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.