First Ever Arizona Trail Race

[DaveC]

Jefe,

Jacob's Lake has one store/motel/gas station.  It's about 4 miles one way off route.  Other than that, there is indeed nothing from the South Rim to the finish.  Ya'll should have a relative abundance of water up there with the snowmelt.

[tRoy]

"Longest singletrack bike race in the world." 
Killer!   Wish I was in put it is not gonna happen...
Here is a pic of the AZ trail near Flagstaff - the trail is a few hundred yards up in the trees. 

This was on Christmas day before it dumped 7 feet in January.  But it is Arizona and things melt fast.  I have not touched a bike since December cause the BC skiing has been rather incredible this year...
Come April, I will be happy to check out the trails and let you know what to expect...

[wookieone]

Ok a couple questions for anyone willing, What sort of riding is it from the border to Parker Lake? Rough mileage? and Scott any thoughts on when you may have some trail cues up for the 750? I am still half in the stone age as I have internet acsess, but not at home, so it is real hard to spend alot of time looking at Topofusion, but once a neandrethal, always one. Oh and any one seeing the snow melt? The little we have in Gunnison is melting, but it is still cold enough to freeze the feet and just enough snow/melt to make off road a bad idea. Ok thanks for any info, Jefe

[AZTtripper]

Mostly all road some 2 track down to the border then all dirt except a little bit of the AZT leading up to the TH. Should go fast so you guys can meet the 300 riders.

[ActionJackson]

Where is decent place to stay Thursday (4/22/2010) night within a 1-2 hr. drive of Parker Lake. I'll be with my wife and son who will drop me off on Friday AM for the 300.

[AZTtripper]

Here's some options.

Parker Lake CG less then 15 minutes away.

The Sonoita Inn is less then one hour away. http://www.sonoitainn.com/

There's the Stage Stop Hotel in Patagonia as well as a B&B called the Black Dove adds 11 miles driving back up to Sonoita.

Or any one of the chain places in Tucson. There are several in the downtown I-10 area about 2 hours drive to Parker.

[ActionJackson]

Thanks AZTt! We'll be coming from Texas so the Sonoita Inn looks fine.

[ScottM]

I'll try to write some cues for the 750, but they won't be very detailed, esp when it's just following the AZT.

We may end up riding the 'prologue' to Parker Lake as a group.  Since it's all roads and not that long, it probably makes sense.  I may or may not stop to chat with the 300 riders.  They can always catch up (or visa versa).

Actually there is some trail before Parker, but it's right at the end.

I think the snow on the north rim is unlikely to melt enough for us to follow (let alone ride) the trail.  Grrr.... so we may be on the road to Jacob Lake, or maybe I can figure out a way to cut over on dirt roads to pick up a little more, once the plateau loses some elevation.

[frejwilk]

Scott,

I would also be interested in reading some cues for the 750. I never expect much detail personally. In fact, I feel like the cues for the 300 are some of the more detailed I've used. I have looked at the GPS route and it seems like I can grasp it. My mind still likes words though.

Here's a couple of basic questions. Is the route for the AZTR primarily following marked Arizona trail between Pine and Flagstaff. If it is, how would you compare the trail marking in that area to say, the Canelo Hills, or the section after hwy 62?

FW

[AZTtripper]

Signage gets better up north and there aren't as many illegal trails to get off on. Once you join into the AZT near Pine you should be able to ride between the signs staying on the AZT the entire way to Flag. And if you don't get snowed out most of the way to the end after you get past the new construction area by Flag I think there is one spot out the the middle of nowhere north of Babbit ranch were you stay on dirt road instead of riding a trail-less prairie parallel to the road.

Not sure what section you mean after hwy 62?

[frejwilk]

Thanks Tim. Hwy 62 is described in the cues as FS62 or Box Canyon rd. The road leading away from Madera Canyon.  My gazetteer calls it hwy 62. The AZT north of that road seems to alternate doubletrack and singletrack for a while, but I found it easy to follow the markers.

FW

[AZTtripper]

Right Box Canyon rd. aka Greaterville rd. officially known as hwy 62 that sections does get a fair bit of use by legal trail users as well as migrants. The migrant numbers must go down though as you don't see as much trash or as many spur trails. So in the end way easier to follow. This trend should continue on farther north.

[ScottM]

In general it does get a bit easier to follow as you go north.  But, there are still tricky sections and places that are very infrequently used. 

With 750 miles of trail there are also bound to be situations none of us can forsee, like the fences with no gates that appeared on Anderson Mesa, or the logging area that has hosed all traces of the trail over by Mormon Lake.  So... GPS is definitely the ticket.

But, yeah, signage is better up north, and no illegal trails.

Agreed that some cues will help bring to life the 750's GPS line.  They will perhaps be written more with that in mind than actual on the ground navigation.  Some of the trail is simply too far out of my mind (~5 years since I rode it) that there's no way I can do detailed cues.

But definitely for services, and the dirt road / off AZT sections...

[krefs]

Check out the SNOTEL data from just north of Flagstaff...they're sitting at more than 2x the 30-year average SWE!  That'll at least be good for the aquifers.

[tRoy]

Krefs, I am glued to that snotel site on years like this!
Right now, near Flagstaff on North facing slopes of the AZ trail, there is 2-7 feet of snow. 
We are deep into an El Nino pattern... I hope it works out for the AZT race, but you can bet there will be some route adjustments.
Scott, make sure to contact me in early April and I can do some scouting and get you some tracks for good reroutes. 
Since this is a mountain bike site...  here is a January 2010 picture of Joe Murray.

Another mountain-biker John....

And the remnants of an avalanche that another Mountain-biker triggered and took a ride in.  He was very lucky and self extracted before his companions made it down to him.  Crown and toe are circled.

[ScottM]

Troy -- we'll all be curious on the melting progress come April!  If the storms continue like this you are right, we may need to make more mods to the route up there.  Let's hope not!  Cool pics. 

[wookieone]

Ok I was just checking out the 300 forum, so the changes to the course around tucson, how far off from last years/grocery stores will we be? Also, does Bugs mean no catalina highway? Just curious, Trying to plan and having a tough time, looks like so many tiny sections of trail especially from roosevelt lake north, so many unknowns!?!? But that is part of the adventure, The snow seems to be the master of ceremonies, wonder how much the course will change with all this snow. Ok enough babbleing, Thanks Jefe

[ScottM]

It's a fairly minor change in Tucson.  Actually some racers took the new route last year since I announced it a few days before the start.

Basically you just stay 2 miles east of all the stores.  The plus is that if you can skip the stores, that's 4 miles less you have to ride!  Would be tough to skip them though.  Then there is 1 mile of singletrack-ish trail, otherwise it's just a different, lower traffic set of roads.  Only 8 or so total miles changed.

Bugs means ~4 miles less Catalina Highway.  So there's still plenty of paved climbing to get into a grooooove (or not...).  The new trail up on Lemmon is enjoyable stuff, and starts soon after the summit / water stop.

I think these changes are all improvements, but as always I'll welcome people's feedback.  I got a thumbs up from Marshal on the new Tucson route last year.

Yep, snow.  I announced the race at a time when there was very little anywhere.  Little did I know...

[AZTtripper]

Little did you know that you should have planned a multi sport race half bike and then half snowshoe.

[OurManInTheNorth]

We're having the same deal here in Helsinki, Finland - deepest snow cover for 30 years, longest continuous snow cover for 20, longest continuous minus (C) temperatures for 15... Biking has been pretty much out the window, even for snow bikes (as I look enviously at all these 100 mile plus recce/training rides going on in the sunnier states over there). XC skiing is however going nicely, I'd be up for shipping some skis to the North Rim and gliding downhill all the way to the finish in Utah :-)