Saturday, October 24, 2026 · Lookout Mountain, GA

Ride the 5 Points 50 on a plan, not a hunch

Fifty miles and 4,700 ft across the Five Points system and the Cloudland Canyon Connector, with a 25-mile option starting fifteen minutes later. Redline Athlete forecasts your finish from your own numbers, prices every climb against your reserve, and puts the plan on your head unit.

No card. No account needed to try it.

01 · The course

Fifty miles across Lookout Mountain

50 miThe 50, from the Lula Lake gate
4,700 ftTotal climbing · 94 ft per mile
25 miThe 25 · 2,700 ft
9:00 AMStart · the 25 at 9:15

The organiser describes grueling singletrack, rock gardens, climbs and smooth flowy trail, with several miles on private land that is only open on race day, and about 25 miles of prime singletrack in the middle of the 50. Figures from the organiser's course description (50 mi, 4,700 ft; 25 mi, 2,700 ft) and the BikeReg listing. When you load the course file, the app measures it for itself.

02 · What it asks of you

Rock gardens at mile thirty are a different sport from rock gardens at mile five

Ninety-four feet of climbing per mile is real, but the 5 Points 50 is remembered for its rock, and rock costs more when your reaction time has gone.

Technical ground, late

The plan finds your most technical stretch after the halfway mark and tells you what fatigue you will carry into it. On this course that stretch is the one to ride with margin.

Twenty-five miles of singletrack in the middle

Where the trail is tight, the handling ceiling caps your speed and extra watts buy little. The plan separates the miles where fitness pays from the miles where line choice does.

Climbs that punch

Lookout Mountain climbs are short and steep more often than long and steady. Those are paid for from your anaerobic reserve, and the plan shows which ones drain it and where it refills.

The 25 as a real race

Twenty-seven hundred feet in twenty-five miles is steeper per mile than the 50. Load that file if that is your start; the plan is the same.

03 · What the plan tells you

What the plan tells you about the 5 Points 50

Your finish time

A forecast from your weight, fitness and the course file, with a pace target you can hold rather than an average someone else rode.

The climb that empties you

Every climb ranked by what it takes out of your anaerobic reserve, not by how tall it looks. On punchy ground the reserve, not the fatigue curve, is usually what decides the second half.

Fuel that covers the effort

Carbohydrate burned against what you can absorb, hour by hour, with a warning when the plan runs short. Four to six hours with rock in the second half: eat before the rock, not in it.

Markers on your head unit

The longest climb, the hardest one for you, the recovery window before it and the technical stretch late in the day, sent to your Garmin, Wahoo or watch as waypoints.

04 · Proof

Fitted against real race files

The model is fitted against recorded races, not lab assumptions. On a Chequamegon 40 validation ride it predicted 2:24:28 against an actual finish of 2:24:20.

Predicted finish2:24:28
Actual finish2:24:20
Difference8 seconds

Your prediction comes with a confidence range, because honesty beats a single flattering number. Lula Lake has not yet been run through the model on a recorded file. When a rider shares one, this page gets its own numbers.

Three steps before race morning

  1. Load the course. The organiser runs preview rides with SORBA Chattanooga and publishes the course; a Trailforks route exists for the 50. Export the GPX and upload it.
  2. Say what the ground is. The trail’s own corners suggest where the ground changes; you name each section or describe the course in a sentence. Worth 13 to 17% of a finish time.
  3. Set the pace and get the plan. Weight and fitness once, then one slider drawn on what each pace costs: finish forecast, reserve at the line, fatigue curve, a fueling schedule, and the markers that matter sent to your head unit or watch. No power meter required.

Lula Lake 5 Points 50 questions

How long does the 5 Points 50 take?

Fast riders finish the 50 in around four hours and much of the field takes six or more. The calculator forecasts your time from your own weight and fitness rather than an average.

Does it handle the 25?

Yes. Upload the 25-mile file instead. Same physics, different answer.

Is it really free?

Yes. Run the full analysis as a guest, no account. Pro ($9/month, or $59/year) adds saved rides, a saved athlete profile and the head-unit export.

Other race plans

Same model, one page per course.

Every race on the calendar

Find out what the rock at mile thirty is going to cost

Same course, your fitness, your pacing. Two minutes of setup now beats fifty miles of guessing.