Yesterday was pretty amazing at LowCadence.com. There has been only one other day in the history of the blog that had more visitors to the site. That other day? The day George Hincapie put a link to the blog on his Twitter account.
Well, today I’m going to share my observations and opinions about the ride. Let me preface it by saying that I have an appreciation for the people who have put so much into making the ride happen. It can be a thankless job and I trust this post will be written and accepted in a spirit of hoping things will improve. However, I am going to let you know at least this one person’s opinion and I don’t think I am alone.
I arrived with a bit of time to spare and moved toward my assigned docking point for the “wave” I was supposed to be in. It gave me a chance to look around and my initial thoughts were pretty positive. The setup seemed to be going smoothly and there wasn’t nearly the jockeying for position as there was in times past.
I watched as the first wave started off. Rather than having the entire field of 1000+ riders starting off at once, the organizers divided the first 500 riders into groups of 100. Each group would start off with one minute separating the group behind them. The final group would the remaining riders going to Mount Mitchell along with those riders stopping in Marion.
One minute after the first wave started the second wave – my wave – started. Before a couple miles passed we caught the first wave. The Spartanburg city limits were passed before all the waves of 100 were together. Suddenly we were in a rolling mass start again.
This, in my opinion, changed the entire dynamic of the ride and not for the better. The guys in the first wave could now see other riders who were a couple of waves back riding beside them. That meant that the guys beside them potentially had up to a 4 minute lead in time.
The riders coming up from the back were now with the “leaders” and knew they were up to 4 minutes ahead. They could just sit here in the pack and “coast to the top” with the pack. In other words, there was no motivation to get the train rolling.
Also, the mass start in times past allowed the Marion riders to mix it up with the Mount Mitchell riders. It was good to have them because many of them really turned up the juice to get to the campground as soon as possible. It was not unusual for a Marion rider to come by a Mitchell rider and say, “Hop on. I’ll pull you to Marion so you can save your legs for the climb.”
I realize that the goal was to slow people down and attempt to avoid a dangerous situation. However, I’m afraid the opposite took place. Before we were out of Spartanburg I was nearly taken out in a crash that happened to my left. Thankfully, I saw it start to happen and turned my bike away from it. I received a glancing blow from a rider and was pushed over to the guard rail, but didn’t go down.
So, here we were in this large bunch of hundreds of riders with no one taking the lead to pick up the pace. Then the “yellowliners” started. These were a few riders who kept crossing the center line. I mean it was really bad this year. I watched one guy repeatedly stay out there until a car would come toward him. He would basically play chicken with the car and move over only enough to let the car by.
At one time a rider made a driver of a pickup truck that was coming around a blind curve slam on his brakes to avoid hitting the idiot. These riders would then dive back into the group causing the riders in the group to compress while letting them in. This in turn would cause the group to slow almost to a stop. It seemed I was spending more time feathering my brakes the pedaling my pedals!
I hate to say it but I almost reached the point where I wanted to go up the yellow line and not allow one of those riders back in when the car was coming at them! That is how irritating and frustrating their actions had become. If the goal was to slow things down and avoid danger… FAIL.
Finally, as we neared Marion I had enough. I went to the front and then off the front. It was so liberating not to be in that surging mass any longer. I stayed off the front until we reached the campground. I pulled over at that point to, ummm, take care of some business.
So far things were going as planned – except the time the group took to get to Marion was longer than I had planned. I was about 30 minutes behind schedule because of it. Once I started out on Highway 80 things returned to the old Assault I remembered. It was every man for himself at this point. There was no large pack for me to worry about.
Up I started feeling pretty good. It was about this time I met Jeff – a LowCadence.com reader from up north who had come down for the ride. We talked about the site, racing, his gear choice, and a bit more as we rode along. It was really neat to put a face with the e-mail address! He is a pretty cool guy.
Unfortunately, about halfway up 80 I started to get a pain all along my lower back. I don’t know if it was the positioning on my bike or what, but it slowed me down significantly. Limping into the SAG just before the turn onto the Parkway, I just had to stop to stretch my muscles.
I had originally planned to skip that SAG as I had been doing a pretty good job eating the food I had with me. Of course, I had not counted on my muscles seizing up like they were doing. The stop couldn’t have come at a better time. The good news is that there was no cramping.
After only the time it took me to stretch out and refill a water bottle, I headed up on the next grueling stretch of road. Really, the climb up Highway 80 and the first 6 or so miles of the Parkway ARE the Assault on Mount Mitchell. If you can make it that far, you can make it all the way.
On the Parkway I kept working to avoid that pain returning to my back. It didn’t return. I simply was slugging away up the climb that registered between a 6% and 9% grad for mile after mile. I would pass come riders and others came around me. Jeff who had fallen behind me at first, had passed me later on 80 and was now long gone.
My goal was just not to stop pedaling before I reached the two mile or so downhill that gives a reprieve as you suffer along the Parkway. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, I got to coast for a bit. The only negative was that it was pretty cold! By the time I started to climb again, my legs had stiffened considerably.
I watched the miles tick by sooooo slowly on my Garmin 705. The computer was telling me that my Quarq CinQo had captured that I was averaging just under 200 watts for the entire 5 hours I had been on the bike to that point. For what it is worth, the computer also told me I had burned through 5000+ calories as well.
After that downhill I thought I remembered that the final SAG before turning up to the park would come sooner than later. However, on this day it seemed like it would never come. Around every turn I hoped to see some indication of the end, but each turn mocked me with another elevation.
Finally, I stopped looking ahead and just focused on the road before me. “Keep turning the pedals over,” I told myself. “Don’t embarrass yourself by getting off the bike to push it!” Stand and pedal. Sit and pedal. Lean forward and pedal. Hang off the back of your seat and pedal. Just try to keep your body from locking up and pedal.
I realized that I had not prepared for this ride as I should have. I honest didn’t care about the goal I had set for myself. I didn’t care about the people riding around me. I just wanted to reach the top and drink the bottle of root beer I had stashed in my bag that was waiting for me at the top.
Finally, I reached the targeted SAG. I stretched, ate some oranges, took a nature break, and then headed up to the park. At this point it looked like I just might make 6 hours and 30 minutes. It gave me a little renewed motivation and I tried to give it my best as I passed the sign saying there were 3.9 miles to the top.
Last year this section was really not that bad to me. I think it was partially because I had rested for a good amount of time before attempting it. Today, was different, I was really about to stop. I willed myself toward the entrance to the park.
Then I had something strange happen. Take your fingers and quickly tap the base of the back of your head. Do it repeatedly for a dozen or so times. Well, imagine that same feeling at the base of your neck without your fingers doing it. I was feeling that sensation with my heart beat.
Alarmed I looked down at my computer to see my heart rate was at 155 bpm. Okay, that was no big deal, I can ride for long periods of time with my heart rate at 165 bpm. However, it felt as though my heart was running away from me. Whew! There was the entrance to the park and another SAG.
As I rode through the gate my computer registered 6 hours and 27 minutes. Still, I felt I had to stop to get this thumping out of my head. The SAG workers gave me some Pringles and I drank some more of my remaining water. The salty chips were so nice after the bagels and gels I had been consuming.
Two more miles – that was all I had left to do. However, counting the rest and the remaining distance to the top, that two miles took me nearly 20 minutes. I crossed the scoring strips with my computer showing 6 hours and 49 minutes.
I had climbed a total of 13694 feet over 103 miles. My average power for the ride was 191 watts with my max wattage at 1200 watts, my 20 minute peak at 258 watts, and my 60 minute peak at 248 watts. My ride time was 6 hours and 29 minutes and my finishing time was (unofficially) 6 hours and 49 minutes.
At first I was very down on myself. I questioned my view of myself as a cyclist. There were people who looked less fit than myself who got better times up the mountain. Then I realized that it was just one of those days. My body just wasn’t ready. That doesn’t mean if I went out there and did it again that I couldn’t make it in 6 hours and 15 minutes.
Really, after that ride, I was just glad to have finished PERIOD. I have utmost respect for those people who don’t appear to be as fit as others and still attempt the ride – and even more to those who actually finish.
Still, I will not be back next year. The joy of the ride went out of me as we rode toward Marion. It got trampled on as I slugged my way up 80 and the Parkway. It disappeared entirely with the bike fiasco at the top. Until someone shows me otherwise, I just don’t see a reason to do it again. There are other rides out there for me to spend my $80 dollars on.
Been there. Done that. Got the jeresy.
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