We've got three riders in Flagstaff right now: Brad Ells, Adam M., and Dan Holmes.  I know Brad and Adam are waiting for REI to open at 9am.  I think they plan to get shoes and packs for Canyon crossing.  Also, Justin Dubois is a man on a mission.  I predict he catches the other 3 by the of the night.

I talked to Dan this morning. He had a rough day yesterday getting to Flag. Short on food, etc.  He is good to go and pushing on to the Canyon. He didn't realize the other two racers were in the same hotel. Go Dan!
Looks like Adam wont be breaking my time on the SS this go around. He is a bit behind now. But anything can happen.

IS KR off route?

Kurt is on route. The road is in play due to the snow levels on the North Rim. Typical.

The KR dot just pinged on the North Rim...

Kurt made it across pretty quick about 12 hours or so.

Watching that one, too.  Really interesting choice by Adam to roll/walk all the way to Pine TH through the night last night, then sleep 4 to 5hrs and up at noon-ish to hit it again.

I thought he was going to keep rolling past Pine. Than he stopped, slept and than went into Pine. Interesting choice for sure.

Congrats to all the 300 racers! What a finish by all! It's great to watch the racers dots this year rather than being a dot like last year. My buddy Dan Holmes is rocking solid in the top ten with single speeder Alice right behind him. Dan texted me last night saying he had to use some motor oil (10W40 to be exact) to get his chain to work properly. Pretty funny. I'm definitely watching Adam on his SS to see if he can do it faster than I did last year. He is currently out of Pine with a couple hours ahead of my time from last year. Wheeee!

Good luck to all the racers! Kind of wish I was back at the start of the 750. I'll be watching those dots!

Speaking of water sources while crossing the canyon; last year as I crossed all night. The weight of my bike on my back was killing me so I tossed all my water out to reduce weight and went without water until I arrived at Jacobs Lake. It was comical after the fact. I even took my seat pod out of my pack and held it in my hand with my Fenix light to get any weight off of my back.  I placed both of my feed bags on my chest strap to have food to access easier. In  practice in the canyon I placed my frame bag on my chest to have my water bladder more readily accessible. It worked well too. Just some ideas while crossing . The less weight on the shoulders the better in my opinion.

Reply to the water question: I carried approximately 140ish oz of water at any given time. I only filtered once the whole 750.

Just my two cents. Last year before I did the 750 both the law enforcement ranger I encountered down at the bottom of the GC and a park ranger we encountered on the way down South Kaibab were both supportive of the race and were actually happy to see Dan and I practicing the hike into the canyon with our bikes. 100% supportive.

I saw one ranger on the way out of the park on the North Rim and he just waved as I pedaled onward.

But with the lack of snow the proper AZT would be a great option and I know there were many trees cleared last year on the North Rim by the ATA and park service. About 100 or so from what I heard. So, hopefully the downed trees wont be that great of a number. I actually heard before the trees were cut out that even the thru hikers were bouncing back to the road instead of clambering over all of downed trees.

On another note I have an Osprey Stratos 36 pack I used for the 750 I will sell if anybody needs one for the canyon. Orange in color and a size small/medium. Used twice: once for a trial run in the GC and once in the actual race.

Here is my thoughts on a couple of questions I have seen on the thread and other items of interest:

Tires:  I have had good luck using the Ikon's last year on my 750 race as well as using the Ikons in 2014 on the AZTR 300 and on the CTR in 2013. A solid tire with no issues. I had plenty of tread left on them after the 750. No sidewall cuts at all.

Bike: Kokopelli Ti 29er hardtail single speed with a 120mm fork in the front.. Used a 32x23 on the 750. 32x22 on the 300. Was very happy to have that spinning gear. The asphalt road to Jacob lake was a bit mind numbing but at that point who cares. I was almost finished.

Pack: I don't use a pack for bikepacking. I shipped an Osprey pack Stratos 36 (same one John S used) to the GC post office and my trail running shoes for the 15 hour journey all night through the ditch. I used it twice. Once on a practice HAB in the ditch and for the race. It's for sale if anybody is interested. It's orange.

I only filtered water once.

Make sure your brakes are well bled.

Shoes: Giro Terraduros. Only a slight delam at the top of the left toe and lasted the entire race. Warranty replacement afterwards.

Switch the start direction every other year like the CTR. Just my thoughts as I wont do it again. Ha!

I saw at least two caches for racers that had Gatorade and cokes. It was nice to see this trail magic. But I know trash can be a problem. It's a nice gesture.  I saw some card board signs too which was uplifting at times on Jacobs Cross trail or whatever its called.

Here is my blog write-up:
http://elfreakofromrico.blogspot.com/2017/04/aztr-750-2017.html

I don't think I will ever want to carry my bike across the canyon ever again. Once was enough.

Good point! He did slow way down. Once Seth hits that Tarryall detour road portion he will be flying.

Looks like Seth is going to run away with the win.

What's Chris doing???

Good thing Dana realized his mistake and backtracked. I remember in the CTR 2013 that was an easy left turn to miss at Tenn Pass and I almost missed it.

That is excellent news!

I don't think a backcountry permit is required: Unless you plan on sleeping on the North Rim.

A backcountry permit is required for:
•overnight camping outside of Mather Campground, Desert View Campground, and North Rim Campground
•overnight camping in all sites at Tuweep Campground
•overnight camping anywhere on the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park between Nov 1 - May 14 (includes ski-camping)
•off-river camping by river trip participants
•overnight camping with private stock outside of Mather Campground or outside of North Rim Campground (May 15 – Oct 31)
•packrafting, other than that which occurs under a river permit

****Rhino may need a bc permit as he may be walking with his grandma.

Thanks Scott!!! I expected some crap for asking stoopid overly detailed questions.

I may be in trouble.   So, how do you get down there? LOL!!

Thanks AZTtripper, that's what google map shows as the quicker route. What's the name of the road you turn off of Montezuma Pass?

Thanks! Just didn't know which way was easier and faster.