We all have had a few great rides that stick with us at one point or another. Occasionally there are exceptional rides that have no comparison to anything that's been done before or since. What better way to remember that great ride than watching some videos or looking though some pictures? I was recently looking back through some old TR's and stumbled upon this one that's a bit old, but seeing as how today is the five year anniversary of the day we did the ride, I thought it might be cool to revisit it. Thanks to Sean (GP_Pilot) for putting on this insane day and writing the original post, which can be seen here: viewtopic.php?f=20&t=3666&hilit=vertical+epic&start=0 Stone Brewing released their annual special brew last month.
This month it was time to release ours.
But exactly how much vertical constitutes epic? For starters, add in 100% pure singletrack hops. And to make the taste complex, change the hops every time. Most importantly, it must all be bottled in a single day. It was purely a mad idea to create this colossal brew. Skeptics doubted the final outcome, but a plan was devised and a stacked team was assembled. So while the annual Kernville Fat Tire Festival was going down, just a few blocks away was base camp for the Vertical Binge Fest.
Friday afternoon, the San Diego crew arrived in Kernville to set up camp.
Instead of a light trail ride, we did a thorough shake down at Sherman Park.
I foresee Sherman Park implementing a policy of only one bike at a time on a feature.
Possibly some height restrictions due to Air Mike.
Apparently the shake down worked better than anticipated. Carnage included a busted chain, shifter housing, and a frayed rear derailleur cable, all needing replacing.
Bikes, gear, and food were prepped for the next day and D-day got underway at this hour
Local Kernville crew arrives and breakfast is served
Shuttle drop #1
Morning wake up with day break hike-a-bike
Conditions were phenomenal
So were the views
First number of the day
Shuttle drop #2The Fat Tire Festival folks couldn’t fathom what we’d be throwing down today
More hike-a-bike
Last week’s Sierra snow in the distance
More singletrack
Dano dropping chunk
Small run, but necessary
Unfortunately, Barcy discovered this horror on his frame
Barcy would get the MVP award for sticking it out with a slammed seat post and climbing out of the saddle for the rest of the day.
Shuttle drop #3Then it was on to some real fun
Chris shows off his MX skills
Air time
The infamous DFT
Now we’re getting some where
Shuttle drop #4More hike-a-bike
More views
Barcy still at it
And more numbers
Shuttle drop #5With the sun officially setting, there was barely time to snap a slightly blurred group photo.
A bomb fest ensued to cover trail before we completely ran out of light (which we did). Although these weren’t the exact numbers, the goal of 20k in a single day was achieved.
Fitting meal to end an epic day: Filet mignon, Grilled vegetables, Stone Vertical Epic
Cramming nearly a week’s worth of DH in a single day…Priceless
Day’s StatsShuttle driving: 253 miles
Ride mileage: 52.1 miles
Unrepeated singletrack: 44.0 miles
Ascent: 3,106 feet
Descent: 20,856 feet
It was a phenomenal day of riding in absolutely perfect trail conditions from the mid-week rain. For most of the San Diego crew, at least 3 of the trails were completely new. Mechanicals included one flat tire on the trail and a broken frame that didn’t stop Barcy’s determination to finish out the day. Planning for this day was nothing short of a scripted play, but once set in motion everything fell into place. Special thanks to Danny for driving nearly 14 hours for we couldn’t have done it with out his tremendous help. Thanks to Jeff for letting us use his place as the base of operations. This wasn’t your typical single ride epic. It was a lot of fun, but even more work. So much so, we all agreed it will be quite some time if we attempt to break it in the future.
