Richard Reinhardt // Grand Epic

Mike and I decided to do the Epic route as part of our BWR SD prep. Through out invites to our friends, but was more than they wanted to bite off. We road April 2nd. Beginning of the route was in decent shape. First danger sign was the creek crossing. It was ripping, maybe thigh deep. Threw the bikes across the creek and jumped across from a log. Got slick and muddy after that. Was like snow skiing on a gravel bike. Hit the deck a couple of times The weather was beautiful and had a nice ride once we got to the pavement. When we hit Half Moon Bay started thinking this was going to be longer that the 8.5-9 hrs we had anticipated. Single track through the mountains was painful. Downed trees and mud limited us to 5-6 mph. Started to look like trouble as drizzle started and sun was setting with 25 miles to go. Thought about bailing and taking paved roads back to the car, but stuck to it. Riding the single track through the fog after sun set got sketchy. Fortunately there was moon light otherwise would have been impossible. Started the decent shivering with no bike lights and it was so dark I couldn’t see the road. Last 3 hrs was truly a death march. Finished around 9:30 pm frozen to the bone. One of the more mentally grueling rides of done.