Foster, I don't have a file but I would be happy to ride with guys to Cochrane. You'll get the cool local route that way, from there it's just follow the 1A. Let me know when you want leave, Cadence is ideal location to meet.
Craig.

Ya, we were planning on heading out to Cochrane to ride on the Bow Valley trail.  Send me an email with your phone number.  I'll text you when we get there probably sometime Tuesday morning.  Is it pretty easy to navigate Calgary on a bike to get the Cochrane, what is the best way to get there?

eric.foster.1988@gmail.com

Eric

Ride sounds like lots of fun, unfortunately I get into Calgary on the 10th so I'll be riding there a day early.  Would you happen to have a gpx file for the route to Banff?

Is anyone riding from Calgary to Banff on June 11th (Tuesday)?  I get into Calgary late on June 10th (hopefully stealth camping in the airport) and plan on riding to Banff on Tuesday.  Would love some company if anyone is riding to Banff that day.

Me and Robin Scwartz get into Calgary on the 10th at around 5pm.  We'll be putting out bikes together at the airport that evening then probably ride somewhere and camp or crash at the airport.  We'll be heading out sometime in to morning, you're welcome to join us.

-Eric

If I'm reading the NWS map correctly, I see recent (24h) snowfall in ID, WY, and CO, and very slow melt up in Canada (although it is picking up).

If anyone has any on-the-ground route beta about snow depth and snow quality (postholing into slush puddles?), I'm sure many of us would love to hear.



I fully expected some snow up until about Whitefish, but was hoping that would be about the end.  Any veterans care to guess what the trail will look like two weeks from now?

Check out the site. It gives comparison to last years snow levels.  Generally lower than last years snowpack.

http://www.mt.nrcs.usda.gov/snow/data/comparison.html

Here's some pictures and a little something on my 750 ride.

http://headwindsandhills.com/2013/05/07/arizona-trail-race-750/

Speeking of lights. Did anyone find a Exposure Diablo light on the trail? I lost it somewhere north of Flagstaff:-(

Didn't see one Blake.  Sorry man.  Great job on the race btw!

Hey everyone,

I am getting back to my old self with lots of sleep, food and epsom salt baths for my poor calf muscles.  I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for the kind messages I got after finishing the race, it makes all the pain and suffering out there worth it!  The feeling of accomplishment is unlike anything I've ever experienced.  And congrats to everyone that finished the ride or even attempted the race, you all did great no matter what because its a damn hard race, and that is a major understatement!  I'm also extremely impressed by Mark's and Sheila's tenacity to keep on going, you're almost there!  Anyways, for those that I met on the trail it was a pleasure and I look forward to seeing you all again soon.  Once I get some more much needed rest I'll post up a little trip report with some pictures.

-Eric

He hitched to flag, said there was a massive dust storm on the reservation. 

Sucks for Cjell.  There are 60 mph headwinds on the reservation today.  Its gonna be a couple hard days of riding to Flagstaff with all this wind. 

I sent him a message.  I will give him a ride.  I leave town on wednesday.

Usually that stuff doesn't get started until at least mid may if not later.  So you prob didn't miss anything.

Anyone know about snow conditions on the North Rim?  I was up at Lees Ferry the past 2 weeks and it looked like it still had quite a bit of snow on it from what I could see from 40 miles away.  Wonder if the Detour will come into play this year?

Cool, here is my email.  ewf6@nau.edu  just send me something so that I have yours. 

I think camping at the border would be the best that way I don't have to wake up super early.  But it really doesn't matter as long as I get to the start in time.

I think I could get to Tucson by 3 in the afternoon, possibly earlier.  But I have to talk to my friend that is giving me a ride to Tucson.  It is up in the air on whether he can drive me all the way.

Looks like as of now I will be making it to the group start on the 19th.  I can get a ride down to Tucson, but I currently don't have a for sure ride to the border.  Is there anyone that has space in a vehicle heading down for the 750 start Thursday afternoon or Friday morning?

I bought the Gore ones, they are awesome as well.  Road in the snow and rain for 4 hours and still had dry feet.  Wish I had these last year when my feet were wet and frozen.

Cool, what day are you leaving Scott?  It looks like I will be starting late for sure.  I wanna give myself a couple days to get the bike together and sort out any issues I may have with my bike-packing kit. 

By the looks of it right now if my bike comes in by Friday the 19th then I will leave on Sunday the 21st.  With my schedule that gives me 10 days to finish, sleep and be back to school to give a presentation!  If it doesn't get here by Friday then I am not sure what I am going to do...possibly get an extension or a different date to present if possible.  Everything is so crammed in my schedule and up in the air.  So I am crossing my fingers.

I think a big part of the challenge is how closely spaced the races are together, makes your body extremely exhausted.  So doing one late isn't really an issue because it gives you less time to recover.  Time spacing for the races should be either the dates that are in place for group starts or closer/later if you can't make that happen.  I will be at the group start for all of them except the AZT, which I think would still qualify since it gives me less recover time.

Here is something to think about though...what if you did all ITT's but they were evenly spaced exactly like the group starts and in the same order?  Would this still count?  Obviously it changes some things such as timing with the weather and snow, and in some cases make things easier or harder depending.

Maybe next year, already have my triple in the works!

I am in on the group start if my bike gets here in time for the AZT in 12 days.  I think I might end up having to do an ITT a couple days after the group start based on when I expect the bike to arrive.  We'll see how things pan out but I am ready for the AZT 750 no matter what.

So I am in for the Triple, got all expenses paid!

Yeah, that's pretty sick to ride you bike all the way to the start...sick in many different ways!

Probably Colorado or something after reading his arrival to the Tour Divide last year!!

Damn, I don't even know what to think about that!