MoCo Epic 2010

     The MoCo Epic (http://mocoepic.com/) was a great event created by my friend Denis of MORE and sponsored by MORE, REI, Germantown Cycles, Holiday Inn of Gaithersburg, DrinkMore Water, The Bike Lane, ZAdventures, Oasis Bike Works, Darius Mark State Farm Insurance, Michael Bonsby Heating & Air Conditioning,  Trails For Youth,  Fireworks Art Cafe, and of course IMBA.

     Over the course of the summer he spent countless hours with other MORE members creating and documenting a course that would be safe, enjoyable and legal. When there are 160 riders, you have to be sure to have you $hi! together. Starting before sunrise, I was assigned as a volunteer to parking lot duty. We had two parking lots at the nearby Maryland Soccer Complex that held 120 cars. They were full.

      I attached a few pictures to the left from my experience with the wonderful enthusiastic people who participated both as riders and volunteers that day.

What is the MoCo Epic? As per Denis on the MoCo Epic Website:

It is a supported ride. Participants will be given a cue sheet, a GPS track (should they have the necessary equipment to run it), spray painted signs will be on parts of the course, and volunteers will direct riders at critical intersections. Time records will be kept only for the purpose of accounting for everybody.

                           



During the ride, the riders will cross some or all of the    following Montgomery County parks:

- Schaeffer Farms (Seneca Creek State Park)

- South Germantown Recreational Park (SoccerPlex)

- Hoyles Mill Conservation Area (Hoyles Mill trail)

- Black Hill Regional Park

- Little Bennett Regional Park

- Damascus Regional Park (Seneca Greenway trail)

- Lower Magruder Branch Park (Seneca Greenway trail)

- Great Seneca Stream Valley Park (Seneca Greenway trail)

- Seneca Greenway
- Seneca Creek State Park

- Muddy Branch Park

In order to go from one park to the next, the riders will occasionally be on road portions. The total paved mileage depends on the ride you register for. Here is the breakdown of road/dirt in the 62-miler:

- Country roads (very few cars): 12.88 miles

- Neighborhood streets: 3.09 miles

- Paved trails: .75 mile

- Major roads (River Rd, Rt 28, Rt 355, Rt 121, Esworthy, etc...): 2.85 miles

- Trails (almost all singletrack): 44.34 miles

There is a great photo gallery to enjoy on the MoCo Epic Website. Everyone had a great time and there were very few injuries. All in all, it was great publicity for MORE and for mountain biking in general.

For me it was inspiring. Seeing everyone out there having a great time riding in great weather on great terrain was just, well, great. I really wanted to participate but I was not in shape to do this. I have had a rough time this summer getting into shape. There are no more excuses though. Time to stop whining and start working. I have been riding more lately and it is amazing how much worse shape you can be in when you are older then would normally exist at an earlier age. It is because of this that I now understand how important it is to take the time to exercise your body, especially when you start hitting your upper 30s. It isn't going to get any easier and it is so essential to maintaining a high quality of life,

Rider Of The Day #34

Life is interesting and you never know what is going to happen. I have a new path in life and it is very exciting. I left my employer and I am now on my own, freelancing as a designer and creating products for my brand "Rays Life Cycle". Summer is over. While trying to figure out how to get out of my stagnant employment situation was an important goal; I have not achieved all the goals I was shooting for this summer. In particular, my desire to improve my fitness and my mountain biking abilities. After my pre-rain ride this morning, before I started working, I was standing on the deck and I took some photos of this guy riding in the rain. Brave soul. It was really pouring out there. How many others of you got caught this morning?

words and photos by Ray Heinsman