I think I can make it go in four days 

Jonathan - great info. I have always carried a needle and thread but never thought of sewing up the tire without removing it and breaking the bead. A curved needle is going in my bikepacking toolkit immediately. 

Great photos and ride report. I love the Paunsaugunt plateau.

http://2-epic.com/?p=1767 is a ride recon I did up there in June before Dixie 200 this year (2012).

GPX files for the Dixie 200 can be downloaded here http://2-epic.com/events/dixie200.html

See you at 2013 Dixie 200 :-)

I get last place for this years Coconino race reports but here it is http://2-epic.com/?p=1831

Oooohhh....attractive....was tossing around a May trip home to see the family in Edinburgh already!!!

What is a very rough guess at how many days the route will take if you ride daylight hours only? Thinking kinder logistics already...

I really enjoyed the stage race format of this event. More-so than I expected! Thx to Chad and Scott for this invention. I thought I would note what it was I liked so much about this format.

- I loved riding solo in my bubble most of the time but also really enjoyed when my pace matched another rider and we rode a few miles together.
- I loved chasing tracks. Those Captain tracks were the easiest to see and kept me on course several times as my gps failed for this event :-(
- It was comforting  knowing if I broke down there was help behind.
- I enjoy riding solo but not camping solo as much. Having people to camp with was super.
- I would get tired at the end of the day and the fun factor would go down and then it was right back up at the start of the next day. Sleeping and a fresh start every day kept the trail enjoyment pegged.
- I got to see the entire course in the daylight. Sightseeing is a major motivation for me in these events.

Good work to all you finishers!! Looking at the day 2 & 3 times I think Meade and I made the right choice to pull out before her "fun" suffering turned south. Glad to have met all of you all and I know our paths will cross on future trails. Next up...AZTR750!!

The hike-a-bike up Mingus was a total gutfest. You made the right call not to take Meade up there. Speaking as a small stature woman I can tell you that lifting a loaded bike up rocky ledges with sketchy footing is stupid. I lost my footing trying to heave it up one ledge and fell off the side of the trail and ended up 20 feet down the slope off the trail with my bike on top of me. There was no fun in that suffering and I got pretty scratched up.

Great to meet everybody out there.

Ray - you describe that hike-a-bike kindly in your blog. I found it somewhat less fun... Thx again for the fire and congrats on going so fast - impressive!

Other than the ridiculous HAB I loved the route. Beautiful. Sycamore Canyon made me stop racing and start being a tourist walking out to every viewpoint. This was my first time racing the stage race format and I liked it a lot.

Jay - you looked spry on Monday. I'm surprised to hear you were beat down the day before. That pizza must have been gold.

Here are my times:
Stage 1 - 6:34
Stage 2 - 11:00
Stage 3 - 10:12
Stage 4 - 8:11

Big  for racing a full and hearty cross season. Do your non specific training now that will make you fast then do the endurance work in Feb, March, April, May to be perfectly prepped on race day.

To succeed at events like TD you have to be a well rounded athlete in many aspects and not only an endurance specialist.

it seems as if its more of a FS trail, am i wrong?

Thanks again!

FS is my call too but plenty of people finish this race on all kinds of bikes.

I will be starting on Oct 5th about noon so I'll be chasing tracks all day. I will drive to Flagstaff early Fri morning. Will make for a long Friday. Guess I better pack some lights now. See everybody at camp.

Tim,

Super fine pics and story. Makes me wanna do the 750 next year 

You sure have covered a lot of terrain on your bike!

Lynda

Does this info already exist somewhere and I'm doubling up on work or does self sufficiency start at home?

Yes it does all exist!

Join the Arizona Trail Association http://www.aztrail.org/ They have an amazing amount of member only information. It is spoon fed to you. When I discovered that cache of info I almost felt like I was cheating! Membership starts at $30. Its a bargain! You get good trail karma when you are on the trail if you are a member - that right there is worth $30 ;-)

Here are some of their member only goods:

Guidebook: The Arizona Trail Guidebook is a series of PDF files and is organized by passages. It contains a wealth of information including mileages, elevations, water sources, campsites, trail head parking, and more. There are detailed directions for each passage and basic outdoor travel information.

Data book: Updated June 2012 The Arizona Trail Databook is a PDF file and is organized by passages. It contains passage and total miles, elevations, reference to GPS waypoints, water sources, campsites, trail head parking, and miscellaneous notes.

Small, less-detailed "pocket maps" can be purchased at our online store, or are free to ATA members from their pocket maps page.

They have a brand new (released July 2012) Arizona Trail Mountain Bike Databook is a PDF file and is organized by passages. It contains passage and total miles, elevations, reference to GPS waypoints, water sources, campsites, trail head parking, and miscellaneous notes. It also contains the alternate routes needed by bicyclists to get around wilderness areas where bicycles are prohibited.

I almost feel guilty posting about this info but the more people who become members of ATA the better.

Lynda

I'm really interested. Partly because it is so far outside of my comfortable desert environment.

I have some very basic and probably dumb questions. Do I need to carry a gun for bear protection? What else is out there that will maim or kill me?

I Specific recommendations of which maps you like would be great!

I pull up the map and the route on Topofusion, print it out and put it in a ziplok baggie. Cheap, light and you get the track printed on it.

Thanks Chad! The plan right now is to show up with a crew of ladies and ride the route with a lot of giggling along the way. Expect some estrogen in camp this year ;-)

Oh poo on the date change. I'll still be out on the 4th to start on the 5th.

ditto

poo, poo

I can't do the 12th either and had arranged everything for the 5th already.

Chad/Scott why the date change? Curious for the reason.

Mixing it up gets the best results.

Huge congrats to everyone who finished. Special congrats to Jefe and Cat - awesome ride both of you.

Riding under the April 25th 2013 full moon gets my vote so that would be Fri 19th or Fri 26th for a start.

I do plan to be there :-)