There isn’t a flat spot in Tennessee.

No, really. At any point, even if you think it’s flat, you’re going up or down, slightly. Get out a level. I bet I’m correct.

Anyone who has biked, hiked or walked in Tennessee will agree with me.

Coming from Wisconsin, where flat land is common, this was a shock. Yes, I know it shouldn’t have been. After all, I’d visited Tennessee before. I’d walked it, although I hadn’t biked it. I even hiked 600 steps down — and up — a Georgia mountain in 90-degree heat and humidity one year, and it didn’t kill me. So I know it’s not level here.

But still.

You’d think I’d catch a little break.

Flat spot in Tennessee on Riverwalk

Actually, you do get a break if you choose to ride someplace like the Tennessee Riverwalk. It’s a long stretch of wide, paved trail, running close to the Tennessee River from the Chickamauga Dam past Chattanooga’s downtown. It runs through pretty parks, over bridges and past marshes and wetlands. It’s well-maintained and relatively flat. There is a slight downhill grade from the dam to the city’s riverfront. If you start at the dam and ride into Chattanooga, your journey back to the dam is mostly uphill – slightly, but still.

When I’d bike in Wisconsin, I’d switch between maybe three gears on my bike. I kept it on the big sprocket and went between probably and 3 and a 5. (Yes, I should know which gears they are, but that’s math, and it still confuses me. I can’t just multiply, because that doesn’t make sense. 3×3 is 9, but it’s not like that’s 9^th gear on a 21-gear bike. So, I don’t know which gear it is, technically.)

While biking in Tennessee, however, I’ve downshifted to the middle sprocket, and I use all seven options, depending on how big the hill is I’m trying to climb. I tried staying on the big sprocket, but it meant changing big gears too often, and that’s jarring. So, I try to stay on the middle on both sides.

No flat spot in Tennessee hills

But the hills. Oh, the hills. Going down is a piece of cake. Unless you’re going too fast … but that’s another story. Going up can be hell. Truly. You don’t want to downshift too early, or you’ll be out of options and have to go the smallest sprocket. You have to plan it carefully, only downshifting when you feel you really can’t go any more on the present gear.

Usually, it’s OK. But sometimes, you realize too late that you waited too long, and the fresh gear isn’t going to cut it at all, and you have to downshift again right away. All the time, you’re hoping you won’t get down to 1 and have to downshift into that even lower gear. If you run out of those, you are off and walking your bike up the hill.

I have done this. Not in Tennessee – yet – but I’m sure it’s coming. The bigger the hill, the harder to climb.

No fan of hills

Funny thing is, I don’t like hills. I would try and avoid them – mostly – in Wisconsin, choosing routes to not have to bike up hills.

But every now and then, I’d get a hankering to go out by Nepco Lake and take on the hills. I’d make it through and figure I’d be OK. They were tiny compared to some of the hills here. Maybe it was because it was a challenge that I’d do them.

There’s one road nearby where I live now that I won’t even tackle because of the steep hills. My car struggles to get up. I can only imagine me on a bike, huffing and puffing, and finally walking it up, s-l-o-w-l-y. I don’t know that I’ll ever be in good enough shape to do that road on a bike. I’ve got enough of a challenge on some of the other hills – long grades and long climbs – before I consider it.

And I’ll keep walking, too, with Charity Miles tracking my miles for the Alzheimer’s Association. Even many of the walking trails here are challenging, let alone the hiking trails. After hiking 3.5 miles on Thanksgiving, I realized I really need decent hiking shoes. Getting by with my walking shoes won’t cut it if I plan to keep going off road.

I’d like to hike more. It’s fun. I enjoy walking, too, but hiking takes it to the next level.

And if I can’t do the hills on my bike, maybe I can on my two feet.

That’s a challenge I can take on, even if I cant’ find a flat spot in Tennessee.