Originally Posted by merlinextraligh
I rode up Mt Mitchell today, and it was a very nice ride but I'm not sure I get why many people think it's so difficult. Admittedly, I rode up from Asheville (70 miles roundtrip), so I'm willing to concede the possibility that it might be tougher coming from Marion.
However, Mt Mitchell itself is not very steep, particularly compared to the grades of Hogpen, and Brasstown.
The sustained climb is definitely longer, but the average grade for the 4 miles up Mt Mitchell felt like maybe 5%.
I'm not saying it's easy; it definitely gave me a very good workout, but it's not the epic beast that it's sometimes made out to be.
I've ridden up Mitchell from both sides and they are very comparable rides from both directions. I would totally agree that there's nothing very steep on AOMM. However, just riding up from either side is very different from riding 70-80 miles and then doing the climb like what is done on AOMM. There's just not any relief in climbing-even though it's not steep-for 20+ miles-except for a short descent on the southbound side. Most other mountain centuries I've done in the Southeast have much steeper climbs, but none have as long a climb as what you get at the end of Mitchell.