On Saturday, May 5, at 8:00 a.m., approximately 2500 cyclists from 32 states and three countries will depart from Finley Stadium in downtown Chattanooga to participate in the 20th running of the Chattanooga Bicycle Club’s 3-State/3-Mountain Challenge, presented by Kelly Subaru.
This year, the Chattanooga Bicycle Club has named Samantha Gilley, a 17-year-old from Flintstone, Georgia, as the honorary lead rider. Samantha is blind and a nine-time cancer survivor. She will be riding a tandem bicycle with her uncle, Barry Gilley.
The 3-State officially kicks off Samantha’s training program for her “Sites Unseen” tour in October from Chattanooga to Memphis. Samantha will travel the full distance by tandem and arrive in Memphis in time to celebrate Survivor Day, an annual celebration held by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, where she has been a patient much of her life.
A special free bicycling expo at Finley Stadium on Friday, May 4, from 4:00 to 9:00 p.m., will launch the 2007 3-State. The expo will feature local bicycle dealers, food and beverage vendors, music, and cycling organizations.
Most 3-State riders will tackle the full 100-mile option, which passes through Georgia and Alabama before returning to Tennessee. The three mountains—Suck Creek, Sand and Burkhalter Gap Road on Lookout Mountain—present some of the most spectacular climbs in the Southeast. Burkhalter Gap was the final climb of this year’s Tour de Georgia: Stage Three. Other riders will take the 62 and 25-miles options.
This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the Challenge, one of two events selected in 2003 to showcase Chattanooga. Last year, more than half of the 2,000 riders stayed in local hotels, and nearly one-quarter brought their families for an estimated economic impact of more than $300,000. With the increase in riders this year, the impact is expected to reach just under $400,000.
2007 is also the fortieth anniversary of the Chattanooga Bicycle Club, established in 1967 to encourage and promote bicycle riding and safety and to foster a good relationship between cyclists and motorists. The Club holds more than 400 scheduled rides and related programs throughout the year, and also contributes to many bicycling-related causes. The Club’s web site is www.chattbike.com.