A successful ride consists of
three essential elements: preparation, circumstances, and fate.
My preparation for my 3rd
AoMM began at the finish line of the 1999 event with a bold declaration of
“Wait until next year!”. My training for last year’s AoMM was focused on
riding, but this year I concentrated on self-education. I read books by Burke,
Friel, and Carmichael, but found equal value in the advice of local cyclists who
have earned my respect by regularly dropping me during pick-up rides. I found
that I needed to improve the quality of my training rides, along with including
periods of reduced activity to allow for recovery.
When you’re sitting in a
rocking chair reading about training techniques, it’s easy to have delusions
of grandeur such as, “These hill sprints sound really great!” My first 1
hour “hill sprint” session at Wakefield one Tuesday night in February was a
rude awakening, which I repeated as often as possible this Spring.
I visited the “Y” at least
twice a week when there wasn’t enough daylight to ride after work (between
“Falling forward” and “Springing back”). I saw Barney Baxter there quite
often and, during a discussion of my plans for AoMM, he suggested that losing
weight would produce better results. Coincidently, I was 10 pounds lighter for
this year’s AoMM than I was for the 1999 event.
This year’s “Road Dogs AoMM
Training Weekend” was May 4th through 7th, only 2 weeks
prior to AoMM on May 20th. For me, this was perfect timing. Thanks to
Allen Walker for coordinating this year’s siege of the Tunnel Road Motel 6.
During my 4 days in the mountains I rode every possible mile, totaling 275 miles
and 30,000 feet of climbing. Many thanks to those who waited for “Rocket
Man” (that’s me, in case you didn’t recognize the connection) to close the
gap while they were taking a break and “getting cold”. The weekend left me
with some vivid recollections:
During the Training Weekend,
Buckley and Walker convinced me that repeating the Marion to Mt Mitchell ride on
Monday, 5/15 would be a good idea. Supler joined us and we all enjoyed a
spectacular day of riding in the mountains. I had a personal record (2h24m) for
the climb and benefited from the resulting self-confidence during AoMM a few
days later. During the trip, while I was whining about not being able to stay
with the lead pack during AoMM, someone suggested that I should try to stay with
people I ride with often (ie other Road Dogs).
Tom Fissel found a SAG/driver
and provided my transportation to/from “The 25th Annual Assault on
Mt. Mitchell”. (Thanks Tom!) We arrived in Spartanburg about mid-afternoon on
Friday, 5/19. After picking up our registration packets (including a really nice
long-sleeve shirt), we enjoyed an excellent pre-ride meal at the Macaroni Grill,
a major improvement over the meal I ate the night before the 1999 Assault.
Rather than riding to the start
(which would have been more of a warm-up than I wanted), I rode with Fissel to
the hotel near the start where Mack Edwards (the stoker for Fissel’s tandem,
this year’s first tandem finisher at 6h31m)
was staying. From there we proceeded to the start, spotted some fellow
Road Dogs, and were able to enter the mass of bikes (official estimate was 1400)
from the front. My plan was to follow the wheel of the Fissel/Edwards tandem as
long as possible, but I immediately lost them in the commotion of the start.
Fortunately I spotted Allen Walker ahead of me and used his wheel as a guide
through the crowd. Soon I recognized many familiar bikes: Buckley, Dinges, Don
Edwards, Fissel/Edwards, Murray, Powell, Sharrar, Supler, and Walker. This is
just where I wanted to be and the relatively slow pack, which I estimated to be
400-500 bikes, allowed me to remain there until we reached Bill’s Hill.
Kurt once told me that Bill’s
Hill is a place where you should work hard to stay with the pack. During this
short, difficult climb, I felt like I was doing just that. There were plenty of
bikes around me, so I thought I was still “in the pack”. Unfortunately, at
the top of the climb I realized that the lead pack had dropped me. Fortunately,
my training rides with the Road Dogs had prepared me (over and over again) for
this situation. I found myself in a group of 10-15 bikes (also including Jon
Buckley) who were intent on bridging back to the lead pack. We worked well
together over some difficult “rollers” and eventually reeled-in the pack
(probably reduced to 200 bikes). Once I caught my breath, I found a familiar
group (Buckley, Walker, Murray, Powell, Don Edwards, Sharrar) and was able to
relax for a while. Later, I found myself “off the back” with Allen Walker
and Randy Murray after another brief, nasty climb. Randy and Allen did most of
the work in pulling us back to the pack. (Thanks guys, I really needed that
one!) On another occasion, I briefly lost the lead pack when a cyclist leaving a
SAG stop “walked” into my line. I started a solo chase (not too smart),
wondered where Allen was, and looked behind me to see him (you can’t miss all
that RED) in a large pack. So I joined this pack and, with their help, used much
less energy to once again rejoin the lead pack (now reduced to ~100 bikes) and
remained there until we reached Marion in 3h19m.
The restless nights I experience
prior to these events can be partially attributed to the excitement associated
with a long awaited event. The
other contributing factor is that I don’t have “nerves of steel”. As in
previous years, I saw a number of “riding mishaps” (and heard a number of
others that occurred behind me), prior to reaching the relative safety of the
mountains (and the resulting slower pace) beyond Marion. Knowing that many of
those riders had spent many hours preparing for this event made their demise
even more pitiful. I was bemused by a single-bike wreck only a few hundred yards
from the start and amused by a rider who missed a left-hand turn shortly before
Marion, split the difference, and was trying everything possible to stop the
bike while climbing an embankment before settling into a roadside ditch.
One way of describing AoMM is
that “the ride doesn’t start until you get to Marion”. There’s a
considerable amount of confusion when you pass the campground in Marion. The
~400 participants in the “Assault on Marion” are finishing here. Also, many
AoMM riders are meeting their SAG here. This results in a number of bikes that
are slowing, stopping, or following an unpredictable line. Somehow I got through
this maze and managed to rejoin a large group (certainly not the lead pack) just
before we reached Lake Tahoma on NC80. Buckley, Murray, and Powell were also in
this pack, but I had lost track of the other Road Dogs. I briefly stopped at the
first SAG stop on NC80 for more water. By this time in the ride, it was starting
to get hot. I got to the intersection of NC80 with the Blue Ridge Parkway in
4h18m.
When I reached the top of
Grandfather Mountain at the end of the 1999 “Bridge to Bridge” ride, I told
Kurt Massey I felt “pretty good”. Kurt’s reply was: “Maybe if you
didn’t feel so good, you’d have had a better result!” This thought
remained in my mind as I negotiated the first long climb on the BRP, which (for
me) is the most difficult segment. I was determined that when I finished, I
would not “feel good”, AND hopefully I would have a “better result”. The
southwest breeze was in my face on the BRP and getting to the downhill seemed to
take forever (but at least I didn’t “feel GOOD”). However, I know I was in
better shape than some riders I passed who were obviously suffering from the
heat and had either stopped to nurse their cramps or succumb to their nausea.
After the downhill, I found Randy Murray’s wheel and, for a couple of miles, I
shamelessly rode behind him and enjoyed the shelter from the breeze he provided.
I reached the entrance to Mt. Mitchell park at 5h30m.
At this point I knew that a
major improvement in my 1999 results (6h38m, 237th) was within reach.
However, the many riders suffering from cramps and off their bikes along the
road to the summit provided a constant reminder that this can be a very cruel
sport. While I hadn’t felt the slightest hint of a cramp, my legs definitely
did not feel good. As much as I wanted to push a bigger gear, I found it
necessary to rely on my triple and was spinning a 30:19 or 30:21 during a couple
of the more difficult segments. I had planned on going really hard, once I
reached the upper gate. Incredibly, I encountered a strong headwind on this
slightly uphill grade and didn’t receive the benefit of a tailwind until I
rounded a right-hand corner and the road leveled on the “saddle-back”
portion of the mountain. By this time, 20mph on the flat with a tailwind was a
struggle. I passed a couple of riders on the last climb into the parking lot,
and managed a seated “sprint” (which probably looked even less impressive
than it felt) to finish 94th out of the 745 bikes that completed the
ride. My time was 6h05m. Although elated with my results, I definitely did NOT
“feel good”.
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