swordfish2011

For me, it was this one, last year in July.
It was a great MTB experience, that I will never forget, with breathtaking landscapes, and very hard climbs.
I'll let the photos do the talk










What was your most epic MTB ride?

Desert Ryder

No pics of the ride but, while living on Kauai HI, Waimea Canyon.
Fantastic downhill to a point overlooking the beach and ocean. A grueling grind back uphill.

A couple of representative pics snagged off the internet.....



Not me....

swordfish2011

Wow! That looks amazing! I would love to ride there at least once in this lifetime 😁👍🚴‍♂️

somewhatfast

For me it was my ride on July 4th 2021. It was my first real trail ride and it had awesome views of the Sierra Nevada mountains and Truckee river, a few super long, steep, and rocky climbs, and some fun little floater jumps. No pics but it was pretty awesome.

Darth Lefty 

The one that felt the most epic was riding my bike about 3 miles to junior high through state trust desert in northwest Phoenix. This would have been about 1990-91, my 8th grade year. I went through a pass that is now the terminus of Alameda Road. The area is now built up with tract housing bordering Thunderbird Park but at the time it was just a lot of ATV tracks and shell casings, with horsey exurbs on either side. To have that self reliance, what an adventure! The school was in the middle of nowhere built in advance of the sprawl. My bike was the only one in the rack. It was a year or two old but this was the first year of operation. Some weeks later, probably because it was hot, I decided I hated it and let the air out of my tires so my mom would have to come get me. The drive around on pavement was about twice as long and still is.

I've done plenty of other bigger bicycle rides in my adult life but none of them seemed that... consequential? Once I took my bike to high school (1993 or 4) but the pass in that range (now shown as N 47th Ave from Beardsley but then just dirt) was gated and definitely didn't seem like they wanted people using it. This was shortly after the 500 Golf Course and the AZ101 were built and the direct route started to feel like trespassing and jaywalking rather than adventuring. That was probably about the end of anything seeming epic on a bike.

Smokinapankake

Late afternoon, late September riding Captain Jacks/Buckhorn trail, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 1992-ish. I was stationed at Fort Carson, and riding all the time. In the best shape I've been in my whole life. I'd just huffed it up a long climb and was enjoying the fruits of my labor. Spun around a tight corner clearing a rock outcropping, and the trail ahead was a long (ish) straight, through a grove of aspen trees. Most held their golden leaves, but enough had fallen on the trail to obscure most of it. That magnificent Colorado sun was shining through the trees at a low angle, filtering through those incredible leaves, and the air was golden. It made the leaves on the ground look like the trail was paved with gold. The whole scene looked like it was tinted gold/yellow. There was no one around, it was silent and still, and I had to stop and etch the scene in my memory because I knew I'd never experience anything as unbelievable as that moment in time again. I now live north of Salt Lake City, at the base of the Wasatch mountains, and have ridden every trail there is here to ride, in every season. There are some stunning rides I've taken here, but none have ever matched that moment in the mountains above Colorado Springs. Even if I had a picture it would not have come close to capturing what I experienced that day. Epic!

Steve B.

South Boundary Trail, Taos, NM, likely epic, but really and for distance and remoteness, it was a buddy and I going up Tesuque Peak in Santa Fe, 12,000 footer, then bushwacking down the ski area service roads, then hooking up with the legendary Winsor Trail, epic downhill for miles, then a slog up the Chamisa Trail, running out of water at this point, fortunately a car was parked on Rt 475. Long way. Mid 1990's when ai was young and fit.

georges1

80km trail ride la boucle en seine done twice in 2017 and 2018 with some mountain bikers .I discovered some very nice trails not far from where I live and also in towns much far further where I have never been. My steel frame MTBs gave me comfort but also were and are a pleasure to drive. I was even riding much faster than the ones having 33 spd/22spd drive trains and 27.5 and 29 wheeled MTBs. We also had lunch in open air and good discussions. Never had a flat. One of the moutain bikers was riding a rare Merlin hardtail. The other ones were riding carbon full suspended Scott and Specialized bikes with disc brakes.

Brett A

I raced the Vermont 50 several times back in the aughts. It's 50 miles with 8,900 feet of climbing. (80km/2,700m) Good times. I've been on many 8+ hour rides with friends over the years. There was a couple routes we used to do that were 4 hours to a lunch spot, then 4 hours back to cars.

Repack Rider

1978, Joe Breeze, Gary Fisher, Wende Cragg, Mike Castelli and I took our bikes to Crested Butte. The two day ride over Pearl Pass (12,700') was epic. Here is my story about the following year.