2017 AZTR300/750 Race Discussion Thread

[schillingsworth]

Any word from Gabriel? He's been at Chalet Village in Oracle since last night. There's a nice weather window for the desert crossing, might want to take advantage of it.

Arunas had some tire issues he had to address y'day. Glad to see him rolling out the Apache Trail today.

[phatmike]

Any word from Gabriel? He's been at Chalet Village in Oracle since last night. There's a nice weather window for the desert crossing, might want to take advantage of it.

He pinged again this a few hours ago from same location... hope he's OK and maybe just waiting for extraction if he has pulled the plug.

[schillingsworth]

Looks like he's back on route!! Hope the down day served him well.

Arunas has been dealing with tire issues the past couple of days. Leaking through the rim tape. He should be fixed up soon with a new chain as well. Good to see these two still getting after it.

[Doutreloux]

Hi guys! I am on Freeman road my rear tire is done😩 I have somebody picking me up. I got 7 flat on my rear wheel today! That is probably a world record! I did the last 4 hours stopping every 5 min to put air in my wheel! Funny to be out for such a detail! it's hard to patch a tube that was put in a tire that still have sealant residue, it gets greasy and the damn patch won't stick.I used my 10 patches and my 2 tubes. Better luck next time.

[AZTtripper]

Yeah even slime brand patches won't stick to their tubes. In the past I have used Stan's tubeless sealant in the spare tubes that should allow the patch to stick.

[geekonabike]

From today ATA Newsletter:  "Atlas Guides and the ATA have been working together to upgrade the Arizona Trail Smartphone App to include scenic routes around designated wilderness areas for the benefit of long-distance mountain bikers on the Arizona National Scenic Trail. We are delighted to announce that this feature is now integrated into the app, and ready to use."

I downloaded the offline "Bike Maps" today & can confirm it works! Get it here:  http://www.aztrail.org/apps.html

PS the bike route shows Hewlitt Station rd North of Pickett Post as the route. Is Hewlitt Station Rd still a No No? If so this is the type of blockage that can be reported within the app as long as you have connectivity.

[ScottM]

Cool.  Useful, for sure.

Hewitt Station is still not viable, and this reminds me that ATA is waiting for a report on the dirt bypass that I threw together.  I know some of the Brits took it.  Anyone else have feedback on it?

Seemed like it went OK for them, will follow up by email.  Then ATA can update their map and the MTB databook.

Thanks Mike.

[schillingsworth]

Cool.  Useful, for sure.

Hewitt Station is still not viable, and this reminds me that ATA is waiting for a report on the dirt bypass that I threw together.  I know some of the Brits took it.  Anyone else have feedback on it?

Seemed like it went OK for them, will follow up by email.  Then ATA can update their map and the MTB databook.

Thanks Mike.

Scott,
I'll try & get over there this weekend and do an out-n-back on it. Gotta update the AES & Queen's Ransom routes anyway.

[ScottM]

Scott,
I'll try & get over there this weekend and do an out-n-back on it. Gotta update the AES & Queen's Ransom routes anyway.

That'd be great.  I had to make some educated guesses on the 'best' road in a few places.  If there's any way to improve it, let me know.  On the aerials, Kurt and I saw water in one of the washes (due to a marked spring on the map) which would be pretty sweet, though I think it would be some bonus climbing.

Hopefully by next spring Hewitt will be open again, to bikes at least. 

[ScottM]

Fiona wrote back quickly (thanks!) on the dirt route:

"Yeah we took the dirt roads around it.  The directions were great and easy to follow due to being signposted with road numbers.  They were dirt tracks, ride able all the time and decent surface.  Not exciting to ride but better than a busy road and great views.  hope that helps a little."

[hanyo66]

Fiona wrote back quickly (thanks!) on the dirt route:

"Yeah we took the dirt roads around it.  The directions were great and easy to follow due to being signposted with road numbers.  They were dirt tracks, ride able all the time and decent surface.  Not exciting to ride but better than a busy road and great views.  hope that helps a little."

Do you know if they gained/lost time in comparison to the regular route when riding this bypass?

[ScottM]

Do you know if they gained/lost time in comparison to the regular route when riding this bypass?

Definitely slower than the original route, and I would imagine slower than the majority of the field, which took the more straighforward HWY 60 route.

[hanyo66]

Definitely slower than the original route, and I would imagine slower than the majority of the field, which took the more straighforward HWY 60 route.

Thanks for the info. I'll check it out on the map. Three of us will be touring North to South when the race is happening next year, hoping to do ours in 14-16 days so I'll keep this re-route in mind once we get down that way and see how our progress is at that point, if we have time to kill we'll probably take it and stay off the highway.

[schillingsworth]

I went out to Picketpost today to ride the Hewitt Station rd bypass on FR252. It was already 95º at 9:30a today!! Took one for the team!! Personally, I think the reroute is a better ride than Hewitt Station rd. The jeep road is not your typical rugged AZ variety. It should be 100% rideable by tired bikepackers too. The road undulates for about 7 miles or so before rejoining the route on the west side of Hewitt Station rd.

Here's a short blog post about it with a bunch of pics along the way.

Hewitt Station Bypass

[swami29]

I have been contemplating a north south route as well since  I watched Brad MattimNgly in 2013 ?? Is the North south  ". tour " begin the same day as the start at the border?? I am  anxious to get the ditch over with early in the ride.   Snow conditions may dictate in 2018 but it never hurts to have a dream!

[aarond]

Just when you thought aztr season was over for the summer.  I might be Cray Cray but I am heading out for an Itt tomorrow morning, NB.  The new mulberry fire and forecast snow on Lemmon shouldn't be an issue, though I will probably get rained on...

[schillingsworth]

Heck yeah Aaron!! You sure got lucky with this cool snap the next few days, just enough to get through the desert.

For those that don't know, it was 107º in the Phoenix area on Sat. and barely hit 70º on Sunday!!

[Adam Alphabet]

Typing this again.... Get it Aaron!

[ScottM]

Cooler windows in the month of May can sometimes be golden.  Kurt's 2010 seven day time started this time of year.

Go Aaron!

[Adam Alphabet]

Cooler windows in the month of May can sometimes be golden.  Kurt's 2010 seven day time started this time of year.

Go Aaron!

Any predictability/regularity to this 'cooler window in May' thing or is it more an anomaly?