Spring All Day Fat Burners

Announcement | Schedule | Ride Descriptions | Last Year's Rides

Announcing the fifteenth annual Spring all day fat burners century rides for 2004!

Warm weather is bound to return to Western North Carolina, so it is with that in mind that I would like to repeat a few of my favorite spring rides this April and May (and one in June). These rides are not fast rides, but we often have fast riders who usually wait for the rest of us at the top of each mountain. Including rest stops, eating, etc we usually average 10 miles per hour - i.e., a hundred mile ride takes us 9-10 hours to do. This is not a pace that a lot of young fast riders like, but every year my pace gets a little "less fast". Anyone who would like to ride with us is welcome. The scenery is great, with lots of climbing, and stops whenever. There are stores on all rides, with first class camaraderie, and if we are lucky, no rain. All the rides will be on Tuesday and will begin at 8:00 AM. Three of the rides have a remote start, but the time and location of our start will be announced the week before for these rides.

Put these dates on your calendar now, circle them in red, and join us if you can! Wes Garbee, 274-5315

Schedule

Ride Descriptions

Hot Springs Ride

Description: This year is a memorial ride for our old friend Lyman Marshall. We will leave at 8:00 AM from the parking lot between the First Baptist Church and the YMCA on Woodfin Street in downtown Asheville. Expect a nine hour ride, except for you folks who like to race from Hot Springs back to Asheville. There are several long climbs on the route, so it is a favorite for the mountain goat wanna-bes. There are several water stops and a leisure snack in Hot Springs. Wes Garbee at 274-5315 or wgarbee1@charter.net

Summary: Today was a spectacular day for a ride. Our memorial ride for Lyman Marshall was enjoyed by all. We set an all time record for number of riders on a Fatburner: 29 riders. A few just rode to Hot Springs, but 23 did the entire ride! It added a special meaning to the ride having Lyman's son Brian ride with us on his dad's old Mike Nix custom bike. A lot of new faces on today's ride added a bonus for everyone. Robbie Sweetser found a Cane Creek vest on the ride -- if it's yours, contact him.

Caesars Head Ride

Description: This year's ride to Caesars Head will begin at the parking lot in front of Liberty Bicycles. Please park near the highway, at the north end of the lot. We will be repeating the South Carolina route shown to us by Jackson McCarter. We will try to leave at 8:00 AM on Tuesday, and be back around 6 or so. There are store water stops and a longer pause at the summit of Caesars Head, where there is a gift shop, a view of Table Rock, and a rest room. I always stop briefly on the way up the mountain to enjoy the view from "the Rock". We will be picking up two riders at the parking lot in front of the Flat Rock Playhouse for anyone not interested in quite as long a ride. Wes Garbee 274-5315.

Summary: The ride today was enjoyed by three of us: Charlie Read, Michael Murphy and me. The rain and roostertails only lasted the first 23 miles, and stopped by the time we reached Flatrock Playhouse. Being wet made the ride down into South Carolina a little chilly, but we hardly noticed, being so glad the rain had stopped! A short lunch break at mile 53 gave us a good warm-up recovery before the climb up Caesar's Head. We chased Charlie on his cool Klein when we weren't chasing Michael on his freshly painted mountain bike with slicks. I am always chasing. We got 106 miles today, 12 more than last week, and about the same amount of feet climbed.

Rosman - 215 Ride

Description: This ride will leave at 8:00 AM on Tuesday as scheduled from the parking lot in front of Liberty Bicycles. Please remember to park at the north end of the lot near the highway to avoid keeping a customer from being able to shop at Liberty! This ride will take a back way to Rosman that was shared with us by John McCollum. It will then proceed up Route 215 and return on the Parkway to Liberty. We plan to stop at the store in Rosman, and perhaps the store in Balsom Grove. Hope to see you Tuesday. Wes Garbee, 274-5315.

Summary: For all of you who think that the Fatburner rides only happen on rainy days, you would have been surprised today! It was a perfect cycling day: no wind, slightly overcast, a slight chill, no rain. We rode the famous John McCollum route to Rosman for our usual store stop at the half way (50 mile) point before heading up HIghway 215 to the Parkway. The final 7 miles are uninterrupted hills and switchbacks! The last 35 miles were on the Parkway back to Liberty Bicycles. We rode 104.5 miles with 8300 cumulative feet of climb. Riders included Paul Endry for a few pre-work miles, Brady Hamby from Walhalla SC, Kris Sjostrom, Michael Murphy (on his road bike this week!), Dolly McLean, Mike Thornhill, Bob from Boston visiting in Asheville for one week (he is a friend of Rob Resnick, but we didn't hold that against him!), Jackson McCarter from Travelers Rest, and me. Congratulations are in order for Mike Thornhill - it was his first century today!

Reverse Doggett Ride

Description: This next ride will give us a little taste of Mount Mitchell from a different direction than the Assault - but it's still Mitchell! I put this ride off till now on purpose so we would have nice warm spring weather for the ride! We will begin the ride from the parking lot in front of Rose's Store on Weaver Boulevard in Weaverville at 8 am, Tuesday May 4. I will be at the parking lot between the YMCA and First Baptist Church at the Charlotte Street exit, as this past week. I plan to leave for Weaverville at 7:30. Anyone wishing to follow me out to Weaverville or carpool can meet me shortly before 7:30 - my Suzuki can carry four bikes. The ride will take us up Ox Creek to the Blue RIdge Parkway, then on to the top of Mitchell. After a brief rest, we will head for Highway 80 and go to Micaville then Burnsville. We leave the main highway shortly west of Burnsville and hit Paint Fork to Beech Glen, then the old road back to Weaverville. We should be back to our cars between 5 and 6 pm.

Summary: Yesterday's ride was one of our favorites. We rode through Leicester around Canton and Clyde, then north on Route 209 toward Hot Springs to Trust, over 209 gap and Betsy's Gap, then up the back of Doggett before returning on 1001 to the back door of Marshall. We rode 102+ miles with 9400 feet of climbing; my knees are still sore. Ten riders enjoyed the ride: Brady Hamby of Walhalla, Robbie Sweetser of Beating The Bounds fame, Jackson McCarter of Travelers Rest, Charlie Read always smiling, Dolly "I like it better when it's raining" McLean, Charlie Clogston always strong, Kris Sjostrom who puts up with me all year, Michael Murphy our pace setter, Paul Endry all day out of the office, and me. The weather was great, and the wind waited until our last hour. The Marshall cookie shop is great. Safe Cycling! Wes Garbee, 274-5315.

Weaverville - Mitchell - Burnsville Ride

Description: This year's ride to Mitchell then Burnsville will be a repeat from previous years; however, Mitchell is never the same! We will use Harold Phillips route back from Burnsville. There are a few Parkway tunnels, so bring lights. We will leave from the parking lot in front of Roses Store on Weaver Boulevard in Weaverville at 8 AM. I will be at the parking lot between the YMCA and the First Baptist Church of Asheville at 7:15 AM to car pool to Weaverville with whoever wishes to join me there. Otherwise I will just meet you at the Roses lot. We will creep up Ox Creek, travel to the top of Mitchell, proceed to Highway 80 to Burnsville. We will pick up the back road from Burnsville to Mars Hill, then back to Weaverville. Hope you can join us. Wes Garbee, 274-5315.

Summary: Yesterday's ride was a lot of fun. It was a chilly start, but we had clear skies and very little wind. The weather at the top of Mount Mitchell was exceptional -- not "California clear" as Victor pointed out, but fantastic for Mitchell when you usually see it in the rain, fog, hail, or snow. Everyone enjoyed the resturant lunch at Mitchell. We had 17 riders; 18 including the young man on the mountain bike from California (we picked him up at Mitchell) and then finished with us. Riders included Roger Derrough of Earth Fare, John Mikkonen of Etowah, Kris Sjostrom our psychologist, Scott McCrary on his recumbent from Greenville, Jackson McCarter of Traveler's Rest, Dolly McLean, Michael Murphy, Mike Johnson, Don and Joni Acton, Rob Resnick, Robby Sweetser, Bill Reichert of Spartanburg, Victor from California, Brady Hamby of Walhalla on his old bike, Ron Blaine, Sarah Carothers of Sylva, and me. We rode 97.5 miles and climbed 9600 feet. Most of the climbing came early, thankfully, while we were half-way fresh.

Roan Mountain Ride

Description: Not that we structure our life around the Assault, but it just happens that the last all day leisure Fatburner ride before John Bryan's famous ride will be Tuesday May 11. This will also be a remote start ride. We will meet at the parking lot between the YMCA and First Baptist Church Asheville, as before, but plan to leave at 7 AM this time. We will drive or carpool to Burnsville and park next to the Nu Wray Inn. Hopefully we can leave at 8 AM to begin our trek to the top of Roan Mountain. We will take Mike Ward's modifed reverse Roan Moan route with my return route thrown in. This is a beautiful ride with lots of climbing. Hope you can join us.Safe cycling! Wes Garbee, 274-5315.

Summary: The magnificent Roan--what a beautiful ride today. I'm beginning to think these rides need to be renamed! I'm the only one who has fat to burn; the other twelve riders today were all lean and tough to keep up with. Several things made this a sweet ride: the scenery was great as on previous rides, the weather was excellent, and even the intermittant cloud cover made the climb up Iron Mountain cool. The mild drizzle through Buladean was brief, and John McCollum kept our spirits high. Randy Raskin of Celo Inn joined us in Micaville to the top of the Roan. The other riders included Robby Sweetser, Kris Sjostrom (on his birthday ride), Michael Murphy, Tony Adkins, Dolly McLean, Charlie Read, Mike Ward, Paul Endry, Roger Derrough, Ron Blain, and me. We did 96 miles with 9300 feet of climb. Safe cycling! Wes Garbee, 274-5315.

Madison County Loop

Description: Tuesday June first will be our last all day ride in the Spring Fatburner Series. This ride is not a full century; it just feels like one: lots of climbing in Madison County, 85 miles total distance. The coffee and fresh biscuits at the Little Creek Cafe are always a treat during the early part of the ride. The route is courtesy of our friend Harold Phillips from whose house we will begin the ride. The route is certainly off the Madison County usual roads that most folk are used to. We will visit Grapevine Road, Laurel community, Spillcorn, Guntertown, White Rock, Shelton Laurel, Belva, Sodom ( now Revere), and back to Petersburg via Walnut Mountain. We will plan to leave the parking lot between the Asheville YMCA and First Baptist Church Asheville at 7:30 am, and drive to Petersburg between Mars Hill and Marshall to begin the ride. We should be back to our cars between 5 and 6 pm to drive home. Anyone who would like to join us is welcome. We can carpool from the parking lot. Sorry that I got this note out so late in the week. Safe cycling! Wes Garbee, 274-5315.

Summary: The 2004 season for the Tuesday all day rides ended today with a good turnout and great weather, tasty biscuits, and an unexpected after ride treat of snacks etc., at Harold and Kathleen Phillips' home. Some things never change -- or at least change slowly -- in the parts of Madison County we visited today. It is still beautiful and unspoiled. Both of our regular store stops were closed (one on Tuesday and the other out of business) but thank goodness the medical clinic in Belva was considerate with their water and restrooms. We only did 84.5 miles and climbed 7100 feet, but everyone seemed tired except Brady and Victor. We had 10 riders that included Robbie Sweetser, Roger Derrough, Randall Barnett, Ron Blain, Dolly Mclean, Kris Sjostrom, Brady Hamby, Victor Weinreber, Bill Reichert, and me. Harold was unable to join us this year due to some minor health issues, but he is still riding, and leaked out the info that is looking for a ticket for the 2005 Assault!

If my legs hold out, we will try to repeat many of these rides next spring. I hope, with Ralph's help, to have better maps next year for every ride. Kris and I hope to continue our Tuesday afternoon rides together when we are in town throughout the rest of the year. Call if you ever wish to join us. Safe Cycling! Wes Garbee, 274-5315.

The photograph on this page is courtesy of the Bonneville Bicycle Touring Club, from their July 2002 pictures. Used with permission.

Home | Top | Mail

© Blue Ridge Bicycle Club Inc. 2004