Four IMBA Epic Designations Celebrated

IMBA Trail News
Volume 13, Number 3
Summer 2000

IMBA Epic mountain bike rides were held recently to celebrate the first four (of eight) 2000 IMBA Epic designations. Each of these rides - in southern California, Italy, Nevada and Vermont - was preceded by a trailwork session. Here's a sampling of what went on at each of these events:

• The latest Epic celebration ride explored the trails of Vermont's Northeast Kingdom. This corner of New England boasts a recently developed singletrack network that rivals any in the region. And unlike many areas of Vermont, the Kingdom features smooth and fast singletrack with few rocks or mud bogs. Participants helped the Kindgdom Trails Association add a quarter-mile of twisty new trail during day one. The following morning locals led the group on a tour of more than 30 miles of memorable singletrack along mountain creeks and green meadows.

• The Virginia City, Nevada, IMBA Epic started with a half-day trailwork session on BLM trails inside the Virginia City National Historic District. The ride itself, held the following day, drew 38 riders, and benefited from the enthusiastic support of the IMBA-affiliated Reno Wheelmen. The riding group pedaled to the summit of McClellan Peak, where the vista of the high Sierra unfolded almost to Yosemite National Park, nearly 100 miles away. The ride passed the legendary Comstock Lode, which reaped hundreds of millions of dollars of gold from a claim that was originally purchased for $50.

• In Cortina, Italy, an international group descended 3,000 vertical feet through the spectacular Dolomites. The Epic celebration attracted two famous Italian mountain bikers, both world champions. Bruno Zanchi, the '91 world downhill gold medalist, joined the IMBA crew for a trailwork project that focused on the construction of a 30-foot wooden bridge over a washed-out gully. '93 world's winner Giovanna Bonazzi rode the Epic...captaining a tandem. Raceware, a leading Italian mountain bike promotion firm, organized this event.

• In southern California Epic participants climbed 7,000 feet during a 38-mile, seven-hour jaunt. The ride encompassed trails between the mountain towns of Alpine and Julian, and descended to the desert floor on one of the West Coast's best singletracks. The IMBA-affiliated San Diego Mountain Bike Association and California State Parks played essential roles in organizing this event.

The IMBA Epics program recognizes outstanding adventure mountain bike rides - half-day (or longer) circuits that blend off-road cycling's most appealing elements. These are the types of rides that mountain bikers dream about; these are the rides that inspire great volunteer trailwork and trail advocacy efforts.

All 12 of the IMBA Epics designated so far are described in detail in a special 16-page supplement that appears in Bike Magazine's August edition. For additional information on IMBA Epics, visit our website www.imba.com or email .