Pole Pole (Swahili pronounced Polay Polay)

It means “slowly slowly” in Swahili.  The guides constantly reminded Michael with “pole pole” during his summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, and we learned today that this will become a staple during Cycle for the Summit. 

The day started off great with an awesome breakfast including apple muffins that Camilla whipped up the night before.  As we were packing up, we joked with Mr. Fitton that he should join us with the same ride and after a quick contemplation he said yes, so we had our first official ride along.  He took us down scenic Swamp Rabbit Trail in Greeneville, SC and it was a beautiful day to be out.  It was awesome seeing so many people enjoying the trail.   After we completed the first 30 miles of our 50-mile day, Mr. Fritton treated us to lunch at Aunt Sue’s Country Store, knowing we would have a good bit of climbing ahead of us. (and did we ever need of those extra calories) 

After lunch, the real work began; we had a “rather steep climb on our way to the base of Sassafras Mountain.  It was a good warm up, but couldn’t hold a candle to the hills we would be seeing on Sassafras, which is 3,564 feet above sea level.  We started the ascent in Rocky Bottom at 1,800 feet and the road to the summit was 6 miles long…so we would be climbing nearly 1,600 feet in six miles!  This is daunting task on a road bike, let alone the 60-70 pounds of gear we were each carrying.  (We’ll have a weigh in soon for an official number)

Starting at the base and all the way up we could hear the soothing trickling streams and small water falls that ran parallel to the road…you know the sounds you usually here in a sauna or on a relaxation CD they have playing at a random kiosk in Wal-Mart.  Well…that was a load of crap, because there was nothing soothing about this climb.  Long story short, a good number of the climbs turned out to be way too steep for the weight we had on, so we found ourselves pushing the bikes till grade decreased a little. (Which was not much easier)

This is a great time for us to remind our awesome followers that this is a human powered expedition.   (With the exception crossing water, which will be done with renewable energy)  So we don’t have to reach every summit on cycle, we just have to reach it under our own power/without using carbon. 

This is the geological marker for the high point in SC

All in all we estimate that we pushed our bikes two miles up the road, but lo and behold we finally made it to our first summit.  The highest point in South Carolina, Sassafras Mountain, it felt so good, both physically and mentally to reach a milestone only four days into the trip. We ended up riding 50 miles, climbed 4,849 feet and hit our first summit today. Now it’s onto Tennessee where our next goal is Clingman’s Dome, which sounds like it will be another substantial climb to reach the summit.  So as the trip continues we will make sure to keep in mind pole pole.  

In good health (but with some tired quads)

Brent and Michael