I will start my response to this post by claiming almost classic content due to the fact that I was riding my classically lugged steel bike for the following... I just got back from completing the Cherohala Challenge sponsored by the Smokey Mountain Wheelman. 115 miles with over 9,000 feet of climbing including the entire 11 miles of the dragon & concluding with the 50 mile or so Cherohala Skyway. Tim, I have no doubt that the dragon is fun in the Miata, but you have not lived until you do it on your bike! Remember those switchbacks & huge sweepers? Most fun I have ever had on a bike. As for the gearing.., I thought I was prepared (through some pretty serious training), for the climbing, but I installed a 26 just to be sure - all I had before was a 39/23. Not even close to being a low enough gear, at least not for me. I was doing fine with quite a bit of climbing up to about the 65 - 70 mile mark of the ride. We did the dragon BTW from north to south, which seemed mostly uphill. Then the real climbing began. The next 10-12 miles were all uphill, unrelenting & 9% a lot of the way - or so I am told. With a couple of miles to go to the summit @almost 5,400' I would have killed for a triple! I go about 165 BTW. Of course, the final 30 miles of really fast downhill runs made it all worth the effort. One incredibly awesome ride in a beautiful part of the country. Moral of the story - DO THIS RIDE! But gear down! Oh yeah, there was a Morgan +4 at the summit. Now that's classic. Richard Rose (Toledo, Ohio)
I just got back from a one week trip to Tennessee. I spent the week whitewater rafting, biking on a rented mountain bike, and driving my race preped Miata through the 11 mile, 380 blind curve, famed Deal's Gap in North Carolina's Great Smokey Mountain range (what fun). I will be relocating my entire life away from tired old South Florida to somewhere different, to try something new after 15 years. I want it all, beautiful training rides on my classic race bike, kayaking, top down fun in my sports car and a job that's at least as good as my present one. One thought comes to mind....... I thought my skill on hills was good in that when I lived in San Francisco I handled them on my bike with nothing less than a 42/24 gearing. In San Diego I felt I needed no more either. What happens when one moves to mountainous Tennessee, with its monster hill climbs? I am so proud of my present set up on my Raleigh with a rear 13-20 (7 cog) and front 52-42, all Suntour Superbe Pro. Is it even right to put a 13-28 rear freewheel on a classic race bike? What did vintage racers use for this type of application years ago? To be honest after some miles on a rented bike, I actually found myself enjoying the ridiculous granny gear that came on the mountain bike. (Maybe it was 24 front 28 rear - who knows- I barely looked at the thing except to note that it was absurd, but I almost shifted into the most absurd granny gear at the end of my two hour ride through the hills.) Garth