AZTR Enduro

From General Springs I crossed the main forest road and got on what ended up being the rowdiest descent of the whole route. It was just straight down a steep loose telephone line access filled with rocks.  I rode most of it but did have to walk a few feet of the descent since I would pick up speed to fast on the loaded bike. The Highline Trail is the most dreaded section of the AZT. I was optimistic by heading South this wouldn't be the case. It turns out starting in 2022 this will no longer be the case.  A trail crew has made significant progress on cleaning up the trail.  While I still did get a preview of the the past torture fest only a few hills at the start will still so rocky they were not rideable.  The parts which have been reworked were rather soft and that made pedaling difficult but it will pack in. They basically ran a zamboni over the whole trail. I met the trail workers and thanked them for their work. I also ran in the ranger heading up the project an...

 I was glad to be able to pack up in the warm room while it was still well below freezing outside.  I stopped by the general store for some hot coffee on my way out of town.  I met a southbound through hiker who was very worried, two days later snow and even colder temps we're coming and they knew they had a few days before they dropped into Pine and lower elevation.  I was very glad I would be moving fast enough to be well ahead of the weather. This plant lined the trail and glows silver at night Lots of gates this day This trail is exactly what I though the Northern trail would be, dreamy flowing singletrack with some minor elevation change.   Halfway through the day I ran back into Chad who was bikepacking southbound that I met at the Grand Canyon North Rim.  We caught up and it turned out he had gotten rained out after taking the shuttle around the Grand Canyon. He spent over a day at the South Rim.  I kept moving, determined to make it to the...

 I woke up next to the gate after hearing someone pass through right at sunrise. As I was packing up a pair of through hikers come through. They had heard me out late the night before as I was running my bear bell.  After I had packed up camp I set out towards Flagstaff. The bike route follows the equestrian trail which is a long ways around the town to then go into it for resupply.  I had strategically picked the spot I had shipped my stuff to knowing this. I had picked the CVS closest to the trail as they we're a FedEx shipping center and had a couple restaurants in the plaza. I picked up the package, ordered a significant amount of food from the restaurant next door, then setup on the patio to unpack shipment. I had shipped a more conventional backpack, fresh clothes, a tent, and a lighter weight sleeping bag. Its amazing the people who finish the trail without a drop shipment. I took over a corner of the patio. It took almost 2 hours to get all my new stuff in place a...

 I started the day out nice and cozy from sleeping in a hotel. I woke up early and decided to grab a quick breakfast from the Mexican  restaurant from the same plaza, it was freezing outside.  I was expecting breakfast burritos but was surprised by an all you can eat American breakfast buffet. I grabbed my bike, stopped by the general store to grab some sugary snacks and an packet of Ramen as I was low on food and wasn't sure if it was gonna be a one or two day journey to Flagstaff.  The trail to the lookout tower was in quite good condition. I was serenaded by the anthem of the Northern AZ woods: Chainsaws.  There was a crew of 6 lumberjacks cutting trees just off trail.  I ran into some hunters looking for elk just after and and let them know the elks probably don't like all the chainsaws going in the area. Warm Hotel in Tusayan Grandview Firetower At Grandview I had to go up the fire tower to get a look, I've never passed up a fire tower overlook.  ...

I woke up quite sore from the day before. I took quite awhile to get my bike strapped back onto my bag.  I decided today warranted 2 pouches of oatmeal.  I quickly crossed the bridge across the Colorado River and through the tunnel. I ran into a group familiar with the race and they got some great photos of me and gave great words of encouragement.  The day was a blur but here's some of the things people said: Canyon Views "I've seen plenty of men ride bicycles, but I've never seen a bicycle ride a man" -Mule train cowboy(w/Pit Vipers) "Oh is there good trails at the bottom, no? And you found out the hard way" "You must have really wanted a bicycle at the bottom" "I bet you had a blast riding that thing down" "So will you bring your bike to a shop to be reassembled when you get out?" In the end hiking out was just as difficult as down & across. Huge props to the bikepacking lunatics who do the whole thing in a day! I...

I got up to cook breakfast and pack my things up. I tried to be strategic knowing I'd be attaching my bike to my bag shortly.  I killed the partial butane I had started with and broke out my brand new can, one less thing to carry through the canyon.  I ate with the rim hikers I had met the night before. I got to the permit office just a few minutes before 8. They phoned the South Rim and were able to get me a permit at the group spot in Bright Angel which was ideal. That meant I would hike the 7 miles down and 7 miles across today and save the 7 miles up for the next day.  I donated my left over shower quarters to the NPS to not carry a bunch of extra metal across the canyon. A few hundred feet in Bike Disassembly Once at the trail there was a small sign that said "No Bicycles". It took me about 40 minutes to pack my bike up.  The weather was overcast and drizzling which was ideal.  The bike felt heavy but manageable. I was very glad to have a proper bag to keep...

First View of The Canyon First Metal Sign I got going from Jacobs Lake and quite enjoyed the trail. Lots of great scenery and buff trail. Some great views once I got to the Eastern Rim.  The day flew by and I got to the North Rim just before dark, I found the backcountry permit office to have closed at 5 despite it having said 6 online.  They reopened at 8 AM though. I went down the the campground and was happy to meet another South Bound rider.  Chad was scheduled to take the shuttle around the canyon the next morning at 7 but warned me of forecasted overnight rain. He had bought a $6 tarp from the general store there and it was huge so he offered me to cut half of it off.  I did and rigged it to some trees and anchored the bottom with my bike.  It ended up raining gently for most of the morning so I was very glad to have it.  I also met a group of very nice hikers who were doing a 4 day rim to rim to rim.   First "No Moto" sign in GCNP I found t...

Sunrise in Big Water I woke up at sun rise and go to work pedaling to the start.  A ton of empty pick up trucks passed me and I hap hazardly stuck out a thumb hoping someone would give me a ride so I could get on singletrack.  There was a surprising amount of traffic once I turned onto dirt of people going to assorted trail heads.  I got to state line campground around 11:20 and did some stretching and ate a little in the shade. At the Northern Terminus I started up the first hill and it was tough! It was 86* with no shade and a ton of elevation to be gained. I saw a through hiker about to finish only about a mile from the trail head which was a cool way to start.  It was interesting I felt like I was on New Mexico style desert, looking at big red rock Utah style desert and marching towards Arizona style terrain.  Once up top in the woods the trail became more enjoyable.  I was making great progress but right before dark I started to feel weak.  I deci...

I had planned to leave the house at 11 to pick up my rental car in Denver but work had other plans with an unplanned outage on my groups most important application starting at 10.  I did end up getting out the door around 12:30 after resolving the issue. As we headed out the door and I test my GPS one more time I laughed when it said I was ~450 miles offroute and Erin pointed out that I'm only driving about half as far as I planned to ride. Erin dropped me off at the rental car place in downtown Denver, it felt a bit funny to only have the clothes I plan to wear for the next week on. I stopped in Fruita to pick up a big pizza from Pablos as my last meal before exiting society for a few weeks on and off. My original plan was to catch a ride from a trail angel who posted on the race forum a few months earlier but that plan had fallen through earlier in the week. Midnight at Page Airport I arrived in Page around midnight, a few hours later than planned due to work.  I had some tr...