AZT 750/300 2015 Planning

[ScottM]

So I am watching weather now, and I know things will change over the next 25-35 days, but I seem to recall there being a few areas that are subject to really sticky mud right after a precipitation event, and some rain seems likely for the 750. For any that know, what are the most likely areas after Picket Post. I seem to recall someone commenting that above the Mogollon Rim area was susceptible.  Anyone?

I'd stay starting with Highline (or the HAB to get to Pine) and going up to Flag the danger of "Devil's Pottery" aka Death Mud is high.  Around Flag can be a little more resilient, then the danger goes up again on the Babbit Ranch.

[JosiahM]

Scott,
How far in advance will the trackleaders page be up and running? It would be awesome if it were 'live' a few days before the race so we can test to make sure our spot devices are working with it. That way, we can address any issues before we head out of town to come down for the race.  Last year, the CTR page went live the morning of the race.  That caused an added stress of trying to see if our devices worked and trying to figure out how to contact someone to get it fixed the morning of the race (time that could be focused on preparing for race)..
Also,
can anyone who is familliar with etrex 30 tell me the best way on the course to reset my tracks every day so there will be a gpx file for each day? is it even possible? preferably without having to reload the aztr track.
thanks!

[Robzilla_Killa]

Maybe I'm not looking hard enough but could someone provide list of places with water and/or food on the AZT300 route. (mile markers would be a majot plus)  I see the GPX file but was wondering if someone might have a cheatsheet with places to refuel on the route. 

First time riding this section.  I don't have guide book or anything like that. 

Thanks so much.

[JosiahM]

Maybe I'm not looking hard enough but could someone provide list of places with water and/or food on the AZT300 route. (mile markers would be a majot plus)  I see the GPX file but was wondering if someone might have a cheatsheet with places to refuel on the route. 

First time riding this section.  I don't have guide book or anything like that. 

Thanks so much.

Dream4est (Mark C) posted a file earlier in this thread that is probably the best source you will find. (thank you so much for that sheet, Mark)
I recommend studying all the points listed and figuring out what they are and not expecting to find them simply based on the this cue sheet during the race.

[ScottM]

Scott,
How far in advance will the trackleaders page be up and running? It would be awesome if it were 'live' a few days before the race so we can test to make sure our spot devices are working with it. That way, we can address any issues before we head out of town to come down for the race.  Last year, the CTR page went live the morning of the race.  That caused an added stress of trying to see if our devices worked and trying to figure out how to contact someone to get it fixed the morning of the race (time that could be focused on preparing for race)..
Also,
can anyone who is familliar with etrex 30 tell me the best way on the course to reset my tracks every day so there will be a gpx file for each day? is it even possible? preferably without having to reload the aztr track.
thanks!

Right, I think the CTR page was up weeks before the race, but not loaded with the roster until very last minute.  Sorry about that. 

I try to get everyone going a ~week before the AZT start for that very reason -- people can send test points and we can get some things debugged.  We shouldn't have too much else going on (sled dog season will be winding down) so it shouldn't be an issue.

The eTrex30 should automatically archive everything.  There's a setting for 'when full' or 'daily', I think.  Only thing is I wouldn't recommend using full 1 point per second resolution when bikepacking something so long.  There are bugs and occasionally it will lose a chunk of the archived track.  It's infuriating.  I haven't had it lose anything when in "Auto - most detailed" mode.  Something like 5 sec per point might be better, but I can't say for sure.

I lost 2 or 3 sections of 3,000 points each on the CDT, over the first ~2 months of riding, before finally switching to 'auto' mode and not having any issues.

[JosiahM]

thanks Scott.
one week out would be great.
I wonder what garmin's definition of 'daily' is.... because bikepacking days tend to run past midnight sometimes.
sounds like the best option to make sure I actually get what I want may be to just auto archive, then stitch them together and split them manually with topofusion

[Johnny_mtb]

Also,
can anyone who is familliar with etrex 30 tell me the best way on the course to reset my tracks every day so there will be a gpx file for each day? is it even possible? preferably without having to reload the aztr track.
thanks!

I believe the track is saved to the memory card once the GPS is powered down. So just turn it off each night and it should save the track as a file to the SD card. Here is a quote from a post I made in the CTR forum (hope it helps):

1. It records to Internal Memory when you have the Track Log On radio button selected under: Tracks > Track Log ON or OFF.
2. It will record to internal memory and to the SD when you have done step 1 above and also checked the "Log track to data card" under:  Tracks > Setup > Data Card Setup > Log Track to Data Card.
It will NOT record to SD without BOTH 1 and 2 above selected to save track.
Yes it saves both to internal memory and SD but you can clear the internal memory of the saved track easily when it starts getting full or just have the "Wrap when full" checked under: Tracks > Setup > Wrap when full.

This internal memory is additional storage to your uploaded tracks so if you have uploaded all available memory it saves some space for the tracks to be saved to internal memory. The tracks it saves to internal memory contain very basic information. The tracks saved to the SD contain the detailed information such as speed, alt. etc.

[JosiahM]

I believe the track is saved to the memory card once the GPS is powered down. So just turn it off each night and it should save the track as a file to the SD card. Here is a quote from a post I made in the CTR forum (hope it helps):

Awesome.  thank you so much for this solution!

[schillingsworth]

3 1/2 weeks away and I have to pull the plug. So bummed, but it's the right decision. Back in mid-Feb. I was out on a 4-day shakedown ride, including the final 40 miles of the 300 route plus the next 50 of the 750, when I took a really dumb crash. I landed hard on my right wrist - left hand made up for it by going into a cactus!! X-rays came back negative.

Fast forward to this past weekend's ride down in the Gila River Canyons (Yes, Scott's pictures are TRUE - it's amazing down there right now!!) and I could tell early on I was in trouble. My right wrist just can't handle the abuse the AZT will dish out, especially the long chunky downhills. So, as much as I want to be lining up on April 3rd to test my grit, it will have to wait until 2016.

I'll still be down at the start for the 300, shuttling a buddy down. So don't be surprised if I high-five all of you 750'ers as you roll through Parker Canyon Lake TH. Ride safe, ride strong, Get it!!

-John Schilling

[Yogi the Barry]

John,
Sorry to hear this. Guess this means no Sedona BFL either...
-B

3 1/2 weeks away and I have to pull the plug. So bummed, but it's the right decision. ...snip...
-John Schilling

[Yogi the Barry]

After about three love-hate years of using an eTrex 30...
Just make sure you turn on track logging in Setup > Tracks > Track Log > Record [with an option to show or not].
Somewhere there's also an option to write the recorded track to an internal memory card.
I second Scott's recommendation about 'Auto' for the recording rate.
Lots of eTrex setup info at this site.
http://www.aukadia.net/gps/lw3_0.htm
Slightly OT suggestions... To minimize GPS issues [due to corrupt GPX files or other mysterious causes], I almost always take any GPX file and resave in TopoFusion. For the big tracks that cap at 10K points, I usually resample down to 9K. Even for long events like CTR and AZT, 9K has enough resolution. For my maps, which I download from www.gpsfiledepot.com, I turn off any other state maps I am not using and only have the base map and state map I'm using turned on. These are probably knee-jerk reactions, but they seem to help with GPS freeze/hang-ups. Nothing like the stress of having GPS issues out in the middle of nowhere...
And if you ever find a way to retain the color of a saved GPX track, I'd love to hear back from you. My eTrex 30 always reverts to showing the track in lavender after a reboot, no matter if I change the color on the unit itself or in the file using TopoFusion.
-B

...Also,
can anyone who is familliar with etrex 30 tell me the best way on the course to reset my tracks every day so there will be a gpx file for each day? is it even possible? preferably without having to reload the aztr track.
thanks!

[dream4est]

I am out of the 750 too.
No injury I just have a huge deal going on. Fall River Botanicals is opening a new store soon in Albuquerque. We are also moving there from Colorado. Still running the Idaho Springs store, but we are moving into a new era of trying to be hands off business owners and not just simply being our own employees. So no triple crown repeat for me. I might make CTR later on this summer if I get the business figured out by then.

So for anyone ordering Geronimo! Pain Cream for the AZT races, time is running out!! Last year here was the lowdown on the best Geronimo! results:

AZT 300- Neil 3rd place
750- Mike P 3rd; me 6th

TD- Lorenzo S 4th- me 29th

CTR- Neil 1st- me 9th

Thats just a few riders. Others used the cream or balm too.

[schillingsworth]

John,
Sorry to hear this. Guess this means no Sedona BFL either...
-B

Barry,
I won't be riding the BFL, but I do plan on heading up there to ride some shorter easier terrain. I'll be sure to come by the BnB to hang out afterwards.

[Sean Allan]

I am out of the 750 too.
No injury I just have a huge deal going on. Fall River Botanicals is opening a new store soon in Albuquerque. We are also moving there from Colorado. Still running the Idaho Springs store, but we are moving into a new era of trying to be hands off business owners and not just simply being our own employees. So no triple crown repeat for me. I might make CTR later on this summer if I get the business figured out by then.

So for anyone ordering Geronimo! Pain Cream for the AZT races, time is running out!! Last year here was the lowdown on the best Geronimo! results:

AZT 300- Neil 3rd place
750- Mike P 3rd; me 6th

TD- Lorenzo S 4th- me 29th

CTR- Neil 1st- me 9th

Thats just a few riders. Others used the cream or balm too.

Sorry to hear that Mark. Although I'm out due to my knee being f-ed up again, work would have made it nearly impossible anyways. Sucks that life gets in the way of our playing sometimes. Good luck on your new endeavor.

[Sean Allan]

3 1/2 weeks away and I have to pull the plug. So bummed, but it's the right decision. Back in mid-Feb. I was out on a 4-day shakedown ride, including the final 40 miles of the 300 route plus the next 50 of the 750, when I took a really dumb crash. I landed hard on my right wrist - left hand made up for it by going into a cactus!! X-rays came back negative.

Fast forward to this past weekend's ride down in the Gila River Canyons (Yes, Scott's pictures are TRUE - it's amazing down there right now!!) and I could tell early on I was in trouble. My right wrist just can't handle the abuse the AZT will dish out, especially the long chunky downhills. So, as much as I want to be lining up on April 3rd to test my grit, it will have to wait until 2016.

I'll still be down at the start for the 300, shuttling a buddy down. So don't be surprised if I high-five all of you 750'ers as you roll through Parker Canyon Lake TH. Ride safe, ride strong, Get it!!

-John Schilling

Bummer John. I've got a place for you to stay and a 450 mile odyssey around NorCal in July if your interested : )

[dream4est]

Sorry to hear that Mark. Although I'm out due to my knee being f-ed up again, work would have made it nearly impossible anyways. Sucks that life gets in the way of our playing sometimes. Good luck on your new endeavor.

Well Sean we could only seem to get a certain level of sales in one location. I could have just kept working here but really me working in the one store like 2/3rds the days of the year was killing our sales potential. It is a womens store. Leila cant just work ever day either she is the business and its too hard on her. So we have to do this for many reasons. I am better at making product than selling it. And our time is wasted in the store really we cant focus on improvements at all. Projects get put off.

So I am not too bummed as I always have this if I want it. ITT in the fall even. What I want is to think like a business owner not an employee. That is the key here. You know what I mean you have a crew working for you we need our crew so to speak.

[Sean Allan]

Mark,
 I totally get it. You mean women don't want to buy face cream from your ugly mug....? Good on you guys for thinking forward, I'm trying to get back to being smaller though, employees can be overrated.
 

I'll likely do this route again in September if your interested:

http://wanderlustandtheroadlesstraveled.blogspot.com/2014/10/9-days-in-arizona-desert-or-how-i-spent.html

http://wanderlustandtheroadlesstraveled.blogspot.com/2014/10/9-days-in-arizona-desert-continued.html

http://wanderlustandtheroadlesstraveled.blogspot.com/2014/10/sedona-to-flagstaff-home-stretch.html

Real easy logistics wise with no Canyon hike. Lots of things to walk up and down though....

[Jeff Tomassetti]

An answer and a question:

A. The Circle K at 11271 E Tanque Verde, Tucson, is open 24 hours. It is about 1.5 miles off route.

Q. Can anyone share first hand info about the Duck Tank near HWY 83 at about 103M? Or, what seems to be a decent water supply between Kentucky Camp and I-10.

Thanks.

[dream4est]

Jeff I think most racers carry tasty water from K-camp spigot to spigot at La Sevilla.

[Wyatt72]

So... There have been some folks having to pull out of the 300 and the 750 for obvious reasons. Good luck recovering from your injuries and in your business endeavors. Do we have an idea who is racing in the 300 and 750 at this point?  Like an unofficial roster. I'm planning on the 750. My name is Jason Hanson. Who else is in? Getting close.