Offroad Assault on Mt. Mitchell (ORAMM)

Old Fort, NC
ORAMM Sunday July 25, 2010
by: Anthony Janik

My friends and I arrived in Old Fort, NC the day before the race to find lodging, food and stretch out our legs a bit. We were all excited to hit up a little bit of the Kitsuma trail; two of us had previously experienced the beauty and beast that is ORAMM, the other two were in virgin territory and hadn’t a clue what they were in for..

Race day came early as we were all up prior to 5 am shoving prerace meals in our faces, prepping bikes, race food and drinks. Upon arriving to the start/finish area, the nervous anticipation to get underway was palpable.

ORAMM is 63 miles with approximately 11,000 ft of climbing. Last year I finished in 6 hrs 48min and my goal was to shave 15 - 20 min off in this edition. The weather was calling for a hot one with loads of humidity and fair chance for T-storms.

The start is on paved road and fast.. I settled into my own pace and was probably 25 - 30 riders back from the leaders. I maintained this position through Heartbreak and Kitsuma, all the way to the Curtis Creek Road climb which is a 9 mile gravel road mother !@#$er.. I definitely rode well up Curtis (for me) and only was caught by a couple other racers towards the end. Eying my computer, I was ahead of last years pace..

The heat index at this point in the race approached 106 and was nearly unbearable. At the top of the climb was aid station 3, and it was packed.. I hadn’t planned on stopping but I was cooking inside and needed a reprieve. Just so happened, I met up with three of my friends. Between the oranges, cookies and red cokes it was decided that we’d ride out the rest of the race together. Not what I originally had intended.. but having known and raced with these guys for nearly a decade, it was fun to ride at a leisurely pace and be able to take in the sites.

After making our way through the last aid station and back up to Kitsuma, the T-storms rolled in with a vengence and dumped on us the rest of the race. Kitsuma is tough enough.. but with rivers flowing down it, madness ensued!

Being out of the woods and heading back into town towards the start/finish was very satisfying. With 9hrs and some change in our legs, we were ready to be done.. Ready for some grub and pub.. We were having a laugh about the conditions and already plotting 2012 when a crazed mountain lunatic came FLYING down Old 70 in his rusted out ol truck, right up our A$$es yelling and screaming, nearly killing us! As if our chamois didn’t already contain enough mud..

We rolled into the finish, cleaned off and had a well deserved beer. Good times.. 

Found out afterwards 120 + riders dropped out do to the heat - kinda crazy.