Well, I’m doing it again. At 9 AM today I went to Active.com, entered my pass code, and committed to the 34th Assault on Mount Mitchell. Sitting here on February 6th it is hard to have any sensation about the May 18th event. I’m just hoping that the memories of the 33rd riding of the event won’t be relived!

My understanding is that one of the reasons the ride was moved from June to May was because of the heat we faced last year. I can close my eyes and still see the scene of riders laid out on the side of the road seeking shade. I can still feel the sensation of the heat I was feeling in my shoes and the cloud of gnats around my head as I neared the finish.

Ahhhh, but it was wonderful! It was the Assault alright and the battery you take as you climb over 11,000 feet in the last portion of the 100 mile event is what adds to the lore of the epic ride. This year, having now gotten one under my belt, the idea is to do my own battering and push myself to the top in 6 hours.

Right now, though, I’ve got my eye on tomorrow. The Upstate Winter Bicycle League is coming to a close. We have only two rides left until Spring Series (or is that Late Winter Series). Tomorrow’s ride will begin the tapering off from the longest ride of the league last week.

I went by UWBL.net and found the server was having issues. The last time I went by, it appeared that the ride was targeted to cover around 80 miles and would have two sprint zones along with the traditional finish. Speery didn’t lay out where the attack zones would be. Perhaps he is planning to keep everyone on their toes.

UPDATE: UWBL.net is now up and running.  The attack zones are now up.  #1 – Princeton Wall.  I love this one!  It is quite the climb.  #2 – Dunklin Bridge.  Nothing new on this one.  It will happen less than 20 miles after the climb.  The finish sprint starts at the Golf Course and ends at the normal RR ahead sign.  Choose your sprint wisely!

Some of my friends have been telling me that the UWBL is not good for me. They say that I will be burned out by the time the middle of the season rolls around. I can understand this if I was training really hard. However, I haven’t been. This one day a week ride is the only time I have really been pushing it.

We’ll see. I really do value the advise of my friends and don’t want to do anything stupid, but I really do enjoy those UWBL rides. Besides, the ride gives me something interesting to video. I’ve also enjoyed making some new friends. I guess the rest of the season will tell.

 

Tags: Assault on Mount Mitchell, Training, UWBL

This entry was posted on Friday, February 6th, 2009 at 9:16 am and is filed under Events, Rides. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.