The Assault on Mt Mitchell {Recap}

Thanks to all of my friends and colleagues who contributed to the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Together, we've raised over $1300 towards youth funding for Heart and Stroke programs. This is an incredible achievement and I thank you as it made the Assault on Mount Mitchell that much more rewarding, and, was a big motivator, especially when the miles starting to accumulate in the legs. Many people have asked me how the ride went, so I thought I'd post some a small diary of the day as well as some statistics from my ride. This ride was incredibly organized, with the help of hundreds of volunteers. Its no easy feat getting over 1000 riders up a limited access mountain and down again in dozens of buses. Spartanburg was a wonderful host city for the event with an expo, guest speakers and great hospitality. In the past I'd had the opportunity of racing/training in the Carolinas, western Carolina is wonderful!

The ride started at 6:30am sharp in downtown Spartanburg in front of the Civic Auditorium. Meaning, I needed to be up at 4:00am eating and hydrating before the ride. The countdown to the ride is done on the giant clock with every rider carrying a timing chip for the precise timing of his/her ride. We have a full motorcade of police, support vehicles and sag wagons for the riders.

Riders Lining up at the start (6:10 am)

Ride underway

The start of the ride was fast, the lead group I was in averaged 25 mph (40.2 KPH) for the first 74 miles. We made Marion, N.C. in 3 hrs, 5 minutes, it was race pace. As the miles ticked on, the pack dwindled in numbers, by the time we hit Marion, we were down to maybe 30 riders. We have some "Pro's" in the group that pushed the pace. Notably riders from the professional team BMC and Rahsaan Bahati. If you don’t know the story of Rahsaan it’s an incredible one. He is a multiple time national champion and the topic of an upcoming TV documentary series on Universal Sports. Coming from inner city LA, his goal is to get under privileged youth into cycling. He's a great guy and came to the back of the lead group every once in a while to chat and crack some jokes.

Here is a link to his website:

http://www.bahatifoundation.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rahsaan_Bahati

Lead group cresting Bill's Mountain ~46 miles into the ride. (Green Creation, GlobalBike and BMC-Hincapie Pushing the pace) - That's me on far right gasping for air.

Marion is considered the Base of the climb, but the ride from Spartanburg is certainly not flat, we had accumulated almost 4000 ft of climbing by the time we hit Marion. In Marion, we turn onto highway 80 for 10 miles which climbs up to the Blue Ridge Parkway, we passed Lake Tahoma (see pictures below) in 5 miles we climbed 3000 feet.

Highway 80 - let the climbing begin

Lake Tahoma Approx. Mile 80

One (1) mile into the climb, and with over 80 miles in my legs, this is where I said good-by to the elite group of riders, down to 20, and rode the reminder of the ride on my own. I counted 10 switchbacks on the climb to the Blue Ridge. I reached the Blue Ridge Parkway 3:55 minutes into the ride.

Top of the Blue Ridge Parkway (Eastern Continental Divide)

Once on the Blue Ridge there was 16 miles to the top of Mt Mitchell; The road was constantly up. At one point I had to get off my bike because of a cramp in my hamstring, after a few minutes, I walked it off having been passed by a few people. If you've ever gotten a muscle cramp due to fatigue or dehydration you understand the pain, it’s not something I could ride through. After, what seemed like an eternity, I hit the entrance to the Mount Mitchell state park (time 4:55), only 5 miles to go. At the entrance to Mt Mitchell State park the temperature had significantly dropped at an elevation about 5000 feet, I could literally touch the clouds and the temperature (according to the national weather service )was 5 degrees (41F), wind-chill was 36. The climb to the top was steep and within moments I was in the clouds. Not seeing more than 10 feet in front of me, the biggest relief of the day came as I started to ride over white stripes on the road, knowing I was now in the parking lot, at the top, not far from the observation tower. Crossed the line 5 hours, 29 minutes after leaving Spartanburg, 169 km's later.

Me finishing

Results

Full Results Here: https://theassaults.com/results

The volunteers were great, they got you off your bike, wrapped you in a thermal blanket and took your bike down the mountain for you. They had hot soup and gave me my "top of the mountain bag" which included some essentials; change of clothing, protein shake, towel and some shoes. I hopped on the bus and the drive down the mountain to Marion (bus ride took about 2 hrs)

For those interested, here are some statistics from my cycling computer on the ride:

Average speed 31 kph,

Maximum Speed 84 KPH

Total distance 169 KM

Water bottles consumed: 6 (Orange Flavored Accelerade)

Food Consumed on my bike : 6 Cliff Bars, 5 Hammer Gels, 1 Banana, 7 eload electrolyte pills

Breakfast (4:30 AM) Spaghetti and Garlic Bread (courtesy of La Taverna Restaurant in Spartanburg)

Estimated Expended Calories: ~ 4000

I've included some photos of the experience, although none were taken by me during the ride, they were either taken by me the day before (when I drove to the top), or by the event photographer or local news photographers. Thanks to Palmetto Bank and Clint Davis Photography who provided these photos free of charge.

Hopefully this story inspires you to do something special, whatever it might be, for your local community, charity, yourself, or special someone. This was a great experience and I can't thank my wonderful wife, Heather, enough for her support and sacrifice of supporting my weekend and afterwork training for the past 8 months; and the farewell cake and balloons and celebration upon my return. Love You Thanks!

Again, here is a link to my website supporting the heart and stroke foundation

http://www.rideforheart.ca/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=439756&lis=0&kntae439756=784BB7FC20A3451DBC53DA4AC24CB349

And a special thanks to my sponsors:

Erin Mills Acura, All Canadian Self Storage, Cyclepath Oakville, Sidi, Hincapie and DeFeet

Thanks for reading!

A few more tidbits:

Where is everyone from?

Elevation gain