'05 Assault on Mount Mitchell
 

Does anyone here know how I can get a number to ride the 05 Assault on Mount Mitchell? I understand that you can ride only the first 70 miles your first time unless you can obtain a number from someone who has already done it which would allow you to do the whole thing. Thanks muchly!

Have you checked its web site? I think there is one. The club that sponsors The Assault is out of Spartanburg, SC. That should give Google a starting point.

Here: http://www.freewheelers.info/assaultr.html

It's amazing what you can find on the internet.

yeah, but it is really hard to get signed up because they have so many people who wanna do it. the best honest advice i ccan give you is to make friends with someone in the club that sponsors it. I've been trying on and off for 4 or 5 months now. i dunno about the only riding 70 miles part, but i know that the first 70 miles and the last 20 something miles are technically 2 different races. the first is the assualt on marion, the second is the actual climb on mt mitchel. let me know how it goes!

I've done The Assault a few times. However, it has been several years since the last. Then, anyone could ride the first 70 miles. And you're right, the last 30 miles are entirely different from that first seventy. In fact, each takes most people about the same amount of time to complete. Time-wise, the 70 miles to Marion is the half-way point for most riders. It will take about the same amount of time to do the last 30 miles as it took to do the initial 70 miles.

The first 70 miles would count as a damn fine training ride for almost any racer. It's beautiful rolling terrain--and in the past, with one tight turn that took a number of the lesser skilled riders out every time. As I recall, the last time I rode it we (i.e., the front pack) finished the first 70 miles to Marion in just under 3 hours. From that point on, most people tend to ride at their own pace. That's because the last 30 miles are all uphill, with one small exception.

And then there's Haines Eyebrow, about 10 miles outside of Marion, and its 20% grade. Enjoy! You will have one small downhill in the last 30 miles, but you will not necessarily appreciate it. You'll curse giving up the elevation you've gained, and will have to regain. The last year I rode it, the weather started out at 70 degrees and sunny in Spartanburg. When we reached the top of Mt. Mitchell, it was raining and 45 degrees. And then there was the time that the last 30 miles were shrouded in pea soup thick fog. (And the stories could continue on...it's quite the ride. But there is one thing that has always amused me. At the start they sternly remind everyone it is not a race. However, that confuses me because the first one to the top gets a prize. :))

My local club heard the Assault on Mt. Mitchell may be no more. Too many problems with cars at the summit. Ride organizers don't want everyone to have someone meet them at the top due to the small parking lot there.

I have riden it about 5 times in the last 12 years dating back to 1992. It is true, the bottom 70 are fairly challenging; the last 30 will take you on average 3 hours or more to complete. There is about 11,000 feet of total climbing. The most difficult part are the switchbacks that leave Marion and climb up to the Blue Ridge Parkway. The club is the Spartanburg Freewheelers. Because I have been riding this and entering this for as many years as I have, I always recieve an entry form. I alway sign up and if I can ride it due to conflicts in "life", I send my entry number back to them and ask that they give it to some one who wants to ride it but can't afford the $55 entry fee. Bookmark my email and if it turns out that I can't ride it this year, I'll sell you my pass.