One racer's GF was there offering water to people....

What's the story with that being acceptable? This might be a good time to mention that natural/public water sources and the established/official AZT water caches are the only places to get water that's fair game. Racers' partners being on course and handing out water seems to cross that self-supported line.

I carry a 4-quart bladder and 3 24-oz bottles for the 300. When I did the 750, I carried a 4-quart bladder, a 2-quart bladder, and 2 24-oz bottles. That all has worked well for me.

Just make sure you don't leave the Gila River and start the climb back toward Picketpost without filling up on water from the river if you're low. It's a long, hot climb, and plenty of folks have run dry and really suffered on that section in recent years.

Just a friendly note of concern to AZT racers. Those whom live in AZ, like I do, get it. This environment is harsh and hostile when it gets hot. It looks to be hot this year. Things can turn from out of water to emergency rescue very quick. Know and understand when you might be getting in trouble.

It's true, Steve. Thanks for sharing.

I think it's critically important to emphasize, as ScottM has earlier in this thread, that AZT racers should not rely on any of the established water caches along the route. Never plan on having your water being out by the time you get to a cache...have some in reserve so you can ride for hours more if need be. And also, please be respectful for all AZT users (hikers *really* need the water) and don't plan on taking gallons of water from a particular cache; and never take the last of the water at a cache unless it's an emergency.

I just dropped the price. This bike needs a new home!

Sold!

SOLD!

The Canelos, in and of themselves, are not that technical, and the climbs aren't particularly long (up Mt. Lemmon is loooong). It's just slow going with lots of short hiking sections. There are other parts of the 300 that I think are far more taxing, but the Canelos just catch people off-guard literally 100 feet into the race. Plan to take your time through the Canelos, pace yourself, don't get dehydrated, and know that the first 30 miles of the 300 are especially slow. Also know that the second half of the Canelos is notably less rugged than the first half. With just a little luck (mainly for your tires), you'll make it through just fine if you're not in any sort of a rush.

Thanks for that recap, Dean. Nice push out there! It sounds like the rain/mud really provided an unneeded challenge. Oof. At least you got up onto Elk Ridge. On a tour across Utah last summer, I rode Hite => Elk Ridge => Abajo Peak => Robertson Pasture  => Indian Creek  => Lockhart Basin  => Moab, and it was one of my favorite sections of the entire route. That's some amazing country. Thanks for piecing together this loop!

Mike, I'd second Tim's suggestion for something south of Picketpost TH. I grown to really love the whole section from Tiger Mine Road (just east of Oracle) to Picketpost. But that's a tough one logistically since it's point-to-point, and also the section immediately north of Tiger Mine Road is a bit of a rough intro to the AZT, in and out of steep drainages for miles.

Instead, you might look into the Gila River Ramble loop option. ScottM has tracks for that here on bikepacking.net. There are some nice 3-4 day options for that loop, and it will give you a great survey of typical southern AZ riding, with a mix of AZT singletrack, rugged jeep road, and some cruiser dirt road if you opt to head south for a bit out of Kelvin up the Florence-Kelvin "Highway."

Whatever you end up doing, enjoy. It's amazing country with stellar riding.

-- kurt

...so good everyone is keeping it a secret?

It's almost AZT time again?!? Yay!

Trail conditions in the Canelos were remarkably horrendous as of a couple weeks ago. It's going to take a *lot* of work to repair all the damage from that second tropical storm remnant that dropped 5-6" of rain down there.

How'd it go out there for the folks that took this on?

Oh man, what a bummer! He has *so* much momentum heading into the dark last night. He's so close, but I feel the same as Toby...these races aren't worth serious overuse injuries. I'll be sending some happy-knee-vibes his way this morning!

The best start date is usually the end of may or early June. Temperatures start getting quite hot down low by then, but snow stubbornly clings to the highest parts of the route until late May in most years. September can also be nice out there, but then there are even fewer water sources available.

For the past 6 winters, I've watched the Columbine Pass SNOTEL with great intent. This winter is no different.

And I'm not sure if there's been a new topic on BP.net for the Grand Loop since 2009, which saddens me. Does anyone have any interest in racing this anymore? I rode most of the Paradox Trail last summer as part of a month-long tour, and it felt great to be back out there. That country makes me feel so insignificant. While there's not much singletrack in the 360 miles, it sure is a dang hard route, it's incredibly beautiful, and as a whole, it's considerably more remote than any of the now-popular ultras out there. I hope to hear of a few more people giving it a go this year.

Keep watching that SNOTEL, wait for it to bottom out, and then give it two more weeks for the last of the snow to melt out of the deep, dark woods atop the Uncompahgre 

Also, I'll be coming down for the 300 with Kaitlyn. We'll be in need of some shuttling help to get to the start. If anyone can help or wants to set something up wtih us, please let me know!

There is GPX, and it has been done (repeated).  It is far from rideable.  I don't recommend it unless you really want to get off the beaten path, do something different.  It's more of a potential AZT-bike route than anything ready to go.  Only for the very adventurous.

Kurt R and Kaitlyn rode/hiked it recently.  They said it's 'worse' than Highline and Oracle Ridge. 

Ha! I haven't been on bikepacking.net in probably two months, and I log in and find this! We did indeed do this route just a few weeks ago as part of a 2-turned-3 day loop around the Superstitions. We went north to south, over Gunsight, on through Haunted Canyon, and then to Picketpost. Gunsight Gap and Apache Pass is probably 5 miles, with 4 of it trail-less hiking through sharp bushy hills. Then there's some rideable dirt roads. Then the first 5 miles of Haunted Canyon is a well-traveled trail, but I'd estimate that <3% of it was rideable. Beyond that, the last 5 miles of the the "trail" really had no discernible trail and was simply bushwhacking up a densely vegetated, rocky drainage. I think that 10 miles of Haunted Canyon took a solid 8 hours to get through. But we did get through, were glad we did, and have no plans to do it again.

Good luck to anyone that attempts it!

The most impressive performances this year in my humble opinion were Eszter's subarctic and desert rides, Jefe's pain train ride on the Colorado Trail, and Mike Hall's mind blowing TD ride. I had trouble imagining what any of them put themselves through, both physically and mentally, on those rides. Oof.

I'd also give an honorable mention for Bobby Treadwell for his singlespeed ride on the Coconino Loop. He nearly beat the old [geared] record on a ride that was 3x longer than anything he had done before on a bike. What an awesome rookie performance that was. And for the record, he and Kaitlyn Boyle were the ones who inspired me to ride that route again this fall, not the other way around as Scott wrote above

Go Ray go! He's put up a fast time so far. If he's indeed going for the SS record, I think Bobby Treadwell's time last weekend was 36:07 (based on his GPX file).

Here are Bobby's splits, adjusted for an I-17 start (rather than the Williams start):

Cottonwood: 8:32 (Ray was ~8:20)
Perkinsville: 16:22 (Ray should have been ~15:15 I think)
Williams: 21:44
Flagstaff: 30:30
I-17: 36:07

So Ray is on a solid pace! But those are Bobby's splits from mid-way through his ride, and Bobby rode in the dark what Ray just had daylight for. I think Ray is going to have keep his foot on the gas all night long! I'm sure glad I'm not out there right now 

Don't count on getting water at Pinegrove or Diary Springs CGs. They're both closed due to the government shutdown, and I would assume the water has been shut off. There are a few ponds out in that area, just before Pinegrove CG, from which you could get water if you needed some.

The Texaco Station is still closed, but they are also the Parks post office. So the makeshift PO is open during normal business hours. But you'll be going through there on Monday, which is a holiday, so they'll probably be closed. The drinks are not in a vending machine, just a standard gas station-type cooler. So if the PO is closed, you won't be able to buy any. But there is a stream you cross right near the end of Sycamore Canyon Rim that has some water in it, so you could treat that. There's also a cafe/store on Rt 66 ~1/4 mile west of Parks, so you could swing a short way off route to grab something to drink there. They also have great Philly cheese steak sandwiches.