Mike45

Registration is open and it is time to start thinking about some North Georgia cycling.

It is a killer ride. Bring some strong legs and a will to climb!

https://www.brasstownbaldbustercentury.com

I missed it last year due to injury. I'll be there this year.

gapowermike

I'm too fat again to do the ride. I missed last year. I'm in Woodstock so I hate to miss it since I'm so close. It is a great ride. I recommend it to anyone looking for a serious challenge.

Michael

Capt_phun

Going to brasstown at the end of January for a team ride. should be fun!

PAlt

14,000 ft of climbing the Saturday before AOMM??? ahhh, afraid I'm a pass. Next year need it to be a different weekend than Mitchell!!!

Porter20

Technically, It was Mitchell that moved their weekend. But I am glad that they did; I would prefer not try to climb that hill in that heat again!!

This is a great ride; I did it last year as training ride for Mitchell; It really should have been done the other way around! It is well supported; great roads; great climbs & Brasstown is truly epic. For those who do it; it's a great challenge. Feel free to ask me any questions or GApowermike as he gave me most of the tips that helped me have a semi successful ride last year.

RonH

Who's hauling me and my bike up the 14,000 feet of climbing?

gapowermike

It happened a couple of weeks ago and I was hoping for a ride report. Looked like turnout was around 70, that's down a little from the previous years. I love that ride and hope they're able to continue.

Anyone?

Michael

floralagator

I didn't ride Brasstown, but three of my friends did. Alan is 6'0", 215 lbs, age 52. His son, Preston, is 5'11", 145 lbs, age 20 rides with the University of Alabama Cycling Team. The other is Buddy, about 5'8", 150 lbs, age about 40. They all three live in an area with lots of hills and love to climb. Preston and Buddy are great climbers. Alan is a diesel. He's my inspiration. About my size and never quits . They've only been riding a few years. They like to find really tough climbing rides close enough to go to (live in NW Alabama). I think they did the Cherohola (sp) Challenge last fall. They provided ride reports to our club cause we had a lot of guys interested in the ride. I'll post all three seperately.......they are pretty detailed.

floralagator

Buddy's Brasstown Ride Report.

From my point of view: The first 78 miles was not all that different from riding around franklin county. Lots of rolling hills. I think we were at about 5,100ft of climbing when we got to the bottom of hog pen after 78 miles. The last 22 miles were very different. Hog pen is not that hard of a climb just 7 miles long with extended grades of 10-12% but on average about 6-7% grade. After the decent of hog pen it was just an uphill drag until we reached jacks gap. We were unaware of the 3 1/2 mile climb up jacks gap that led directly into brasstown bald. So we ended up the ride with a 6 1/2 mile climb. With the last 3 miles at an avg grade of 15-18% with a quarter mile stretch at 25-28%. Needless to say the climb up brasstown was the hardest 3 miles I have ever ridden. When preston and I reached the bottom of brasstown it started to rain HARD! The first 1 1/2miles water was running down the road. And then it just was a light rain when we turned the corner and there is was. OH MY! They don't call it the WALL for nothing. I was going so slow at times my computer was turning off and on because it thought I wasn't moving. But I made it up the wall without getting off my bike . After the wall we still had about 3/4 mile to the top which as I stated earlier about 15-18% but after riding 25% seemed like I was riding a flat road. Then the best site of the day I saw the 200 meters to go sign and the cow bells started to ring and people were claping and cheering me on. My time up the 3 miles of brasstown 30:22 yes 30 minutes and 22 seconds. My goal was 30 minutes so I was well pleased with my time. It was a great day of riding and a great challenge for 23 miles for one who considers himself to be somewhat of a climber. Oh yes total climbing for the day according to my garmin 10,854ft. Average speed for the day 14.2mph. To give you an idea on the speed we were averaging 16.4 after 78 miles. So the last 23 miles is a slow go. Thanks for all the post and encouragement for us all. Thinking about doing it again next year. Buddy

floralagator

Preston's Brasstown Ride Report: (note: I think Preston had the fastest time up Brasstown Bald of all the participants)

Another point of view: As Buddy said, the first 78 were very similar to riding around Frankin County. Good rolling stuff. The rest stops were well stocked with oreos and other good stuffs. Compliments to the SAG stops for sure. So we get to the the rest stop at the base of Hogpen and it is time to climb. I heard from a guy at the base of Hogpen that if you can do it in an hour you are doing pretty good. I did it in something like 45 minutes so it wasn't bad at all. Just a couple of extended sections at 12-15% but otherwise nothing to just make things suck. An unfair note about Hogpen was the fact that it was 45 minutes up and only a 4 minute descent. Not fair. Jack's gap kind of came out of no where because there were some rollers that we had been going over and when we got to the base of Jack's gap I just thought that is was another roller. Then we kind of went around a corner and it continued to go up. I was like this must be an extended roller. Then we turned another corner and it continued to go up more. I then commented to Buddy, "Well, this must be Jack's Gap". It was definately a surprinsing 3 mile climb up to Brasstown for sure. We get to the base of Brasstown and I was hungry. And I got real scared because usually if I am hungry when I am riding it means I am about to bonk. I was definately not wanting to be bonking half way up Brasstown. So I ate some Oreo's and some salt stuff and got to where I didn't feel too hungry anymore. So we started up the Bald, and it absolutely started to flood. I was like brilliant, it doesn't rain the whole day, but when I am about to have to deal with the steepest road of my life it decides to flood. Thanks. The climb started out steep, no beating around the bush. It just continued to get steeper. When I hit the wall, I really felt as though I was climbing the side of a building, it was that steep. All I could do was stand on my lowest gear and grind it out. I even tried to sit one time on the wall and i couldn't push the gear over so I had to stand back up. If it hadn't been for the guy that was on the wall ringing the cow bell cheering us on, I don't know if I could have made it. He was a life saver. But I made it, and I did the whole thing without getting off my bike. When I got to the top of the wall, I was almost pulling my feet out of my shoes just trying to push over the gear. I got a little further up the road and I had never been so glad to see 15% because it was actually a relief compared to what I had just been on. From there I went up and I saw the 200 meters to go sign and then I finished. According to my computer I did it in 26:17. I was pretty happy with that time. Overall, the ride was a ton of fun. We had a good day in respects to flat tires, because we had none. I met a lot of nice people, and had a blast with my dad and Buddy!!

floralagator

Alan's Brasstown Ride Report: (in my opinion, Alan gave the grittiest performance. Like me, he's a Clyde and to finish this ride is just amazing)

And my observations: I agree with Buddy and Preston, the first 78 miles was not much different than what we normally ride except that we had to make it to that point in a certain time or we didn't get to finish. So we came up with a plan to get me to that point because they could make it easily and so for 78 miles we didn't fool around which was a little different than normal. But we made it well within the time limit. At that point, I told Buddy and Preston to go on and I would see them at Brasstown. No need for them to wait on me. The next 22 miles was 7 miles of climb (Hogpen), a descent, rollers, 3.5 miles of climb (Jack's Gap), and then 2.5 miles of Brasstown Bald. Put that all together and it was probably the hardest 22 miles I have ever done and the 2.5 miles up Brasstown clearly the hardest 2.5 miles I've ever done. The 7 mile Hogpen climb was not easy for me but not as difficult as the Cherohala Parkway I did last summer. It had some difficult sections but overall the climb was tolerable for a 7 mile climb. The difficult part for me was the 3.5 mile climb before Brasstown. We were told that but a little unclear about the nature of the climb. And its at mile 94. Needless to say I was feeling a little tired. After resting a bit before attempting Brasstown, I started up and just went real slow, I mean real slow and easy. Like Buddy, my Garmin paused a couple of times because I was going so slow. I made it fine until the 200-300 yards of the wall and I just couldn't get my pedals to turn up the 25-28% grade. That is so steep when it is at mile 99. So I walked up that part, remounted and rode the final mile to the finish line. I must admit it was pretty humbling to walk because I probably went to the ride arrogantly thinking I could climb anything, allbeit it very slow. But it wasn't to be yesterday. I was suffering quite a bit by the time I finished. But I finished, on my bike, and rode all but 300 yards of a 100 mile very difficult ride so I can't complain. 2 1/2 years ago I wasn't even riding a bike. And I got my medal. I've now done two very difficult rides, the Cherohala Challenge and Brasstown Bald. Well make that 3. The Watermelon Ride in 2007 in the 102 degree heat was very difficult for me. They are all different. And to compare difficulty is not easy. But Brasstown is really hard. One needs to ride a lot and climb a lot to even attempt it. It has already been mentioned that we would go back. If I do, I will not carry 215 pounds over those hills. I think I could do it at 215, but everything would have to fall in place perfect. It would make me lose a significant amount of weight so as not to suffer quite as bad. The last 2.5 miles is just indescribable. It is brutal beyond brutality. It is NOT Coburn Mtn. times 3, it is much worse that Coburn times 3. I mean much worse. And it is at mile 97.5 as I said. Wow. I hurt thinking about it. But I am glad, proud, happy with the results. And that's it. I feel good today. A little sore but I expected that. Thanks for all the encouragement and the interest. I"m just glad I had guts enough to give it a try. It was fun while it hurt.

gapowermike

Excellent reports. Thanks for posting.

I've tried it twice and wasn't ready either time. I think it's a fantastic ride and the organizers do a very nice job. Maybe next year will be my year.

Michael

skiffrun

https://www.brasstownbaldbustercentur...009Results.htm

Btw, I happen to know that finishers #14 & #15 and at least one other (I don't know who) also did Mitchell two days later.