Wondering if anyone is headed down to PCL from Tucson tomorrow morning. Sorry for the late notice, some miscommunication has me scrambling!

The Jacob crosscut addition is no good if it doesn't include the opportunity to get yelled at by Mr. outraged hillbilly local.   "This trail is outside the wilderness, sir"   "The hell it is!"  "No, really - look at the map"  "The hell it is!"

Alt Facts.

with 1:4 odds on the women's 300 i'm thinking Alexis takes it

As someone that sweats like a fat kid, Neutrogena waterproof lotion works pretty well for me. I think I've been using the 50 and reapplying to my face and neck like every 4 hours. I've used others that claim to be waterproof/sweat proof that start to run and don't taste very good.

I've got some friends that swear by the arm coolers through the summer.

I wouldn't go with the X-King Protection. RJ put a 3inch slice in his Saturday at PP, down the sidewall into the tread. The boot barely covered it.
Was considering Rampages F&R. Leaning more towards the wire bead Saguaros. Not my favorite on the front for some AZT sections I've ridden, but I know what to expect.

http://trackleaders.com/aztr-signup

Select private owned and pay the man

I think I ended up somewhere in the neighborhood of Freeskier, but I had to bypass Bill Williams because of poor planning. I figure 22,500 - 25,000 feet is probably a solid estimate. Honestly though, for a ride that long the other 3,000 feet Topo estimates wouldn't kill you. Unless of course, it was due to HAB repeats on Mingus.

2 weekends ago we rode the Ripsey loop. Found a couple tanks before hitting Ripsey that were acceptable. The bikepackers we met up with confirmed the trailer park is on.
I plan on checking the tank 7.5 from PP this weekend while I'm out there.     

I've been riding with a Hornet 24 and been really happy with it. Another guy that we rode with on the Coconino 250 last fall had one as well. It's super lightweight and plenty of room. If you're happy with the volume it beats out the Raptor, Talon, and Syncro imo.

Another guy I ride with likes the Camelbak Octane. That one might be worth looking into as well.

Maybe it was a pot brownie.  "Legal" as it is in our 2 respective states now.

This year's CTR is going to be interesting.

I've had a sram x9 for quite awhile. Overall pretty happy with it but I'll be going to an XT. I bought a set of Stan's and the x9 can eat up the freehub body. XTs don't seem to have the same problem.

I am pretty happy with my Geax Saguaro for just the conditions you mention. Its pretty tough as well. I have that in a 2.2 on the rear and a WTB Mutano 2.4 up front. I hear the Geax Aka also gets great reviews (maybe better than the Saguaro - I think its a newer refined version of the Saguaro). On the rear, you can run it both directions - for speed or traction. I have tried it both ways and while both were fast, the traction orientation has great stick, especially on hard pack and slickrock.

+1 for Saguaros. I've put 2500 miles on 3 sets of these in the last 18 mos. both geared and SS. Haven't ripped a sidewall on them yet (I go with the cheap-o wire bead).

I've run AKAs, the tread wears too fast imo.
SB8s I really liked the tread, but the sidewalls can tell if they're within 10 feet of a rock and tear.
Continental Race Kings w/ protection have held up pretty well. Not in love with the tread over anything but hardpack.

I have been hearing a lot of talk about all of the Specialized tires so far this race season...especially about the Renegade Control and Ground Control. Anyone roll with these? I ran two Rampages last year with no issues other than losing air through the sidewalls. I had to pump both of them up every morning, but nothing too bad. This year I was thinking about running a Saguaro TNT rear and Rampage front. But...yesterday I was just privileged to feel the sidewalls of the new Small Block 8 29" DCT SCT! I used to love running the 26" UST version of the Small Block and never had one issue with them and they are super fast rollers. IMO the 29" DCT SCT version of the Small Block 8 kicks the crap out of the TNT Saguaro sidewall thickness and the tire comes in right at 700 grams.

So my thoughts are trying out the Small Block 8 DCT SCT for a ton of rough desert miles on the rear with Rampage or a 2.3 Control up front for the next few months and decide if I want to go with this combo or back to double Rampages... Let me know what you think? Has anyone any other great ideas for a large volume tire for the front?

I'm glad to hear Kenda finnnally got around to making a (maybe) desert-friendly version of the SB8. I just question how well it's gonna hold on the loose stuff. Love those things on hardpack.
Do you notice a lot of difference between a 2.3 and a 2.2?

Personally I'd take a steel hardtail over an aluminum any day. I don't have any experience or advice to offer on carbon though.

It'll suck after a few months in. With the gas stations all looted where am I going to resupply on mini-donuts? Anyone have a gpx to a donut factory?

Any real advantage you see to setting up Racks and Panniers over a sling, framebag, seatbag setup?

Kip, where are you at with your planning? I was considering Oct. 12th as I'm not sure if scheduling will pan out to make the stage race. I think there's another guy here in the PHX area eyeing the same date.