2012 AZT 300/750

[tanman1337]

HOLY LARGE!!!! Sorry I reduced the quality of that picture to a 3 megapixel camera setting and it turned out gigantic still...

[Foster]

HOLY LARGE!!!! Sorry I reduced the quality of that picture to a 3 megapixel camera setting and it turned out gigantic still...

Does your stuff up front hit your tire when your shock compresses?

Also I was just looking at the temps for the race on friday and saturday.  Looks like high temps are going to be in the low 60's to low 70's for the desert. In Summerhaven looks like Saturdays high will be 44.  Weather couldn't be better for me honestly.  Even though it isn't going to be hot I think I am still going to leave early Friday morning w/Brad Mattingly.  I am trying to get to at least the I-10 this year on the first day so I could use the extra day light hours.

[Endurance Junkie]

Come on

Does your stuff up front hit your tire when your shock compresses?

Also I was just looking at the temps for the race on friday and saturday.  Looks like high temps are going to be in the low 60's to low 70's for the desert. In Summerhaven looks like Saturdays high will be 44.  Weather couldn't be better for me honestly.  Even though it isn't going to be hot I think I am still going to leave early Friday morning w/Brad Mattingly.  I am trying to get to at least the I-10 this year on the first day so I could use the extra day light hours.

come on mass start is the way to go!

[Foster]

Come on come on mass start is the way to go!

I am considering it, it sounds like fun...and I don't have to be the first one through all the cattle gates on the first 30 miles this time. I could just ride right through them and let the fast guys get to them first.

[tanman1337]

No man, it doesn't touch at all. Like I said the setup is a bit heavy but mainly because of the few stubborn items I want to bring. As Marshal said, I want to be at a fast touring pace. I definitely still want to be comfortable.

[tanman1337]

Yah, I see how the picture makes it look like it would rub, but the bed roll is well clear of the top stanchion of the shock.

[Foster]

Sweet man.  The setup looks pretty tidy and well planned and setup.  Way better looking than my first bike packing adventure last year on the 300.  I didn't have a frame pack or anything it was all on my back.  It was painful and I was riding a 26er which was super slow.  You will do well if you just keep pedaling, that's all you gotta do to finish really.  As long as nothing major happens of course.

[ScottM]

Come on come on mass start is the way to go!

Yeah, the idea of the challenge is to meet at a set time and race others.  If you're going to start on the same day, I'd prefer people start with the group.  But, it's an open trail and ITT's work, so whatever floats your boat.

I added a few to the tracker, and made a number of requested edits.

[fastmtnbiker33w]

Think of the early birds as "rabbits".  The running community pays big money for decent runners to be rabbits.  It gives the really fast guys someone to chase.  Nobody will have to pay those of us who might start early.  Now that it's looking like winter weather again, I may just sleep in.  We'll see.  9 am your time is 10 my time.  Half my day is usually done by 10 am.  I'll probably wake up naturally at 5 AZ time and be ready to roll.

[Foster]

Yeah, the idea of the challenge is to meet at a set time and race others.  If you're going to start on the same day, I'd prefer people start with the group.  But, it's an open trail and ITT's work, so whatever floats your boat.

I'll be leaving at 9am with the good forecast in store. 

[mb]

Hello Riders/Racers.  FYI, my wife Tammy (TRB) is a video producer and will be hanging out and shooting some video of the race. This is intended to be purely for fun and sharing with friends and interested parties, and there is no commercial aspect to it.  I will also be carrying a camera on the trail. We will be more than happy to share the results and footage with anyone who is interested.

Tammy knows the rules of the event and will be mindful of not intruding on racers experience and solitude.

So, I just wanted to let you know she will be out there usually with a purple cap on.

[fastmtnbiker33w]

I've bothered Scott way too much in regards to my Garmin Etrex 20.  I got the track on there just fine, but I'm still really confused in regards to getting maps on it.  I save 11 maps on the GPS that each had 45 tiles.  They are all on the GPS....I can see it on the file.  But when I unplug the gps from the computer, and turn it on, I get a message saying there are too many maps and not all will be displayed.  It shows the first two maps I downloaded...which is just around 100 total tiles.  That only covers the stretch from the start to around Kentucky Camp.  I have a microSD card in there.  Is there a way to save it to the card and it still be shown when I'm in map view mode?  I don't understand why it fits in the gps's files with room to spare but won't show up on the screen.  Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I used the Topo M4 maps and had it to where there were 45 tiles per file....first file covered the start to Patagonia.  I'm following the tutorial here.   http://topofusion.com/garmin-custom-maps.php

With cue cards, a general knowledge of everything south of Mt. Lemmon, and the track on my gps I'm fine, but it'd be nice to look at something on my screen other than a black background.

[maadjurguer]

which maps are you using?

[fastmtnbiker33w]

The MyTopo (M).

[ScottM]

Yeah, the 300 is too large to cover with the custom map feature -- due to Garmin's software limitation of 100 tiles.  They set that limit so that 3rd party developers (like me) can't compete with their pay service "birds eye" program, which does not suffer from the 100 tile limit.

You could try uploading something like topo 32m tiles, but myTopo is going to eat up too many tiles too quickly.

The other option is to upload vector maps, and there is a free set available for AZ.  See this thread for some info:

http://www.topofusion.com/forum/index.php?topic=3796.0

It takes a few steps, and you need Mapsource or Basecamp, but you can upload the whole state.

Hope that helps, I know others have been puzzling over this.

[jbuchanan]

Finally made an entry with my packed gear for the AZT300.

Think more light touring/slow racer:
http://www.rocksnclocks.com/blog/2012/04/09/packing/

Primary goal is to finish and secondary goal is sub 4-days.   

I haven't even started with the food, but I have been practicing eating gas station food (and occasional pizza GUTBOMBS) during training rides and know what works pretty well these days.

[AZTtripper]

Mount Lemmon Condition report

Took the drive across town yesterday to check out a couple of things along the course.

First off I stopped at Molino to check on my favorite water source. I have been watching this little creek every April since 07 and once again there is some water there. This is likely more important to the slower guys who are willing to carry a filter. After the drop down from Molino Saddle just after the trail crosses the creek, it's dry there, the AZT takes a hard left to the highway. To get to the running water take the social trail the starts on the right just after the creek crossing. When the social trail recrosses the creek your only a couple of hundred feet from the water. You can walk up the creek or cross and there's more ride-able social trail after a little rise drop down to the creek bed. There's about 100 feet of flowing water in small pools. Clearly enough to still be there in a week.

Then on up to the water spigot at the Mount Bigelow TH its on for sure so that's good to go. It's the TH just before Palisades ranger station on the right side of the highway past mile post 19.

Lastly I took a look at the beginning of Oracle Ridge. It's totally clear of snow as of right now, of course who knows what the weather will do. I walked up the first couple of rises until I could see a ways down the trail. No down trees in the first 1/4 mile maybe even some sign of clearing/cutting.

On the way home I stopped at the Circle K on Tanque Verde for those going thru Tucson in the wee hours this is a 24 hour store.

Won't be long now best of luck to all.

Tim  

[krefs]

Thanks for that recon, Tim! I have one additional bit of info that may be of help. Saguaro National Monument has removed their water bottle vending machine from outside the visitors center and replaced it with a water bottle filling station (fancy water fountain?) that's available all the time. The bad news? They also removed the soda machine!

Anyone know what's in stock at the Freeman Rd cache? I'll be driving past there on 79 on Thursday and might have time to swing out there and add some gallons if need be.

[fastmtnbiker33w]

Yeah, the 300 is too large to cover with the custom map feature -- due to Garmin's software limitation of 100 tiles.  They set that limit so that 3rd party developers (like me) can't compete with their pay service "birds eye" program, which does not suffer from the 100 tile limit.

You could try uploading something like topo 32m tiles, but myTopo is going to eat up too many tiles too quickly.

The other option is to upload vector maps, and there is a free set available for AZ.  See this thread for some info:

http://www.topofusion.com/forum/index.php?topic=3796.0

It takes a few steps, and you need Mapsource or Basecamp, but you can upload the whole state.

Hope that helps, I know others have been puzzling over this.

Whew.  That was easy.  Now I can officially say that I'm as ready as I can be. 

Kurt....I read somewhere recently that there was 9 unmarked gallons at the cache.  I assume that means that others are leaving water out there with their name on it.  What kind of drive is it to the cache? 

[ScottM]

Yeah, thanks for the checking, Tim.  I checked out the water station @SNP and it's much easier for filling a bladder than the drinking fountain.

I believe the cache should be well stocked, thanks to Jbuchanan and Jschilling.

Jschilling also reported there is a working hose/spigot at Kannally Ranch house in Oracle State Park, but it may be a little tricky to find.  There is no water trailer that I have heard of.