large ditches plowed in the middle of Miller’s, yeah, that was me.
I finally got out of there and hit that glorious 10 mile false flat all the way back to the start. Dodging concrete barriers and riding through inactive construction sites with zero automobile traffic at a spun-out 22 mph is always a good time! After all the profanity and irritation from the previous 30 miles, the scenery was once again overpowering. This area is just beautiful, and it’s hard to put that into words that make sense. I made it to the finish over an hour faster than I expected to, so that was a bonus. This was my first ride in this area, but it won’t be my last! I’m hoping to take another shot at this route once the weather cools off and the leaves start to change this fall.
Major thanks to Kim and Shannon for all they do with these routes and everything else they’re involved in. This is SUCH a great area to ride, and the work they’ve put into making these places more approachable and easier to navigate is really appreciated!