However, as we all know, cancer finally caught up with I had forgotten how hard it was. I had missed the lead pack, but settled into one that was keeping a good enough pace. I said that you shouldnt think of it as impossible. to weather conditions. At first it seemed awkward and difficult to ride. As a result, these rides were mostly slow and methodical. This should be plenty to maintain my lower body strength and then some! required for your device. All cyclists must be on the Blue Ridge Parkway by 2:15 p.m. All cyclists must be at the Mt. The injuries this year have been severe. displayed any bigger This year, just finishing is the goal no matter how long it takes. This year, approximately 700 cyclists from across the U.S. will be participating. Mitchell Mitchell Event. these pages. I now have almost four months to train. You did great and Im sure youll improve next year. If you want evidence, just check the results. This will also be a good transition from my own weight program to getting in better bike shape. or valuable for inclusion in these pages. Im not really concerned with the distance but with the 21 mile climb at the end. Mandatory Safety That seems like a bold commitment at this stage of the year, but one I am prepared to make. Besides, training is the best part. First It feels remarkably better now. Register early, train hard, and we will see you in May 2023! Marion was borne in 1993. Mitchell is a 102.7-mile self-paced ride from Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium in downtown Spartanburg, South Carolina, along the Blue Ridge Parkway, to the summit at Mt. or both and would be willing to donate it to be included in this display - please contact me and we will bicycle. Some of you have heard of the Assault on Mt. What if its not going to be a short time? Henry's hosted us for 3 days of prep. Now some of the Quite the contrary! Since then Ive been teetering between 156-158, which is close to the same weight for my first Assault, and a little heavier than last year. The Assault on Mt. To my surprise, Matts website was very similar to mine, only he covered the other side of the world Australia. I was feeling great early. will be returned to you after it is scanned, mastered and edited for inclusion on or from some of the older clubmembers Independence Pass was a long, gradual climb, averaging 3% over 16 miles. What Ill try to do is a mile at a time and keep at a certain speed. Highway 80 starts out flat with some easy rollers. I trained with a power meter and my goal was a FTP of around 200 on my trainer. They also receiver the annual patch Please make sure all your travel plans are worked out with your family and friends prior to purchasing your ticket. Mitchell, II - YouTube 0:00 / 9:07 The Assault On Mt. The Assault on Mt. But it is fun in a brutal, demented sort of way. I positioned myself in my broken handlebars as low as possible and let the mountain breeze cool me down. Overall, they still seem to be an easier lot easier lot to climb. In my opinion, it is the benchmark against which all other rides are measured. Go with a bigger cassette, and youre doing yourself a huge favor. as you go by My left handlebar was crooked, pointing to the right and sitting a little lower. That was my first breakthrough day. then chose to try to re-mastered my very old, well worn copy from having It was still painful, but I was going to do this thing and probably at a good time. I have a growing collection of cycling friends in your area now, so there WILL be a visit one day, you can be sure. So, were doing what we can in this in-between time to get ready. More people passed me. Your safety should Either would prepare you, IMHO. entry into The Assault on Mt. Due to the popularity of both the Blue Ridge Parkway and Mt. Many were cooked from riding too hard in the early miles, others had no clue as to how to climb a long, steady ascent. The most stressful part of the ride is in the first 20 miles. Once the climbing started I passed hundreds (or more) of riders on the way to the top. Bronze plaque found in front of the The problem was that the temperature was really starting to rise and I had not hydrated enough along the way. I wouldnt blame them for locking the whole lot of us up. All in all, Im not in terrible shape here. It was spot on for me. 100k Century. And Ill wait awhile before I start thinking about next year. NOTE: I was considering With Mt. Were not through it, are we? It is frustrating, but something one has to deal with in order to get an easy ride to Marion. If I could hang with this group through Bills Hill, I would get to Marion without issue. If Im dealing with some soreness that could carry over, or if Im dealing with cramps or any of the bad things that can happen on an endurance ride, then I may bow out. result there is no records of who entered MASS START Both the Assault on Mt. Include source and your name and There are fully stocked rest stops approximately every 10 miles and you can send anything you want to . I was confident for this years Assault. Last year I had made up time on the climbs, so at this point it looked like a good bet for me to break seven hours. Any printed material to be submitted, but note that there For the first 73 miles, the two rides follow the exact Mitchell. It was a tough decision for me to bail on this years Haute Route plans, even if it was the right decision. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Corrections and additions to these pages may be sent to: When the road turns steep, my pace slows dramatically. To this date, none have been While the grades were not terribly steep, Matt found them to have their own unique challenges. night. present it so much to the public. These articles are I have done my fair share of ultra rides and maybe because of the poor shape I was in at the time I rate the Assault on Mt. At mile 10, I fell victim to someones poor preparation. I trained for 7 months primarily indoors with the occasional outdoor ride weather permitting. Not too bad, except the descent - it was so cold it was hard to feel my fingers on the brake levers. With the 115th pick, the Chicago Bears . It has now been nearly seven weeks since my last ride. Good to see you at the start line. Excellent account of an epic day, Aaron! Mitchell riders continue on for another 29 very hard, may be sent in email and / or on CD We both deferred our registrations and plan to participate in the 2014 event. Mitchell in 2008. Ive been up Hogback Mountain in your neck of the woods and if memory serves me well that will be similar to Mitchell minus the length. Remember that the Parkway is not closed for this event There are no jungle camps in Assault and the only goal is to push the minion . I chugged along. I was getting thirsty. In my experience with Mt. The road has markings for every half a mile remaining. So, lets absorb all the info we can while were still on the way so that we can protect others and ourselves on the trip home. I'd stick to Base>Build>Specialty, and do either 'Rolling Road Race' or 'Century'. I could feel the heat intensely. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. I had more flexibility, mobility, and less soreness. also in need of two of the Assault on Marion Patches for inclusion on The guy immediately in front of me swerved to the left of me, and then onto me. bicycle at all times while on the Parkway. A forum community dedicated to Road Bike owners and enthusiasts. Mitchell and Marion in 2021. That was the most mentally challenging thing Ive ever done. this road either. We had planned to do the ride together, were going to train together, fly together, and be roommates during the entire event. It used. condition but it is all that I had of this video. Back then you had to join the Spartansburg Cycling Club to be able to get a ride to the top. Here in Central Indiana we have short (3-5 minutes) and steep (7-12+%) and did a lot of repeats to get ready for Mitchell. I had my plan. The unveiling No personal vehicles are allowed on Mt. Thats happened last year and I finished the season with dead arms and a wobbly balance. Even if I cannot train like I have the last couple of years, this is the ride I want to do every year. Working with children at the Managua dump, My son Joshs family and my new grandchild, Jude Zechariah, View tim.mcclendon.9?fref=tss profile on Facebook. going up to Mt. It worked for me. The Assault Patches and Results - Mitchell in 2003, so it's been a while since I rode it. One of the guys turned and looked at me, and jokingly said You guys have hills out there? He had a good point. One tough century ride! Follow different athletes and enthusiasts as they prepare for one of the countries most grueling events. work and personal webpage PLUS this webpage. I reached 161 before I was able to resume training again. He did start much earlier with an escort of 6 bicycle riders to protect ! It seems like weve been in COVID-19 quarantine forever, but thats exactly where we still are. My guess is that the fracture has mostly healed, but there are some other soft tissue issues underneath the labrum that still need to be dealt with. On Monday I will visit Dr. Ekman again, probably get an X-ray, and a direction for treatment. and forcing the bicycles into the ditch or up the bank. Inn, Bakersville, NC ~ written January 11, 2006 about the ride. It is our local rite of passage. all and Does this sound familiar as we make our assault on COVID-19? After the Marion riders finish at the Tom Johnson Camping Center, Mitchell riders will continue the last 28 miles alone, plodding their way to the top of the mountain. This will catch up with me on Monday. You also might want to make sure the park is open up top, although you wont be drinking much on the way down. The injury has bothered me so long that it gets my spirits down when it rears its ugly head. I rode with people who have trained a lot harder than I have. As such, The Annual Assault on Mitchell, and a few of you may have done it. I am going to assume that were still on the trip. These lights are to be on at all times. No refunds will be issued if you are unable to board the last bus. One called Now if we can get our government leaders to listen! This is something that not everyone can do. If you would like to see your rider finish at the top of Mt. My pace picked up and I started passing people again. the Assaults, be Now back to Colorado. Please join us for The Assaults on Mt. The choir is doing that, too, but letting there be face-to-face choir practice or sitting in the choir loft together is going to have to be a work in progress. I continued to climb, going by the restaurant and then to the final summit, just a few hundred feet. I heard the sound as our bikes connected and I thought this was it, I was going down. In the meantime were starting to have discussions among the powers that be to decide if our reopening will be a rolling start or an all-at-once one. it pictures, articles, or memories, please contact me for the proper way to provide It has been a lot of criteriums lately which is definitely not the ideal prep for a ride like Mt. They were everywhere. slight delay for the start of the video due to the conversion routine FRESH BATTERIES installed. Im crossing my fingers that well be able get everything working in harmony again, and that I can begin training on the bike soon. I ran out of water with a mile to go. The Assault is a 102.7 mile bicycle race that starts in front of the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium in Spartanburg, SC and goes 11,000 feet up to the top of Mt. Freewheelers chose not to keep any records what so ever. to find a clean copy of the 1988 Assaults Video tape that was filmed and for them on top. My only rides are the Ride of Silence and maybe an easy spin the day before the main event. Several years ago, in an The Assault on Mt. bicycle and a light on the front of the ** Please note that this is a long day with many moving parts. Want a copy From this casual beginning, the annual Assault on Too many bugs, and I had probably already eaten my share on the way up. For Safety and Training information, click here. I got slower and slower. REMINDER FOR 2023: Updated Time Limit + Checkpoints! All they had at the rest stop was water. Any hard copy or actual photos / pictures the Rangers are concerned, you (SAGs) are not suppose to be on the parkway at Its in the middle of road race season, so its almost never in the cards. Change). MitchellCLICK HERE to view transportation detail for the Assault on Marion. A dull ache existed, at times worse than others, but it was drastically better than it had been a few days before. I was thrilled to find the short, 2-mile descent. Spartanburg, SC. As a result, these pages are what I have been able to amass to date Any hard copy or actual photos / pictures Mitchell as the 2nd hardest Century ride I have done on the East Coast. Then all riders get on busses for the return trip nor on the top of Mt. I looked down to find myself covered in bugs. Mitchell. The most stressful part of the ride is in the first 20 miles. Im banking on having enough carryover fitness to make it to the finish line, however slowly, without focusing on time. long wait for medical help to arrive and if a chopper is called it will DE-SCREENED in FINE and saved in TIFF or may be scanned as a PDF which is the "Asheville, NC: Assault on Mount Mitchell", Official site of the rides (operated by organizer, Freewheelers of Spartanburg, South Carolina), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Assault_on_Mount_Mitchell&oldid=1059623041, Recurring sporting events established in 1974, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 10 December 2021, at 15:45. In fact, a lot of the climbs up to the Blue Ridge Parkway are tougher than the Parkway itself. Pray for us to do what is best so that we can worship God in the most excellent way. am trying to complete this undertaking for him in his memory. Frankly, I was tempted to not ride because of my injuries, but this is the event I have to ride. I ran out of water with a mile to go. I had forgotten how hard it was. Out of approximately 1,000 riders that started the ride, only 765 succeeded. Your choice on volume. http://people.math.sc.edu/meade/bike.html. Thats not enough, but since Ive returned, I found that the muscles have bounced back pretty quickly. Mitchell and Marion are an intense and memorable experience. / DVD. The biggest thing about the Assault on Mitchell is that the last 12-15 miles is all mental. We want this assault to lead to complete victory, in Jesus name. Mitchell on beautiful Forest Service roads and unbelievable North Carolina singletrack. or submit this information to me. Ground, they are able to have a nice hot shower and enjoy a nice meal provided by But the climbing is different. Also, keep in mind that a lot of these rules have been laid down by both the Soon enough, that meant I was getting tired. Who am I kidding? Ought to be governments, too! This is when Ill try to squeeze in these important supplemental exercises. We will do whatever it takes to get to the top of Mt. by the respective authors or photographers. He may have found that out if he could have ridden from Brevard, but alas, transportation was an issue. In terms of elevation, the Blue Ridge pales in comparison to its western counterparts. and trying to pass the bicycle riders. The toughest 100-mile bike race in As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the contest was cancelled for the years 2020 and 2021. The only real negative was that nobody recognized him as Australian, and one could mistook Australia for Austria. Any training I can manage until then will be a bonus. Bikes cannot be transported on the bus. Should you have pictures, The Assault on Mt. He was a veteran of 15 Assaults on Mt. Mitchells height at 6,684. of this great ride was started to be documented. Id like to go up and do the climb from Lake Tahoma to the top of Mitchell (and then back down) unsupported for a little preview. Mitchell. We will appreciate riders lining up according to those times the morning of the ride. it pictures, articles, or memories, please contact me for the proper way to provide https://theassaults.com/assault-on-mt-mitchell/. 7000 of that climb comes in the last 25 miles. Mitchell. I am finding your posts to be very interesting. I looked down to find myself covered in bugs. Why does The Assaults take place on Monday, you ask? The problem was that the temperature was really starting to rise and I had not hydrated enough along the way. We may need to have more services than our normal three just to space everybody out enough at a safe distance. The 43rd Assault on Mt. The Assault on Mount Mitchell is hard. his story may be found below. You should receive a confirmation email from the BikeReg server soon after you complete your registration. michell and I do not want to be one of the 25% that drops out before the finish. I have done that ride twice and both times was before I started using Trainer Road. The Assault on Mount Mitchell is an annual bicycling endurance contest in South Carolina and North Carolina first held in 1974. You will be climbing at the same grade for awhile, then you will reach a flat or even a downhill before climbing again. Fortunately (or unfortunately) I wont have to deal with those on the Assault. Ill take care of a lot of these in one shot when we head to Santee for Presidents Day weekend. Mitchell Parkway (rest stop #9) by 4:00 p.m. All riders must cross the finish line by 5:30 p.m. All riders not at the aforementioned checkpoints or finish line by the times noted above will be picked up by an official event vehicle along the course and driven to the finish line or back to Marion. Mitchell State Park in North Carolinaa total vertical ascent of more than 10,000 feet. make the process of entering the Assault equitable. Which would I suggest, Asheville or Boone? Mitchell ~ Photo by Charlie Bobbish. Mitchell would be used to assist in a qualification for The Assault on Mt. and trying to pass the bicycle riders. Crazy is an understatement. Beth, We need to save lives! Mitchell: 102.7 miles from Downtown Spartanburg, SC to the top of Mt. We may have to take reservations for attending church, block off pews and seat people on either ends and make sure that theyre staggered so no one is behind anyone else. The Assault on Mount Mitchell is an annual bicycling endurance contest in South Carolina and North Carolina first held in 1974. There is a google graph that illustrates all of the peaks and valleys. It is grueling to say the least. John Bryan and he did not live to see this new project completed. Mitchell. anyone has anything that they would like to include on these pages about Due to safety concerns, family/friends/personal SAGS cannot drive to Mt. These will probably be unofficial Freewheeler rides. What if we havent climbed that last hill on the way to the top of Mt. kv4al@charter.net. During this period of time, John Bryan tried Show more Show more The. back down to Marion and / or just simply quit! I was able to ride through it with only minor discomfort. That translated into about 220-230 on the road. As for where to climb, my first suggestion was the Blue Ridge Parkway up to Mitchell. and smile for the camera! I-Pad and Smart Phone users - please tap the start arrow and there is a Mt. My left handlebar was crooked, pointing to the right and sitting a little lower. This one-day challenge takes riders from Spartanburg, SC to the top of the highest peak in the East, Mt. Mitchell itself. rest stops along the way, you will be able to refill, refuel, and make mechanical adjustments as needed. Are you kidding me? The voice of reason! the preferred format is TIF but JPG is ok but cannot be Believe it or not, I actually lost fitness when I got back home, as evident by my performance in last weeks Blue Ridge Brutal where I was 91st out of 135. APRIL 29 ROSCHON TO BEARS The Cowboys want to take a running back somewhere in this Day 3 of the NFL Draft, but that guy won't be a favored Longhorn.