Clovis's story: Cheaha Challenge Gran Fondo

BaseCamp athlete Clovis Pitchford shared his experience at the 2026 Cheaha Challenge Gran Fondo bike race in Alabama.

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In my quest for "doing hard things" (and not dying), inspired by The Comfort Crisis (written by Michael Easter), I set out on the Cheaha Challenge Ultra, a grueling 123-mile, 12,265-feet-of-elevation-gain bicycle ride/race to the highest point in Alabama, Mt. Cheaha.

Pre-ride dinner at Effina's Tuscan Grill in Jacksonville, Alabama, was a treat. I met IRL three friends, Cat Paquin, Shannon Scanlon, and Den Scanlon, who I have ridden countless hours with virtually on Zwift the past four years or so though Paul Jobin's Dawn Patrol, a part of the winter BaseCamp training program.

The ride began with temps in the mid 70s, which would climb to the upper 80s. I set out trying my best to exercise patience in the first hour and find a group stronger than me who could pull me to the climbs. That didn't quite work the way I had hoped, but I did manage to work with a few people to get me to mile 20 without burning any matches. The climbs started and kept coming all the way up Cheaha and down and back almost all the way up and down.

When I was down in that last valley, my Garmin 1050 bike computer decided to freeze/black screen which messed up my Live Tracker, resulting in a minor loss of distance and elevation, but more importantly resulted in a text from my wife making sure I was okay.

After fixing that issue and texting back, I climbed Cheaha a final time. From there it was all downhill until the next hill. From mile 80 to 96 or so it seemed downhill or flat.

Coach Brig Brandt prepared me for the last 20-30 miles, which featured about 3000 feet of climbing. I kept fueling despite not wanting to and hydrating despite having run out of my electrolyte solution of choice (Scratch hydration).

Around mile 120, there was a final 1000-foot climb to a radio tower. I hit my peak 5-minute power (293 watts) and peak 10-minute power (247 watts) on that insulting but jubilating climb, before descending triumphantly back to Jacksonville and finishing feeling great.

Shannon, Den, and my friends Brianna Baldwin and Sam Fara, all who did the century challenge, met me at the finish. Turns out I finished 22nd overall, 18th in KOM2U, and 3rd in my age group.