Chattanooga, TN is a great little town just a couple hours away from my home near Atlanta. Since moving to this area, I've only passed through the town, but decided to spend some time here today. Luckily, REI offered a couple of interesting adventures around Chattanooga and I decided to take advantage of these opportunities and REI's gear. I'm not the biggest fan of Mountain Biking, but the chance to ride all downhill off of Lookout Mountain seemed like a fun one.
Meeting our guides a few minutes before the start time in the parking lot for the Lookout Mountain Incline Railway, we do a quick round of introductions and the guides explain our agenda. While two of them drive our bikes to the top of the mountain, the the remaining guide and the rest of us will ride the train car, which ascends the steep mountainside, to the top and then ride our mountain bikes back down. We then board the rail car, which is quite interesting. The car itself has been designed to sit at approximately 45-degrees and the floor is actually a set of steps, but sitting at the boarding platform on flat ground, it's just a little inconvenient. It seems this ride will reach a maximum incline of 72.7-degrees, making it one of the steepest passenger railways in the world. The ride to the top is smooth, but a little harrowing as we look down the mountain. On the incline itself, the interior of the car is essentially a staircase with seats on each side. It's actually a pretty cool experience, though brief, as we reach the top after only five minutes or so.
Departing the train car, we walk to a nearby grassy area, where we choose our bikes and helmets, while our guides provide a basic overview of the bike's operation and the route we will take. After some seat adjustments and other fine-tuning exercises, we take off. The first section, sees us hugging the side of the road as we share the lane with cars, but soon, we leave the paved road for a gravel and earthen mountain bike trail. As stated earlier, it's all down hill, which my legs appreciate. That said though, there are some sharp turns and lots of tree roots in places and I'm forced to take it easy. I'm not much of a mountain-biker and this fast course only furthers that point. We stop a couple of times to ensure everyone is keeping up and for a couple of nice views, but after about 45-minutes we have made our way all the way to the bottom.
As an additional part of the trip, we spend some time at The Tap House, a local craft beer establishment, and enjoy some snacks and beer on REI's tab. The ride down the hill was only about 6.9 miles, but it went really fast with all of the downhill. It was a fun event, but the day is still young and there is more adventure to be had.
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