Jonas Iggbom // Big Epic

With much of races I was interested in canceled last year and this year I somehow stumbled across the Epic. I had plans to roll the Belgian Waffle Ride but they moved to a time during the summer that didn’t work for me so I was looking for some kind of challenge to motivate myself. At first I was thinking of the Grand Epic but with a May timeframe and my fitness at the time I eventually decided to roll the Big Epic.

Decided pretty early on to make an attempt on a weekday to avoid crowds. Had never ridden in the area before so wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of traffic on the trails but seemed like a solid approach so I took a day off of work.

Did a couple of semi-solid prep rides but could have done more leading up to this for sure. Unfortunately there’s only so many hours in a day...

Heard from friends with some knowledge of the area that most would probably pretty hard packed so I decided to roll WTB byway 40s. Kinda faster rolling but some knobs on the sides. Was happy with that choice in the end. The 34 cog on the cassette definitely helped on some of the steer climbs, especially the Coyote Peak climb.

Great options for water refill and restroom stops along the way. Absolutely fantastic single track all around. Especially had a blast towards the end in the flowy and somewhat fast trailer at Calero County Park.

Great route that has definitely opened up a whole new area for riding gravel. Thanks for organizing!