We transitioned in a parking lot and then headed out on our bikes. The route early on was rolling on paved roads then onto gravel and we pace-lined the entire time trying to make up ground. Eventually the route made its way towards the first climb. We were on jeep trails and only portions of it were ridable. This was better than I expected as in previous versions of the 24 hr Epic the routes over mountains were all hike-a-bike.
We made it over the first mountain and had a great decent down the other side only to be met by the second climb. By now the sun was up and the route was much less rideable so it seemed to take forever. Once at the top we rode the ridge towards the tallest point in VA, Reddish Knob (4300’+). Fortunately there was a break in the clouds and we had an awesome 360 degree view of the area.
ok, maybe it wasn't 360 degrees.
The route from here was a fun singletrack section highlighted by about an hour long swoopy decent towards Stokesville. I recognized the area of last year’s 24 hr Rogaine as soon as we hit the muddy road at the bottom and remembered what we would soon be into.