2018 AZTR300/750 Planning Thread

[ScottM]

It's finally time for me to have another adventure on the 750!

Scott, I think the Kaibab Plateau is going to be snow-free by April unless there's a big Spring storm. Maybe we should axe that snow detour for this year and put the most rideable miles of AZT into the race for real! Whaddya think?

Yeehaw Kurt, welcome back to the 750.  This sure seems like the year to ride the full trail up there, given conditions and the NPS.  Difficulty factor is significantly higher -- generally the last thing your legs want to do after the canyon hike is pedal steep trail or carry over trees!

Also, not a single wildflower.

WHAT?  Race canceled!  Better hope that changes between now and April 5th...

Tracking Update

The first 24 hours of tracking registration yielded 31 people, with one ITT.  That means 30 'grand' depart slots are taken as of now.

[elfreako]

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

[Adam Alphabet]

Quick ride report for the 750/300 between Kelvin & First Water Rd. (Superstitions/Jacob Crosscut area) from this past weekend.

AZT along the Gila River is in amazing shape after Rob Bauer's trail work the past 2 seasons. Still challenging, no doubt, but some degrading sections are restored to rideable condition. No more barbed wire gates!! Also, not a single wildflower. It was so insanely dry here from August to December. The only thing blooming are the Ocotillo & an occasional brittlebush. Catclaw along this stretch of AZT was virtually non-existent. Even the mesquite trees along the river corridor have been trimmed back.

Gold Canyon trails are riding well. The Jacob Crosscut trail has received even more love lately. Still a technical bit of trail, but it is such a wonderful trail now. I hope all the 750 riders get to experience it during the daylight/twilight hours.

Thanks for the update John, glad to hear Rob's work has settled in. I remember cursing at how soft the river section was last year... at that point in the race it felt like quick sand. Stoke is very high!

[krefs]

Cursing at the trail will never get you anywhere.

[Dana Ernst]

I'm in for the 300!  Looking forward to the adventure.

[Adam Alphabet]

Cursing at the trail will never get you anywhere.

It was fine as long as my legs kept turning over while I was doing it

[bmattingly]

Glad to see all the stoke out there.  On my Southbound ride I had a 200 ounce bladder and one bottle.  No filtering.  I require less water than some other folks. 

Sometimes the adventure continues in getting home after the ride is done.  Had trouble getting home to Az after the CTR this year when I found out all rental cars were out in Denver because of the Solar Eclipse.  Wow.

The 750 is about 2 blocks away from my office in Flag.  I will be watching and may have to come cheer a couple folks on.  Definitely interested in watching the Southbound guys and Dana and Kurt.

[Sonikphyr]

Cursing at the trail will never get you anywhere.

Cursing always make me feel better and I remember seeing an article about how cursing can help some.
Also, I am IN for my first desert ride(race) in the 300 mile edition. 

[krefs]

This NPS website has some good updates on water availability in the Canyon. They've been doing repair work on their fussy water lines, so some of the normally reliable water spigots are turned off.

https://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/trail-closures.htm

[elfreako]

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.

[rhino]

Keep the weight lower. Canyon hike was easy.

[Dinodinodino]

Keep the weight lower. Canyon hike was easy.

Great idea!  I'll give that a shot this weekend.  It's probably a lot better for balance as well.

[hanyo66]

Keep the weight lower. Canyon hike was easy.

interesting note. goes against everything I know and practice when it comes to backpacking but I'll give it a test run lol

[Dinodinodino]

AZTR rookie question.  Is there a list of the best/ closest bike stores along the route?  I like to put waypoints in my GPS in case some repairs or parts are needed during the ride.  I am researching it now, but thought I would ask to save some time if it's been discussed already.

[phatmike]

AZTR rookie question.  Is there a list of the best/ closest bike stores along the route?  I like to put waypoints in my GPS in case some repairs or parts are needed during the ride.  I am researching it now, but thought I would ask to save some time if it's been discussed already.

If you are talking about the 300... just hope that your bike part needs become apparent near Tucson because that's going to be your only real source of anything. I don't have specific recommendations for a shop there, but some quick google map searches will get you your info. 750 is a different story so I'll let those vets chime in.

[hanyo66]

AZTR rookie question.  Is there a list of the best/ closest bike stores along the route?  I like to put waypoints in my GPS in case some repairs or parts are needed during the ride.  I am researching it now, but thought I would ask to save some time if it's been discussed already.

I think the most common one I see in discussion and in blogs is 87 Cyclery in Payson

Others I've seen info on:
Sabino Cycles @ Tanque Verde (8 miles off route)
REI @ Flagstaff
Absolute Bikes @ Flagstaff
Bright Angel Bikes @ South Rim GC Village

[Dinodinodino]

If you are talking about the 300... just hope that your bike part needs become apparent near Tucson because that's going to be your only real source of anything. I don't have specific recommendations for a shop there, but some quick google map searches will get you your info. 750 is a different story so I'll let those vets chime in.

Thanks!  I should have mentioned, it's for the 750.

[Halberto]

Hi All,

New to this forum. My friend Dan and I are planning on doing the 750, but starting ahead of the grand depart (work commitments) on April 2 instead of the 5th, we're sure that some of you will be passing us along the way. I have tried a contacting a couple of the outfitters about getting a shuttle from Tucson to the start, only Home Grown MTB has gotten back to me, I used the list on the Arizona State Trail site (http://www.aztrail.org/shuttles.html). Wondering if there are more outfitters than this, or if there are other options?

Thanks, Hal

[ScottM]

Registration is 2/3rds full.  Roughly 25 spots left.

[Gimmearaise]

Planned on racing the 750 this year but a job promotion and life is getting in the way, lucky for me I think I'll be able to rock the 300 (90% certain), which sounds way more interesting to me at this point in time. The 750 is one of those monsters that is tough to forget about the pain. I think I need another year to mull over my dedicated, time and energy to one of the toughest races out there.

I might call this the year of the 300s, ITI, AZT, Grand Loop and TNGA.

Hope to see everyone at Parker Canyon Lake next month!