Epic Rides

Epic Rides has been creating mountain bike events that are about much more than racing. Their events bring together beginners, serious amateurs, professional racers, families and the mountain bike industry for weekends built around great trails, live music, camping, community and, most importantly, having a good day on the bike.

While each Epic Rides event has its own personality, they share a common formula: great places to ride, challenging courses, a festival atmosphere and a reason to stick around after you cross the finish line.

For the 2026–2027 season, the Epic Rides calendar takes riders from the pine forests of Arizona’s White Mountains to a temporary mountain bike city in the Sonoran Desert and finally to historic Whiskey Row and the trails above Prescott.

Tour of the White Mountains

October 3, 2026 | Pinetop-Lakeside, Arizona

Fall colors, pine trees and singletrack at nearly 7,000 feet make the Tour of the White Mountains a very different Arizona mountain biking experience.

Based at the Pinetop Lakes Activity and Equestrian Center, the Tour combines riding in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests with camping, live music, an expo, games and a communal campfire. Multiple distances allow riders to choose their level of adventure, while the Pinecone Scramble gives kids a chance to get in on the riding.

Finishers return to an after-party with live music, food and cold beverages. The event benefits TRACKS, supporting the trails and outdoor recreation that help make the White Mountains such a special place to ride.

This is one worth making into a weekend. Bring the bike, bring the family, camp under the pines and enjoy fall in Arizona’s high country.

TMC Health 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo

February 12–14, 2027 | Tucson, Arizona

One of the largest 24-hour mountain bike events in the world, 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo is difficult to adequately describe as a bike race.

It’s more like a party in the desert with a biking problem.

Every Presidents’ Day weekend, thousands of mountain bikers, families, volunteers and friends create 24 Hour Town in the Sonoran Desert north of Tucson.

At noon Saturday, the race begins with its famous Le Mans-style start. Solo riders and teams then keep the wheels turning for 24 hours, riding singletrack through the day, sunset, darkness and into Sunday morning.

But Old Pueblo is as much about what happens off the bike as what happens on it. Camps become neighborhoods. There’s music, an industry expo, food, campfires and an atmosphere unlike almost any other mountain bike event.

Then there are the costumes.

Each year’s event poster provides inspiration, and riders and teams have a tradition of taking considerable creative liberties with the theme. The result is costumes, team names, decorated camps and bikes that range from clever to completely ridiculous.

Race it seriously or don’t take yourself seriously at all. Both approaches fit perfectly at Old Pueblo.

Whiskey Off-Road

April 23–25, 2027 | Prescott, Arizona

The season moves north to Prescott for three days of mountain biking and festivities at the Whiskey Off-Road.

Starting on historic Whiskey Row, riders leave downtown Prescott and climb into Prescott National Forest for a combination of singletrack, double track, gravel, climbing and some seriously fun descending.

The Whiskey is challenging. Its roughly 94% finishing rate sounds comforting until you’re actually out there earning your pint glass.

But like Old Pueblo, the riding is only part of the experience.

Downtown Prescott becomes a mountain bike town for the weekend with an industry expo, live music, amateur riding, professional racing and thousands of cyclists taking over the Courthouse Plaza and Whiskey Row.

And despite the name, the Whiskey isn’t just for the 21-and-over crowd.

The kids ride is one of the highlights of the weekend. Kids on bikes of every size get their opportunity to race through downtown while parents, grandparents and spectators cheer them on. Some are simply excited to finish. Others appear convinced there are professional contracts waiting for them at the finish line.

It’s fun, slightly chaotic and a reminder that the Whiskey really is a family cycling weekend.

Finish your own ride and you’re rewarded with one of the event’s great traditions: a commemorative pint glass displaying the distance you completed and a shaded lawn on the Courthouse Plaza where you can sit down and explain to everyone why that last climb was considerably harder than you remembered.

Three Events. Three Very Different Arizona Experiences.

October 3, 2026 — Tour of the White Mountains
Pinetop-Lakeside
Fall colors, high-country singletrack, camping and the campfire.

February 12–14, 2027 — 24 Hours in the Old Pueblo
Tucson
Twenty-four hours, one desert, thousands of mountain bikers and just enough organized chaos.

April 23–25, 2027 — Whiskey Off-Road
Prescott
Whiskey Row, serious mountain biking, kids, live music and a well-earned pint glass.

What Epic Rides does particularly well is make the event bigger than the race. You don’t necessarily have to be the person chasing a podium to have a reason to go.

Bring your family. Bring your friends. Bring the kids. Camp for the weekend. Listen to music. Wander through the expo. Cheer for the pros. Ride farther than you thought you could.

Or just show up and become part of the mountain bike community for a weekend.

Epic Rides calls it “…a good day on the bike.” That’s a pretty good description of what they’re trying to create.