Siula Grande (6344m), Yerupaja (6635m) and me (4300m) atop Laguna Carhuacocha (4150m) while bikepacking Perus "Huayhuash" range.

I am in Frazier Park right now and it just about started to rain in earnest, mixed with snow, even down here in the village. Good luck to those already on route... it does not look pleasant atm.

Well yes... german is a bitch and google translate might not be good enough to DIY. You can pay the guys to build one for you as well, but shipping to the US might suck. Anyway, I just wanted to point out this option because you can actually get almost twice the power output of any commercial product. Most people dont know about this unless they are present in german touring bike forums.

If you need maximum power output from your hub dynamo and arent scared by some DIY and plenty german text, the "Forumslader" beats any commercially available option hands down. Especially with "bikepacking compatible speeds" below and around 20 km/h, nothing else comes close: http://www.forumslader.de/12V-Automatik-USB.219.0.html


Pink line is latest version, you get almost 5W (5V/1A) already at 18 km/h.

December 2012, Santo Antao, Capeverdian Islands, Africa:




















Full story: http://www.mtb-news.de/forum/showthread.php?t=610178
There's a flight from Boston guys, no reason not to go :-).

Maderia is still quite an unusual mountainbike destination. It feels a bit like Moria mixed with Hawaii on steroids. The whole story can be found here: http://www.mtb-news.de/forum/showthread.php?t=435293

Bikepacking on Madeira, portuguese island north-west of Africa:

@birk, end of april mexico to canada on more than just gdmbr is available in all detail here: http://www.mtb-news.de/forum/showthread.php?t=460366

not that it's a boring route, but it misses plenty of highlights that switzerland has to offer. so if anyone considers making the long trip across the ocean, i suggest a bit more research.

live from the trail... met four racers today on the "hills of horror" (my name) after rawlins. marshall (first pic) was way ahead of the others and will probably be at bush mountain lodge already. he wasnt too happy about his saddle and might be looking for a replacement in steamboat tomorrow. the others were going strong as well, some plan to ride on into the ninight after dinner at the lodge.

go racers!

oh and btw... wymoing sucks when you come right out of colorado :-).

took me six weeks though . but i really enjoyed myself on the singletracks of arizona, utah and colorado. nice country you guys live in...

btw, if somebody has a gps track of this years transrockies (fernie to canmore), please email to stefan at stuntz dot com. would make a nice ending for my trip!

i just saw eric in steamboat at a bikeshop. he seemed a bit frustrated for all the repairs, but otherwise in good shape.

btw, if you want to read more about my carrying system (zorrocarry), check out the faq (sorry, german as well): http://wiki.mtb-news.de/Alpenzorro_FAQ (items 5 and 6). it works very well for me since many years now, commercial alternatives (ie toutterrain) dont comne close regarding stability and ease of use.

however, this kind of rack is designed for "european style bikepacking". a normal day in our alps consists of one huge climb on a good dirtroad and one huge singletrack downhill. so the balancing uphill doesnt matter and for the downhill singletrack, you have a very light bike within seconds.

zorrocarry doesnt work so well for uphill singletrack obviously. neither for stuff that always goes up and down and up and down, which seems what most singletrack here looks like. still have to get used to that...

wow. carrying my bike through the canyon was eassily one of the most stupid things i've ever done. and one of the best .

great fun indeed. sitting in Wendys in Tusayan right now and facing the funny little canyon thingy tomorrow. if anybody has a lastminute-mule available for me, please call 520-306-6615 :-).

will probably try to get a camping permit for bright angel or the other one. after all, it's quite beautiful down there and i've no need to hurry. would be a shame to run through.

btw, if you cycle all the way up to the flagstaff snowbowl ski area, theres more fun downhill singletrack for some 400ft before it rejoins the azt. ok, nobody who's racing would seriously do that detour. but i enjoyed it...

congrats to all racers! i can partly imagine what you've been through since i'm currently following your footsteps. started my bikepacking trip to canada in tucson about a week ago and am more or less doing the azt for a start. a dozen flats  after oracle? done that. dying of heat after box canyon? done that too.not racing it though, so i dont mind hitching a ride on a pickup truck for 30 miles of highway to apache junction ;- ).

the trip is live on the internet for a german mountainbike magazine, check out http://www.mtb-news.de/forum/showthread.php?t=460366 if youre interested. oh, and please email me (stefan at stuntz.com) if you live somewhere along the route and want to meet a german bikepacker for a beer!

currently sitting at mormon lake and it's starting to snow. arizona rocks :-) and the azt is one of a kind!

ok, so it will either be the long way around via elk ridge or some funny river crossing mess, depending on how adventurous i feel at that time . if it's water, i'll probably go for spanish bottom instead of queen anne the colorado might have more traffic than the green river for catching a ride across.

thanks for the help!

I think I've read a story from a hiker crossing the Green at Queen Annes (38.3879, -110.0314 ?). It didnt really sound like pleasure, even though he had a packraft. Apparently the possible access from West doesnt line up with the easy access from East. Plus mountainbike, minus packraft => big trouble :-).

Crossing at Spanish Bottom will require a boat, right? How much rafting traffic is on the Colorado (around beginning of june)? Would it even be possible to hitch a ride across within a few hours? Or is this just a silly dream because nobody rafts there or because the commercial ops cannot stop for a little fun along the way?

I cannot find a possible connection from Hite through Dark and Gypsum Canyon to Needles. Out west it's only deep gorges and then some wilderness area gets in the way. The first possibility to get back north seems to be east of this wilderness using a dirtroad called "Elk Ridge".

not sure if this is the proper place to discuss the transutah route, but the website pointed me here, so lets go... :-)

i will probably ride the route at least partially as part of a bigger trip, coming from azt and moving on to ctr. are there any ideas yet on how to connect boulder, az and moab? i am thinking maybe about some funny backroads from Hite into Canyonlands, a short hikeabike down to Spanish Bottom, wait for a passing raft and stick out your thumb to cross the Colorado and hikeabike out east through "the needles" (4miles).

white rim trail sounds spectacular too, but i dont really see a chance to cross the green river to connect properly from the westside.

generally speaking... how is it with entering national parks on the "backside" via dirtroads? is that legal? and what if an area requires a "backcountry permit"? is this also necessary on dirt roads then? and could one get such a permit instantly via phone as poor cyclist who just wants to go across and cannot pointlessly ride all the way around before?

i tend to break my frames every now and then. fortunately, i have a good sponsor who doesnt get fed up with me and keeps sending me the latest and greatest stuff to wherever i am

i broke two frames on this trip already. one from an accident (crash in greece produced a dent in the frame, broke at that spot 3 months later). the second breakage was without external influence, maybe just unlucky. new bike is a bit sturdier, maybe better suited for my cycling style...