Eleven members of the Highland Rim Bicycle Club completed the notorious Assaults on Mt. Mitchell and Marion on Saturday, May 18. This was the 27th running of this group ride, sponsored by the Spartanburg (SC) Freewheelers bike club.

Melissa Miller, Al Hennigan, Mike Rutherford and Kevin Zysk completed the extremely difficult 72-mile Assault on Marion. The remaining riders continued on for another 30 miles to the Blue Ridge Parkway, finishing at the top of 6684-ft high Mount Mitchell, NC, the highest point east of the Mississippi. They were Tony Zarraga, Debbie Gamache, Ken Gamache, Denny Elston, Sam Harper, Brian Bacon, and Jim Herron.

Over 1600 riders started the assaults in Spartanburg, SC at 6:30 AM in near darkness, 69F temperature and light-to-heavy rain. A persistent headwind plagued the riders for the entire event. After about 90 minutes the rain let up and the skies gradually brightened. The riders were forced to alternately wear and then remove their rain gear in response to the ever-changing conditions. The hosts of the ride provided several food stops along the way, which enabled the riders to get a little rest along with some nourishment.

The mass start of the Assaults is always a spectacular sight. All the riders are packed into five lanes of traffic about 500 yards long. The electronic clock on the marquee of the Spartanburg War Memorial counts down the last few seconds and at the GO! signal, one can hear only the sound of 1600 pairs of bicycle cleats clicking into their pedals. The group then moves off at a very fast pace, the lead riders already bidding for position as they try to beat the course record (about 5 hours for the 102 miles). The group sweeps through the city streets with all auto traffic temporarily halted. As the ride progresses the riders naturally stretch out into a very long line, eventually separated by as many as 30 miles.

Each of the Tullahoma riders attained his or her personal goal. The 72 miles of the group finishing at Marion, NC has been described as “challenging”. This is a charitable description. This segment of the ride contains many tough hills, several in the last few miles. The four Marion finishers were very happy to have attained the finish line. The finish is at a park in Marion where a meal is furnished and good bathroom and shower facilities are available. Each rider is encouraged to send a bag with dry clothes ahead to the finish line. This was a particularly good idea this year.

For the seven who continued on to the top of the mountain, the conditions this year were among the toughest that any of them had ever experienced. The ride is very difficult, even with good weather, with a constant grind along the last 27 miles. The never-ceasing head wind and the continually dropping temperatures made this section of the ride a real test of fortitude and endurance. Conditions at the top were 39F and extremely windy. After quickly drinking the hot tomato soup provided by the Freewheelers, everyone got into the first available bus for the ride back to Marion. At Marion, larger busses were available for the drive back to Spartanburg. All bikes were collected from the riders as they finished and put onto trucks for transportation back to Spartanburg.

This year, for the first time, the Tullahoma group had the luxury of a personal “sag” wagon, driven by Bob Crook. He had dry clothing and food and drink and bike tools and was available via cell phone to come to the aid of a rider in distress. Happily, no mechanical difficulties were experienced and the sag wagon was barely called into service.

A difficult ride like this so early in the riding season means that extraordinary training regimens are necessary. Most of the group either rode as much as possible during the winter or trained on indoor bikes. When the Highland Rim Bicycle Club’s scheduled rides began in April, many of the rides were designed with plenty of hill climbing. The central training event used by most of the riders was the standing after-work Monday afternoon ride from Alto to Sewanee and Sherwood and return. This 34-mile route provides a pretty fair simulation of the Blue Ridge Parkway and Mt. Mitchell State Park gradients with its two strenuous climbs. Of course the route also affords the fun of two screaming descents, something not possible on the one-way-only Mt. Mitchell ride.

Tullahomans’ participation in this ride has a long and chequered history. Bob Crook and Stuart Coulter made the first Assault on Mitchell in 1988. They repeated it the next year with Greg Wannenwetch, then of Manchester. Participation gradually grew to the present level. The ride has become so popular that the Spartanburg club has had to restrict the number of riders to avoid problems with the National Park Police and the NC State Highway Patrol, who objected to the hordes of bikes with their support vehicles clogging the narrow roads and small parking areas. Therefore it has become a race when the application blanks are mailed to see who can get the scarce Mt. Mitchell slots. It’s hard to believe, given the agony of achieving the finish line, but generally the conversation on board the bus soon turns to making plans for doing it again next year. story by Bob Crook