Assault on Mt. Mitchell 2007 Photos

On Monday, I went to see the finish of the 102-mile, 11,000-foot-elevation-gain road cycling challenge, the Assault on Mt. Mitchell. It was great fun to watch someone else suffer for a change, and I have to say it was impressive to know what these cyclists had been through just in the last 30 miles from Marion, NC to Mount Mitchell State Park. That's after completing the first 72 miles from Spartanburg, SC!

Please check out my Assault on Mt. Mitchell 2007 photos on roadskater.net classic (rsn1.net):

http://roadskater.net/assault-on-mt-mitchell-2007/index.htm

I wanted to take photos and write about the event for roadskater.net, and I knew some of the cyclists who were attempting the Assault (who didn't know I would be there to cover the event as a web journalist or anything else, I might add). I also had all my camping gear and was planning to camp there in one of my favorite car camping spots (just 9 sites, tiny birds, fir tree smells). Once I got to the mountain, however, I failed to secure a site and got completely wrapped up in the cyclists climbing the gorgeous Black Mountains along the Blue Ridge Mountains into Mount Mitchell State Park, North Carolina.

The event is extremely well organized and provides a great opportunity for those who've dreamed of riding to the top of the highest mountain in the USA east of the Mississippi River. Check out the Assault on Mt. Mitchell website, especially the Cool map of the Assault on Mt. Mitchell for SAG drivers and riders and the Sweet elevation map of the Assault on Mt. Mitchell.

More notes to come, perhaps. I'm a bit tired from editing 520 photos, selecting from the 600 images I took! If I missed you, I'm sorry, and if I left before you finished, congratulations...you lasted longer than I did!