What's the new 'epic'?

**Zen** · 08-05-2008, 06:11 PM

I recently sent a message to a cycling company telling them I found their use of the word 'epic' as it relates to rides to be pretentious and overused.

I had completely forgotten about it, didn't really expect an answer. I was sort of just poking a stick at them, you know? Like giving your little sister a wet willy.

Imagine my surprise

to find a response in my mailbox. It made me think and consider the use of the word from various angles. When I finally formulate my answer I'm sure it will be well reasoned and insightful

.

What it comes down to is this- the writer challenged me to come up with a suitable substitute for 'epic'.
I don't think there is one.
To me, 'epic' is subjective.

Is there another word?

**SadieKate** · 08-05-2008, 06:12 PM

Originally Posted by Zen

I was sort of just poking a stick at them, you know?

Noooo. You? Really?

**kelownagirl** · 08-05-2008, 06:14 PM

How about 'awesome'?

**OakLeaf** · 08-05-2008, 06:15 PM

I don't think anyone who hasn't spent a semester translating Beowulf, the Iliad, the Odyssey or the Aeneid should be permitted to use the word "epic" at all.

Just MHO.

**elk** · 08-05-2008, 08:58 PM

(I nominate Zen to be one of the founding editors of the new magazine for women bikers....) as for synonyms for epic...how about Long or Difficult?

**salsabike** · 08-05-2008, 11:37 PM

Hey, I think we saw this and had exactly the same reaction! Was it a catalog, maybe? Or some kind of marketing publication, anyway, I think. They described several rides all as being "epic" and we kind of rolled our eyes at each other and said, "Boy, that's kind of grandiose, isn't it?"---I guess epic to me implies extraordinary magnitude. I can't remember the specifics anymore about the rides, but they weren't THAT dramatic.

**Zen** · 08-06-2008, 03:20 AM

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.

**Kalidurga** · 08-06-2008, 03:51 AM

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.

**bmccasland** · 08-06-2008, 04:58 AM

It was epic, like, you know, totally awesome, dude

**Thorn** · 08-06-2008, 05:07 AM

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.

**OakLeaf** · 08-06-2008, 05:18 AM

Originally Posted by Thorn

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.

**sundial** · 08-06-2008, 05:24 AM

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.

**Andrea** · 08-06-2008, 06:19 AM

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

**Aggie_Ama** · 08-06-2008, 06:52 AM

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.

**Chile Pepper** · 08-06-2008, 07:01 AM

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.

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