2022 AZTR Preparation & Planning

[davew]

Greetings and salutations,

Seems like a good time to get this thread up and going.

Having an October start changes training somewhat. Being an antipodean an April start would have me training in the heat of summer and quite possibly start training  too early only to turn up in Arizona with a false sense of ability, over trained, indelibly start too hard, get heat stroke, vomit everywhere, make poor decisions and end up at the back of the pack. Jet lag plays a huge part on how early I end up  going to sleep - far too early. The first year I rode until I almost fell asleep on the bike (9pm!!). The second year I arrived at that same place and decided to have a break and have something to eat. The temperature dropped and I was shivering with cold, I pulled out the sleeping bag to keep warm and woke up in the morning miles behind the anticipated rest spot.  Lets hope a winter training regime helps but I'm not holding my breath. Stupid is as stupid does.

Anyway, still loads of planning to do, parts to replace, and new route variations to investigate.

[AZTtripper]

Greetings and salutations, heralding the return of the international field to the AZT 800.

More northern riders have wanted a fall run, at the end of their summer training season, forever, once it came so did the monsoons to cause grasses to overrun the trail. It will be interesting to see how the summer plays out and what affect either way it will have on the fall run.

You shouldn't have to worry about the ranger on the north rim as you'll hopefully be on trail.

Lots of changes in the last two years lots of stuff that hasn't as well.

Looking forward to watching the DW blue dot.

[davew]

More northern riders have wanted a fall run, at the end of their summer training season, forever, once it came so did the monsoons to cause grasses to overrun the trail. It will be interesting to see how the summer plays out and what affect either way it will have on the fall run.

Lots of changes in the last two years lots of stuff that hasn't as well.

Looking forward to watching the DW blue dot.

Looking forward to being a blue dot again and possibly an attempt to seamlessly bounce that blue dot off the northern border. Some unfinished business there.

John's route changes have definitely added some complexity to the race logistically.

Splitting the difference between Patagonia and Sonita ruined a good ice cream stop. The wide berth around Flagstaff hurts a little too. It's the only chance I had to use my Frys card.

In 2019 heading south from Freeman Rd cache to Tiger Milne Rd trailhead I caught many cholla on my calves. A decent sized leatherman with pliers did the trick in removing them. Still hurt like a bastard. There is a lot to be said to ride with plenty of others clearing the track in front of you. I also found the wrapper from a packet of starbursts allows you to grab the cholla and pull it out. Starbursts weigh less than a leatherman after an hour or so, though not so good as toilet paper. Do the cholla have a season for littering themselves over the trail?

The garage floor is currently covered with bikepacking kit and I'm still chasing down the kit I've lent out, Nick if you are reading this can I have my saddle bag back if it's still usable.

[davew]

Here is something intriguing, looking at Track Leaders AZTR ITTs 2022, the US Topo map contours are in feet but when you scroll in, really scroll right in, they are in metres. Fortuitous in that it saves multiplying everything by 0.3048 but also it is curious.

[AZTtripper]

The Cholla's likely broke loose in a high wind event, they can't really jump, the local club gives out combs https://vimeo.com/100524985

Fully Schillinged, Schillified for your hike a bike pleasure, and there's more single track to come in the Temporal Gulch reroute. If you look at AH and Slowpoke's southbound 300 runs you can see they went up Hog canyon and picked up some of the new stuff. There's a sweet water source at the El Pilar. https://scontent.fphx1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/275561729_3048541052062040_2486703640525308203_n.jpg?_nc_cat=108&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=8bfeb9&_nc_ohc=VlQE1PUexQEAX_8wQEA&_nc_ht=scontent.fphx1-1.fna&oh=00_AT8aZEN1E9n9roe4gsxSH4RHsxrmvFu3sVgnLn0tWUfwVQ&oe=62BB994D

I've seen metric on topo maps before never really thought about it much, the I 19 from Tucson south is signed in metric, like some kind of warm up before going in to Mexico.

Happy planning and bounce that dot.

Tim

[taprider]

where is El Pilar?

[AZTtripper]

where is El Pilar?

South of the Flume trail once the new reroute is done.

AH and Slowpoke rode it this spring, John had posted the track but then pulled it a couple of days later, you have to lift your bike over a locked gate at one point and upper Hog canyon road has sand deep enough to suck riding down. http://trackleaders.com/aztrspring22i.php?name=Olivia_Flaversham_Reload she goes off course after the flume El Pilar Tank shows up in the mytopo layer.

[phatmike]

John's route changes have definitely added some complexity to the race logistically.

Splitting the difference between Patagonia and Sonita ruined a good ice cream stop. The wide berth around Flagstaff hurts a little too. It's the only chance I had to use my Frys card.

Best of luck out there davew!

The loss of sonoita/patagonia does kinda stink for the reason you mentioned, but it isn't too bad really. The good thing is, if you have a super bad day in the canelos, they are still close enough to serve as a refuge to regroup/recover if you had to. Regarding the route around flag, there is still a really good 24 hour resupply basically right on route crossing the 89. If you needed/wanted more services, it isn't that much further to take advantage of those.

[schillingsworth]

So good to have the DW dot return, took a few years, not because of COVID or travel restrictions though....he was still scarred from that silly 750 yo-yo!!

Re: Patagonia, the old legacy AZT is still in play if you so choose. It's mostly there for those who won't make it across the private ranch land in daylight hours but want to keep moving. It's the final two miles of the route before reaching SR82. Of course the legacy route is longer, harder & slower, so there's that, but your ice cream would still be on route.

When the Temporal Gulch section is officially added to the route, you'll forget all about Patagonia & Sonoita, it's that good. Last October, only one rider veered off course to Sonoita, but I think that was because they had the old track loaded. Everyone else stayed true to the route. Those stops really aren't needed, more of a convenience than anything. During my 300 ITT I reached the Rocking K market around lunchtime on day 2, which was perfect for me.

[davew]

So good to have the DW dot return, took a few years, not because of COVID or travel restrictions though....he was still scarred from that silly 750 yo-yo!!

That is closer to the truth than you may realise!! The yo yo destroyed me mentally and physically. From Picket post to the finish was a bit fuzzy.  I vaguely remember meeting another rider riding between PP and the Gila, I was definitely fatigued and not my chatty self. The trail was pretty much all mine after that. It has taken over two years to get back on the bike and even then it was only for the occasional fun ride at a local trail.

Of course the legacy route is longer, harder & slower, so there's that, but your ice cream would still be on route.

There is a little bit of me quitely pleased about missing those last few lumps to get to Harshaw road, if there was a least favourite part of the trail that was it. I always hit it around 3pm in the heat and no wind.

South of the Flume trail once the new reroute is done.

AH and Slowpoke rode it this spring, John had posted the track but then pulled it a couple of days later, you have to lift your bike over a locked gate at one point and upper Hog canyon road has sand deep enough to suck riding down. http://trackleaders.com/aztrspring22i.php?name=Olivia_Flaversham_Reload she goes off course after the flume El Pilar Tank shows up in the mytopo layer.

Eventually found El Plier. Between trackleaders mytopo, google terrain, and topofusion it finally has a coordinate. Thanks for that one.

[AZTtripper]

Eventually found El Plier. Between trackleaders mytopo, google terrain, and topofusion it finally has a coordinate. Thanks for that one.

I actually meant to post a better link and then I got side tracked. Here's another shot from the trail https://scontent.fphx1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/275583199_3048542578728554_5066957991823398395_n.jpg?_nc_cat=103&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=174925&_nc_ohc=K5Ak1xwAuIIAX8v6uE8&_nc_ht=scontent.fphx1-2.fna&oh=00_AT-h3e2HuIOVw2qILdhIsckC-zb9AtcAGj5ykR_XTyfy3A&oe=62BE5B58

It's about .1 mile off trail to the water hole, mostly a flat meadow about 100 feet on a steeper cow trail. Not sure it will be a water source that everyone will bother with but it looked pretty good so hopefully dependable.

[bmattingly]

I am psyched to ride the new Temporal Gulch section.  Maybe this fall or winter.

[taprider]

So what tires are recommended for the 800?

I used 26x2.35 Schwalbe Nobby Nics last time for a 1 1/2 YoYo, with no flats at 15-20 psi, even though the inside looked like a porcupine at the end, also very little knob height left too.

I now need 29x2.25 and use liners/noodles at super low pressure (the vibration damping between 2.25 with liners compared to 2.35-2.5 without liners is very noticeable and very important to me and the nerves in my hands, also the proven run flat ability, I have experienced over 15km on rocky and rooty trails with little loss of speed and no damage to the rim or liner)
Braking ability is not important to me (actually the only place brakes were important to me last time was short sections down Oracle Ridge, so I know low rolling resistance is more important to me)
When I have borrowed other riders bikes to test ride their tires on lower altitude singletrack near Tucson (not Mt. Lemmon) I liked tires with many little tiny knobs with many edges (but Vittoria Mezcals get a bad rating for sidewall strength [maybe they didn't use the TNT version] and for packing up in mud). I also like many tiny knobs with only small spaces between them as I believe that open-space between knobs offers more opportunity for cactus and sharp rocks to penetrate the casing.  

Most important to me is low weight for the Grand Canyon portage, followed by durability (I will start with new tires, but don't want to wear the knobs down to the casing like some Ikons I saw worn to the green flat protection layer by Pine). Although, if I see any death mud HAH! I hope it is near the end when there won't be much in the way of knobbys left to collect mud.

[davew]

So what tires are recommended for the 800?

I used 26x2.35 Schwalbe Nobby Nics last time for a 1 1/2 YoYo, with no flats at 15-20 psi, even though the inside looked like a porcupine at the end, also very little knob height left too.

I now need 29x2.25 and use liners/noodles at super low pressure (the vibration damping between 2.25 with liners compared to 2.35-2.5 without liners is very noticeable and very important to me and the nerves in my hands, also the proven run flat ability I have experienced over 15km on rocky and rooty trails with little loss of speed and no damage to the rim or liner)
Braking ability is not important to me (actually the only place brakes were important to me last time was short sections down Oracle Ridge, so I know low rolling resistance is more important to me)
When I have borrowed other riders bikes to test ride their tires on lower altitude singletrack near Tucson (not Mt. Lemmon) I liked tires with many little tiny knobs with many edges (but Vittoria Mezcals get a bad rating for sidewall strength [maybe they didn't use the TNT version] and for packing up in mud). I also like many tiny knobs with only small spaces between them as I believe that open-spaced knobs offer my opportunity for cactus and sharp rocks to penetrate the casing. 

Most important to me is low weight for the Grand Canyon portage, followed by durability (I will start with new tires, but don't want to wear the knobs down to the casing like some Ikons I saw worn to the green flat protection layer by Pine). Although, if I see any death mud HAH! I hope it is near the end when there won't be much in the way of knobbys left to collect mud.

so you are coming back for another run at it?.

Regarding tyres - I'm an ikons fan with inserts. Might try an ardent up front this year. I had a few washy moments last time and one particular hairy moment that put me into a bush over the bars, and we all know there are no soft and comfortable bushes out there.

[taprider]

Hi Dave
Didn't you have tire troubles for your YoYo?

[taprider]

If using tread thickness and puncture resistance to guess the potential durability/survivability of a tire, then this might be useful
https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/mtb-reviews?orderby=pr

[davew]

Didn't you have tire troubles for your YoYo?

yep, I tore a side wall. My seamstress skills let me down. I've previously had 400 miles out a sewn side wall and then Ive also completely botched the repair to only get 10 or so miles. Wish I had the inserts back then.

If using tread thickness and puncture resistance to guess the potential durability/survivability of a tire, then this might be useful
https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/mtb-reviews?orderby=pr

this looks interesting, there goes Saturday night reading up on tyres.

[schillingsworth]

Guess what?? We are now 2 months away from registration day!! How's the preparation coming along?

Some notes: Current gpx tracks are NOT final, but can be used for planning. Both the 300 & 800 could see some last minute changes. Unless something changes around Flagstaff, there is an expected reroute on the 800 due to the Pipeline Fire.

Work is set to resume on the Highline trail near Pine in the fall. The 800 track probably won't have these updates, if they finish any projects. Any updates on the AZT are typically very obvious to follow as the old tread gets naturalized.

I plan to ride the Temporal Gulch area soon, it may make the cut for both the 300 & 800. Stay tuned on that one. May end up sticking with Hog Canyon one last time before the whole project is complete.

The Rules page is currently getting an update, mostly with the organization of everything. Some clarification & examples. I'll post the update when complete & highly encourage everyone to get a refresher.

Reminder: 60 rider limit combined for the 300 & 800. Registration will go live at 7a, Arizona time, on September 20. Form will be posted on the website, in the FB group, here on this forum & IG account. ITTs are always welcome & encouraged, just keep your start time in mind with regard to the sunset to sunrise restriction near mile 52. (Final 2 miles before reaching SR82).

Have questions?? Start with the FAQ page on the website or post up. Happy planning!!

[taprider]

You need a US address and credit card to buy a permit from the State Trust Land

[schillingsworth]

Have you tried? Does it force you to select a State or can you select 'None'. Seems odd they wouldn't allow a foreign visitor to comply with their own rules. In the past, I've used snail mail to get a permit.