The 2022 Quantico Epic is in the Books!
Nearly 500 riders had the opportunity to ride trails aboard Marine Corps Base Quantico (MCBQ) on Saturday April 30 on a perfect day for mountain biking.
Over the course of the past few months Quantico Mountain Bike Club Volunteers worked hard to plan the event, secure the necessary permits and prep the extensive trail system for the 500 anticipated riders.
Mountain bikers tackled one of four courses, including an 18, 30, 35 and 50 mile jaunt through the trails aboard Mainside and the less often visited Officer Candidate School (OCS) trails.
The effort to get things ready was well worth it, evident by the smiles reflected in rider faces as they rode under the Epic Adventure banner and gathered at Lejeune Lot for an after ride meal and beverage.
For many riders the Quantico Epic is the only time they get to access the classic mainside trails. Quantico’s system is maintained by volunteers from the Quantico Mountain Bike Club, and, over the past several years, many of the trails have been improved. The club is working on a 5 year plan to hopefully fix several unsustainable trail sections and possibly build additional singletrack corridors to improve future events.
Members of the club are composed of active duty personnel assigned to MCBQ, DoD affiliated individuals and a select number of sponsored members of the local mountain bike community. The club is allocated a certain number of non DoD affiliated spots based on the number of DoD attached members.
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Getting Started
A QMTB Rider makes his way up the first climb onto the 30 mile course
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On the Singletrack
A rider makes his way along one of the singletrack trails aboard MCBQ
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Another Climb
A rider tackles one of the many climbs aboard MCBQ trails
All Accounted For!
Neil Bray (left) and Mike Romano (right) served as sweepers for the day’s longest ride. Despite making a wrong turn and riding nearly 62 miles, this rider from New York was all smiles at the end of the day.
The Quantico Epic would not be possible without the hard work and dedication of volunteers from the Quantico Mountain Bike Club and support from multiple industry sponsors that provide great swag for the after ride raffle.
Michael Mullins, QMTB’s event coordinator, begins planning the event months in advance, “it is a full load throughout the year, but it really takes all the volunteers to clear trails, mark the courses, setup the start/finish and execute the event. Seeing all the smiles on the riders faces definitely makes it worth the effort.”
QMTB members work throughout the year to ensure the trails are in great shape and coordinate efforts with the base’s Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs branch to ensure any re-routes or re-alignments are done in accordance with base regulations.
The Epic event is an opportunity to showcase the work volunteers have done on the trails over the course of the year. Planning has already begun to improve several sections of trail to make them even more enjoyable, including two re-routes. QMTB hopes to debut these later in 2022 and into 2023 well in advance of the anticipated event.
If you have not had a chance to participate in a Quantico Epic, either as a rider or volunteer, mark your calendars now! The 2023 Quantico Epic Bike Reg page should be going up soon to allow riders to be put on a waiting list for next year’s event. Like 2022, the event will be limited to 500 riders.
Visit the Quantico Epic Website or the Quantico Epic Facebook page for details and announcements leading up to the 2023 event.
THANK YOU!
From all of us at the Quantico Mountain Bike Club and the 2022 Quantico Epic team, THANK YOU for making the 2022 Quantico Epic such a great success!!
May 2022
All images Copyright Bruce Buckley.