Bikepacking and Endurance Mountain Biking

After the Grand Loop race in late May, Scott and I began to talk about making our own loop with as much singletrack as possible, fun singletrack. The fewer dirt roads the better. My theory is that a dirt road should only be used as a connector, not as an entire race. The double track during the Grand Loop was incredibly steep and often unrideable. We chatted about some routes on the way home from the Grand Junction, northern Arizona was the likely candidate.

We got the base loop down that I posted last week and from there we went out on a mission to ride it. I was very familiar with the first part of the route as it was basically two of the Arizona Endurance Series races spliced and combined (CDC and SBFL).

Scott, Lee and I started on the Flagstaff Urban Loop and made our way to the Arizona Trail. The trail to Mormon Lake seemed to be in the best shape that I have ever seen, plenty of scenery

Near Mormon Lake we filled up some water courtesy of the Knights of Columbus camp and continued on forest roads toward Sedona.


Camping on Hot Loop Trail gave us some spectacular evening and morning views.





The next morning, we woke up and headed to Circle K for a mandatory refuel stop. Loading up our bladders with ice seemed appropriate given the 94 degree high that was predicted. We bathed in Red Rock Crossing and headed toward the Lime Klin Trail.



Unknown to any of us, a local named Billy gave us some beta about the singletrack/doubletrack, old wagon route.



The trail was great, especially toward the end near Dead Horse State Park.

After a quick refueling at Hog Wild and Maverick, we slowly began the climb up Mingus Mountain, toward Trail 106.



It was hot enough that Lee rode up helmet-less



Some pretty steep forest roads insued



Views of Cottonwood, Verde Valley, Kachina Peaks, and Sedona were at every turn.

Riding up Trail 106 seemed perfect for the first mile or so, then it quickly shifted to a hike-a-bike. Towards the middle of the trail, we are able to ride some sections, but for the most part, the trail was pretty unfuntastic. We are looking at different options to not use this route for the loop, namely Black Canyon.



We got to the top of Mingus this second day and had another amazing camping spot, as you can see in Scott's picture from the next morning.



We woke up the next morning in search of water, until we realized there was a ranger station at the bottom of Yaeger Canyon. We descended down the wonderful trail #28. Simply stunning views of Prescott and some great, technical singletrack.



We got down to the "ranger station" to find just a old, empty road. Bummer. We continued to ride along, dropping down to the hotter, lower Prescott Valley area. We managed to find some water in a stock tank. Not the best looking water, but it worked for emergency uses.



We got some water at the Verde River and headed up the road to one of my favorite sections of the route, Bill Williams. This is the part of the ride that Lee found his wings again; he left Scot and I behind as he powered up the very scenic road.

The singletrack is almost all rideable on the way up, and on the way down, well, let's just say I was surprised.



The rain started approaching while we were getting to the top of the mountain. Riding into town to get a hotel seemed like the best approach. The first few hotels were booked, but finally we managed to find one that was in our budget that had a vacancy. We ordered 3 medium pizzas and headed to bed early.

The next morning, the sun came out as we pulled out of the parking lot. Good times. It was nice to sleep on a bed, but the top of the mountain would have been nice also. Imagine sleeping on all three high points of the race, oh well.

We headed on some dirt roads



to some more singletrack, Sycamore Rim Trail. Very good stuff.



if the technical singletrack does not inspire you, then the views will certainly...



After the Rim Trail, we headed back to Flagstaff with another storm approaching. We got a little wet, but it was the perfect ending to one of the best loops I have ever ridden.



Thanks Scott and Lee, and Scott for the pictures and letting me borrow the camera from time to time. As usual, it is not so much about the route as the people you ride with, both Lee and Scott are some of the best riders around, and they invoke some pretty interesting conversation.



The entire route in 3D courtesy of Topofusion


and the aerial view of the new route that we have, more stuff has been added and it is now a race





Final stats from the route per Scott's track: 216 miles, 24,000′ elevation gain

The new race is slated for October 9, 2009. There is a 250-mile and 350-mile option, 32k and 38k of climbing respectively.

The official thread is on bikepacking.net
The race site is on Arizona Endurance Series

Thanks to Dave C, Billy B, Mike H, Troy M, Nathan F, the guys at Pay n Take/Pines to Mines crew for making this route possible. While the idea to make this route started from our conversation, these guys helped develop/inspired the route.

The idea to do a bikepacking trip in northern Arizona was tossed around by Scott and I after the Grand Loop. "One big loop" was the goal and I quickly got to it this past weekend. I merged tracks, added new tracks on forest roads, and asked friends for beta on some areas I have never been.

A 450-mile ride was the final version, from which we narrowed it down to this base loop:



The loop can very immensely, but Flagstaff is always the hub of the loop. There are three areas that are bound to be a must-hammer section (depending on direction): Bill Williams, Casner Mountain, and Mingus.

Highlights of the route:

• AZT goodness
• Grand Canyon views
• Casner Mountain with some killer views of Sedona and Sycamore Canyon
  
• Mingus Mountain
  
• Prescott Loop on about 80% singletrack
• Bill Williams

I would estimate about 60% of the route is singletrack/doubletrack.

To put the route to the test, Scott, Lee and I are going to start riding from Flagstaff tomorrow for 3-4 days.... It should be good.

Make sure to check out this thread by Mike about the recent trip to the North Rim. Stunning pictures, simply stunning.

Looks like Nicaragua and Costa Rica are going to have to wait some weeks. A confusion with the tickets has forced us to push the trip back 3 weeks. No big deal, right? Looks like I will be able to enjoy some of the cool weather, some rest for the hand (still a little numb), and possibly pick up a few shifts.

Recovery was in order, and what better way than to ride dirty century ride from Flagstaff to Sedona.

Plenty of interesting points along the ride, Sycamore Canyon probably being the highlight of the ride. The ride veers southwest of Flagstaff, riding through meadows. Touring pace was the goal.



As with any dirty century, the secret is to just continue to pedal. I was in no rush today, just needed to ride the route. I tried to make my cockpit something resembling his, but alas I only had a watch, GPS, and bell. One day. The watch was there to remind me that it was in fact a touring pace.



The forest road meandered for about 20 miles before turning into the best powerline road I have ever ridden. The views were stunning to say the least. Sycamore Canyon, Sedona, Cottonwood Valley, Jerome and the San Francisco Peaks in the background....it was 360 degrees of goodness. The pictures can boast

Looking toward Cottonwood



Steep sections are plentiful



but pale in comparison to the reward


Isn't creation a thing to marvel?


I had lunch here before pressing on to Sedona



and later Munds and Schnebly Hill. The singletrack was in the perfect section of the race, the middle. I thoroughly enjoyed it, largely due to the cool weather we are having in Arizona right now.



Flowers are plentiful, you just need to slow down a little bit. I call today's pace a fast tour.





The ride from Munds to Flagstaff was a bit slower. A brief stop at Woody's Food Market and I was off to ride some double track into Flagstaff.

100+ miles in 11 hours 13 minutes. Not too shabby.
More to come from the Kaibab as I venture to the North Rim today....

The next morning we woke up after a nice 8 hour sleep, headed to the infamous Bedrock Store. Scott and I had argued a little bit about the opening time of the store, it was either 8 or 9am. We opted to just hope that it was at 8am and just head down from the mesa in order to make it to the store on time. 8am it was


We stocked up on some much needed food before heading out toward Carpenter Ridge. It was going to take a descent amount of effort to get on top of the ridge.

We were making good time on this section of the trail. It was nice to be back up high again.



Scott had mentioned that we had to climb to 9800 feet and we were tottering at 7500 for awhile before making the slow, gradual climb up to the high point of the entire route. Rain clouds were all around us.


The drops came first. Then there was the sound of the onslaught behind us. We thought we could out run the storm. Big, big mistake. The hail came down as we were trying to out bike the storm. After about 1/2 mile, we took cover again. Our hands were cold, we were cold. In a matter of 5 minutes, it went from clear, blue sky to hail.

We pushed on in the storm. The roads became one big stream. The front tire began to swerve on its own. A glimmer of hope appeared in the distance, a house! Shelter! Wooo hoooo!

As the trail turned, I realized that the house we saw was pretty far off course. I looked back, Scott was not in sight. We were in a big meadow, rain was falling down with the occasional hail moment. I kept riding/pushing my bike up the hills to get to the top of the meadow. Success at last, it seemed flat for awhile. Then the rain stopped.



We had to push our bike across the meadow or in what stream that there was, otherwise our bikes would instantly get peanut butter-like clay on the tires and would be completely stop.

After a few minutes of slogging, we saw a mountain biker on the other side of the meadow and he was RIDING. It turned out it was Marshall. We chatted for a bit before parting ways. About 10 minutes had passed, when we saw another cyclist on the meadow. Dumbfounded, I thought it was my imagination. I think it was Scott who recognized Dave first, crying out "It is Dave Harris!" Amazing. Soggy, wet, and tired, Dave and I instantly went for a big hug, laughing uncontrollably at the fact that we were suffering together. Epic indeed. We exchanged beta before continuing on toward Kokopelli.

More pushing in the mud, carrying the bike, cleaning the bike continued for about 2 hours before we finally were able to ride. It was a welcome relief, but our goal in finishing in other 3 days seemed unattainable. I think it was here that I began to slow down to a crawl on some sections of the course. The camera stayed in the bag for most of this section of the trail, for obvious reasons. I was tired and cold.



We kept riding though the night, dragging on. Scott pulled for most of the night Kokopelli riding. I just tried to ride what I could. At Dewey Bridge, we pulled out our camping gear and finally went to bed at 3am.

At 5am, we started packing our gear when Jefe pulled up. We completed packing our gear, exchanging beta, and made our way toward the Yellowjacket.



The sleep was good and it propelled us for about half the day. At Westwater, a fellow mountain biker asked us if we needed some food or beer. I think we managed to score about 50 calories in food and one of these....

Scott even had a sip. "It is cold, give it to me," he replied when I asked if he wanted a drink. Thadda boy Scottie.

The last 3-4 hours was hard, probably the hardest of the entire trip. With not a cloud in the sky, it had turned to a bake fest. Two guys from Arizona complaining about the heat, really?! Yes, it was very hot. At one point, we had to hid under an overhang just to continue moving.

Things got a little more peachier as we continued toward the end of the trail or maybe that was just in my mind. Without a working GPS, I was often clueless on exactly how far we had until the finish line. The best sign that you are on your third day of an endurance ride, Scott commenting "I am not getting down on the ground to take a picture of the flowers." I guess it was my turn.



We finally made it to the trailhead, 3 days and 11 hours after we had started. With 48,000 feet of climbing, it is a beast of a ride. Endurance riding is best done with friends...thanks Scott. Well done senior.

Singleeeeeeeeeeespeeeeeeeeed! was said several times during the trip by Scott.

Starting from Mike's house made this seem like a routine ride. Everything (weather, mechanicals, spirits, SPOT beacons, etc.) seemed to be in our favor that morning we started.

The little bell on my bike even got some use that early morning when Mike came up to take some last pictures. He was a crucial factor in making this thing happen, both his hospitality and encouragement were evident.


But alas, it was time for Scott and I to venture out into the unknown. I say unknown because I was completely new to this route and Scott, well, let's just say that he had forgotten a lot of the route. Additionally, nobody had ever done the route this way or on a singlespeed. I was in for a treat.

The early morning excitement that was felt on some of the singletrack continued into Rough Canyon. It was a great descent. Between the smiles and laughter, the hike-a-bike on the other side was nothing. We even ran into a few sections of clay on Bang Canyon that we had to carry the bikes around. The touted Cactus Park was nice and smooth, very little sandy sections. We were moving pretty fast, taking only a few minutes to reapply sunscreen or eat. Otherwise the goal was simple: just keep cranking out those miles.

These early miles were coming easy since Scott and I were riding together. We chatted a little bit about previous racers...logistics, gear and the like. At the start of the race, we had agreeed to ride through the night together before we started "to race" after Bedrock. Basically, it meant that I did not want to be slowing Scott down if he wanted to hammer ahead.

After finishing the solo AZT 300, I was suprised that I did not use my music from my nano Ipod. So for this trip, I left the tunes at home. Nature has its own melody of music (trees dancing or the warm wind moving the green grass) or you can get lost in the passing views.

We were rapidly descending into the final valley before hitting the Divide Road, when I glanced up to see an animal in the road. "Skunnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnk!" I yelled, only to later realize that it was a porcupine. We stopped to wait for it to meander across the road. We actually got to see two porcupines during this trip; although I felt like the second one was pretty close to my bike, it just waddled out of the road.

The Divide Road was a the perfect transition into what was coming. Its smooth, recently graded roads allowed for some down time from the climbs of the Big and Little Dominguez. The aspens when coupled with the views were inspiring. The birds were singing in the trees, this ride was truly remarkable.

More than 12 hours had passed since we started that morning. By this time, the leftover pizza already was eaten, water had been purified, conversations had taken its coure, it was now time to enjoy the views before it became dark and cold. One thing can be said about riding with someone, at nightfall the conversations seem to slowly diminish into barely a whisper.

We ate on the descent from the Divide Road to the Swamp Thing Singletrack. Freeze dried meals for both of us. Mmmmmmm. It was a welcome relief from the bars that we had been inhaling.

Earlier in the day, Scott had told me a bit about the Swamp Thing and Roubideaux Trails, so I knew a little bit what to expect. I think it was here that I first began to hear the classic, funny sentence when we met an impossible section: "Wow" or "I completely forget about this part of the trail." Frankly, I was dumbfounded. Having completed the AZT 300, I thought the Grand Loop Race would be something similar with respect to the amount of singletrack/hike-a-bike. The next 6 hours would be one big slog through creeks, up and over downed trees, and up/down super steep hills. The only reassuring thought was that you sometimes need to work for the good parts of the race.

Route finding during Swap Thing proved efficient with the GPS; the next section of the Ruby-Do would prove to be one of the hardest during the route. The dew had already soaked the ground, so the high grass would invariably soak our shoes and socks. All was quiet. The chatter of the birds completely diminished. Neither Scott nor I said any word that was not important. We just did what had to be done. Scott had pulled us up to the Divide Road most of the morning and afternoon, ergo I decided it was my turn to push us through this section of the trail. And so we did, but not without a small blunder. Crossing one of the sections of the creek, I managed to drop my bike into the water. Instant GPS failure for the rest of the trip. In the mishap, I also managed to submerge both feet into the creek. Instant cold feet for the rest of the night.

We set up camp somewhere around 3am and got up at 5am ready to finish the Ruby-Do. Riding from sunrise to sunset has a special place in my heart; Scott was able to capture some of the early sunrise in this picture of me hiking out of the last sections of Ruby-Do

A few hours passed before we really got warm again. We ran into Matt and Josh, two racers that had started early. The following are two shots Scott's photos:We chatted for a bit before continuing on toward the singletrack. This was another hurdle, since it had some pretty big snow drifts. Moods were pretty low during this part of the trail, I think we both wanted to be on a fast descent toward Bedrock instead of pushing our bikes through snow drifts. Honestly, I think we both lacked motivation and leadership during this 15 hours of the trip from Swap Thing to the end of the singletrack at the Divide Road. We fell into a brief spell of despair, the "wow" and "I can't believe..." comments were more prevalent. Had we each been riding alone at this time, we would have individually pushed ourselves to ride through this section instead of dropping the pace a bit.

Part of the drop in pace was also to a little fatigue, I know I was tired and wanted to break. This left the possibility of reaching our supply point (Bedrock Store) during store hours impossible. We tried to make up lost time during the next sections of the trail, dropping down from the Divide Road and onto toward Tab Creek.

When we realized that making Bedrock was implausible, we opted to rest an hour at Tab Creek before continuing on. At 10pm, we found a great camping spot on the mesa above the highway and set the alarm at 6am to head into Bedrock.

to be continued....

Scott and I arrived to Grand Junction a little late to really get a good start on the Grand Loop. More importantly, we concluded that the ground could use another good day of drying before we made our backwards attempt at the 380-mile route. Scott said that backwards would have the hardest sections during the first part of the multi-day race. Also, It had never been done before. Either direction had no attempts on a singlespeed.

The day before we started (last Tuesday 5/26) we opted for some riding on the Tab trails. A coffee and REI run were among a few of the things we did to kill some time. The weather was incredible, perhaps a start would have been better instead of waiting around. As I mentioned before, we did do some riding. A few of the trails that we rode (Gunny, Pet-e-kes, and Pre-nup) were going to be the new end of the race (which was the start for us since we were doing it in reverse). Here are a few pictures from the day.

Mike also let me borrow a Milk Money, 29 Full Suspension singlespeed that you can see in the picture above. It was an incredible ride. I was almost corrupted by riding it for that short time. But alas, I had to get up the next morning and ride my own, dependable ol' Lynskey.