Comments on the Smoky Mtn Century

This is a tough ride! I've done it maybe five times and 100 miles, 6.5 hours, 10,000' of climbing, solo, is a long day. The weather was great with temps in the 80's at the lower elevations and upper 60's at 6500'. Lots of great late season wildflowers blooming at the high elevations. Checked power on the climbs. Held 245 for about 1:21 heading toe Newfound Gap from Sugarlands and about 235 from Cherokee to Newfound. Newfound to Clingmans, when I was pretty cooked, was about 190 watts for 35 minutes or so. By the time I got to Clingmans I was at 4:38. Then I had the long descent to Sugarlands where I rode to Elkmont and back to the chalet to get the 100 miles. The two major climbs in this ride are both in the top 100 rides in the book The Complete Guide to Climbing. I think Clingmans from Gatlingburg is ranked 65th and from Cherokee around 80. Kind of fun to get in two of the top 100 in one ride. But, I am beat.