I have ridden the Assault 28 times and with that many completions a guy can run the gamut of stories.

My first was the day after riding from Columbia to Spartanburg. I had missed the first 5 by being out of the loop. The year was 1981.

I had ridden over the mountains near Asheville and Waynesville to see a young lady earlier in the year and thought there’d be nothing to it. My smallest chain-ring on the front was a 43. My largest on the rear was a 22 tooth sprocket. Today I’d feel really silly to use anything larger on the front than a 34 and nothing smaller than a 27 on the rear. But way back then I was young and dumb.

There was wailing and gnashing of teeth but I made it. I may have finished in the top ten. I’m 59 in another month. I’ve actually ridden the Mitchell route more than 28 times; Kent Clary, who died years ago, and I rode it many times other than “the Assault Day.”

There are many that stand out. Maybe they are all equal. I suffered on every one.

The first three years I thought I’d retire after each one. There were many Assaults I’ve felt slighted a bit until I get down the road apiece and look back.

The first I saw no rest stops. I was given water on highway 80 around Haynes Eyebrow, the hard spot. I had gotten water out of a stream. I limped in. For a couple weeks afterward I had flu symptoms.

In other rides I’d get to the top and then help hand out food to the finishers. After riding, getting to the top almost dead on one ride, I got a little joy when after giving food to one rider he asked, “You know this is hard, don’t you?”

The ride changed courses maybe a dozen times.

The riders changed. Peter Springer used to finish first every year. Umpteen-time state champ Chris Hardwick of Columbia once. Don Hartkey finished first several times until he lost a friend cycling and hung it up for a while.. I believe John Doyle was right in front of Glenn Thrift who is/was an exceptional racer and now a coach and USA Cycling official. George Meyers won it 5 times. George is one of the nicest winners ever.

I tried to finish first every year. Just wasn’t up to it. I finished in front of some of the region’s best riders. Yes it was a fluke. But there were some days when I rode with some of the best.

I pointed out the sharp curve at 45 miles out to John Howard and Pete Penseyres on different Assaults. They both thanked me.

I’ve finished before a national team member and I’ve almost finished last. About a quarter mile from the sharp curve a rider hooked handlebars with me and we did some brake dancing on the highway. Right away I knew my streak of Assaults had ended. I couldn’t move my arm. The left clavicle was a mess. My clothes, helmet, computerized speedometer/altimeter, heart monitor, and bicycle were gone.

I had to go to the hospital. I have to see if this is life threatening. Besides, I can’t just sit on the road.

The bones were not life-threatening. I called the shop I built from scratch, ProBikes, in Asheville, NC. I arranged for a new bike, clothes, and helmet to be brought down to St. Luke’s Hospital. I sat outside of the emergency room waiting for days it seemed. I was taken back to the spot of the crash. I started from there to finish.

News of my crash traveled quickly through the riders. Nick Dolby was one Assault behind me. If I didn’t finish we’d be tied. For a short while we were tied.

A friend who rode the “Assault on Marion” rode out to meet me and ride with me, to give me shielding from the wind, but he couldn’t keep up.

I didn’t/couldn’t change gears much. It was painful but I was an ex-infantry Marine in Vietnam and I’d been married twice, so the pain was very do-able.

When I got to the Blue Ridge Parkway, I thought I’d be turned around and back to the Campground in Marion. They turn people away after some time because, mathematically, the riders can’t finish. I was so late getting there that the ranger wasn’t there to turn me back. The finish line was bare. Most riders were well on their way back to Spartanburg by bus or car. The busses were all gone. I finished ahead of 2 riders.

This wasn’t my worst day. My worst day on the bike was on Mitchell since then. Maybe it was also one of my best. I was in pain. My lower back and neck were awful. When I stood to relieve the pain I became dizzy.

I don’t like to stop at rest stops or to pee. This “worst day” I lay down twice on Highway 80. I lay down twice again on the Blue Ridge Parkway. That means I was bad enough to lie down four times in the last 25 miles. People who I had finished in front of for decades were looking at me from the busses as I had looked at them for decades riding down on the busses as they were still struggling.

I rode with the flu one year. Came down with the flu the eve of the Assault.

We’ve ridden with horses running in our peloton.

I’ve been sick on my stomach, run over a dead cat, lost a water-bottle and cage, had a flat, and crashed all in one ride.

On another ride a year or so ago I was with the lead group going over Bill’s Hill and saw a young man with his chain in his hand. I gave up a better finish to help him with his chain. I had a repair link and a conscience.

Years ago, when allowed, I rode back to Spartanburg after riding the Assault. It was torture, dangerous, and a thousand degrees with no “rest-stops” on our trip back. I crawled into the bed of my truck and slept throwing up intermittently.

A few years ago I had an extraordinary ride when the route went around Asheville because of a rock slide. The distance was 117 miles that day. It was the best ride I had in years and my daughter was able to see me ride.

My fastest finish was 5:38 in 1988. This was the year my daughter would be born. I got to the top and rode back to my then pregnant wife. I pushed her up the last 8 miles while a friend rode on the other side holding an umbrella over her head. This was June. In October my daughter Josie was born.

There were years when I finished ahead of great cyclists and there have been years when I felt the agony of defeat. To many of us it has been a gut check the first Sunday in June, the third Saturday in May, or the first Monday in June. It’s been the world championship or the NC/SC State Championship. It’s been a test to see what condition our condition is in.  #28 and counting?

(In the photo, behind Michael is Richard Dunn, Ed Anderson, Kirk Clark, etc., probably 1986.)