Scenic City Velo Raccoon Mountain Road Race April 9th, 2006 Chattanooga, TN. Directions to Raccoon Mountain Caverns and Campground: Take I24 to Exit 174 (4 miles west of downtown Chattanooga). Turn onto Hwy 41 North and travel 1.4 miles. Turn left onto West Hills Drive, and travel 0.5 miles to the registration area. If you are coming from Nashville or Birmingham (I59) and would like to drive the 2nd half of the race course, you can take Exit 161 off of I24. This will put you 0.5 miles from Turn 4, which is the 14.1 mile mark on the course. (see map) From Nashville: take Exit 161 off of I24 and turn left. From Birmingham: take I59 to I24W (towards Nashville). Take Exit 161 off of I24. Other Course Notes: The starting line is at the bottom of the hill at the entrance to the campground; it is not at the registration area. The finish line is at the top of the hill on Hwy 41. This is 0.9 miles north of the start line. The Feed Zone is 200 meters before the finish line. Awards and results will be posted at the finish line after the race.

Parking

• Ample parking is available at the registration area.
• Do not park at the bottom of the hill at the start line.
• Limited parking is available at the finish line.

Course Directions

This is the same course we have been using since 1996.

• Start at West Hills Drive and Highway 41, at the entrance to Raccoon Mountain Campground.
• Go south on Highway 41 (this will be a right hand turn coming out of the campground) 0.3 miles to Cummings Road.
• Right onto Cummings Road, go 1.2 miles until Hwy 11.
• Right on Hwy 11, go 3.0 miles until Hwy 299. (don't miss Hwy 299, it is not at a stop sign)
• Right on Hwy 299, go 9.6 miles to Hwy 156. (this is by the lake)
• Right on Hwy 156, go 0.5 miles to Hwy 41. This should be just over the halfway point of the loop. Here come the hills.
• Turn right onto Hwy 41 and follow this road back to the entrance to Raccoon Mountain Campground.

The finish line is on Highway 41, 0.9 miles NORTH of the start line. It is at the top of the hill, near the fireworks store.

Course Notes

The climb at the 5.5 mile mark is steep, but only a half a mile long. From the top of the climb to the 15 mile mark is flat to rolling. The climb at the 15.2 mile mark is moderately steep. It has several 'stair steps' to it. It will go up, level off for 100 meters then go up again. It is a little over 2 miles long. The descent from the 17.5 mile mark to mile 21 is fairly open (nothing very technical) with a few curves and can be fast, but again, only moderately steep. There are several stair steps again on the descent. The final 1.5 mile approach to the finish line is uphill, though not as steep as the previous climbs. The final 50 meters to the finish line levels off a little. Just after the finish line is a steep fast 0.9 mile descent to the starting line to complete the loop.

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