Welcome guest, is this your first visit? Click the "Create Account" button now to join.

To disable ads, please log-in.

Shop at TeamEstrogen.com for women's cycling apparel.

Results 1 to 15 of 69

Hybrid View

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Limbo
    Posts
    8,769
    Salsa, you probably did see the same thing.
    It was Rapha and their site says "we welcome your ideas and feedback".
    So...I fed them

    I think the whole thing is testosterone-related.
    2008 Trek FX 7.2/Terry Cite X
    2009 Jamis Aurora/Brooks B-68
    2010 Trek FX 7.6 WSD/stock bontrager

  2. #2
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Md suburbs of Wash. DC
    Posts
    2,131
    Didn't the use of "epic" originate with mtb'ers? To me, it's like the slang that skateboarders and surfers use, totally serious yet tongue-in-cheek at the same time.
    "How about if we all just try to follow these very simple rules of the road? Drive like the person ahead on the bike is your son/daughter. Ride like the cars are ambulances carrying your loved ones to the emergency room. This should cover everything, unless you are a complete sociopath."
    David Desautels, in a letter to velonews.com

    Random babblings and some stuff to look at.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2005
    Location
    around Seattle, WA
    Posts
    3,238
    It was epic, like, you know, totally awesome, dude
    Beth

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Posts
    1,057
    The English language is rich with adjectives, but we seem to get stuck in ruts using the hip and trendy adjectives du jour. No different, I suppose, than people who use the f-bomb. Instead of one-size-fits-all it is one-word-describes all. Until the next great word comes along.

    As an aside, we did a bike tour with one of these "wine and dine" companies. The brochure promised 20-60 miles/day so we signed up expecting to do the long option every day. Oh, those were the "epic routes"--were we sure we wanted to do them? Uh....one of the "epic routes" was 40 miles with a 1% gradient down a long, straight road. Besides the fact that few did the route, what made made it "epic"? It was just a nice ride. No beasts were slain. No battles won.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Uncanny Valley
    Posts
    14,498
    Quote Originally Posted by Thorn View Post
    Besides the fact that few did the route, what made made it "epic"?
    We're still waiting for your ride report in Anglo-Saxon alliterative verse.
    Speed comes from what you put behind you. - Judi Ketteler

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    foothills of the Ozarks aka Tornado Alley
    Posts
    4,193
    My mtb is an Epic. I use the word epic and read an article about the epic mtb Great Divide Race. Perhaps it's a popular term in the mtb culture.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Location
    Memphis, TN
    Posts
    996
    I use "epic" to describe the rare ride or race that involves some sort of major drama and/or difficulty that is conquered during the course of the ride/race.

    It's still subjective, though. I don't consider my usual 75 mile Sunday ride to be anywhere close to my idea of "epic," though someone else might based on distance and the hammerfest pace we ride at certain points
    Because not every fast cyclist is a toothpick...

    Brick House Blog

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Apr 2006
    Location
    somewhere between the Red & Rio Grande
    Posts
    5,297
    I consider a ride that challenges my mind, body and determination epic. The seven hours of hills, mountains, flats and heat of the Enchanted Circle last week was EPIC.

    My century last summer in Houston where the average speed was 19 mph and the ride is flat as a pancake, not at all epic. A 60-80 mile roll through the hills near my house, not epic. So, yes it is subjective but most often I would just say challenging.
    Amanda

    2011 Specialized Epic Comp 29er | Specialized Phenom | "Marie Laveau"
    2007 Cannondale Synapse Carbon Road | Selle Italia Lady Gel Flow | "Miranda"


    You don't have to be great to get started, but you do have to get started to be great. -Lee J. Colan

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Posts
    390
    Epic: heroic or grand in scale or character. I don't consider even my hardest, worst ever, finished-with-a-migraine ride heroic or grand in either scale or character.

    So what was it? Challenging. Spectacular. (Well, actually not spectacular, which technically should be reserved for the dramatically beautiful or strikingly obvious.) Painful (not what they're looking for, but accurate). Masochistic? Wow, this is turning out to be harder than expected--or maybe I just need more coffee.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
    Location
    Belle, Mo.
    Posts
    1,778
    And we don't have George (Carlin) to take on this bit of language any more.
    Claudia

    2009 Trek 7.6fx
    2013 Jamis Satellite
    2014 Terry Burlington

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Nov 2002
    Location
    the dry side
    Posts
    4,365
    "Epic" had been used by skiers for to describe powder days for years...

    As for an "epic" mountain bike ride.... its' a standard description for a long mileage singletrack ride that involves at least two of the following: long mileage, bonking, at least one mechanical, running out of water,Running out of food, injury, unexpected weather change, extensive hike a bike,getting lost...

    Unabriged Dictionary:
    1. noting or pertaining to a long poetic composition, usually centered upon a hero, in which a series of great achievements or events is narrated in elevated style: Homer's Iliad is an epic poem.
    2. resembling or suggesting such poetry: an epic novel on the founding of the country.
    3. heroic; majestic; impressively great: the epic events of the war.
    4. of unusually great size or extent: a crime wave of epic proportions.
    –noun
    5. an epic poem.
    6. epic poetry.
    7. any composition resembling an epic.
    8. something worthy to form the subject of an epic: The defense of the Alamo is an American epic.
    Urban Dictionary:
    . Epic

    (adjective) Awesome, kickass, or otherwise positive. Can be used to refer to anything but is usually referring to a particular event or action. The most common usages are "epic win" or "epic failure," and some prefer to type it in all caps. Occasionally people use the phrase "Epic ___" as a stand-alone sentence or phrase, always following a story about something considered Epic.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    May 2007
    Location
    San Francisco, CA
    Posts
    564
    Tell Rapha that charging $400 for a windbreaker is pretty "epic". :P

    -- gnat!

 

 

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •