This is one of the days when Ray Bolton would have been one of the few riders on the mountain. I only saw four cyclists myself (one descending and three ascending) thanks to the funneling affect of the exiting low pressure system (counterclockwise flow of air) and the entering high pressure system (clockwise flow of air). The winds (funneled from the north into the canyon to head east) were challenging, especially entering the canyon by the Tom Flanagan sign. The wind, increasing in pressure against the south rock wall, forced me toward the guard rail and into the gravel. It is not a big deal if you are expecting such a push, so I took my foot out of the pedal and pushed the bike for about twenty yards so that I could get enough momentum to get my foot back in the pedal and start cranking. I was thankful to have gearing the size of pie plates on my back hub and a triple on the front. Three guys and Kristine S. (a person who is tough as nails and then some) were the others challenging the mountain early on Wednesday. When I returned to the Beverly Heights parking lot, I leaned my bike up against the leeward side of my car to open the back hatch. The swirling winds promptly blew it onto the pavement. This is the kind of day that makes Lookout Mountain cycling stories just a bit too interesting.
Oh- and a tumbleweed passed me on the descent when I was doing about thirty+ mph.
Start Wednesday, October, 27, 2021, 9AM, 43 degrees
Finish 10:15 AM, temperature didn’t matter. It was cold with that wind.
Cyclists on descent 3
Vehicles on descent 6 (two of them were county vehicles)
Ratio of cyclists to vehicles 1 to 2
Chuck H.
Consecutive days 10
Laps 2021 204
Laps lifetime 3205
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