The year was 1985 and I was 24. In May of that year, I was finishing up 3 years of service in the Army. The one thing I learned in the Army was that I really hated running. Every day at 6 a.m. we were out there for the company PT run accompanied by bad singing from a bunch of guys who would prefer to still be asleep. About a week before you actually get out of the Army, you go into what they call “clearing.” This basically means that you have a few days to turn in all your stuff and go all over base to get people to sign papers saying you don’t owe them any money.

It doesn’t really take that long, so I had some free time on my hands. I had always enjoyed riding bikes, but never done it seriously. In college, I had a Sears bike that I rode around campus until it got stolen. In Korea, I had bought a clunker for $100 and done a few rides of 10-15 miles. So I went to the local bike shop and bought my first “real” bike. It was a Trek touring bike with a triple crank and cost $300. And so began my cycling career. In that last week of military life, I rode every day in a pair of  Bermuda shorts and running shoes.

After I moved back home to Spartanburg, one of the first things I did was to visit my buddy Scott Hoffmann at the Bicycle Gallery on East Main. St. I knew Scott from some kayaking we had done together. When I told him I had bought a bike, the first thing out of his mouth was “Want to ride Mount Mitchell?” Well, being young and dumb, my response was “Sure, - what’s Mount Mitchell?” Or something like that. Well before you knew it, I was signed up for the Assault, which was something like 8 days later.

For the next week, I put off looking for a job and rode my bike nearly every day. For my big training ride, I drove to Marion and rode to the Parkway and back. In total, I probably rode 300 miles between the time I bought the bike and my first Assault.

In those days, Mitchell was a much more casual affair. At registration, they brought in all the pizza and beer you could eat or drink for a pre-ride meal. I think there were maybe 300 people registered. They showed videos of the Tour De France, which was the first time I had ever seen any kind of pro cycling.

At 6:30 the next morning, I was in the parking lot with 2 apples in my saddlebag. That was what I figured I would need to eat for the day. I don’t really remember much about the first part of the ride except that it rained off and on all the way to Marion. I had the advantage of youth and some decent fitness from running, so I think I rode a fairly good pace to Marion. The course in those days took you right up 221 into town, so I stopped at  Burger King and had a Whopper and fries for my mid-ride snack. I didn’t know much about cycling nutrition, but that sure tasted good!

The rest of the ride is kind of a blur to me as well. My main memory is being really hungry. That Whopper wore off pretty quickly. Scott was supposed to deliver the food to the rest stops in his VW Microbus, but it blew up somewhere on the way and there was no food on the course between Marion and the top. I was begging anyone and everyone for something to eat. I also remember being very happy to have the triple crankset that day. Eventually, after many cramps, I found myself crossing the finish line in 9 hours and 45 minutes.

’85 was the last year that Mitchell was a small-time event. The ride was featured in a TV show called “PM Magazine” that was nationally syndicated and also written up in Bicycling Magazine that year. The next year, Mitchell had over 1,000 riders and 2 years later the count was over 1,700 before the Park Service started enforcing limits.

I continued to ride Mitchell for the next 3 years and have completed it a total of 12 times since then. I have gotten slower over the years, but I still like the challenge of getting up that hill. But that first ride is something I will always remember.