We sat down with owner/founder of Chasing Epic, Steve Mokan, to chop it up about all things mountain bike adventures, life as owner/operator of Chasing Epic and more. Get the inside scoop from Steve below.

A New Bread of Mountain Bike Adventure Travel

Steve, tell us a bit about Chasing Epic and what you offer.

Chasing Epic offers all-inclusive, guided mountain bike trips to bucket-list destinations in North America: Brevard, Crested Butte, Durango, Fruita, Moab, Salida, Sun Valley, and Whistler BC. Our business is split between our standard and private group trips, and we cater to experienced, serious mountain bikers looking for an incredible vacation.

Tell us about how Chasing Epic started.

I started Chasing Epic in late 2015, and we started running trips shortly after in the spring of 2016. I saw a gap in the market for serious mountain bikers looking for big-riding vacations, and we’ve been growing ever since. We keep pushing the envelope with our trips, and we’re looking to expand in both directions in the coming years, adding intermediate trips and even bigger, more challenging trips.

What type of mountain bike adventures does Chasing Epic specialize in?

We specialize in all-inclusive, guided mountain bike trips in North America – everything we do is full-custom and very personalized. We’re a small company that personally operates every trip we run and has a very hands-on approach, from using local guides to catered in-house meals, and we’ll be riding the trails with you every day. It’s not something you’ll find from other operators in the MTB business.

When is the best time to to join Chasing Epic for a mountain biking trip?

Our trips run from spring through late fall, so the best time to go depends on where you want to go and when you can fit it into your schedule. Our standard trips are optimized to take advantage of the best time to ride in each destination, and we’re happy to give recommendations for location and timing if you’re looking to create a custom trip with a private group.

What do you enjoy most about running your operation?

I love seeing our clients challenge themselves on our trips and grow as mountain bikers – whether pushing bigger rides, hitting technical sections, or just finishing a journey they never thought possible. We ride with our clients every day and get to know them quite well, and it’s incredible to hear stories from them about their home life, what inspires them, and what mountain biking means. We’ve gained a lot of inspiration from our clients, who we typically ride with repeatedly throughout the years.

Favorite story from one of your trips?

Oh man, there are so many! I think the best story over the years is of Rei, a 65(+) year old client from Florida who has done over a dozen trips with us. In 2018, Rei joined us in Crested Butte for his first mountain bike trip outside of Florida, and he crushed it. Since then, he’s done every trip we offer, plus a few of them multiple times, and last year he did FOUR trips! He finished with our Sea to Sky trip in Whistler and said it was his favorite – to see him ride steep slabs and technical chutes and have fun on features he probably never knew existed was incredible. No joke, he’s been an inspiration to our staff but also to SO many clients who have done trips with him- he’s a legend!

Anything else you want to share with the Heli community?

It’s hard to convey on our website and in marketing materials, but we genuinely strive to provide the best mountain bike vacation you can experience in North America. Our goal is to ride each day, all day until you have your fill. Every aspect of our adventure is thoroughly planned, and we leave no stone unturned- we can promise it’ll be the best MTB trip you can imagine. That said, it’ll also probably be one of the toughest, but we’re here to support our riders:

• We include a professionally developed training program.
• We provide more information than you’ll ever need.
• Our guides are the best in the business.

Our repeat customer rate is over 50%, and so many of our clients have become good friends. We can’t wait to show you the goods with Heli starting in 2024!