My Story: The Assault on Mt. Mitchell 2007

On Sunday June 10^th, I pack up my gear and start driving north to Spartanburg, SC to tackle the 32^nd Annual Assault on Mt Mitchell. This is a 102-mile ride from Spartanburg, SC to the top of Mt Mitchell, NC with 12,000+ ft of climbing. This will be my third time talking this beast and I feel ready for the task at hand.

The weather has always been very iffy over the years, but as I drive up the temps are hitting upper 90’s. This means two good things: no rain, as every year I have done it, it rains; and, hopefully, it's not too hot up top.

Arriving in Spartanburg I decided to carbo load at the Banquet provided at registration. Usually we head down to Greenville and hit up Maggiano's. The banquet was good in the sense of community and fellowship, but needed more food than what was provided. Put this on the list not to do next year. Headed back to hotel, got everything ready for the morning as it was going to be a 4:30am wakeup call.

4:30 am arrives and we head out to the famous Waffle House for some last minute fuel. We notice the ground being wet and look up and see lightning. Dang, I do not want to do this in the rain again. Check radar and looks like it will blow out before 7:00am start time. Have a nice breakfast and get back to the hotel to get dressed and ready for some suffering.

Arrive at the start at 6:50am and there are enormous amounts of people already lined up. I squeeze into the front 15% to get positioned as it’s always a nightmare of a start.

At the right is an electronic sign that does a countdown to 7:00am. We roll out and all you can hear for the next 30 seconds is the sounds of everyone clipping into their pedals. My goal today is to stay with the main pack or the second group.

As we roll out of town we are flying down the road. As we progress into the countryside we are rolling along about a 25 mph pace. Looks like I am in the front 200 or so people. Some guys pass me like it’s a race, but I know that the hard stuff comes when you start the long 32-mile climb from Marion, NC to the top of Mitchell. I keep my pace and we hit the first big incline. Wow, lots of people everywhere, hard to climb in the right lane so I do what is not best and follow the fast guys up the left side taking a chance. But there is like over a 100 people on this 2 mile section. I pass a LOT of people and we hit the descent. My little 135 lbs does no justice in helping me hit the 45 mph others are hitting, so the people I was passing were passing me now! Dang, ok, keep focused and get to Bill’s Hill and do it again. Bill’s Hill comes about 43 miles and is a little steep climb where lots of family and friends cheer everyone up. I do the climb and feel like I am on a good pace. I grab a banana up top and start the long pace to Marion. Need to get to Marion at 3.5 hrs to try to get close to the 6 hr mark.

Get to Marion at 3:40, but have to stop and use the bathroom. Decided to go to porta potty and waited about 3 minutes in line. Grab some food and head off to Hwy 80. This is the prettiest part of the ride and in my opinion the hardest climb. Its about 10 miles of steady climbing until you reach the Blue Ridge Parkway. I am pacing myself but feel really good. I am catching some folks and pass a few. I know there is a rest stop at the end of this climb so I give it my best to keep a nice even pace. I reach the parkway and grab some more food and mentally prepare for the l-o-n-g climb to the top.

I get into a group of a few people who seem to have the same strength as me. We keep a steady pace but I am starting to feel the pain. I do not want to cramp so I focus on drinking and masking the pain. This climb is very steady. I think I average anywhere from 7 mph to 10 mph all the way to the entrance of the Mt Mitchell park. I keep counting down the miles in my head until the turn. Ah, the turn now the real pain! Its 4 miles to the top and an incredible % pitch. I keep my focus as I am climbing through the clouds. I am averaging about 5 mph at this point, the pain is splintering me. As I near the top I misjudge the finish. I start my sprint up too early and forget about the last mile being as steep as it is. I am looking at my time and trying to beat last year's time.

As I suffer I turn and see the last 100 meters, and like out of heaven this lady is like yelling at me to "dig dig dig," like some angel screaming at my inner self to push. I push around the bend and see the clock and see 6:46 as I cross. Two guys grab me and I am like in a fog. I sit there for about a minute and regain my composure and hand off the bike for the trip back to Spartanburg. I change clothes and as with tradition, there is this nice gentleman up top that hands out Tomato Soup and bread and a nice can of Coke to feed the body after such an epic ride.

The trip back is much an epic journey as well as all the transfers and all take another 3+ hours. I arrive back to Spartanburg about 7pm and start my journey back to Atlanta.

I have a personal best time, came in 233^rd out of 1000, but really want to get closer to that 6 hr mark!! Maybe next year!

Ronnie

Aarons/L5Flyers Cycling Team