Epic Rides 2022 Carson City Off-Road bike event canceled, organizers hope to return in 2023
Submitted by Jeff Munson on Tue, 11/23/2021 - 1:55pm
Epic Rides, organizers of the Carson City Off-Road mountain bike event and music festival, announced Tuesday that it has postponed the 2022 event for the capital city.
Extending thanks to the Carson City community and other communities that have held similar on and off-road biking events, organizers said they will, for now in 2022, resume with a focus on Arizona-based events.
“Epic Rides extends a great deal of gratitude to the communities of Carson City, NV, and Bentonville and Bella Vista in Arkansas,” said Todd Sadow, President and founder of Epic Rides. “The patience of these communities is invaluable, giving Epic Rides an additional year to gain confidence in our recovery from the impacts of the pandemic while the global supply chain irons out its wrinkles, allowing for more reliable involvement from the bike industry.”
The first Epic Rides Carson City Off-Road event was in June 2016 and continued to grow in popularity, bringing locals to participate and watch riding events, including rides through downtown Carson City, with one event having featured cycling legend Lance Armstrong in 2017.
Due to the COVID pandemic, organizers canceled both the 2020 and 2021 Carson City events.
Founded in 1999, Epic Rides has hosted events such as the 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo presented by Tucson Medical Center, Tour of the White Mountains, Whiskey Off-Road, Grand Junction Off-Road, Carson City Off-Road, and the OZ Trails Off-Road, each offering challenging and fun riding while emphasizing the joy and camaraderie inherent in the sport, according to a news release.
Sadow noted that like many businesses specializing in live, in-person events, Epic Rides has atrophied since March 2020 with a substantial loss of revenue and personnel due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Although Epic Rides remains optimistic about being at the forefront of mountain biking in America, its promoters have opted for a "running start strategy" rather than attempting to carry a campaign of six nationwide events.
“In order to maintain the high quality, soulful and gritty backcountry mountain bike event experiences that our audience enjoys, we’re forced to take one step back in order to take two steps forward,” said Sadow.
Although unfortunate, this decision will provide Epic Rides with the opportunity to return to live event production while avoiding the substantial risk associated with producing the national campaign of events that we have organically grown prior to the pandemic, he said.
All registrants of a canceled Epic Rides Series events receive a 25 percent credit applied to their account (valid through 2023), early and discounted registration opportunity into the 2022 Whiskey Off-Road and Tour of the White Mountains events, and an email with additional information as it applies to participating in future Epic Rides Series events. Go here for more information.
