I work one of two ways (mac user) - find a file that goes where you want (strava is a nice source at the moment) and then cut and hack bits together to make it work. OR If I want to start from scratch - I often use some kind of online mapping program - mapmyride or similar. Draw the route on that and then add it to whatever else I am working on back in basecamp.

Topofusion is nice to do the same thing with if you want to run a windows emulator on your mac.

Any other suggestions are welcome.

A lanyard. Yep the mount looks solid. Yep, people still lose them. Tie it to your bars.

My flight are booked. Woot!

From a shuttle to the startline perspective, I'm thinking of flying into Tuscon. Is that the best option to get as close as possible to the start and be in the right area for shuttles or am i way off base?

I'm having trouble loading the file onto my Etrex? Is it similar to loading waypoints?

Have you split it into 5 or 6 files at 10,000 trackpoints each? If not, you will only get part of the route  Then just select the gpx's you want in basecamp and send selected files to device.

Better or worse than plain old aquatabs?
http://www.aquatabs.com/

I finally found what I was looking for. Downloaded the Arizona topo map from GPS file depot, which has the AZT on it. Link here: http://www.gpsfiledepot.com/maps/view/1/
I uploaded it to my GPS (Garmin 60csx).

That's the one i've been using.

The Dakota only allows 1000 waypoints. How does that work with some of these gpx files for long routes that have upwards of 10k?

I'd recommend the new etrex. It will do 10,000 waypoints per file. Same AA battery setup as the dakota. I'm running the 20 and it does everything I could possibly need.

Where exactly is the 'highline trail'. Would Pine to Mogollon rim be a fair summation? About 40 miles?

Ross

You'll be fine even if you way point is a bit off you can see the windmill from the road.

That's what i figured. I've cross referenced it as best as possible so I'm confident they are in the ballpark. The waypoints are really just another backup option to supplement a hardcopy of the water table as well.

Just finished several hours' and three nights' worth of heavy-duty studying - using Scott's cues, Tim's ATA bike databook and forum water source list, GEarth, and my GPS.  Scott, gotta say that it would have been a LOT easier with TopoFusion, but I use a Mac.  When you make a Mac version, I will be the first in line to purchase it!

I'm doing the same here Joey. Thankfully it's been 42 degrees (read 109F) pretty regularly here at the moment so heat acclimation shouldn't be an issue.  Having said that, 8 hours in the heat on the weekend had me waving the white flag! No idea how I will go backing up day in day out if the conditions are brutally hot like 2011.

I'm also a mac user and It sure is a head scratcher piecing together water point waypoints using Tim's water table, google maps and basecamp (with arizona topos). I sure hope i'm putting them in the right places !??! It's a bit nerve wracking sitting on the other side of the world casually dropping gps markers in the middle of a no-where and knowing you'll be very reliant upon them in a few months time. Wouldn't have it any other way though.

Bring on the adventure

Not sure why you would want to but this way you can only show what sections of the track you want showing on your map...

Very handy if a loop crosses back over itself somewhere and you're struggling to figure out which one of the mess of lines on the screen you should be riding on now. Turn off the bits you've already ridden and it might clear things up.

I suspect the full 750 mile track you could see on screen would be the simplified file that you loaded via mapsource earlier.

Ahhh, I had myself thinking that the etrex 30 could hold 200 tracks of 10,000 points each... Seems that's not the case... Looks like I'll just have to simplify the 53,191 points into a single 10,000 point track and call it good...

Sorry for the delayed reply. As per above - It can! The Big HuRT in Aus was about 50,000 trackpoints and i split it up into 5 files of 10,000 each and the etrex 20 was happy.

That's a whole lot of waypoints. So I'll be splitting the AZTR into 6 files of 10,000 each to fit in the 53,000 odd waypoints for the full 750miles.

Thinking from an accuracy standpoint - 53,000 trackpoints across 1200 kms gives a trackpoint every 22 meters
If you simply to 10,000 trackpoints over 1200 kms, that's a trackpoint every 110 meters. (apologies for metric, that's how our brains work on this side of the pond)

If you are looking for a sneaky turn while exhausted in the middle of the night, I'd rather have the extra accuracy of more waypoints

That's my logic anyway.

Depends on what GPS you are running.

I'm using an etrex 20 and will split

But considering that every piece of organic plant life in AZ wants to poke a hole in you or your tires
Marshal

Saw this turn up in my FB feed today "Everything is spikey on the AZT":


Marshal, I remember in your 2012 AZTR wrap up you strongly suggested gaiters to fend off plant life. The above picture got me to thinking about whether I should start with some and assess whether they are of benefit. I can always get rid of them but it's not like I'm going to find a vending machine full of them trailside.

What sort did you use? I'm thinking something like this: http://www.ar.co.za/2011/04/ar-o-gaiters/
a couple of other options:
http://www.moxiegear.com.au/store/gaiters-2.html
http://www.wildfiresports.com.au/vapro-gaiters.html

Too long and therefore too hot? Not necessary and just harden up? A penny for your thoughts....

Soooooooo..... I went for a 'ride' today and did about 7 miles in the midday sun with the bike on the pack. Initial setup was woeful however I was too stuborn to play around with it. Thankfully I fell flat on my face climbing over a gate which forced a re-jigg of the pack and I found a setup that was about 10,000 times more comfortable.

Now, the reason I was climbing the gate was because I was too wide to fit through the gap that walkers use. Which got me to thinking. All the pictures I've seen of the canyon hike all show a 4 foot wide groomed path. How representative is this of the full length?. If I run the setup as pictured, will I wind up having to squeeze through places that I have no chance of fitting?  Or is smooth sailing all the way? I've left the seat in and it projects from my right side while the forks stick out from the right.



EDIT: Oh, and remember to tighten up your skewer nuts properly before you start hiking. There was only half a skewer remaining when I finished..... imagine if that happened while crossing the ditch!

Not trying to pimp Kerry's gear here, just thought some fellow dynamo nerds might enjoy reading this: http://www.theunknownrider.com/2012/09/11/k-litesp-pd-8-dynamo-bike-light-review/

I don't think I am the most qualified to answer this one but I will have a go regardless.

If you switch the unit off, the telemetry on the unit won't appear correct in your 'dashboard', i.e your overall time will be reduced by the amount of time you had the unit stopped for. That's not such a big deal though since it is really easy to view the time stamps from the file and the only two time stamps that really matter are the first (start time) and last (stop time).

I use basecamp as i'm a mac user and can't use topofusion. Garmin Basecamp is a free download for PC users too so I would start there and see if you like it.

Download all the files into basecamp - it's a one click process with your etrex connected via USB.

Double click on the Day 1 file and it will show you a long list of all the trackpoints. Highlight one and it will also turn up orange on the map. Then scroll through until you are past all the trackpoints of you rolling around the carpark until you actually start riding and then note the time stamp in the 'time' column.

Then go to the file for the last days riding. Do the same except scroll through to the end and find the trackpoint that corresponds to you getting over the finish line and note it's time stamp.

If you forget to save the current track, it doesn't matter as basecamp also downloads the 'active' track.

Have a play and see if any of that helps

Where the increased file size really comes into it's own is when following a track recorded by someone else with a bike specific Garmin Edge. They usually have the sample rate wound up to maximum so they accumulate a huge number of trackpoints in a short time. It means you then have to spend time simplifying and segmenting the route to fit it onto your Garmin Vista so it doesn't truncate.

That was a deal breaker for me. I like riding more than I like playing with files on a computer. I'm now using the newer Etrex 20 and I couldn't be happier with it. The old truncated file issue used to really annoy me.

Water: Will 2 x 3L (100oz) bladders be enough? 1 on the back and one in the frame bag?