The MoCo Epic is Epic! Rode the 40 Miler on Single Speeds with my 15 year old son Dean... DEAN ROCKED IT! RIGID TOO!

these photos from the MoCo Epic Photo Booth
https://sideaphotography.smugmug.com/Event-Galleries/MoCo-Epic/i-h52mDdr

WOW!
what a day... what a glorious day!
a great day to be on the bike in the woods

the MoCo Epic Delivered

as the MoCo Epic approached I looked at my life and I wondered... can I make this happen?
if I can make it happen

what distance?

with who or whom?

as it turns out my boys were both free on the Sunday that this event was scheduled

so I tried to figure how I could do this event with both of my boys

well...

riding with 12 year old Grant and 15 year old Dean has never been an easy balancing act

one child is forced to go faster and harder than they would like

while the other has to ride slower and less intense than they would like

so... what to do? what to do?

Grant bowed out... I wanted him involved

but had to accept it would be easier to ride with Dean and give Grant a "pass"
considered trying to get Grant to tag along with another father\son duo... but really... that is too much to ask of another parent

so it was decided...
Dean and I would ride single speeds at the MoCo Epic

but what distance?

what distance would be most practical?

over the years my pig headed-ness has tended to opt for the longest distance

but this year... I decided to try a different option

it made sense to chased down the 40 miler...
as it was said that the 40 miler has the greatest percentage of single track\the least percentage of road riding to get from trail head to trail head

so it was decided...

MoCo 40 Miler would be out objective

as it would turn out

the 40 Miler was ALL CANDY!

but the weather...

weather was brewing

hurricane coming up the coast

how would this weather effect our day

I feared that the trails would be drentched and the event would be postponed

alas no

it turns out the hurricane did not effect the immediate area

there was some rain the day prior

but no significant accumulation

YE HA!
THE RIDE WAS ON!

ah... how fortunate we are

that we can opt to spend several hundred dollars to ride our several thousand dollar bikes in the woods

our anxiety about a hurricane was not worry for health or well being

but worry about whether or not we would be able to enduldge ourselves with our two wheeled hobby

crazy...

crazy lucky

crazy fortunate

as I rode on this day... I prayed not only for the safety of myself and my son

but also for all those in Haiti and other areas where the hurricane has brought death and destruction

I also gave thanks for the lives we lead

the world we were born into and the experiences that our fortunate placement in the world allows

Dean and I got a late start on the day

we arrived and registered... getting on the bike just before the closing of our group's release
our start may have been close to 10:30

on the bikes and into the woods

as we rolled away from the Soccer Plex in Germantown I was immediately excited by having my wheels on trails that were new and unfamiliar to me

this is one of the great things about the MoCo Epic

this event introduces so many riders to the vast array of trails that MORE has developed in Montgomery County
on this day I would be pleasantly surprised by the quality and the quantity of these trails

the MUDDY BRANCH trails were completely forgein to me

it was a blast to hit all this fast and flowy single track

all of which was less than an hour from the US Capitol
well... less than an hour without traffic

in rush hour... it would be more than an hour

another thing that makes this event so great

AID STATIONS!
riders can push themselves a greater than normal distance with the aid stations offering fuel along the way
I could not imagine bringing that much food in a Camel Back!

DEAN KILLED IT!
Dean rocked the course on his rigid single speed... his Salsa Juan Solo with its carbon fork and its 29 inch wheel in the front and 26 inch wheel in the back

I set the pace and Dean chased in my shadow

IT WAS AWESOME!

we pedaled and we pedaled

Dean expressed his teen-ness with his excitement for the aid stations

our late start had us both a little bummed that we missed out on the pancake dipped sausage links at the first aid station
but the bacon was a decent surrogate

it was all smiles

I felt the threat of cramping... but cramping never happened

we marched some of the steeper hills to avoid an excess of pain and the risk of a broken chain

we rode without incident

no crashes... no mechanical failures... and no human body failures

it was a good day... a glorious day... an amazing day

it was a blast to share this day with my son

Dean had a blast... I had a blast!

good times for sure

thanks to all the people that volunteered to make this day happen
thanks to all the people at MORE

thanks to all the volunteers

this day could not happen without all the volunteers
WOW!

Thanks!

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