Day 4

We hit the trail after breakfast. Someone made a nice rock sign next to the trail.


We hit more trail, got water at the river, and then went to a road crossing. Tim said we could bail after 50+ miles of BCT and go to Anthem by road as the final miles were tough work. It was early afternoon and hot so I said yes. Well maybe 2 minutes later I was off the bike with a knee injury. It started hurting and then went all crazy in a g-out depression. I couldnt walk or ride for a minute as I rubbed pain cream on it. After about 20 minutes I walked to Tim, who was near the interstate onramp. I couldnt ride. He headed out I hitched. An old guy picked me up in about a minute. We got Tim and were in Anthem in minutes.

At Walmart I shopped, walked, took a Ibuprofen and then felt okay? Weird. So instead of quitting or hotel rest we went to Maricopa trail and rode off into the sunset.


Camped in the desert and ate by a small fire. I hoped that rest would solve my knee issue and enjoyed the hot Phoenix night.

Day 4
We rolled over to the BCT. It was pretty much as advertised for the whole day. The last 7 miles or so into town is tough. You see town but then go on an odyssey. Try crossing the Verde at night. All the trail rocks though so it was all good.










So I hit town (Rock Springs) at 8pm. The restaurant was open till 9! I ate well as Tim came back from a side mission into Black Canyon City. We decided to camp in the city parking lot on advice from a local (and because then we could eat breakfast the next morning). So we laid out under 2 big trees. I thought I saw a crack pipe but it was just a cigar wrapper. Then about 15 seconds later Tim finds an actual crack pipe!!! Too funny you cant make this stuff up. Rock Springs!!!! I laughed then ate till I passed out.

Day 3 started great. We had a little fire and some morning food and drink.



The views of Mingus were nice.



Later we could see the Flagstaff mountains in the distance.



We got into a nice area of higher altitude forest



I was having a blast. The route was a great ride after the Mingus climb. Very remote but we saw people. We crossed a Highway and went past a farm/ranch. It almost seemed like we were trespassing but it was a legal right of way to the National Forest on the other side of the property. Just about 1 minute after I told Tim that property crossing was a little sketchy (he agreed and said he already had a nearby alternate dirt road to bypass the farm) I noticed about 15 big goatheads in my front tire!!!!!


Tim and I were perplexed. We both had seen many thorns in our travels, but this was like a horror movie. They were "everywhere". I mistakenly pushed ahead about a mile as Tim pumped a tire. He caught me and I was completely in a thorn- induced shock. I had about 75 in each tire. We both tried to pull thorns and spin tires. It was not going to work. We were facing about a 12-15 mile ride to the next highway crossing. Tim laid out the options. I just turned around and started walking back to the ranch/farm. We were in trouble. Tim had air in both tires but also walked his bike to save that air. I had a quick front leaker.
We got back the road after the farm, pumped air (I think this is when Tim killed his pump- so bailing was a really good idea) and rode to the highway. The phone said I-17 to Cordes Junction was our best plan, as they had the only motel in the area.

We hitched to I-17. Then we rode down the I. Tim was stopped up ahead next to van. It was Doc, the guy who drove Tim to Flag!!! He took us to the hotel and we all laughed at the good fortune! At Cordes we both could relax and plan our assault of the BCT. I put in car fix-a-flat stuff with a presta adapter and decided to let the trail remove my thorns gradually the next day. Dr. Azttripper pulled all his thorns like a surgeon.

Day 2 was a typical bikepack race kind of day (Tim and I were not racing but the day was full of adversity, and it felt like I was never gonna get to Cottonwood). At first the views were so good and the trail all DH to town so we rolled.



We ate at the gas station and headed out to red rock trails. The views were again impressive.



After the great red rock trails we headed out on Lime Kiln. The heat of the day began to work me over a bit. Then right after Matt S. passed me (?- superhuman speed by the Schiffster) I got a goathead that wouldnt "Stans". Tim had just passed me and said he was making tracks for town to get a tube. I realized I had no plyers or valve core remover ( lost my plyers at ADOT the day before) so I just kept pumping my tire until I finally made Cottonwood. I put in Stans at the gas station after meeting up with Tim. Since I missed the bike shop I had to keep tubeless and save my 2 tubes as backups. Aired up with compressed air and headed out to Mingus. On the way up Mingus I was beat but still enjoying the day.



About an hour later Blake and Tom? passed me. Fast folks got me motivated to catch up to Tim. We rode to the water spigot and then camped 2 miles down the road.

Day 1
We ate at The Place, talked some bikes with the Coco Loop people and off we went.



I stopped after a nice 1 hour ride to eat a little. Nice forest.


It  started to get muddy so we bailed to pavement.


The group decided to attempt the AZT again. At first it was a nice fall leaf carpet....


Then it quickly became carnage. We cleaned off mud and got to the dirt roads to ADOT water spigot. Well they got worse and bikes were beaten down.


Day 1 was tough. It set the tone for the whole ride. Fun but tough. In hindsight Sedona start would have been better for bikes and bodies. But we did have fun, and the trails we hit that were dry were good bikepacking stuff.

i think that vx07 that You used to make Your bag is too thin for a framebag, but design is nice

I would say that blue VX-07 is money for side panels. Maybe its a bit light for the gusset material, but it looks like this bag has a pretty narrow gusset so IMO it wont rub through too much under the top tube unless the OP packs it so full that internal items rub the inside of the top gusset. I put a hole in a  VX-21 gusset by improperly stuffing a stove in a frame bag. VX-21 would be better on the gusset, but would still show wear at contact points (like housing guides). An internal layer of material for the gusset (or flange or whatever term you use for the panels of a bag that create the width/volume of the bag) would probably help too.

I just came back from a week long ride using some new white VX-07. Amazed at how much it resists wear like VX-21, but weighs less. Just like any material though, if designed well to avoid rub/chafing it works great. If a bag is poorly engineered any Dimemsion Polyant X-Pac will wear through.

My .02- your results may vary.

I bailed at 6 miles past Picketpost. Turned around and went back down the hill. My knee was done. Tim and I skipped a few sections to expedite the ride. After missing some sections on day 1 due to mud we skipped a few others down the route. The route is so hard I didnt mind skipping stuff. Not at all.

I think Tim is doing some alternate routes, riding AZT to Oracle, then ? He said he wanted to pedal into Tucson when I last saw him at Kelvin..

Well things did not go well today. About 4-5 miles after hwy 169 we encountered the worst goatheads ever- like pick up 100 per tire kind of ugly. We backtracked to the highway, got rides and limped down I-17 to cordes junction. We are at a hotel fixing bikes. Gonna ride up hwy 69 to the BCT and continue the ride.
Tim thinks the goatheads are probably not there in spring, but it looks like in fall the only way to connect to the northernmost trailhead of the BCT is impossible to get to.
Oh we'll it is what it is- we only will miss a bit of the trail and should be running good again tomorrow.

Tim and I are camped at about 1.5 miles past the Mingus spigot
. Mud on day 1 and thorns flats pain on day 2
. We are at about mile 101 out of 490. Having a blast hope to ride a good bit of BCT later tomorrow.

Mark C.

I agree with Adam AND Toby.

Toby does not want this race to become a clusterfuck. Any extra press is bad press IMO. I get that. 140+ people is not what I want for the future of the CTR or AZT300/750.

Adam is a writer. Creating things is good. Sharing them is good. Selling things is even better if it works. Which it wont more than likely. Even if it is good, which it probably is. I wish you luck. I cant seem to sell an amazing creation (Pain/Chamois cream) to bikepackers/cyclists to save my life, but EVERYONE else loves it. So If I was Adam I would write books about fat people watching reality TV.

What you need is the blue Osprey Talon 22 that you can pick up when you get here, ha ha.

Seriously tho I have found the Talon to be the most comfortable with a load of any pack I have had.

I don't bother with a rain cover, if I am worried about rain I'll put some stuff in zip lock to keep them dry. Most of the stuff in my pack can get a little wet.

I cant seem to work with that s/m Talon 22. tried it on in REI. Fits wierd. That sternum strap was too high on me. I already have a rain cover so I am leaning towards Talon 22.

I would make my own X-Pac waterproof pack but damn for the current backpack prices why even bother. I saw the Talon 11 for 66 bucks!

So- If it is a backpack which one of these two is the best choice: Osprey Talon 22 in m/l or Stratos 24 in medium?

The talon 22 m/l is about 2lbs if u add a rain cover.

The stratos 24 is 2.5lbs in med. with rain cover incl.

Both are 75 bucks or so in certain sizes and colors on Amazon right now. Some in the 90 range. Both retail for 100 so good deals. Dont buy them all, just tell me which one to get, wait until I buy one, then buy them all

Thanks

I have done just about every way mentioned here. My .02?

Well they only time I seem to like any setup is when it is light. Backpacks that are too heavy suck, as do bikes. So unless you ride a superlight bike and risk failure, the average backpacking bike, especially FS, is already a bit stocky with heavy tires, etc. And unless you are not human, the average person stuffs way too much in the backpack by nature.

So how do you find a compromise? I dont know either. After this last CTR, with no backpack, I have found that when leaving a resupply point, or the start, I suffered (HAB was hell with a 50+ lb sled). When approaching a resupply point, I was way faster. I was happier to not only have no weight on back and less sweat, but to not have to constantly take pack on and off. However I feel I was overall a little slower without a pack but felt a little better physically.

So what am gonna do now? Well I guess the key to all this is carry nothing. Drop nearly all gear. Day rider with a few extras. Always nearly out of water. Maybe thats the key. I always have way too much stuff anyway. Even when I think I dont I end up heavy. Too many batteries. Too much food and water. Etc. Etc. Redundant stuff. Need to toughen up and not take comfort items. Ride all night nap in warmer hours. Drink extra at water stops. Eat more in town.

Tx07 made it through 23 days of racing. I think it has its place in ultralight bags- maybe only in certain panels/places though. I liked it. I did mangle a few things though- mainly user error.

With the exception of a stain and a hole that were my fault the tx07 bags all still work. A bit ugly but they work.

In copper- I am having an amazing ride
It has rained for 20 hrs straight - now sunny !
I love this race- so hard yet so awesome
See y'all later

Mark c

I am in. Spot sign up makes it official. See you all down there at the start. Super excited for another CT run!

VX-21 shoe covers in dark grey. Better than anything I have bought. Fit perfect. Sealed and ready for CTR wetness.

Made some new gear this weekend. TX-07 X-Pac Summer Rain Pogies!! This time I tried the TX-07 with the white side out, to see how that handles abrasions/elements. The grey side does okay, better than anything in its weight class, but I think the white side may be better for durability.

I also made some VX-21 waterproof shoe covers in dark grey. No pix yet. Still drying the seam sealant.

Going to do some more testing in the CTR next week. Still looking to market my designs but need more R+D.

Still looking for a ride from the Denver area to the start on 7/19 or 7/20. Will pay gas money. Maybe give you a Geronimo Pain Cream as well!
Willing to share course details and water/food info as this is my 6th time racing or ITT'ing the route. PM or call me and we will work out the details.

Mark
720-635-sevenfour29

How about $20 in your right hand and a sign that says Molas Pass in the other hand and stand on the highway leaving town in North Durango? I bet you get a ride in no time at all. I would think you would get a ride without the cash too. Plenty of people in trucks going that way.