FS 4726 is fine the entire way, I drove the Juke down it last year for the send off after I woke all the 300 riders by accidentally setting off my car alarm at Parker Canyon Lake!! Oops. The final bit of Copper Canyon Rd. could be dicey for the shuttle van or anyone else without high clearance and/or 4x4.

I plan to be down there on Wednesday night, not exactly sure where I'll camp, but I hope to be at the start in daylight for a bit. There was a covered structure a short bit up from the border on the west side of FS 4726. May be a good spot for the night....

I sent the map to Tara at Homegrown.  

Once again the fine folks at Homegrown Shuttles will be offering their services to help get riders to the start from either Picketpost trailhead or Tucson. Sign-up for a shuttle here:

*Registration for the AZTR has not opened yet and having a shuttle reservation does not guarantee a spot in the Grand Depart.

https://homegrownmtb.com/event/arizona-trail-300-800-race-shuttle/

Made some updates to the website today. Created an Announcements page to help keep track of things and have a general landing place for such items.

https://azt300-800.com/announcements/

Also, went through, with some help, of the Rules page. It was mostly a reorganization, some re-wording & grammar. Please take the time to review if you plan to line up at the start. Even if you've 'been there, done that' give it a once over for a refresher.

https://azt300-800.com/rules/

Believe it or not, there's been a few requests for a more difficult route!! So, for anyone wanting more of a challenge, both southbound routes have been altered to meet this. They are available as ITTs only. Both tracks have not yet been finalized, but are very close. Both routes will do most of the Lemmon Drop route and El Pilar by Temporal Gulch, the 800 southbound adds a slice of AZT near Roosevelt Lake, the Apache Trail returns, Montana Mtn. near Superior gets added too. I hope to have these both finalized by the time registration opens. 

Why am I not surprised. Thanks for the heads up, at least it only affects the area around Gold Canyon.

Have you tried? Does it force you to select a State or can you select 'None'. Seems odd they wouldn't allow a foreign visitor to comply with their own rules. In the past, I've used snail mail to get a permit.

Guess what?? We are now 2 months away from registration day!! How's the preparation coming along?

Some notes: Current gpx tracks are NOT final, but can be used for planning. Both the 300 & 800 could see some last minute changes. Unless something changes around Flagstaff, there is an expected reroute on the 800 due to the Pipeline Fire.

Work is set to resume on the Highline trail near Pine in the fall. The 800 track probably won't have these updates, if they finish any projects. Any updates on the AZT are typically very obvious to follow as the old tread gets naturalized.

I plan to ride the Temporal Gulch area soon, it may make the cut for both the 300 & 800. Stay tuned on that one. May end up sticking with Hog Canyon one last time before the whole project is complete.

The Rules page is currently getting an update, mostly with the organization of everything. Some clarification & examples. I'll post the update when complete & highly encourage everyone to get a refresher.

Reminder: 60 rider limit combined for the 300 & 800. Registration will go live at 7a, Arizona time, on September 20. Form will be posted on the website, in the FB group, here on this forum & IG account. ITTs are always welcome & encouraged, just keep your start time in mind with regard to the sunset to sunrise restriction near mile 52. (Final 2 miles before reaching SR82).

Have questions?? Start with the FAQ page on the website or post up. Happy planning!!

So good to have the DW dot return, took a few years, not because of COVID or travel restrictions though....he was still scarred from that silly 750 yo-yo!!

Re: Patagonia, the old legacy AZT is still in play if you so choose. It's mostly there for those who won't make it across the private ranch land in daylight hours but want to keep moving. It's the final two miles of the route before reaching SR82. Of course the legacy route is longer, harder & slower, so there's that, but your ice cream would still be on route.

When the Temporal Gulch section is officially added to the route, you'll forget all about Patagonia & Sonoita, it's that good. Last October, only one rider veered off course to Sonoita, but I think that was because they had the old track loaded. Everyone else stayed true to the route. Those stops really aren't needed, more of a convenience than anything. During my 300 ITT I reached the Rocking K market around lunchtime on day 2, which was perfect for me.

Koko Claims to Fernie, etc. were added to the route in 2017. It's my understanding, while Mike Hall's record was set in 2016, any record attempt needs to be on the current published route not including any re-routes for forest fires, etc. So, yes, while the overall course had changed from '16 to '17 & beyond, I'm guessing here, that it was deemed insignificant in the grand scheme since the record wasn't reset. I suppose someone could indeed ride the exact route Mike did if they wanted a more equal comparison, but as we all know, weather & route conditions vary greatly from year to year.

Over on the Arizona Trail Race, between 2019 & 2020, the 750 route was updated and changed by over 10%. So the 750 and its records were retired/archived after the 2019 Grand Depart. The AZT800 was born and with it, new records. But even that route will continuously get updated as the ATA keeps eliminating dirt road sections in favor of building new singletrack. Unless that route changes by more than 10% the records will remain year-to-year in spite of the changes.

Someone on FB alerted me to Andrew Kulmatiski's ITT! he's going FAST. This should be a good ride to watch! He started at 5 am on the 22nd (as you can see from his info) - he's already in Helena?!

Yeah, he's on a tear!! He's done a few very fast ITTs over the years, I believe he scratched out of the most recent ones.

Massive Congrats to Sofiane for reaching his goal. The next few riders seem to be lucking out with not only light winds, but mild temps as well. Get it fellas!!

Quite the race for second at the moment, Manu caught Nate on Union Pass.

Glad she made a smart decision.

Good to see Pete Basinger back on route. Any word on Ashley Carelock? She was up on Richmond Peak this morning, then backtracked.

Looks like Sofiane's headed off course. I wonder why? Lost? Resupply? Injury?...

That's what happens when you finally get some sleep!!  Looks like he made a wrong turn, heading back on route now....

Good race in the singlespeed category between Seth & Andrew.

Sofiane is about to get his obigatory Ovando photo, then perhaps a bit of sleep in Lincoln. I believe that was his plan.

I did notice quite a few riders shortcut the route either after Round Prairie or Fernie, conditions are tough based on the pics I've been seeing. Adds to the adventure, right?

Let the strategies begin!! Nightfall on Day 1, always interesting to see where everyone stops...or who doesn't!! Lots of friends to cheer for this year, so fun!!

he's been beat by woman in every event he's been in pretty sure he's used to it.

Thanks?? Haha!! Totally the truth too!!

I guess I had it out for the dudes in 2019, when I relegated three guys including the winner of the 750 who flew in from Israel. But he rode through an official forest order closure for logging, perhaps I should've let that slide.

Before you come on any platform with posts like that, perhaps do a little more research. It would be beneficial to all involved.

Lael finished her 800 ITT a bit ago, about 2h 20m ahead of Nate's winning time from last October.
Rules. The AZTR has them and enforces them. Rule #2 explicitly states no media crews & no record will be acknowledged if a media crew is used. There's also a visitation rule which states excessive use may result in relegation. Unfortunately this too occurred over the entire 800 miles.
Lael's finish time of 9d 8h 24m will be noted, but not recognized as the record for violating the above rules.
I know a lot of you are very passionate about these events, keep it civil.

I should also note, the AZTR Spring ITT Sign-up form is LIVE and open for business!!