Stage 1: Jacobs Lake

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 decided it was time to stop and eat so I pulled out my stove. After eating I felt much better. I decided I should stop in Jacobs Lake to get water. I had planned to continue pedaling a few more hours as I originally had planned to make it all the way to the North Rim the first day but the prologue got the best of me and pushed my time off. It was really cold there. I ended up getting a milk shake at the store and as soon as I sat down in their lobby area I was surrounded by a family of 20 making plans for the next day. I decided to grab a spot on a picnic bench at the campground across the street. I planned to pay the next morning since it was pretty late but got woken up at 11 PM by the campground host being asked if I paid. I settled up in the morning and met some cycle tourists who just finished a 4 day trip on roads, paths, and some AZT. The campground closed for the season that night!

First AZT Gate

Milkshake at Jacobs Lake

Stats: 8.5 hours moving time
60.5 miles 6,342k of gain

Comments

Stage 0: The Drive

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...

Stage 5: Leg Redemption

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. ...

Stage 8: Highline Trail

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...

AZTR Enduro

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