Good suggestion, Fred! I'll have to stash that one away for myself!

Is 60 – 70 miles per day a reasonable estimate for the intended route?

It's tough to say for others, but some sections of the Paradox trail are quite slow, and the section of the Tab that goes in and out of countless drainages toward the eastern end has a LOT of hike-a-bike. I'd say plan on your daily mileage being a bit lower than what you might expect for mostly rideable routes.

A resupply in Nucla early on Day 3 seems perfect.  Any recommendations on where to go in Nucla for food (both trail food and sit down meal)?
Any suggestions on a route improvement for scenery or a better track at that time of year?

Should be fine with the exception of some possible snow up in the Columbine Pass area. You will probably be able to avoid most of that by staying on the Divide Road for a bit instead of taking the Pool Creek singletrack

Will a water filter and some iodine tabs be sufficient to keep us supplied?

Yup, no problem there.

Is Highway 141 from Whitewater to Gateway an ok road to ride a bike, early morning on a Thursday in May?

I rode this in late November after an aborted Fruita-Moab-sans-Kokopelli bikepacking trip a couple years ago (too much snow in the La Sals), and we loved it. It's spectacular and rather quiet.

The Columbine Pass Snotel indicates zero inches of snowpack right now.  Is it safe to assume that the snow up there will be minimal in 3 weeks (barring a big snow dump between now and then)?

They just got some snow today! But in normal years, the route is pretty much rideable 2 weeks after the SNOTEL hits bottom.

Have fun out there...let us know how it goes! The Grand Loop is a wonderful route even if it hardly has any singletrack. I'd love to get back on it before too long, but I don't think it'll happen for me this spring.

- kurt

Big ditch devestated me, sleeping it off in nice dry room, and hope to dodge rain & mud tomorrow
Marshal

You're so close, Marshal! Awesome job out there...I look forward to hearing some stories of the adventure.

Jill's across the river.  Now just a mile of vert till she can ride her bike again.  She was more worried about the descent affecting her feet than the ascent so its good to see her make it that far.  She's moving good.  I doubt she'll stop until she makes the North Rim.  Get it! Get it!

-Les Handy

I made the huge mistake of walking across the one stream crossing on the hike (aside from the Black Bridge) in my shoes, and my subsequently wet feet suffered severely on the climb out. I hope hers fare far better!

I haven't been in any of ya'll's shoes...but, man, that's a lot of negativity and wasted energy spent thinking about what others are doing/should be doing regarding following the rules or not while you're out on the trail...

Rules are rules, whether one agrees with them or not. I love seeing so many people out pushing themselves to and their limits and then finding new limits. It's nothing short of inspiring for me and so many others. Here's the catch: anyone is free to go out and create and pursue any sort of adventure one wants. Think big, go big! But when showing up for a race that someone else takes the time and effort to put together, one is obligated to abide by the rules and expectations set forth by the organizer. It's as simple as that. Racers owe that to the organizer, other participants, and themselves.

I'll leave it at that and get back to watching Jill about to dive into the Grand Canyon! I hope the change of shoes help her feet!

and now what i have to say will most likely piss some people off... but here goes!?  Those who finished the race fully-self supported are truly winners, those who even though in a crisis didn't "bend" rules or "accidentally" navigate off trail to their benefit have my admiration.   Sorry but....lets be real why call it a race if some stick it out and some try to manipulate the rules?  Self-supported racing is just that self-supported?! 

Well said, Leila. I completely agree with you (except that in an ITT, riders also have to follow the same route/self-support rules for their time to count). There's nothing more frustrating to me than gutting it out with a broken body or bike and later hearing that another rider took the easy way out, rectified the situation, and hopped back into the race.

 And once again, Mark is truly impresses with his drive to push on when nothing seems to be going his way!

Route. I was talking with a friend from last yrs race and down south the route on my new maps was quite a bit different from the route they took. They did most of the alternates, the single track just before Silver city, and the route is also changed on the roads coming into Silver city bypassing a busy road. I plan on going with the GPS track that will hopefully be posted by Mr. Morris.

The route we used in NM last year followed exactly what the new ACA maps show, but it's a combination of main and alternate routes. The TD rules clearly explain this, although quite a few people still managed to miss the CDT singletrack section somehow, and that part of the CDT is FAR tougher than riding around it on the pavement.

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Here's what the TD site says:

# Challengers must always ride 100% of the 'main' ACA Great Divide Route as defined by the most current edition of the ACA maps. Previous map editions may not be used unless updated with the most current ACA Addenda.

Alternates: At times along the GDMBR, ACA maps provide cues for 'Alternate Routes'. No ACA Alternates to the main route may be used with the exception of the following THREE in NM.

   1. The 116-mile section between Cuba and Grants, New Mexico. The main route is impassable, potentially dangerous when wet, so racers have the option to follow the alternate paved route.
   2. The 40-mile section between Grants and the Pie Town road, through El Malpais National Monument. Zuni Canyon (main route south of Grants) is commonly closed for fire danger.
   3. The ~12-mile section of Continental Divide NST between Sapillo Campground on NM Hwy 35 and NM 15 (just North of Pinos Altos / Silver City)

Alternates Notes: A & B are optional for TD challengers, however both are paved/faster, have evolved as the standard route for 'records-seekers'. Alternate C is new for the 2011 printing of Map 6 and the required TD race route.
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The Gold Dust trail was intended to be added last year, but due to snow, it was axed for 2011 and never made it into the rules. JayP took it in his ITT, and I assume Matthew will include it in this year's route for you all since he seems set on adding more singletrack.

Sometimes I think that those who overcome multiple problems are the toughest ones out there. It takes a lot of discipline, grit, and character to sort out setbacks and keep cranking.

You said it, Toby. I have a ton of admiration for people who can push through such adversity. I'm not sure I'd have the mental strength to do it!

I'd love to, Jim, but I'm not sure it's in the cards for this year. We'll see, though. I'm glad to hear you're giving it yet another go!

Nope, no other snow detours this year. The Kaibab snowpack persists into late April or early May virtually every year, so that one will more or less be a standard AZTR detour.

so why are KS and AB on the road going towards Jacobs Lake and not on the AZT?  resupply?  seems pretty far out of the way

Kaibab Plateau snow detour

People do still do this route, although there's no longer an organized start date. There are a handful of riders that time trial it every spring. That being said, taking on something like the Grand Loop a week or two before the TD would not allow nearly enough time for recovery. And in most years, snow up on the Uncompaghre Plateau keeps this from being done earlier in May. With snowpacks this year, on the other hand...

Curious about the snow, eh Pete? Here's the best one for the southern Canada section that I've come across. It looks snowy up there!

http://bcrfc.env.gov.bc.ca/data/asp/realtime/asp_pages/asp_2c09q.html

Kurt Sandiforth has been moving slower than I would have expected.  He left Flagstaff @7pm last night.  Usually the ride from Flag to the South Rim is doable in a day, for someone of his abilities (he will probably still make it, but it will be late!).  He did lose an hour or so to a wrong turn in the plains of Kansas (near Tub Ranch, after Missouri Bill hill), but even after that seemed to not be moving too quickly for how fast the terrain is out there.

A few years ago when I was on this section, I battled an increasingly strong headwind that eventually had me going 4-5 mph for several hours. It finally let up after the sun set, but I remember doing the math in my head about how long it would take to get to Tusayan at 8 mph, then the wind would pick up even more and I'd do the math again, and again, and the number just grew frighteningly. I hope Kurt isn't dealing with that kind of wind!

Dang, now that's a Party in a cooler!

Watching 750 riders -- Aaron B's spot is off to the side on Co Rd such-and-such.  Hope everything's okay.

Yeah, it looks like Aaron got off course a bit earlier and then ran out of food, forcing him to hitchhike into Happy Jack for a meal according to facebook. Too bad...

Kurt S is on the Rim, Jill's SPOT is in the middle of the lake, and Marshall is done with the 300! Those three must be feeling pretty dang good right about now.

There's actually a trail crew working on the Highline trail right now, has been for about a month.

I had heard earlier this year that Payson was getting a full time trail crew. Hopefully they will move down to the Sunflower area next. AZT 800 next year.

Wow, that's great to hear. That would be an awesome trail if it wasn't so overgrown and washed out. I'd actually consider riding it for fun then since it's such a beautiful area. Improvements on that section could literally shave hours off off the Payson-Mormon Lake leg.

Kurt S has just entered the world of hike-a-bike hell beneath the Rim. He probably won't reach the end of it until mid-day tomorrow. Hopefully he's got some tall socks to protect his shins and packed a LOT of food!

Flats! I thought maybe you were just getting tired   Or melting in 95F heat...

Way to knock it out the park!  That one is gonna be tough to beat.

It sounds like 2 hours should still be able to come off that time ;-)

Did Scott just set a new AZT300 record?   Just in case, I will this  !   

He did indeed! He came in a bit shy of 3 hours faster than I did the other day. That was an awesome ride. I figure I lost 3-4 hours due to the snow and cold, so that means we probably would have been neck and neck the entire time had he started with the rest of us. Man would that have been fun!

Awesome ride, Scott! Go get some DQ!