Epic is an often over used word in the cycling world. If I am going to use the word epic there would have to be so many over the top components to the ride that even using the word epic would be an understatement. Today was not epic. It was five hours of riding that included long sections of snow running, many climbs in the 4 mile long range, a small injury, some minor navigational errors that resulted in an extra 30 minutes of climbing and it was blue sky beautiful the whole time. But it was not epic. It was the precursor to Epic.
I need some epic days. Mile after mile of back country isolation, climbing over passes, following ridge lines and forging terrain rarely scene by people. It is hard to get this at the local state park down the road, but 40 minutes drive into Idaho is the Coeur d'Alene National Forest which starts at the edge of the city and continues uninterrupted into the cabinet range of Montana. This area has the potential for hundreds of miles of GDR style riding. Today was the first tentative steps into that proving ground.
The snow limited the directions we could go but we had no problem finding climbs that were the perfect match for the kind of riding I need right now. I would have thought that my 29er with 34X17 would have been too big of a gear but I was getting into a good rhythm both seated and standing. My lower back showed some signs of tiring because I have not been exposed to out of the saddle climbing of that duration this year.
The drive back from the ride gave Ben and I a chance to dream up some truly epic routes in the Coeur d'Alene N.F..
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