Assault on Marion/Mitchell

[doc]

Whoooo Hoooo. I did the assault on marion. Mitchell is probably never going to happen for me.
I just had to tell people who'd understand. It was fabulous. 75 miles of heaven. There is no way I could have done "assault on mitchell" which is the final 27 miles of the ride. Check out the climbing chart: http://www.freewheelers.info/assault.html Look at the menu on the left and click "climbing chart". I only did 4500 cumulative feet of climbing. Those crazy few who did mitchell do another 6500 feet in a mere 27 miles.

The ride started in pouring rain, thunder and massive lightening. But 20 minutes later, all was clear and remained so for the next 5 hours. I rode with 4 other guys and we made an amazing team. We had a great paceline sharing the work evenly, sticking together through mechanicals and other problems. We averaged 16.5 mph for the whole ride. Needless to say I was the "weak link" of the group. My shoulders hurt today. Otherwise, I feel great.

Next up, Blood Sweat and Gears. Having done that before (the 50, not the 100), I can safely say it's even harder! I'll probably do the 50 again.

[Nanci]

Lucky!!! That one's on my list for some year when I have more money. But now I have to do 3-State 3-Mountain every year, since it is the best ride ever, so...

Nanci

[bouncybouncy]

YEAH DOC!!!!

wish we had gone...more-so i wish i had not hurt my hand!!! anyway, glad to hear you had a good day!!! we will see you next year...

btw: we did get a TON of yard work done if that is any consulation to the biking gods...and my body hurts ALL OVER!!!!

[Geonz]

awesome-awesome-cool-cool-cool!!!

Don't yhou LOVE it when there's that magic cooperation? Why can't we get assorted world leaders & local politicos to get out and assault Marion instead of each other? Endorphins could change the world...

[GLC1968]

Very cool, doc! Thanks for sharing.

I think I need to put this one on my schedule for next year! :D

[profàvélo]

Hey, Doc, way to go! But please, never say never...

I rode to Marion two years ago and would not have used the term "heaven" to describe it--it wasn't terrible, but it wasn't easy, either. Last year, I rode all the way to Mitchell. It was incredibly hard, but I finished. Like you, when I finished Marion the year before, I thought I would never do Mitchell. The point is, if you want to do it, you can.

I decided not to do Mitchell this year because I had not done enough long rides, but I think I will be at BSG. I think you should go for the century...you have another month to train. The route is really beautiful.

Congrats again! ;)

[corrine]

My DH asked how me to ask those who have done the Assault on Mitchell how you can get on the database if you haven't ridden it. It has always been a dream of his to ride this one. Thanks.

[profàvélo]

My DH asked how me to ask those who have done the Assault on Mitchell how you can get on the database if you haven't ridden it. It has always been a dream of his to ride this one. Thanks.

1. You ride Marion one year. The next year, you get a passcode that will allow you to try to sign up for Mitchell if you can get to a computer when the online registration opens up. This year it filled up in under two hours. The park service, who manages the Blue Ridge Parkway, limits the Mitchell riders to 1,000 for reasons of safety.

2. You buy a number from someone who rode Mitchell or Marion the year before and managed to get a Mitchell number. The Mitchell/Marion page will have postings from people wanting to buy and people wanting to sell numbers. I have to say, I find it in very poor taste to sell one's Mitchell number for profit. Some people put them on e-bay. I sold my number this year for exactly what I paid for it, and I encourage people not to buy numbers that are priced above cost.

http://www.freewheelers.info/assault.html

[corrine]

Thanks for the info! My husband now wants to ride the Marion next year and get on the list that way. Access to a computer is usually not an issue for us...