MoCo Epic Difficulty

[jabberwocky]

I’ve ridden the MoCo every year (the 50 mile twice and the 67 mile once). I would recommend a mountain bike if possible. Its a much higher percentage of singletrack than the NoVA. The singletrack isn’t super difficult for the most part, but there is plenty of rocky, twisty stuff, and you’ll have a much more enjoyable time on fat tires.

Denis (the event organizer) has answered this question a few times on the MORE forums. His response is that a few people have tried it on cross bikes over the years, and pretty much all regretted it to some extent.

[Tim Kelley]

I did the 35 last year on a cyclocross equivalent. It do-able, but not really all that comfortable on a CX bike.

[txgoonie]

The answer is pretty much the same for MoCo as it is for NoVa. What kind of experience do you want? I suppose, if push came to shove, I wouldn’t say you need a mountain bike depending on your skill level. Will you be hating life for many moments of the day? Heck yeah. The twisty stuff at Clopper Lake. The roots at Schaeffer. Those will suck.

[pikebike]

Awesome. That answered my question. After 35 miles I was praying for it to end and cursing the trees for putting their roots on the path.

thanks!

[jabberwocky]

@txgoonie 56236 wrote:

The answer is pretty much the same for MoCo as it is for NoVa. What kind of experience do you want? I suppose, if push came to shove, I wouldn’t say you need a mountain bike depending on your skill level. Will you be hating life for many moments of the day? Heck yeah. The twisty stuff at Clopper Lake. The roots at Schaeffer. Those will suck.

He’s talking about the NoVA 40 though, which was largely doubletrack and gravel (it was the 60 we did minus all the singletrack at LH, Accotink, Wakefield, Clarks Crossing and Lake Fairfax). A cyclocross would be ok for that (and honestly probably a better choice than a MTB, given how little actual trail there is on that route).

The MoCO 50 is a totally different beast. Aside from the short road sections on Hoyles Mill, the section connecting Black Hill to Little Bennett and the road connecting Little Bennett to Upper Macgruder, its almost entirely singletrack. Those sections account for maybe 5%-10% of the total mileage. The singletrack varies; I wouldn’t call it difficult, but its not easy either.

If its something you seriously want to try, search through the MORE forum threads for the past events, as this has been discussed before. My recollection from the locals and organizers is that they don’t recommend it, based on the experience of people who have actually done it. If you’re a good rider and experienced riding a CX bike offroad you’ll make it around, but its not exactly ideal.

[Dirt]

I’d also add that you have time to head up and try some of the sections on your cross bike and see how you like it. Just keep in mind that if you’re doing the 65 miler, you’re going to be hitting some rougher singletrack late in the day and that isn’t much fun on skinny tires.

I’ve done MoCo epic on a rigid single speed, geared FS and fat front fixie. I’ve ridden most of the trails on a cross bike. I’d suggest a mountain bike. Too many opportunities to pinch flat and destroy a wheel with smaller tires. There are some steep down-hill sections that you’ll not enjoy on a cross bike…. even if it has disc brakes. Skinny tires don’t slow you down that much when you’re off the back of the saddle scooting down a steep, rooted trail.

[Author]

Posts