The Assault on Mt. Mitchell®, celebrating its 33rd year on June 9, 2008, is a remarkable and memorable event for all participants and finishers. The testimony of most contestants places this experience in the realm of a "personal epic" and the competition always produces an intimate story which is full of chatter and personal recounting with friends and acquaintances.
The Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation believes these experiences are memorable, entertaining, and worthy of archiving for perpetuity as they represent a personal history and connection to the Blue Ridge Parkway and Mt. Mitchell State Park.
History
(adapted from the Freewheelers of Spartanburg web site)
The Assault on Mt. Mitchell® began in 1975, when a group of friends (led by John Bryan) from Spartanburg, SC decided to try riding from Spartanburg to the top of Mt. Mitchell--highest point east of the Mississippi River. From that casual beginning, the annual Assault on Mt. Mitchell® has become one of the best known centuries in the country with an increasing number of rules and regulations each year to try to make the process of entering the Assault equitable.
Part of the ride is along the Blue Ridge Parkway and ends at the top of Mt. Mitchell State Park where the number of riders is limited by both the National Park Service and the Mt. Mitchell State Park special use permits. The Assault on Mt. Mitchell® is limited to 750 finishers.
Basic Rules & Understandings
- This website has been constructed and dedicated to this storytelling event by the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation.
- Stories will be received for posting from May 1, 2008 through August 25, 2008 via online submission only.
- Accepted stories and photographs will become part of the permanent archives of the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation on the Blue Ridge Parkway Blog.
- A digital image of the bike rider / author needs to be submitted to accompany the story. The image does not need to be dated to the time of the story but can be one from the rider's past or present personal history. The image should be a minimum of 250 pixels square at 72 dpi. Email us if you need help in fulfilling the technical aspects of this requirement.
- For the sake of Rider's Choice voting, we are asking that you keep your tales to 750 words or less.
- This web site will serve as the governance of this competition. Rules & Understandings is subject to change and you should check back here for the latest updates.
- SUBMIT YOUR STORY NOW (The 2008 entry deadline has passed. Please stay tuned for the Rider's Choice Award Announcement on October 15th.)
2008 Rider's Choice Award
On-line voting took place from September 1st, 2008 through November 25, 2008. While voting has passed, content is still available as an archive for you to vote and comment on for continued enjoyment. Each reader will be able to rate each story one time. Remember, each story reflects a different aspect of the Assault, so please give careful consideration when reading the stories, and be respectful in your comments.
The rating system has been broken down into three parts:
- Relevancy: How well does this story capture the feel of the Assault on Mt. Mitchell? Did you imagine yourself in the author's shoes?
- Fun Factor: Was this story wonderful to read? Did you find yourself grinning from ear to ear, or frantically nodding your head in understanding?
- Readability: Does the story read smoothly and get its point across without having to be re-read too many times?
Good luck to you all on the quest for the $300 prize!
The Rider's Choice Award will be announced as soon as the votes are tallied.
An award of $300 will be made to the winner. "Honorable mentions" will also be announced at this time.
Need Something to Get You Started?
We have a couple of sample stories to get your creative juices flowing. Read the following stories for inspiration:
Our Secret Weapon (Sample Story #1)
It was 24 years ago and the number of cyclists that were admitted to the top of Mt. Mitchell then was unlimited. Support vehicles were allowed as well; no one knew any differently.
The guys that I was riding with back then were putting in 400 mile weeks so to go do a 102 mile ride from Spartanburg to the top of Mt. Mitchell was not given much thought, but how not to get off the bike was.
Our training rides (everyone called them "puke rides" except for my mother) were every Tuesday and Thursday night starting from Lewisville. Our first turn was 8 miles out and consistently as we approached this left hand turn across traffic, we would find the "intersection controlled" by a tandem wheeled sandwich truck (later dubbed the Roach Coach) driven by one Abner Gonzales. Abner was the first Latino that I ever met in my life because back then there weren't any living in North Carolina.
Abner was to become our secret weapon for the Assault on Mt. Mitchell.
A week before the event, Abner had caught the buzz and I remember his big, wide toothy white grin on his 5'2" pudgy frame standing in front of me saying, "Do you want me to be your support vehicle for the race? I will bring my son, Carlos."
Well, sure, Abner. But we need to find you a real van.
The trip from Spartanburg to Marion was tight and uneventful as we were in the lead pack. We were pretty well self contained with food and water. In Marion, the route turned west onto the three lane 70 and it was time to call up Abner. Abner pulls into the middle lane reserved for turning vehicles and son Carlos begins servicing the entire peloton from the passenger side of our rented panel support van. Carlos is passing bottles and musset sacks as fast as his little hands could go until...
There was approaching traffic in the turning lane and the oncoming lane with no place for Abner to go!
But "go" he did onto the grassy median on the far left side of the road still following the group at ride speed, and then swerving back again across oncoming traffic to the middle lane to continue feeding the pack. This happened twice again. I just knew we would all be arrested and the race would be brought to an abrupt end.
I was never so glad to see Hiway 80 where everyone was left to be on their own to get to the top except for an occasional needed feed. I only found out years later where Abner got his "race" skills. He was on the Columbian National Cycling Team when he was growing up.
- Dr. Houck Medford
Eight is Enough (Sample Story 2)
I’m finished with the Assault: Been there, done that (Yeehaaah!)...done that (ouch)...done that (Jeez)...done that (just give me the patch and let me die)...done that (more of the same)...done that (you get the idea)...done that (I must be crazy)...done that (never again).
I did it eight times, which is enough...enough for me anyway.
Eight is a nice, round number. I did it four times on my Original Equipment knee and four times on my titanium and carbon fiber (how fitting) total knee replacement. I did it twice in perfect weather and six times in less-than-perfect conditions. Like rain, heat, cold, wind, hail...and every combination thereof. I also did it the year when the Parkway was closed between Hwy 80 and Mitchell and we got the added treat of an additional 12 miles of climbing.
And I’m 61.
My recollections of The Assault are a kaleidoscope of images and flashbacks. I remember the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach driving to the start line area in the dark (most often in the rain)...the terror of the first five miles, subject to crashes as the legions left Spartanburg (most often in the rain), riding in rooster tails of water from the rider in front...
And I remember the “stuff” that happened...the year my saddle disengaged from the seat post at around 40 miles and I contemplated the possibility of riding the subsequent 62 miles standing (a friend with the tools and the skills did the repair). Or the time when I was turning right onto Hwy 80 in Marion and a car turned right in front of me and I ploughed into the back right quarter panel, taking myself and my friend, riding behind me, down onto the shoulder. Minor scrapes and bruises…but who needs those at that point? Once I left my water bottles, refilled, at the rest stop at the top of 80 (“I think you’re going to need those, dumbass”) and had to go back for them.
I remember coming into Marion (almost always hot and no shade to speak of) and semi-wishing I was only Assaulting to there...
I remember the climb up 80 (“this isn’t too bad”...”oh yeah, now I remember”...”will this thing ever end?”...”just get me to the Parkway...please”...)...
I remember the rest stop at the top of 80, thinking that I still had 17.5 miles to go, mostly climbing...
I remember the long, long, endlessly long climbs on the Parkway between 80 and Mitchell...waiting for the short downhills and knowing that I’d have to gain it all back...
I remember seeing the buses coming down, filled with faster riders, while I was efforting up that stretch.
I remember riders walking their bikes up the steepest stretches and being proud that I was still riding, even if I wasn’t going too much faster than they were...
I remember the relief of seeing the park entrance, knowing the road tipped down there for a while (or seemed to), distaining the final rest stop...
I remember the last, tough stretch, legs screaming, cramps creeping closer...in the rain, fog, hail, wind…and then the final turn at the top...
I remember not being able to get off my bike at the finish...needing help...and being handed The Patch (I don’t think I would have done it without The Patch)...
I remember trying to strip down and change in that tiny bathroom filled with other guys trying to strip down and change, everyone groaning...
And I remember the bus ride back to Marion, exhausted, almost speechless from the cumulative effects of the effort (except for the One Guy who just HAD to chatter all the way down)...and I remember seeing riders slower than even I had been, struggling up the road to the park or still on the Parkway...creeping slowly on the bike or walking...feeling so sorry for them and wondering if they’d finish...
I bet many others share those same kinds of memories, along with what I call “bike loathing” afterwards: Not even wanting to SEE your bike, let alone ride it, ever again...
So Eight is Enough for me. I gave my race number to a friend this year, the “death march” ride in record heat. It took him nine hours and he had to stop several times on the Parkway, fighting cramps and fatigue...but he made it. He says Once is Enough for him (smart man)...so next year I might be able to reclaim my race number.
After all 10’s a nice, round number....
- Dave Tomsky
Also, if you're needing further inspiration or just want to see some of your buddies, you can browse our online photo galleries, courtesy of the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation.
Feel free to email the Foundation if you are interested in a print of any of the Assault on Mt. Mitchell® photographs.
More Resources
Here are some books that you might find of interest at the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation's online store:
Backroad Bicycling in the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains: 27 Rides for Touring and Mountain Bikes from North Georgia to Southwest Virginia
This all new cycling guide uncovers scenic back roads for both touring and mountain bikes through the heart of the Southern Appalachians and the Great Smoky Mountains: from North Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina to Southwest Virginia. Encompassing the Blue Ridge Parkway and Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the region offers scenic and historic tours along valley floors, exhilarating ridgetop rides, and challenging treks through rugged mountains.
