Here are the Elite rides for Saturdays in December. To honor Bubba winter training rules (among these are: layer until you can’t bend your arms), we’ll be starting close to home and the pace will be a little slower and the distances a little shorter.
End of the month changes: See below for an update to the December 27th ride as well as the plan for New Year’s Day.
Start times could change during the week of the ride for forecast colder or warmer conditions. Watch this site early on the Saturday of the ride for weather related cancelations and updates.
December 6 – Roll from the Food City in St. Elmo at 10 am to ride south down Chattanooga Valley to Captain Wood Road and back.
53 miles and 2,700 feet. No climbs.
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/49895195
December 13 – Roll from Red Bank Elementary on Mountain Creek Road at 10 am to ride up to Soddy Lake and back. There will be a group spilt after a break at the Soddy Ball fields so that those wanting more can go a little further north and climb Hot Water Road on the way home.
43 miles and 2,300 feet. No climbs.
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/53433750
December 20 – We’ll start at 9:30 am with Team Bubba from the parking lot behind the Star Bucks that’s across from Rock City for the traditional Bubba Chimney Ride. Don’t worry about it being cold on top of the mountain. We ascend 500 feet up to Point Park at the start to get our blood flowing.
36 miles and 2,400 feet of climbing.
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/53451026
December 27 – Start from the St. Elmo Food City at 10 am to take US-41 to Haletown. Return via GA-299. The ride will split where Slygo Road intersects 299 for those wanting more. This longer option adds 11 miles and 700 feet of climbing and goes over Morganville Ridge to return via Creek Road.
36 miles and 2,200 feet of climbing. Half-a-climb over the toe of Aetna Mountain.
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/53432856
January 1 – We’re going to do our part to keep the W-Road beautiful and spend 30 minutes or so cleaning up around the lower switchbacks (the ones near the nursing home). Meet at Redbank Elementary at 9:30 am to car-pool or cycle to the switchbacks. Immediately following will be two ride options: (1) cycle up the W and come immediately back down (with the option to repeat), or (2) Follow the climb with a loop on top of Signal. The longer option is 30 miles with 2,800 feet of climbing.
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/53578294
January 3 -Roll from the Patten Community Center to climb Sand Mountain. 40 miles. Time TBD.