The Battle for Mt. Mitchell

The Off-Road Assault on Mt. Mitchell was a full on battle. Soldiers from all over the southeast and beyond showed up in big numbers. Team Yazoo and Team Harpers both had a big showing. I wore the Harpers jersey for the ride.
The anticipation of the race makes enjoying the weekend difficult, and as the troops arrived into town we had a big dinner in Asheville the night before the race. I was up and moving by 5:00am the morning of the race. With the experience from last year under my belt, I was confident in my ability to complete the ride, but I had forgotten the extreme anguish that awaited me.
I started off the ride moving at a descent clip, without expending too much energy early on, which was a wise move. We rolled out of downtown Old Fort past the geyser and into the mountains. I felt good until the climb up Curtis Creek nearly broke me in many ways. The 9-mile climb to the Parkway delivered a gut punch that almost sent me to the ground. But when we made it to the parkway, another 5-mile climb to Heartbreak Ridge lurked around the corner for the sucker punch that almost wiped me out. By this point my PMBAR partner, Eric, and I were working through it like a team. Which helped me to keep going strong.
Heartbreak Ridge is one of the best descents I have ridden. The race run was ridden in a severely depraved state, but an epic none the less. I made a pass on a few people early on, and as I was passing them I was stung by a bee. I was tagged, but couldn't stop so I kept rolling drop elevation so fast my ears didn't even have time to pop.
After the long descent there was only one last battle on Kitzuma, which would nearly break me. Intense leg and full body cramps plagued my every move by this stage, and making it the top was difficult, and making it down was brutal. I feel sorry for the fools on a rigid bike. No thanks.
I made in with a sprint to the finish, at approximately 7 hours and 30 minutes, and crawled into the creek to cool off. After that I pummeled several beers and slipped into a stupor before we went out to dinner at the Fiddle'N Pig. The END.