Last Saturday, on April 13, 1000 riders ascended upon our hometown of Brevard, NC for the 14th Annual Assault on the Carolinas. This road ride consists of 3 options: 40K, 60k, and 100k. The 40k goes through the scenic river valleys of Transylvania County and features some rolling hills and great scenery, while the 60k riders get to test their climbing abilities on Walnut Hollow, which is a local favorite. Walnut hollow is a steep challenging climb that is sure to get everyone’s heart pumping. The climb is 1.1 mile with grades reaching 15%. After climbing Walnut Hollow riders will enjoy a nice rolling ride home through the French Broad River Valley. Finally, the 800 or so rider that chose the 100k option experience it all from flats, rolling hills to the Walnut Hollow climb, fast descents, and a grueling 6-mile climb up Caesars Head near the North Carolina-South Carolina border. This ride will take you through the river valleys of Transylvania County, up Walnut Hollow, and up and over Highway 178. Hwy 178 offers some amazing descents, with miles of curves, that will be enjoyed by all. Once riders cross Hwy 11 in South Carolina they will stretch out their legs on some rolling hills and flat sections. Then riders reach the bottom of Caesars Head they begin a challenging 6 mile climb to the top. Once over Caesars head it’s @ 15 miles back to Brevard with more descents, flats, and a ride back through the river valley. With almost 6,000 ft of climbing in 65 miles, it’s a great ride through some incredibly scenic roads. To top of such a beautiful ride, the Pisgah Rotary keeps everyone fed and hydrated with incredibly well-stock rest stops and police support at all the major intersections. It really is a great to be a part of.
So, being in our hometown, we here at SylvanSport have a hard time passing up an event like this. In addition to being one of the sponsors, we brought out a GO lightweight trailer for the event, where friends and families of riders were able to check it out in all it’s glory while they ate some tasty food, listened to good music, and par-took in refreshments courtesy of Oskar Blues Brewery. But we’re not ones to just sit back on a beautiful Saturday and drink beer all day (well, at least not on this particular Saturday). Along with our fearless leader, Tom Dempsy, Clayton and your’s truly, set out to on the 100k. We all survived and had a great day talking bikes, talking GOs, and feeling good.
If you like cycling, this is a “must do” ride. Doesn’t matter where you live…we met folks from all over the United States and a couple of groups from Canada. Mark your calendars, next year is already set for April 12, 2014. Oh, while your in town, swing by the SylvanSport facility to say “hi”…we’re less than a mile from the start line!
One thought on “SylvanSport takes on the Assault on the Carolinas!”
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I think that SylvanSport should have a wedding registry so that couples like my partner and I can register for people to gift money to a fund specifically for a Sylvan Sport Go Camper. I know we can’t be the only couple that lusts after this fun camper but lacks the rainy-day fund for such a purchase. At this point, we are planning for doing it via some sort of crowdfunding but that seems impersonal and people have no way of knowing that we’d actually purchase a GO CAMPER. But if you guys had a wedding registry (glbt friendly!!) I think our guests would be more comfortable with this idea.