Been sitting on this one a while.

It's about one cup of coffee long so get comfortable.

Off Road Assault on Mt Mitchell (ORAMM) 2009
July 26

The weekend before ORAMM I went up with Ryan, Rich, and Dave to ride some of the course. We parked at the geyser up Mill Creek Rd. This would knock off the Kitsuma climb and descent part of the course but it's repeated on the race course so if we have time well do it later on the way out. We also didn't do the gravel fire road section on the north side of the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP) because... well, it's a gravel road, how bad can it be. Wait and see. I was running the 19t on the bike which was NOT what I would run in the race but would give me a good idea what to expect. The ride went well. Rich has this course so memorized. Geez, he's won the single speed class three times, finished second once and probably pre rode the course for each of those. So he points out where aid stations will be, a few of his secrets, and the most dangerous three feet of trail on the Heartbreak Ridge descent. The trail is fairly narrow as your winding through small pines at about 4000 ft elevation. The mountain is on your right so on your left your at or above the tops of the small pines which is pretty intimidating knowing you'll probably bounce off a couple pines before coming to a stop it you go off the left. Occasionally there are some Rhododendron bushes mixed in so with luck that will stop you from going too far. This is a five mile descent down some of the most steep, rocky, and technical trail I've seen. OK, you've got the picture. Suddenly Rich stops and I grab all the brakes I can and yell stop for the ones behind me. We walk up to a small tree on the right side of the trail. Close enough you need to ride a little left to clear it. As soon as you do the trail turns slightly right and another pine on the right. But this one has exposed roots, off cambered, following the slope of the mountain, that will most certainly eject you off the left side of the trail. So many people have been thrown off the trail here that the bushes were cleared for about a twenty foot area to the side. Rich said he would not ever risk riding it which made me wish I had brought some orange paint so I could back track and spray warnings signs. Wow, I hope I can find this during the race. On the other hand, I'm so glad we stopped. My arms are burning from holding the brakes on this descent and I have hydraulic brakes with an over sized rotor in the front. We finish this demonic descent and decide we don't have enough time to do the Kitsuma climb/descent so we skip it and go to the car to head home. I joked this would be the first ride I've done that I needed to let my arms recover. Oh, did I mention I rode 50 miles on the Blue Ridge Parkway the day before with another group. Yea, I'm pretty tired. I had promised the BRP group a ride and as well wasn't about to pass up the ORAMM recon ride so I can only blame myself.

I was going to ride with two bottles. Both were Perpetuem one much more concentrated than the other. The less concentrated of the two I would refill at the aid stations. The only thing I would have in my jersey was four gel packs. The gels would get me to about every other station with an extra. I had planned to pass the first rest stop (RS1) 15 miles in since seven of those miles would be cruising on asphalt.  At the rest stops where I planned to stop, I would get something light to eat, power bar or banana, and refill the one bottle with water or Heed. I put the 21t cog on so speed on the flats was not part of my strategy. I planned to ride most if not all of the nine mile Curtis Creek climb which consisted mostly of gravel fire road with four to eight percent grades. This meant standing on the pedals for a good hour of that hour and a half climb. After crossing over the BRP at RS3 the gravel fire road descent and climb would be more of the Curtis Creek variety just shorter. I hoped I wouldn't have to follow anyone down Heartbreak Ridge. This would be my chance to make up some time. The Kitsuma climb/descent I would have to deal with on my own. The only bag I would stage was at RS4. I put an extra tube and CO2 cartridge there. If I had used the ones on the bike by then I wanted to make sure I had another for the sharp rocks on the Heartbreak Ridge descent. I made a course profile and taped it to hard plastic and attached it to the stem cap.

The day of the race started with a 5 am alarm. I had put everything I could in or on the car the night before. Grabbed the two bottles from the fridge and put them in a cooler. Threw my riding kit, a couple of towels, and a change of clothes in the back seat. Left the house at 20 past and made my way up Hwy 321 to I-40 Exit 73 and in an hour and a half I was in Old Fort. Parked and made my way to registration. Attached my number to the front of the bike and dressed to ride. Saw Rich and Dave so I chatted with them for a while. With Rich's history in this race he was slightly more anxious about it than Dave or me. Went over a mental checklist and got into the pack at the start line for the rider meeting. With that out of the way there was a short countdown and we're off. The first seven miles of asphalt going down Mills Creek Rd were just as I predicted with geared bikes riding past me with ease. I didn't anticipate the last mile and a half pointing up enough for me overtake a lot of those geared riders. We finally turn into the woods and I feel more at home. We hit our first section of hike-a-bike of the day on the climb up Kitsuma Peak. I'm in quite a conga line so there's no need to rush. I did manage to jog past a few riders (walkers). Over the top I start what was an "exciting" descent following two riders. The lead rider isn't going at a favorable pace and someone way back in the line let it be known. Shortly afterwards the lead rider spills on one of the switchbacks, the rider in front of me stops so as not to run over him, and I grab my bike and jump down to the lower trail from the inside of the switchback. A few quick steps and I'm on the bike tearing down the descent. The descent was steep and technical. There was more than one opportunity to rip a tire sidewall but I made it through unscathed and found myself spinning again on the 2.5 miles of asphalt up Mill Creek (not Mills Creek) Rd and heading for RS1. On this section I had four single speed riders pass me in a group. Hmmm, I need to keep an eye on these guys.

I had planned to pass RS1 but with one bottle almost empty and the other concentrated I needed a refill. I removed the lid and held it in my mouth as a volunteer poured water into the bottle from a five gallon jug. I didn't even get off the bike, so it was a quick stop. After a short ride everyone dismounts and walks across the railroad tracks and heads into the woods to the notorious switchbacks. We're taking them on the uphill side this time and will ride down them later. It's not worth riding up the short distance from one switchback to the next just to walk your bike up and around each one. They are just too steep to try to ride so this is our second section of hike-a-bike. Clearing that, the trail levels a little and leads to the never ending grassy road. This is basically an old fire road that has waist high grass and weeds on it but enough riders to maintain a double track. This section isn't bad it. A few climbs to get you out of the saddle. The descents had some pretty deep ruts you had to avoid. And it did seem as though it would never end.

At the end you get to RS2. Another quick fill of the bottle and I'm on the infamous Curtis Creek climb. A nine mile climb starting with a couple miles of asphalt and the remaining seven a gravel fire road tipping up to an eight percent grade. Once the road is steep enough, I've been standing on the pedals for at least 40 minutes, about two miles to go, I had to get off and gives the legs a rest. After a few minutes walking I remounted and continued my standing journey. Another rider asked how much further it was to the top and I told her it was about a mile but I forgot to factor in the error on my GPS which meant it was actually about half a mile.  My legs later protested and I went through another walk/ride cycle before reaching the BRP at the top. This brings you to RS3 where I grabbed something to eat and refilled the bottles. I left the group of four single speeds at this rest stop so I'm thinking they might not be as much a factor. Suits me. The gravel road continues from here but is now a nice fast descent. The bike is a little squirrely on the gravel but it feels good to be moving without peddling. The grade steepens a little and the speed increases to 30, then 35, and finally just over 40 I slow down going into the next turn. That's the fastest I've ever been on a mountain bike. The fun has to end, the road levels, some easy spinning for a couple of miles, and a short climb back to the BRP. Here is RS4 which I passed knowing the trail would soon turn into a long single track descent and reaching for a water bottle would not be an option. What I had on the bike would get me to the next stop. Back on the parkway is a mile road climb to the trail entrance. One of the event organizers parked a truck on the side of the road with a big arrow in the windshield to help locate it. As soon as you hit the trail and look up, way up, and its immediately apparent this is going to be another hike-a-bike section using roots and rocks as steps. At the top is a small broom straw field and the beginning of the Heartbreak Ridge descent. Five miles of steep, rocky, technical, single track descent. The faster you go, the more roots and rocks you sail over is my philosophy...within reason. I'm thankful for having 29" tires that take some of the roughness out of the trail. On this section I'm desperately looking  for the tree with the ejector roots. As soon as I get to an area of small pines you can't see very far down the trail and I'm afraid I won't be able to stop in time when I see it. Spotted it, walked it, jumped back on and continued a somewhat happy rider. With about two miles left in this descent my forearms are burning from holding the brakes. Made it to the bottom in one piece. Riding Heartbreak a lot harder than last weekend and didn't rip a tire on a rock surprised me. Since I didn't stop at RS4 for the tube and CO2 I considered them "donated".

At the end of the descent my arms are shot and there are about a dozen switchbacks to get down before RS5. These switchbacks we walked up earlier and are so sharp and steep going down I unclipped one foot about every third one. My arms were so tired from the descent I didn't feel like muscling the bike around some of them. You come out of the woods at the railroad track so pick up the bike and carry it over the tracks again. Back on some gravel fire road to RS5 I stopped to fill the bottles which would get me to the finish. After the stop the road is paved for a couple of miles. I think I have a little lead on the four single speeds so I try to keep up the pace. Later you get to do the Kitsuma climb/descent again. Some more hike-a-bike, some standing climbs, and I'm over the top. The descent is a little more cautious this time. I'm going to meet my goal time of 7 ½ hrs so I decide to finish conservative. More gravel fire road and the final paved section to the finish. I made sure I kept the pace up with what I had left and went back into town on Commerce Street. Toward the parking area and across the foot bridge and you get the first glimpse of the finish banner. That's a sweet sight. Cross the line, lay the bike down and get a free beer. Found Rich and found out he won the single speed...again. Got my towel and a change of clothes and rinsed off in the stream beside the parking lot. Had some spaghetti, loaded everything in the car and headed home.

Results  Go to Single Speed at the bottom. I finished 12.

Course and elevation profile

Croydon,

 

Way to go, our riding is a bit tamer than your's, Ben Nevis the highest mountain in Great Britain is only just over 4400 feet and before you ask no you can't ride up it.

 Thanks jules, one of these trips to the old country I'm going to box up my bike and take in a few trails.

Scheduling and motivation have trumped the last three rides on my list. 

I finished the Shenandoah 100 a few weekends ago. Eleven and a half hours on a mountain bike was fun.

The Bridge to Bridge was a logistics nightmare. Its a point to point ride similar to the Assault on Mt Mitchell where you have to ferry your bike back to the start. I just couldn't be bothered.

My little girl is having her 11th birthday on the same day as the Tour de Pumpkin. nuff said.

My parents are coming to visit the weekend of the Tree Shaker. They wouldn't be interested in sitting around while I rode trails for 12 hours.

I did add  the Swank 65, on Nov 8. Its in the same area as the Off Road Assault on Mt Mitchell. Looks like some good riding.

Its been an interesting summer.

Yesterday did the 20 mile fell race ...

 Wow, I'd love to run 20 miles on trails. I think that's a very respectable time. I did about 20 on the bike today and I'm beat. Love to run the local trails but haven't made a habit of it... obviously.