The evening before the ride
It has taken me awhile to come to the decision, but I have decided not to take my camera with me on the Assault on Mount Mitchell. Tomorrow’s ride is going to be for me. I want to enjoy it without having to work for the best angle or figure out what to comment on while suffering my way to the top.
I think I am ready. I have gotten everything loaded in the car and breakfast is ready to be cooked. I even have my bib number attached.
My plan is to carry gels, bars, and bagels with me on the bike. I should have enough calories on me so that I can make the ride up to the top without having to stop for food. Four bottles will be in my cages and jersey. I’ll have to stop for more fluids along the way, but I hope to make it to Marion without stopping at all.
Every hour I will eat a gel. I have a mix of carb focused and protein focused gels. Thirty minutes after my first gel, I will start eating the solid foods. It will be a bagel or a energy bar thirty minutes after each subsquent gel. This should give me between 200 and 400 calories each hour.
At the top I have my bag which has some water, a recovery mix, and a root beer. Also in the bag is a large towel, a box of wet wipes, some comfortable clothes (including a jacket), and shoes. Last year I would have loved to have had the box of wet wipes – and the root beer!
I leave in the second wave at 6:31 AM. I am hoping that we will all work together and we’ll make it easier for all of us by keeping the speed up in a large group. That is the game plan to Marion.
I will stop in Marion to shift some more gels and bars into my jersey pockets. I’ll load up with more fluids and then get back on the road as soon as I can. Right after Marion I will try to keep the speed up until I start the climb up Hwy. 80.
On that stretch I don’t plan to push it. I want to conserve as much energy as possible during that time of hard work. I’d like to feel a little better than I did last year at the entrance of the Parkway.
I really believe that without the heat I faced last year, I should be able to spend less time at the rest areas along the way. I’d like to stop only once on the Parkway – the stop just before you turn into the road leading to the park.
Can I do it in six hours? Most everyone except me thinks I won’t have any trouble. Maybe I should start thinking like they do! We’ll find out tomorrow.
Jonathan,
I think I was riding behind you for a while in the early part of the ride. This is the time we were in that HUGE peleton. I hung with you guys as long as I could, but finally stopped at about 35 miles for a pee break. I finished in 7:55 which is under my real goal of 8 hours (I was prepared to be satisfied with sub 9 hours).
It is too late for me to blog about my experience tonight, but I will have to do a little write up on it.
How did you finish?