Old friends and new friends.
27 Assaults on Mountain Mitchell - Nick Dolby and Ann Mullins
The pictures above and most below are from other Mitchell rides from the Bicycle Inn.
For the Actual Assault I've only taken pictures once and I threw the camera away after the heavy rain.
These pictures on the Blue Ridge Parkway and then going up to the summit of Mitchell are for illustration.
Mount Mitchell
This is just below Mitchell on the Parkway.
On the climb up to the summit of Mitchell I was catching people.
I had blown my hopes early in the morning when I took ibuprofen.
I put liquids in but mostly an energy drink.
I couldn't process food well.
Early on I was surprised that it was so easy to keep up with the lead group.
At 108 I was off the back. There was a road block for 16 minutes or so and I caught the lead pack.
I admitted to friends that I was fading fast. It seems that nutrition has always been a nemesis.
Sure enough I fell off. Jana from Charleston Bicycle Company asked if I was alright after Bill's Hill.
I told her I wasn't and wished her well.
I stopped on Sugar Hill Rd. before Marion and bought a large soda.
Packs of riders came by. More riders get better every year. It takes a lot to break the top 100.
I poured the soda into my water-bottle and took off with a couple of Charleston buddies.
When things get bad with digesting, a Coke, Pepsi, or RC brings me back although it may take a while still.
I rode okay. When the hard hills came I faltered.
I stopped at a store at 80 and 70 after Tom Johnson's Campground. I bought another soft drink.
Sprattman was there getting something.
I left before he did and started the climb up 80 to the Parkway.
It's 14-15 miles up to the Blue Ridge Parkway. The last 4 miles are hard.
I passed more than passed me. I stopped at the rest stop halfway up 80.
I took some electrolytes. I ate a slice of watermelon.
Then I was given a soda and water. I was gradually getting better.
Climbing on the Parkway I had fresher legs because of my digesting problems earlier.
Earlier my legs didn't hurt because I couldn't turn them over.
I passed more people than passed me after the first mile or so on the Parkway.
I finished in 7 1/2 hours I guess. I don't need the specifics.
I made a bad mistake that I've made before.
I had neck pain and a headache the night before and morning of.
I thought the pain that runs down my arms would be early and last all day.
I should have kept the headache and neck pain.
It was only later that I would realize I shouldn't have taken the ibuprofen (naproxen actually).
I actually blew another Mitchell ride years ago because of ibuprofen.
This year I took the pain reliever with more food and assumed I'd be okay.
During and after the ride I backtracked over and over trying to figure out my demise.
Was it bonking on a 100 mile lone century last weekend?
Was it eating too much before this Assault on Mitchell?
It was the naproxen.
The same thing happened in 2006. It was worse in 2006 at the beginning.
I only had Ensure in my stomach then.
Another mistake.
Maybe I'll remember from now on and no matter what I eat, Naproxen won't be added
I can't say it didn't or doesn't bother me. It's silly when analyzing it all.
Nobody died. Nobody seriously injured. I finished my 28th Assault.
If you look at all my "Assaults" there are conflicting results.
Sicknesses, broken bones, hospitals, mistakes.
This was one of the hardest mentally.
I was watching my season go down because of a mental error.
I was better prepared. Now I was spending the whole ride know that I blew it.
I was in a slump and maybe I was staying there.
Sure I expected a better time.
Bob Scofield finished in about 6 1/2 hours.
I thought I actually had a 6hour ride in me.
Bob has finished 4th at the age of 53.
I've finished before him once.
It rained that day. He crashed. He couldn't see.
He had not done Cross Florida like many of us.
He stayed in the mountains and trained like a mad-man.
Alas, that Mitchell he had bad luck. I finished before he did.
It like the knight who had the best armor and best weapons.
This knight was crossing an old bridge.
Because of his heavy armor, he fell through the bridge into the water and drowned.
I guess you can prepare too much sometimes.
I've been falling into the water a lot lately, prepared or not.
I'm a duffer but even in my sphere of fitness I snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
Looking at it now he should have beaten me today.
I think he's a hundred years old anyway.
He says he may not be back next year.
He's been a great climber. He's had great finishes.
He's been State Champ of Florida and North Carolina.
He's even done well at "Nationals".
It all fitting I suppose.
I'm on a bit of a spiral downward in some areas right now.
Looking at the big picture it doesn't matter if I have a fast or slow ride.
Wes Garbee, from Asheville, is back on the bike after his bad crash.
He'll always have a little wait at airports from all the bionic parts they've put in him.
He's back on the bike.
I saw old friends, new friends, and finished another Assault.
# 28 and counting?
