Top of the World -65 miles-3,460 ft
of climbing.
Some call it the Five (5) Paths of Enlightenment; some call it the Five
(5)
Approaches. It is a ride incorporating all five (5) climbs up Chilhowee
Parkway
front and back, Butterfly Gap, Montvale Road, and the infamous “Sweetie
Pie”…your date with gravity. You can start with the front side of the
parkway,
and ride up to the tower to check out a forest fire.
The second climb of the day is Butterfly Gap. It is the longest leg of
the three
ridge-side climbs, and undulates a lot as it threads through “Top of the
World”
and back. “Top of the World” is an ascent right up to the peak of the
Foothills
Parkway via Happy Valley Loop Rd. This climb is almost impossible to do
on
anything bigger than a 39-27. You will climb over 20% grades. Butterfly
is
really tough, with long steep pitches from bottom to top. Third climb is
Montvale. It is a blast to descend, as you will hit 50 MPH, but the
climb has
long straight sections that remind one of Sand Mountain. Not fun. It is
the
third hardest of the climbs.
Fourth and fifth is “Sweetie Pie” and “The Wall”, which is the combo of
Happy
Valley and Flats Road. Somebody told me Flats Road rears up to a 26%
grade. Sweetie Pie is the hardest climb on the mountain. Once you top
out
and reinsert your patella’s, you’ll head down the backside to Chilhowee
Lake
and roll straight back to the bed.
The grade on Butterfly was so steep that with the pavement damp we had to sit when we needed to stand.
It was so steep the asphalt was sliding off the mountain.
Happy Valley
Look at this grade. This isn't Butterfly or Sweetie Pie.
Sweetie Pie gave me a hernia and stripped my gizzard.
