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My times:
1 - 9:27
2 - 11:56
3 - 11:10
4 - 8:53
TOTAL - 41:26
I arrived in Flagstaff on Thursday early afternoon from a warm southern California morning. In Flagstaff, it was in the 30s and raining/snowing. It was unclear what the general plan was for Friday, but as Devon said, if you show up at The Place around 7:00 am, the plan will work itself out. Friday I had a hearty breakfast of eggs, potatoes, biscuits and gravy, then decided to give the stage ride a shot that morning with a group of 5 who were doing the 250 (Caroline, Devon, Gerry, Carl, and myself) and also Tim & Mike who were going on to Tucson after Mingus. We got rolling a little after 8:00 am.
It was a chilly morning, but the singletrack started quickly and warmed you up real nice.
We even had a few hike-a-bikes early on.
It was probably around mile 12 or so that we hit the first meadow, and the AZT "death mud" started. I really didn't know what was going on as my bike slowly crept to a halt. Looking down, I saw this silly putty like material wrapping around my tires and clogging up everything. Although frustrating, it was really quite comical as we would ride through mud, then pine needles, for the mountain bike equivalent of tar and feathering. At the observatory I dropped down to the dirt road above Lake Mary Road, and tried to head back to the trail, but only hit worse mud there. I hiked down to Lake Mary Road and decided to skip the entire Anderson Mesa section, and rejoined the trail at Pinegrove Campground. The mud was still hit or miss here, and I broke a derailleur hanger, which I fixed and pushed on, eventually getting to ADOT. Unfortunately my friend Gerry broke his chain in the mud and was having drivetrain issues, so he decided to head back to Flagstaff for the day.
The ADOT water hoses offered a welcome wash for the bikes. Talked briefly with the CO crew, then decided to ride into Munds to pick up some food and a champagne (of beers) for the night above Sedona. We arrived at the overlook just as the sun was setting, and were welcomed by a can of Oktoberfest which was quickly consumed (thank you, Yogi!).
Day 2 started with some super fun (and dry) Sedona trails and before I knew it I was rolling through Red Rock State Park. The HAB at the beginning of Lime Kiln was somewhat unexpected, and the sand and goatheads kept things interesting on the descent and rolling trail into Cottonwood. My camera was not working, I think due to moisture from the first night, but I did snap a quick picture of Mingus looming in the distance.
In Cottonwood, I ate a BBQ cheeseburger at Hog Wild, picked up some chain lube at the bike shop, then refueled at the Maverik station before the Mingus climb. I carried 170 ounces of water up Mingus which turned out to be a good decision, as I sucked my bladder dry the next day rolling down into the Verde. Not much to say about the climb up Mingus, I got to the boulder field near the top of the trail by the time I needed my light, and rolled the last mile of trail in the dark to the picnic area. For some reason I thought the restroom/picnic area was the camp, and I was disappointed to see nobody around. Checked my cue sheet and realized the campsite was a couple miles ahead, so I jumped back on and pedaled to the campsite, again disappointed to find nobody. It was chilly and I knew riders were behind me, so I started up a fire and before long Caroline and Devon rolled into camp followed shortly by Matt (on a blistering pace from Flagstaff!). We hung out for a while by the fire before I put the earplugs in and retired to my toasty down bag for the night.
Waking up on Day 3, Caroline was already gone and Devon was on his way out. I drank coffee and ate some mac and cheese that I couldn't stomach the night before, and met Tom and Blake who had arrived when I was asleep. Enjoyed the nice ripping singletrack down from Mingus, then zoned out on the road down to the Verde where I filtered another 100 ounces for the climb to Bill Williams. The climb from Verde to Benham Trail was very pretty, especially up top, but I was not feeling well. My stomach was off and I had to stop a few times to eat and drink. As the road became less steep, I seemed to get better, but my pace was pretty slow up Bill Williams. The wind was picking up and I had to bundle for the descent down to Williams. The snow made for some fun descending. Similar to Matt, I had a puncture around a switchback which thankfully the Stan's sealed quickly. I remembered from my Michigan singletrack days that wet logs are slippery! Had to turn my lights on when I started following signs for the City of Williams at the bottom of the descent, then met up with my wife and we headed to Comfort Inn for the night.
Woke up Day 4 feeling pretty good. The comfort of a hotel bed and hot shower did a lot to rejuvenate me. Had a nice hot breakfast of eggs, sausage, toast, and yogurt at the hotel. Got rolling to a crisp morning around 8:15 am. Before long, I hit the dirt and was really loving life as I was cruising on the Forest Service roads. The easy gravel roads were a welcome change from the Bill Williams and Mingus trails. We hit the Sycamore Rim trail which was very cool, albeit a bit slower than I was in the mood for at the time. Hit the dirt roads again, crossed the freeway, then stopped at McDonald's for a double cheeseburger and some fries. The salt really hit the spot. The climb up Wing Mountain was shorter than I expected and the moto trail was FUN! Had a bummer moment when I passed Devon, who had broken his derailleur hanger and said he was probably going to bail for the day if he couldn't get it fixed. Finished the descent and started the climb up Heart Prairie. A pickup truck passed me with two dogs in the back... it didn't take long before I realized the dogs were involved in a form of open-air copulation. I cracked up and it helped ease the pain of the climb. The trail opened into a meadow with the snow covered mountains on the left, and an Aspen grove on the right, and everything felt right with the world.
The final descent into Flagstaff went by far too quickly, but it was neat to ride amongst local riders, families, commuters, and such as the route returned me to downtown Flagstaff. Met up with my wife again for a luxurious night at the Highland Country Inn (no really - it is a great budget hotel!) and enjoyed a Sonoran Dog at the Lumberyard Brewing Company before passing out for the night.
It will be a while before I can get out again for 4 days of bikepacking, so this trip will hold a special place in my heart for some time. Nice to meet everyone on the trail, including the speed demon Matt, Devon, Caroline, Carl, Tom, Blake, Tim, Mike, and the CO crew (sorry to hear about the crash, Aaron, healing vibes). Looking forward to the next time my tires hit the AZ dirt, hopefully in the not-too-distant future.