The crux of the NC 80 climb is about 5 miles long. The steepest parts are in the switchbacks so try to stay out of the inside of the turn where it is steepest.

The BRP is a steady 6-7% grade. The hardest section for me is the 2 miles on the start of the Mitchell Rd where it climbs at a steady 8-9%. By then you have about 100 miles in your legs.

I wish I had the legs to make the journey up Mitchell. My stamina/strength suffers with long distances and, I don't have a lot of LD training under my belt - especially with significant climbing. Maybe next year I will try Mitchell but, this year Marion will most likely where I get off the bus....or get on it and head back to Spartanburg.

Do you still have your Mitchell number? If so, I would really think about it this year. You're riding well from what I've seen.

me too!!!

BIKEWNC is correct. There are a couple of nice grunts before Marion. The climb before the second rest stop (40 miles) and Bill's Hill (about 45 miles) are generally the two I recall. There is also a steady grade at about 60 miles that can get a few folks as well. However there is a really nice rolling section where it really helps to get in a paceline from the back of Bill's Hill to the 60+ mile mark.

Last year the front group was large enough to where it spread out on the short climbs mentioned above but regrouped just about all the way to Marion. I never would have thought I could have stayed with the front group but managed to stay until about 65 miles where I had to drop out as I was completely out of fluids.

I did the BRP climb from the top of 80 to the top of Mitchell a month ago. The climbs are about 3 miles, followed by a 2 mile descent and then a 2.5 mile climb. I hate the 2.5 mile climb. While not terribly steep, it just seems to go on and on and is probably a little steeper than the previous climb.

Once you get onto the road up Mitchell, just grind it out until you get to the gate at about 2.5 miles. It's not a bad climb on fresh legs, but with about 100 miles in the saddle it just feels like 15% but it is only around 8-9%. Then it flattens out a little with one little kicker just before the parking lot.

I've never had the guts to try to stay with the lead pack all the way to Marion because I knew what it would take to do so. Then I would be stuck with facing the climb on shattered legs.

After 60 or 70 miles, my rides seem to start leaning towards survival instead of enjoyment. I have the Mitchell ticket but, remain concerned with the distance and elevation gain. At this moment I am sticking with the Marion plan....though I've been known to change my mind on occasion.


I was going to ride the 80 to Mitchell route myself a couple months ago but, the weather pre-emptied my plans. I did manage to ride up Mitchell though, in cold, windy and rainy conditions. It was tough.

Just checked the Accuweather forecast for Monday ----- For Spartanburg, it looks like AM temps will be in the 60's, with high's in the mid-high 80's. Same for Marion. High temp's may be up to 93, according to Intellicast.com. Start hydrating early.......

The good news is once past the campground and up on the BRP, the temps and humidity is a lot less than down in Marion. Most folks will probably be by the campground while the temps are still in the 70's. Just be prepared for the humidity to hit you in the face after you've finished when you come back down off the top of Mitchell to the Campground.........But you are exactly right-hydrate regularly along the way and with some electrolytes. Really bad incident several years ago with a female that drank just water-and way, way too much of it.

On the 31st when I did the Marion to Mitchell ride, it was pretty warm at the start. I got to the parkway and it was a lot cooler, but by the time I got to Mitchell it was actually cold! The wind was pretty strong up there too. At least this year it looks like no rain at the start. That seemed to be the trend for a while.

Don't count on it.

I did my last long ride on Saturday, climbing to the to top of Mt. Weather (The peak is only about 1900 feet, but hey, it's the best I've got in this area. It's still got several sections in double digits, and one part that hits 20%).... Anyway - it was already hot and sunny when I started out at 8AM, and I was glad when it started to cloud over...but just after I got to the peak and turned around, we got hit with a BIG thunderstorm, with lots of wind, and rain so heavy, I couldn't see. The one saving grace of being on Mt. Weather, is that the Homeland Security site has a small overpass over the main road near the entrance...so I was able to hide under that while I wrung out my helmet liner, gloves, socks and jersey. I didn't do the shorts for obvious reasons.....

So, if it rains, at least I'm used to it by now.

I'm trying to remember a AOMM the last several years when it didn't rain. Was it 2 years ago it was lightning around the start line???

Yes, that was unnerving. Last year we were awaken at 3am by some strong T-storms that lasted until just before the start. We did start on wet roads and had a brief light shower on the way to Marion. This year, it looks to be very hot like it was in 2004. Many riders suffered from cramps that day.

anyone have a garmin tcx file for AoM they can send me?

I pulled this info from my Garmin from last year if it is any help. It is the amount of climbing in each 5 mile segment. I had adjusted the actual readings (column in the middle) down slightly to marry up with some other data I had. I think it is pretty close.

Miles Elevation gained per segment


5 336 324
10 196 189
15 309 298
20 154 148
25 192 185
30 210 202
35 301 290
40 462 445
45 312 301
50 623 601
55 386 372
60 385 371
65 453 437
70 284 274
75 352 339 4955 Climbing to Marion
80 365 352
85 1171 1129
90 1446 1394
95 948 914
100 1512 1457
102 600 578 6042 Climbing from Marion to Mitchell
10997 10600

adjustment factor= 0.963899245

cool. i don't really need a file, but just like to have the route in there.

so, around 4900' climbing up to Marion. not too bad i guess.

How is it? Hot?

God, it was brutal. The start wasn't bad, but once the sun got over the trees (about 10AM or so), it was nasty all day. Bill's Hill wasn't as hard as I expected, but the climb up NC-80 was killer, and I was cramping all the way up until the Blue Ridge Parkway downhill.

The first finishing time was around 5:40 (I was in around 10:30, so figure out where I was in the pack). It would have been even faster had we not been held up for 15 minutes or so - they held up the entire ride because they were paving the road on the route.

hot. friggen brutal. report later.

The story was probably the hot, hot temps. As we were coming back down I've never seen as many riders huddled in any shade they could find along the BRP. Plus there was just no breeze to speak of at all. I used most of my water externally-squirting my jersey and neck. Last year I stopped 4 minutes total. This year it was at least 17 mins-not counting the 15 mins for the road paving.

Hwy 80 wasn't that bad temperature wise as it was mostly in the shade when I came through-but it was still pretty warm. But the BRP and Hwy 128 in the Park was mostly in the sun. I think the temps broke a little the last 2 miles to the top but they were replaced by flying bugs. I was covered with the little suckers and even had them in my teeth. I've seen those little critters up there before but nothing like that. I wiped them off with a damp white towel and the towel turned green.

I think I came in around 7:20 ish including the 15 minutes we stopped for the road paving. Other than the first time I ever did it, this one felt like the hardest one I've done. I cramped from about mile 40 to the end. My ride time was around 30 mins longer than last year with the bulk of that being the time from Marion to the top.

Other than cramping my feet got really, really hot towards the end. I even stopped for a couple minutes just 2 miles from the end as the soles of my feet were so hot.

I sure wish folks would get bottle cages that keep their bottles on their bikes. I must have dodged a dozen water bottles the first 20 miles. There's just nowhere to manuever when you're already 4 wide in a lane and the water bottles are moving around more unpredictably than a squirrel darting around the road.

Just saw one crash-very early in the ride when the group was very large and I think someone's chain dropped .......and 2-3 others ran into him. I think everyone was able to continue riding though.

There were lots of broken spokes-kept the mechanic at Bill's Hill really busy. My brother broke his rear derailleur cable-tied it off and limped along on the early climbs in his 12 gear.

My hats off to anyone who finished AOMM today. It was definitely one for the books.