Summer Coconino 250 from door to door.

[cjdunn]

Tomorrow morning (8/6) I'm going to leave my house in Chino Valley, AZ and hopefully return in 4-5 days after riding something like 270 miles. I've been dying to take one more trip before I return to work next Monday and since I live about 15-20 miles off of the Coconino 250 route I thought it would be cool to just leave from the house.  The plan is to follow the route as closely as I feel like and as far as I can. I say this because #1 it is summer in AZ and it might just be too damn hot and #2 I haven't done a ride longer than about 25 miles in several months so I have no idea how my various old body parts will respond. Because I'm unsure about how everything will work out I'm carrying too much food and water but better safe (and slower) than sorry I suppose. 

I have been wanting to ride the Colorado Trail for the last two summers but haven't been able to make it happen so this will have to do. In a way this is a shakedown run for riding the Colorado Trail next summer except instead of battling altitude and cold I'll be dealing with heat, rattle snakes and being poor condition. I'm serious about the snakes.  I almost stepped on one tonight just outside my door. 

If you want to follow my progress I'll have my Spot tracker on. Hopefully I won't be calling my wife to come pick me up or end up as a mummy in the desert! Here's the link for the Spot page.

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0ngL8nxNWg1SGuV3atqWvtk3sXKy7hLm8

I'm bringing a camera but I'm not too good about taking photos so we'll see if I have anything to post afterwards.

Chris

 

[cjdunn]

Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans...  Right after posting this I received a message from my sister that my uncle had died.  Apparently this happened a few days ago but nobody told me.  Looks like I'll be going to a funeral in Phoenix on Friday.  After not sleeping much last night I decided to change my ride plan by driving to Flagstaff and starting there. Hopefully I can make it home by Thursday night.  I'm not sure of the mileage but it might be a couple of big days with me getting a late start today. Maybe I'll finish the loop Sat. and Sunday or just call it good enough and get a ride to Flag and retrieve my truck.

[Nighthiker]

Sorry for your lost and hopefully the Black Canyon Road won't be closed due to an accident which has been happening a lot lately. Not sure of your planned route, did you mean AZ 260 ?

[cjdunn]

My ride turned into about half of the Coco 250 route with some variations.  I still did a "door to door" but from my friends door in Flagstaff to my door in Chino Valley.

I left my truck at a friend's house outside of Flagstaff and rode about 10 miles into town where I picked up the AZ Trail heading south at around 9:45 am.  The Coco 250 route turns off the AZT near Mormon Lake and I followed it on FS roads to Munds Park for a resupply, just missing a few miles of the route since it detours around Munds Park.  I picked it up again on Schnebly Hill Rd but skipped the upper part of the Munds Wagon Trail.  I also skipped some of the Chicken Point/Llama Tr. single track but regained the route at the Templeton Tr right at dark.  I really didn't want to ride some of the more technical stuff alone and late in the day and risk a bad crash. Templeton and Baldwin trails went very slowly since my lights were less than effective.  I had hoped to cross the Verde Valley at night to avoid the heat but ended up sleeping just before Red Rock State Park.  So, day one covered 80 miles in about 11 hours of total time.  

The next morning began with a HAB over a little pass on the Lime Kiln Tr that I didn't see coming.  During the first 4 miles I was accompanied by three hot air balloons drifting above and sometimes below.  The Lime Kiln trail across the valley was enjoyable and I arrived in Cottonwood at about 9 am.  It was pretty clear already that it was going to be too hot and I was too tired to do the monster push over Mingus Mtn. so I just took the highway to Jerome.  That was brutally hot enough and pretty scary because there is zero shoulder on this narrow road.  From Jerome I took the old railroad grade around Woodchute Mtn. all the way to Perkinsville Rd and Chino Valley.  The run down from the highest point on this old road was fun and fast until I got into Chino Valley where the headwind just kept getting worse.  I made it to the Sonic Drive in just in time for the 2 pm happy hour on drinks and slushes. I threw down some tater tots and a lime slush and headed home with a stop by my wife's classroom to answer questions for her 4th graders who had been following my progress.  I made it home feeling hot and with sore knees for a total of 143 miles. 

It was good to do a bunch of miles in a couple days because since the 24 HOP race I had been taking it really easy to let my achilles heal up. I also wanted to test out my new bike and new systems before embarking on a more remote trip. However, I should have gone slower still or maybe fewer miles for it to be really "fun".  Also, I really missed my daughter who I had ridden some of the AZT sections with last summer.  She is really fun to ride with because she narrates the trip in real time and notices all kinds of things that I just zone out when alone.  She's just fun to have along.

A few other items I remember.  

The AZT is awesome except when you have to ride about 15 miles of trail that has been absolutely cratered by cows walking it when it was muddy followed by it drying to concrete hardness.  I probably did and extra 10,000' of climbing 3 inches at a time bouncing up and down.

My achilles tendons started hurting at only mile 20 and I feared I might have to bail to avoid re-aggravating them.  I thought I was recovered from the original problem caused by the 24 HOP race six months ago.  I decided to try lowering my saddle a little which seemed to keep it from getting worse but I think that led to the knee pain that came on day two.

On both days I felt the best and strongest around hour 6.

Even low 90 degree temps can be pretty tough when you are riding rough single track on a loaded bike.  I was carrying a gallon of water when topped off but could not drink enough still.  I ran out once about an hour before getting to Cottonwood.  I'm still thirsty and dehydrated today.

Next time I plan to ride technical single track at night I'm going to bring really good lights.

Now I have an idea how tough the whole Coconino 250 race would be and I didn't even do the biggest climbs.

[Nighthiker]

Thanks for posting your trip report and I have a better understanding of your route. I have rode the Lime Kiln trail out of Dead Horse when I camped at the park. Since I moved to Payson I have been riding the segment of the Arizona Trail and some two tracks from the Blue Ridge Campground to the Mormon Lake area.

[cjdunn]

The AZT between Mormon Lake and Pine Grove Campground/Lake Mary Rd. is really nice.  The segments across Anderson Mesa are rocky and on this trip were really destroyed by cattle.

[yz129]

i have been wanting to do this route,i have rode the section from flag to sedona as a group ride with craig,leonora and other lhc friends.anderson mesa is rough as you stated. we plan on a north rim trip later this month. i guess sept-oct. might be the best time for the complete route. thanks for the write-up.

[cjdunn]

YZ, Look up the Kaibab 130 route on AZ Endurance Series.  It is a nice trip except skip the section going off the East Rim and back up.  Just stay on the AZT all the way back to Jacob Lake.