Mt Mitchell time trial

Friday July 10   Day 6   Little Switzerland to Asheville, NC   62 miles, 6860' of climbing

As Alvin said it, this was the "podium" shot, meaning the first three people up to Mt Mitchell. That's the summit right behind us, a five-minute walk we all did later after eating our lunch from the van in the parking lot. This posting is titled "Mt Mitchell time trial," but only Alvin and I actually raced up it for time. He gave me a one-minute head start, and I was determined to not let him catch me. I gave it everything I had; I haven't panted so hard in a long time like I did up that five-mile grade from the BRP. Alvin said he had to give it his hardest too, and he did catch me with about 1/4 mile to go. 

Alvin set his best time ever, and I was with him at the finish, so I was able to get my time (his time was recorded by GPS). I did it in 25:54. Chuck looked it up using his "Strava" program and said my time was the 106th best out of about 2200 recorded times. I was so spent after the "race" that it took a LONG time to recover. Alvin took this photo of me while we both were still panting.

The day began beautifully on the side of the mountain at our Alpine Inn.

Check out the view from the porch where we ate our breakfast! We all marveled at how slanted the whole lobby/restaurant building was -- they said it had settled over the years ever since it was built in 1929, and it now slants noticeably back toward the roadway. I don't think any of us could have handled it if the slant was the other way -- down the hill! We finally departed by about 9 am, and our first mile was up the steep grade back to the BRP.

As you can see, it was another beautiful day, with the by-now usual vistas of the valleys and mountains off to both the east and west. In this case, I got to see Mt Mitchell for the first time, 1860 feet higher than where I was standing.

A selfie at the base of the climb. From the previous photo, we had to descend a long ways, then climb again to get here.The vans were parked to the right, and we all had a chance to eat or drink prior to the ascent where lunch would be in full swing.

After lunch, we all walked the short distance to the very summit. That's a big platform behind me for people to get views in all directions.

From that platform, I took this picture showing a portion of the road we had ascended. Once we descended back to the BRP, most of the remaining 30 miles to Asheville was also downhill.

There is a side story I want to tell: WEEVILS! Thousands of tiny weevils were blowing in the wind atop Mt Mitchell that stuck to everything - our clothes, our food, our bikes, everything! They looked like little ticks, but we heard they were harmless. Every time we'd brush them off, a hundred more landed right away. It was a major memory of everyone up there on the mountaintop, including hundreds of tourists. At all times, people were brushing off weevils. 

There was a visitor center at Craggy Rock, just after riding through one of six tunnels today. I loved this wooden poster you could buy, but this photo will suffice.

 They also had these rocking chairs to view the scenery. Gosh, Alvin doesn't have a bald spot!

From Craggy Rock, it was ALL downhlll for the final 17 miles. THAT was fun! This is my final photo for the day, during the long descent. Once off the parkway, it was just one mile to our motel. I had rolled up my vest and stuffed it into my jersey pocket back after we descended Mt Mitchell. At the motel I unfurled it and picked out the dozens of weevils inside.

Mexican restaurant for dinner, then yesterday's and today's blogs, and now bedtime.

Tomorrow is our final day, and it's a tough one - 92 miles with 11,680 feet of elevation gain. I'm looking forward to it, especially the final few miles, when I'm sure I will be remembering how I felt 7 yrs ago.