The Assault on Mt. Mitchell : Official Thread

Details?  When?  Where?  How much?  I've ridden to Mt Mitchell from Asheville -- it's an awesome ride.  I might be game for the 'official' version this year.

I thought you have to complete Mount Marion climb in Georgia before they would let you enter the Mt Mitchell event?

I don't think so.  Info is here:

http://www.freewheelers.info/aomm/

Club members get first crack, then it opens up middle of Feb.  The general (non-club) slots will likely go very fast.

You have to do Mt. Marion NC first because it is about 70 miles into the ride. A large number of people will end up stopping there. The park rangers only let a certain number of riders on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The slower riders who want to ride on but get stopped tend to get a little upset about not being able to finish. This has become a very popular ride and people of all abilities show up for the ride. This makes SAG support problematic. I'm sure the director/organizer they have this year will do a good job making sure this is a great event. If you want to get in I would either join the freewheelers or register as soon as the spots open.

If you are not from Spartanburg I would try and arrange your own transportation home

LOL... I started this thread and thought it was in the N.C. forum. DUH.

Ok, I did the ride last year and you guys have some good questions. I'll try to clarify a few things, not meaning to sound like a know it all.

1) Registration - too late to join Freewheelers. Registration opens for general public for remaining spots Feb. 16. I would look on the web site and see exactly what time this opens and register then. If you don't get in this way, there is still a way to ride. Several entries are sold ( I believe it's in the yahoo group ). There were MANY spots for sale last year.

2) Cutoff time/rider limit - Yes last year there was a cutoff, somewhat arbitrary too, for entering the Parkway. To be fair to Freewheelers, the limit was stated as 750 and approx. 800 finished, so actually they let 50 "extra" people thru. It was not real pretty when the race was cutoff. I know first-hand as I was in the last group allowed onto the Parkway. This year it is supposed to be strictly a time cutoff: if you make it to the Parkway by 3:30 pm, you should be ok. However, I would be gone from the rest stop at the start of the Parkway before 3:30, just to be safe. That's approx. 87 miles in NINE hours. Avg'ing 9.5 mph (including all stops). Most all of us can do that.

3) You don't have to ride Assault on Marion the previous year anymore. Rode Mitchell last yr and had ridden nothing previously. Joined Freewheelrs by 12/31/08, received passcode for 2009 ride.

4) Logistics are "fun". You complete the ride, then bike is sent back to Marion by truck. You have to ride back down on a bus. You don't want to have someone meet you at the top. Why ? Park Service doesn't want all that traffic up there plus it's unsafe with all the cyclists.

5) Make no mistake about this ride, it is tough. Grades are never more than 7-9 %, but ride from Marion to top is unrelenting. After a few miles out of Marion (HWY 80), ez climbing starts for 3-4 miles then the real climbing starts. Last 3.5 miles of 80 to Parkway are 7-8 %. Then there's only approx. 2.5 miles that aren't uphill. Probably the hardest part of ride, for me, was when I turned off the Parkway onto HWY 128 to the summit. Only about 4.5 miles to the top. You go approx half a mile then it gets steep again, real steep. A grueling 1.5-2 miles. Then you hit the entrance to the State Park and you've pretty much made it, with about 2.5 mile left and just a few climbs left.

6) If you have a question about your ability to complete this ride, ride as much as possible of HWY 80/Parkway/HWY 128. At bare minimum ride it in a car. Couldn't believe how many people asked me what was coming next. THIS IS NOT A RIDE TO PLAY WITH. Attrition rate has been 30 % for 30+ yrs. Expect it will be lower this year, due to increased time to get to the Parkway.

Sorry this was so long, but I hope it helps. We will be doing at least a couple of trng rides over the last 18-20 miles or so of the route, so maybe several of us can meet up together. It is FUN coming down ( 45-50+ mph if you want ).

ETA: condense

Edited by tri42 2010-02-02 9:52 PM

Registration will open for the general public on 2/16.

Also, the "cutoff" this year is only a time limit. You must get to the Blue Ridge Parkway by 3:30 pm. This is a very generous limit and almost everyone should be able to make it.

Alrite, it's getting old talking to myself..... Anyone else ?

Thanks for the additional information.  I have this ride as one of my long term goals, but I definitely couldn't do it this year.  Good luck to all who do it, though.

Who else signed up ?

Headed up to the Parkway tomorrow to ride to the summit. If you're interested in riding, pm me.

Anyone else get in ? Weather forecast iffy.... don't need any more misery added to this experience.