Tuesday afternoon, I received a text from coworker Kenny “Captain Sandals” Charles telling me to skip out on the afternoon and come ride the Epic that evening. I wasn’t sure- it’d been a while since I’d ridden at night, and I’d never ridden the Epic trails before. The trails have a “reputation” of being tough to navigate, and they run through bum villages and bad neighborhoods along the Wolf River/I-40 corridor. They’re also hangouts for rednecks on ATVs and 4x4s who drink and ride in the mud. So, since I usually ride alone, for personal safety reasons, I have never ridden the Epic Trails.
However, I was called to work the next day (normally my day off), and I got the thumbs up from Coach, so I bailed and went home to charge the lights. I packed up the RDO and met with the guys at a house a few miles from the trails. We rolled out, and, in a few minutes, were dropping in to a rough and rutted 4×4 trail.
These trails have a reputation for being difficult. It’s rumored that some of the mudholes could swallow a bike to the handlebars, and those mudholes are separated by a ribbon of raised berm that you must commit to and navigate in order to avoid the drink. I found that I have no problem (possibly even an affinity for?) following a tiny slab of dry dirt between mudholes- something that I was somewhat surprised by considering my problems with raised, narrow bridges. I guess it’s a heights thing. I think the other thing that gets people is that you basically have to quickly pick and commit to lines then be able to react quickly to unexpected features in the trail. It’s very much like racing on an unfamiliar trail… something I’ve grown somewhat used to.
We rode for nearly an hour and a half before turning back towards home (there was a chance of bad weather that would be rather unpleasant to be caught out in, so we thought better of trying to ride all the way downtown). Overall, the trail was a blast (even though I didn’t find it as “difficult” as the rumors say), the company was great, and I was home in time to cook dinner.
Our route:
