Epic: noun (informal); an exceptionally long and arduous task or activity. adjective; heroic or grand in scale or character. “his epic journey around the world” . synonyms: ambitious, heroic, grand, arduous, extraordinary, Herculean; More informal particularly impressive or remarkable. “the gig last night was epic”
The Flight Centre Active Travel Epic certainly doesn’t look the most epic race on paper, or by dictionary standards, in the Australian race calendar. The 87km marathon, despite it’s attenuated distance, sure does pack a punch in the tough-o-meter*.
For those uninitiated into the pain cave that is affectionately named the ‘Epic’, the race is broken into two parts, the first 50km and the second 37km, and the two are quite dissimilar in nature. The first 50km heads out of the Spicers Hidden Vale, the luxury resort hosting the weekend, up a short climb (affectionately dubbed ‘Satan’s Anus’ by someone I rode beside, but legitimately called ‘Grinder’)
A short section of singletrack and ripping fireroad descent spits riders onto the road, before some more grinding climbs and a quick descent to the Mulgowie Hotel, and approx 10km of road to the base of the king climb, ‘Razorback’. Luckily, every race I have had at the Epic bar one has seen some strong bloke doing the Martyr along the road, assuming the TT position into the inevitable headwind, blowing the doors off on the flat so riders like yours truly can get a good sit and try and save for the climb. Once turned off the bitumen, Razorback is imminent. Taking between 30min-90hr for most to climb, it is the climb that keeps on giving; once you think it’s over, you turn around another corner and hello, it’s a steep nearly unrideable pinch!
From the top there are a series of nasty pinches before a long very steep descent littered with baby-head rocks spits you out into the main trail network of Hidden Vale Adventure Park. From here it’s a mere 13km singletrack back to the start finish, to head across the timing mats and head out to the final 37km.
The final 37km is a race in itself, after all the serious climbing is out of the way this 37km is about singletrack. Lots of it. The trials at Hidden Vale Adventure Park are rough, loose, dusty and unforgiving. Many a soul (and tyre) have been shredded on these trails.
In the Elite Race, a small group if three broke away early on; Swell-Specialized’s Andrew Blair and Shaun Lewis, along with Torq’s Mark Tupalski. Up the climb, Tupalski and Blair battled for dominance, losing Lewis in the process. In the final 37, Tupalski struggled to meet Blairs pace, stating that a dually is the way to go for this race and that the fatigue of riding his hardtail was really obvious when compared with Blair’s smooth descending on his dual suspension bike. In the end Blair took the win a minute clear of Tupalski in a blistering 3:54:02. Lewis Crossed the line in third while James Downing and Christopher Firman rounded out the long podium.
The men’s podium
Tupalski said of his ride “it’s definitely an epic, is brutally hard and super rough and lots of climbing and the first hot race of the year…properly epic.” Of his tousle with Blair he stated “with the rough stuff up the top his (Blair’s) dually meant he could put the power down on the rougher stuff…we both basically attacked each other where we could on every little climb or descent and eventually he was the one that cracked me and got me just before the finish”.
In the women’s race, Jenny Blair took the win ahead of Holly Harris, and it was a battle in the first 50km. Jenny Blair said “it got pretty hot pretty quickly, the hills were endless in the first section then in the last 37km it was the hardest singletrack I have ever ridden in my life, it felt like another marathon, I am just glad I finished. Holly was pretty strong she just glued herself to my wheel up the climbs, I think experience ruled in my favour today and I was smart, I pushed her where I could…it was a race of attrition”.
Jenny was clear by the end of the 50km and took the win by a convincing 11minute margin, in a time of 4:45:04. Third in the women’s race was local rider Caitlin Dore, who rode a strong race for such a new face to the sport, however Dore was unable to challenge the speed and experience of Jenny and Harris.
Results:
Men 87km
Andy Blair 3:54:02
Mark Tupalski 3:55:19
Shaun Lewis 4:13:20
Women 87km
Jenny Blair 4:45:04
Holly Harris 4:56:01
Caitlin Dore 5:42:23
*It’s a thing