2019 AZTR 300/750 Race Preparation and Planning Thread

[ScottM]

That's it folks, we are at the limit.  I've disabled registration for tracking.  Still happy to track people doing ITTs on different days.  Just drop me an email if that is your plan.

Thanks!

[Jakob]

You can download the full set of all possible detours now, if you want.  Then only use the ones determined to be in play.

I believe 2010 had all possible detours on it, but would need to double check that.  Maybe the full set file should always be available as a link, just in case.

A link would be very useful Scott. I can't find the detour gpx files anywhere.

[taprider]

Is the Four Peaks option a go for this year?
Don't see it in Trackleaders

[ScottM]

Is the Four Peaks option a go for this year?
Don't see it in Trackleaders

Yes.  It'll be there before anyone ventures off onto it.... if anyone actually does!  I forgot that we should have collected that intention from folks in the registration.  We'll just have to see who goes for it.

Registration is back open for ITTs on different days ONLY.

[evdog]

I may be in for the Four Peaks extra credit if the a lot of northern detours are needed this year.  Will have to see how much extra time that will take vs whether there are time savings on the detours.  John quoted earlier only 20mi extra and 2k feet but I think it was more like 8k extra when I compared that with the existing route. 

Anyone going south bound. I'm signed up for north bound, but I'd like to try the route going the opposite direction this time around. I'm not sure if I can work out the logistics of starting on the northern border and there's also the snow factor.

Blake, maybe if you leave your car at Stateline someone will drive it south for you after they finish?  I'm sure you could find a taker for that.  I'd volunteer myself but you might have to to wait a week for me to finish and drive down.  

I'll be looking for a way out at that point regardless.  Options seem to be hitch out with another rider, ride to Page then hitch to Flag, or ride/hitch to Hurricane/St G and fly/send bike home.  I have front end logistics sorted, so if I make it to the end figuring out how to get out of there will be a good problem to have.  

[schillingsworth]

A link would be very useful Scott. I can't find the detour gpx files anywhere.

Jakob,
Here's the link to the 2017 snow detours

[schillingsworth]

Re: Four Peaks option

A buddy & I rode the portion from Four Peaks Rd. up to the AZT and over to Sunflower y'day. The good news? There is still plenty of water on that section, we had about 6 flowing water crossings on Four Peaks Rd. alone, then for the first time I actually saw a flowing Boulder Creek, complete with waterfalls & pools!! Sycamore Creek is also flowing well currently. Will these still be flowing in 4 weeks?? Who knows, but there was still a substantial amount of snow on the north facing slopes of Four Peaks. Sycamore Creek is a reliable water source.

The bad news? Not really bad per se, but to anyone giving this option a whirl, just know that the climb up Four Peaks Rd. is no joke. It's around 17 miles with some fairly steep grades. The road has been recently graded, so there's that. Up top where FP Rd. joins the AZT along the Mazatzal Divide, that dirt road is fine. Some punchy climbs (Read: possible HAB), and a couple of long bumpy descents. It's a beautiful ride. Now the nitty gritty of the AZT singletrack portion into Sunflower. It's 8 miles from where it leaves the jeep rd. down to AZ87. Take note: There's a short HAB to start, then a fun downhill with some exposure into the Boulder Creek drainage. We were able to trim/clean up the first 1.1 miles from the jeep rd, but that took about 2 hours. It was getting late, so we pushed on. The next 1/2 to 3/4 mile of the AZT is a complete mess, be warned. Expect to HAB through thick vegetation & hop over rocks. It's like a flat version of the Oracle Ridge HAB for reference. Once you begin to exit the Boulder Creek drainage, the trail begins to open up. There's still vegetation crowding the trail corridor, but much more rideable. There are plenty of on/off/on sections as the trail contours in/out of small side drainages.

Those final 8 miles took us almost 4 1/2 hours, albeit about 2 hours were spent trimming. Not sure I'll have time to get back up there for more trail work. I plan to contact the trail steward to see if any trailwork is scheduled. Next up, is a ride from Sunflower up & over on Gold Ridge trail in a couple weeks.

[pokerface]

Re: Four Peaks option

A buddy & I rode the portion from Four Peaks Rd. up to the AZT and over to Sunflower y'day. The good news? There is still plenty of water on that section, we had about 6 flowing water crossings on Four Peaks Rd. alone, then for the first time I actually saw a flowing Boulder Creek, complete with waterfalls & pools!! Sycamore Creek is also flowing well currently. Will these still be flowing in 4 weeks?? Who knows, but there was still a substantial amount of snow on the north facing slopes of Four Peaks. Sycamore Creek is a reliable water source.

The bad news? Not really bad per se, but to anyone giving this option a whirl, just know that the climb up Four Peaks Rd. is no joke. It's around 17 miles with some fairly steep grades. The road has been recently graded, so there's that. Up top where FP Rd. joins the AZT along the Mazatzal Divide, that dirt road is fine. Some punchy climbs (Read: possible HAB), and a couple of long bumpy descents. It's a beautiful ride. Now the nitty gritty of the AZT singletrack portion into Sunflower. It's 8 miles from where it leaves the jeep rd. down to AZ87. Take note: There's a short HAB to start, then a fun downhill with some exposure into the Boulder Creek drainage. We were able to trim/clean up the first 1.1 miles from the jeep rd, but that took about 2 hours. It was getting late, so we pushed on. The next 1/2 to 3/4 mile of the AZT is a complete mess, be warned. Expect to HAB through thick vegetation & hop over rocks. It's like a flat version of the Oracle Ridge HAB for reference. Once you begin to exit the Boulder Creek drainage, the trail begins to open up. There's still vegetation crowding the trail corridor, but much more rideable. There are plenty of on/off/on sections as the trail contours in/out of small side drainages.

Those final 8 miles took us almost 4 1/2 hours, albeit about 2 hours were spent trimming. Not sure I'll have time to get back up there for more trail work. I plan to contact the trail steward to see if any trailwork is scheduled. Next up, is a ride from Sunflower up & over on Gold Ridge trail in a couple weeks.

Are these all part of the 300?

[mvmorten]

Are these all part of the 300?

No. It's an option for the 750.

[Gimmearaise]

Looking for a ride from Tucson to the border on the Wednesday before race day. Hit me up via email if you might be able to help me out. Neil.beltchenko@gmail.com

[ScottM]

We have our first ITT riders in the 300 live now!

Lael's off to a nice quick start.  <5 hours to Patagonia. 

Bobby is riding with a buddy, from the sound of it.

[Heath]

Should I value the thicker Bontreger XR4 tires with thicker sidewalls but much slower rolling resistance, or the fast rolling Maxxis Ardent Race EXO for the rear and Minion DHF up front of my original setup?  I mounted up a pair of Bontreger XR4 Team tires that I got on a pretty good deal and filled them up with a healthy amount of Stans and took them for a couple test rides.  First thing I noticed was the width, I was worried at first that the 2.4 XR4s would be too big on paper for the rear triangle on my v3 Tallboy but surprisingly they were smaller than the 2.35 Maxxis on the bike.  The trails here have been kinda wet so I have doing mostly road/gravel roads but the XR4s seem to have a lot of rolling resistance especially on hills. The Ardent and Minion seemed extremely fast rolling, the only thing I'm worried about is if the Maxxis sidewalls and tires in general will hold up to 300 miles of the AZT. So far I have had zero problems with the Maxxis setup on the broken granite here on the front range in CO, but I haven't done any trails in AZ yet but they seem similar. The XR4 seems tougher and has ticker sidewalls, and the taller lugs gripped so much they were spitting gravel all over the place. But they were also so slow compared to the Ardent Race and Minion DHF it was annoying, and I'm not sure if that's going to drive me crazy or if i'll wish I had better sidewall protection than the EXO can provide. Any help is appreciated, Thanks.

[Adam Alphabet]

Should I value the thicker Bontreger XR4 tires with thicker sidewalls but much slower rolling resistance, or the fast rolling Maxxis Ardent Race EXO for the rear and Minion DHF up front of my original setup?  I mounted up a pair of Bontreger XR4 Team tires that I got on a pretty good deal and filled them up with a healthy amount of Stans and took them for a couple test rides.  First thing I noticed was the width, I was worried at first that the 2.4 XR4s would be too big on paper for the rear triangle on my v3 Tallboy but surprisingly they were smaller than the 2.35 Maxxis on the bike.  The trails here have been kinda wet so I have doing mostly road/gravel roads but the XR4s seem to have a lot of rolling resistance especially on hills. The Ardent and Minion seemed extremely fast rolling, the only thing I'm worried about is if the Maxxis sidewalls and tires in general will hold up to 300 miles of the AZT. So far I have had zero problems with the Maxxis setup on the broken granite here on the front range in CO, but I haven't did any trails in AZ yet but they seem similar. The XR4 seems tougher and has ticker sidewalls, and the taller lugs gripped so much they were spitting gravel all over the place. But they were also so slow compared to the Ardent Race and Minion DHF it was annoying, and I'm not sure if that's going to drive me crazy or if i'll wish I had better sidewall protection than the EXO can provide. Any help is appreciated, Thanks.

I found the happy medium of Maxxis tires to be the Aggressors for Arizona.
I know people love their Ikons and Ardents but where I'm from Ikons are gravel tires and Ardents are called Ardont's due to their lack of transitional knobs for wet/greasy condition cornering. I'm a Minion DHF front/rear person myself. The Aggressor (exo casing) struck a nice balance between fast rolling and good traction tread for the dry sandpaper grippy conditions of the AZT.

[evdog]

I pretty much only run Minion DHF and High Rollers on my bikes.  Mostly Socal but plenty of miles in AZ as well, and have never had a sidewall tear or seldom any other issue.  I wouldn't hesitate to use them especially if you think they are faster rolling.  Just make sure you get the Exo or whichever version it is that has sidewall protection.

[lassevir]

I am planning on driving my self to Tucson, then somehow getting to the border for the 750 start, then riding to stateline, either hitching or riding to Page and renting a car to get back to Tucson and get my truck. Anybody out there see any issues with this plan?

Any suggestions on a way from tucson to the border, and where is a safe place to leave my truck?

[Brian McEntire]

I am planning on driving my self to Tucson, then somehow getting to the border for the 750 start, then riding to stateline, either hitching or riding to Page and renting a car to get back to Tucson and get my truck. Anybody out there see any issues with this plan?

Any suggestions on a way from tucson to the border, and where is a safe place to leave my truck?

Following this as I am doing similar. I plan to park at the Tucson Airport where my wife will be picking up the car to meet me at the Utah line. Long term parking is about $6/day for a covered spot.

My initial plan is to park Sunday night or Monday morning and head south for the start. I can fudge that a day or so either way. I'm not sure whether to take the East route (Sierra Vista) and ride roads or take the more direct-ish West route and go through Patagonia, grabbing a bit of pre-ride on the way. I'm interested to hear other's thoughts.

[aarond]

I don't think you can get a one way car rental out of page.  Have to hitch to st George or flag.

[davew]

I don't think you can get a one way car rental out of page. 

that was my understanding also, DaveH and I tried and failed last year

[geekonabike]

Has anyone ever used the Sierra Vista Airport to stash a car? Seem pretty simple to ride to start from there.

https://www.sierravistaaz.gov/city-departments/public-works/airport/

"Parking
Long and short-term parking is available at the Sierra Vista Municipal Airport, at no charge."

[NCBio]

that was my understanding also, DaveH and I tried and failed last year

Interesting. Anyone have anymore info on this? It was my plan as well. Seemed obvious since there are a couple rental places. Is it a day of issue? Maybe if it was arranged a couple days out?