# AZ Bikepacking story



## rocky rode (Jul 13, 2005)

Hi Folks,

I just completed a 6 day ultra light bikepacking trip in southern AZ. Scott Morris suggested I post it here. That's a good idea 'cause I usually hang out on the 29er forum and I rode a cross bike on this trip. I wasn't sure where to put it.

Bikepacking on the AZ Trail

Photos here: 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/garandpatti/sets/72057594069025246/
If you chose the slide show, which is nice, you won't get a description

2/8/06 
It's warm! By 9:30 AM I've pulled off my arm and leg warmers. It's always funny and good to feel the air on your legs after a winter of having them covered up. I've driven 10 hours from my home in Colorado to find warmth and to ride. I stopped the car at Roosevelt Dam in southern Arizona, it's just below the 7,000' Mogollon Rim and I'm at around 2,000'.

I'm on the first day of a 6 day solo self contained bike trip. For the south bound portion of my trip I'm following the mountain bike portion of the Arizona Trail. I'm using the guidebook by Andrea Lankford, "Biking The Arizona Trail". The hiking portion of the AZ Trail is often not practical or legal to ride a bike on and Andrea has mapped a route for cyclists from Utah to Mexico. I'll follow as much of it as time will allow.

I'm on the Apache Trail this morning, skirting the northern end of the Superstition Wilderness and following what once was the Salt River and is now Apache and Canyon Lakes. The road is dirt, steep and never straight, but the scenery here is fabulous and extremely rugged country. It seems to be up or down, but never level for more than a few hundred yards. This is why I'm here! One climb goes up 800' vertical in a little over one mile. After 24 miles the road turns to pavement and the tourist trap called Tortilla Flat appears. I wasn't ready for this, a parking with about 20 cars and a bunch of elderly tourists walking around looking dumb. I buy a soda and eat the last of the breakfast burritos Patti has made me and get out of there. The road is paved now, but it's still very twisty and hilly, however still very pretty country in spite of the traffic. It reminds me of the roads I've ridden in Italy. Unfortunately, it was also very windy causing me to be pretty cautious on the downhills as I get hit with blasts of wind from the side canyons and hills.

At Lost Dutchman State Park I stop for water and after a few more miles of dirt I'm on US Highway 60. A very busy 4 lane with rumble strips and guard rails that tend to come right out to the traffic lane. With the wind this was by far the worst part of the day, my speed was dismal, the heat now seemed stifling and the noise from the traffic was deafening. This is why I seek out dirt roads to ride. The last chance for water was to be at a gas station at Florence Junction, unfortunately it was all closed up. So, I had to go 4 miles, uphill of course, off my route to the village of Queen Creek to fill up with water for the night. I filled my Camelbak HAWG and two big water bottles, 144 onces, enough to last me twenty four hours if I need to.

Back on US 60 I head south on a jeep road a slow, rocky gradual climb for eight miles before descending into the Box Canyon Narrows, a very pretty canyon and quite technical jeep/ ATV trail. I get to the Gila River shortly after sunset and set up camp on a cactus infested ridge. Jumping Cactus have these bulbs that fall off onto the ground and get flung up by feet or tires and stick to everything like glue. In trying to remove one you are almost guaranteed to fling it onto your own body and they are quite painful. The ground was littered with these thorns and I spent quite a bit of time cleaning the area before risking putting the thermarest down. Next morning I had a flat tire from the cactus, one of two for the trip.

Miles for the day- 88.1, hours in the saddle- 7 hour 51 minutes, 4545' elevation gain (according to Andrea)

2/9/06 Day 2
I ride over to the Gila River which is nothing more than an irrigation canal at this point and fill up with water. I've got 60 miles to do before I get water again. The road starts out as a nice two track but when I get to a ranch house I misinterpret Andrea's directions and end up losing an hour on ATV, cow and goat rails. Finally I work my way back to where I am supposed to be. I'll be on graded roads headed towards the little town of Oracle. Some of it is sandy, some washboard, some very smooth and almost all quite pleasant. 52 miles of dirt and 3780' of climbing. I met the only other bike camper of the whole trip today. An older gentleman on a C-dale pulling a Bob trailer. He's hauling more than twice the weight I am and doing less than half the distance I am daily. After leaving him I wonder which of us is having more fun. At 50 years old I may have to try a slow and heavy trip as opposed to my always fast and light trips I do when I go alone.

Miles don't mean much here. The road surface always changes, the wind always blows and the elevation change is always a factor. By looking at the miles I need to do before food or water, even when taking elevation change into account, is does not tell me how long to plan for. Hours in the saddle is the only way to gauge distance and that's only accurate for me. Today was frustrating because of the wind, the gradual climb and the sometimes rough road surface. I felt I should be moving faster, even though my legs felt great. I even have some rain sprinkles - Tuscon hasn't had any measurable rain for something like 115 days.

I find a pizza place in Oracle, eat half of it there and save the other half for dinner. I ride out to Peppersauce Canyon on the Mt. Lemmon control road to camp. Tomorrow is the biggest climb of the trip.

69 miles, 4380' of climbing, 58 dirt miles and 6 hours 36 minutes saddle time.

2/10/06 Day 3

I feel really good this morning. I'm ready to climb! The road is dirt again and I'm headed up the back side of Mt Lemmon which is a beautiful range North of Tuscon. The road surface is pretty rocky sometimes, but overall quite pleasant.

I have chosen to ride my Ibis Hakkalugi cyclocross bike on this ride. I'm using 38 mm IRC Mythos CX slicks on it. I chose this bike when I have a perfectly good 29" wheeled MTB at home for several reasons. On a ride like this whatever bike or tire I choose will be a compromise in many situations. Overall I'm willing to compromise on the technical MTB type terrain, partly because that is the smallest portion of this, and many other dirt road rides and partly because I am quite comfortable on the Ibis and I much prefer drop bars for long days in the saddle. With the 38 mm tires pumped up to 60 psi. I have a comfortable and fast road bike on the pavement. Dropping the air pressure down to 40-45 in the dirt works really well and I never pinched flatted the whole trip. The MTB will never be as comfortable or efficient on the road.

The road does a lot of contouring for the first 15 miles, up one drainage and down the other. Then it starts up in earnest and I'm climbing most of it in my 34X26 or 34X30 gear. The views are great and I have it all to myself only seeing two cars the whole way up. At about 20 miles the road gets serious and I'm into my small ring quite often. Climbing up into the Pine trees it occurs to me this is very much like climbing one of the many jeep road passes in Colorado. In Arizona you climb up into the trees, in Colorado you climb up out of the trees. One thing about living in Colorado is that I have learned to love climbing. It's not the climbing itself that's so rewarding but the dividend it pays; the views and the ability to go somewhere new and the feeling of accomplishment.

On top (8,000') all of a sudden I'm on pavement and around all these structures, a sort of culture shock after not seeing anyone all morning. Now I get to lose around 5,000' in elevation going into Tuscon. Why is it that long downhills always seem longer than the climb you did to get up? I should have put more clothes on for the descent. I'm getting cold but I know that with a little more elevation lost it's going to warm up. I'm staring to shiver so I stop and warm up and snap a couple of photos.

In Tuscon I stop at McDonalds for a burger - haven't been in one of these for several years. It was good, something called a big n" nasty, I think. I always crave fat on these rides. Afterward I walked over to Starbucks for coffee and a roll and spent the same as I spent at Mickey's. Then the nice lady at Basha's grocery store let me bring my bike in to the store while I got some road food.

About 15 miles out of Tuscon a state trooper was stopping all the traffic and turning them around because a wide load had broken down and blocked the whole roadway. I told the nice man it would be no trouble for me to go on and I could just walk around the wide load. He replied that he was told to stop all traffic and I was traffic so I wasn't going. I always want to be considered traffic while riding my bike but this is ridiculous. It was obvious that any arguing wasn't going to get me anywhere so I turned around and pedaled off. I found a jeep road about a mile away from the road block that might just get me around it. At least it was going the right way and if it didn't work I had everything I needed to camp. It did go the right direction and after walking along a sand wash, turned jeep road, for over a half hour I make it back in site of the highway. The sun was setting and I found a nice smooth arroyo to camp in. I have some chicken tenders, Pringles and a bit of brandy for dinner. Life is good.

I am serenaded by coyotes every night. Tonight they are really, really close. Perhaps less than 100'. I love coyotes and really admire how they seem to be able survive in any environment. I think they are singing just for me tonight.

82 miles, 29 miles dirt, 4350' elevation gain, 6 ¾ hours saddle time.

2/10/06 Day 4
Every morning I'm up before I can see well. The days are still too short for camping without using my headlamp. I'm on the road somewhere between 7:30 and 8:00 each morning. I make a cup of instant coffee on my homemade soda can, alcohol stove and make a cup of Patti's oatmeal mix she sent with me. I'm carrying enough food for 2 days just in case I don't happen to hit a store that has food I want.

Today is my down day. On every tour I seem to have a day or at least a part of a day where things just don't flow. Today is it. I ask myself why am I doing this, I get hung up on what's hurting. My feet, especially my left foot is going numb on me so I don't stand enough and my butt then goes numb. I foolishly didn't use bag balm on my crotch the first day and am now having to deal with chafing. The wind is still blowing, a cross headwind for the whole trip. How come when I read other people's trip reports they never go here? If you are new to bike touring remember folks, sometimes it sucks!

I make it into Sonoita in time for a second breakfast. I had a 2,000' climb to get here, it's Saturday AM and the road is full of Harley's and diesel pickups pulling boats. I choose to bypass a part of Andrea's route before Sonoita and do some mileage and time calculations while here to see what my options are. I call home and learn that a very close friend of mine has had a cerebral aneurysm and was flown to Phoenix for surgery. At this point things are looking unsure for him. He is my age, a well known NM bike racer and (was) very healthy. This took even more wind out of my sails. I decide to start closing my loop now, if I continue south to Patagonia, as I'd originally hoped, I was looking at doing 100 mile days to get home in time. This way I had an extra day and I might need to go to Phoenix to be with Cliff and Kathy.

The rest of the day was pretty boring. East on AZ 82 then North on AZ 90 to Benson. Even though I was losing altitude the whole way the wind was still working against me. Lots of traffic and not enough hills made the time past very slowly.

I spent the first 45 years of my life in New Mexico. The roadsides are full of litter there. Arizona is at least as bad. To pass the time I started paying attention to all the stuff. For some reason there was at least a closet full of clothes scattered over 30 miles of highway. Not just a few random bits of clothing but several wardrobes, at least, and some of it seemed to be in good shape too. My mind was playing with the scenarios that might have taken place. Also, just as in CO and NM, Bud Light is the official beer of litterbugs. I have no idea why this is, but 4 out of 5 beer cans are Bud Light.

In Benson I had a pretty good Mexican food dinner and headed north along the San Pedro River valley. I will follow this valley all the way till it meets the Gila River. The road is paved at first. A very nice, rarely used hilly, twisty stretch for about 10 miles. Then the road turns to dirt for 45 miles. I find a very nice arroyo to camp in about 15 miles North of Benson.

84 miles, 6 hours 59 minutes saddle time, only 5 miles of dirt but a lot of wind.

2/12/06 Day 5

I'm sure glad yesterday is over with, now I can start enjoying myself again. It was cold last night. My water is frozen, not solid but plenty of ice in it. This will be the only night I have ice. The San Pedro Valley has a dirt road that runs from Benson in the south to San Miguel to the north. It's paved for around 10 miles on either end. It has very little traffic and is quite pretty. A few people choose to live out here far from the rest of civilization. I could be quite happy out here, at least in the winter. This stretch of 36 miles of dirt is far and away the very worst stretch of washboard road I have ever been on. Not only in length but in magnitude. I finally have a tailwind this morning and I'm going downhill slightly. But I can't go faster than 10 mph, often only 5-7 mph because of the washboard. I have to laugh at it. Crying would be of no use. I rarely look forward to pavement but it sure looked good when I finally hit it south of San Miguel.

San Miguel is a copper mining town, of which there are several in southern AZ. The town has no core, no center, no character, but it did have good food and water. That's all I needed. Now I'm back on AZ 77 still in the San Pedro Valley heading towards the Gila River at Winkelman, another copper mining town. They have tailing piles around here that must cover hundreds of acres. One of them had ATV tracks all over it. A very appropriate place for them I say. This and many roads in the southwest are straight fairly flat and have a lot of traffic. These are the hardest sections for me mentally. At Winkelman I fill up with water, grab some food and call home.

I'm now following the Gila River. It's a real river here, not an irrigation ditch. It's quite a contrast to see the Saguaro Cactus coming right down the canyon walls to water. A very pretty canyon. I find a place to camp right on the water. My last night.

I travel ultra light on these trips. My bedroom consists of a 2 lb. Feathered Friends bag, a Tyvek ground cloth, and a 5X7' silnylon tarp, which I never needed on this trip. My kitchen is mostly homemade, a soda can alcohol stove, a small aluminum pot and a cozy to let my food cook in. I just boil water with the stove and pour it into the cozy with food. Dinners are usually a Lipton dinner, my favorite is beans and rice and some dried bacon bits for protein. Breakfasts are usually oatmeal and instant coffee. I like good coffee as much as anyone but the hassle of it while camping has me using instant. I feel the very small weight of my kitchen is well worth hauling around. My food is lighter than if I had no stove and hot food is much more satisfying than cold. My complete kit goes in two stuff sacks and my Camelbak. The weight is less than 10 lbs. not counting food, water or tools. On this trip I'm trying both a front and rear rack, a stuff sack on each. My theory being the bike will handle better having the weight on both ends. In retrospect I don't think it matters much. With a 10 lb. load I think it'd be fine to carry it on just the rear rack. This is what I've done in the past, but I've carried more weight on my back. For this trip I want to keep as much weight off my back as is practical.

79 miles, 45 miles dirt, 6 hours 19 minutes saddle time.

2/13/06 Day 6
I start at 7:00, it's my last day and I know I've got a climb ahead of me. I don't know how much of a climb, but I'm guessing around 2,000'. A very pretty ride and after breaking away from the Gila River I start up a side canyon. After 8 miles the road really starts climbing and I'm quite surprised as to how much it really does climb. I'm in my 34X 26 and 34X30 often, but rarely do I ever use this low of a gear on pavement. In 10-11 miles I gain around 3,000' to top out at El Capitan Pass (5,000'). Funny, my maps don't even show the pass. If it was in Colorado it would be on the maps and it would probably be above timberline after that sort of climb. I now have more respect than I used to for the ruggedness of Arizona. The state has some impressive climbs and extremely rugged terrain. I descend into Globe for a second breakfast, call home and head north for the last leg of the trip. I have about 2,000' of elevation to lose before I get back to my car. Not surprisingly, someone put another 1,000' (plus) climb in between Globe and Roosevelt dam. I am actually really happy to have it. I get a great view of the lake and it felt good to know this was my last climb for the trip. My payback was a 1,500' descent to my car. In the last miles my thoughts are of Patti and wanting to be with her. Of the ride I just did and I'm already making plans for doing Tucson south next winter. I want to spend more time in the Patagonia area too.

61 miles, 5 hours saddle time.

Total for trip: 
464 miles, 173 miles of dirt.

For me the cyclocross bike is the bike of choice for this type of ride. I never had any tire issues even though I started with well used tires. I did carry a spare Michelin Jet just in case. I might choose 700X 42 tires next time. I weigh 140 lbs, maybe a 200 lb. person wouldn't be as happy as me on my bike. My rims, were still perfectly true after all the pounding they received. I had nothing break, nothing needed adjusting or tightening. I found it very comfortable for all day rides. It may have been a little slower in the roughest sections, but I'm pretty confident it was faster and more efficient everywhere else. I wonder why more people don't choose these bikes for this sort of adventure.

I'm not sure what to call a trip like this. Bike touring just seems inaccurate, I have visions of a hugely loaded bike going slowly over smooth roads. Adventure touring? Maybe. Bikepacking seems to describe it as well as any term I know of. It is very similar to backpacking, just with a bike as opposed to walking.

Gary Blakley
Del Norte, CO
garyblakley-at-amigo-dot-net


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## YuriB (Jan 12, 2004)

Nice ride! 
I'm itching for a multi-day on the azt.
Thanks for posting.


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## tfnb34a (Feb 26, 2006)

Great trip. It's nice to see people start using some ultralight methods in bike touring. Nothing seems more unappealing than riding a bike with 50-100 pounds of extra gear when you could get by with far less.


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## rocky rode (Jul 13, 2005)

*Check out this list*



tfnb34a said:


> Great trip. It's nice to see people start using some ultralight methods in bike touring. Nothing seems more unappealing than riding a bike with 50-100 pounds of extra gear when you could get by with far less.


Thanks! If this sort of thing appeals to you check out this email list:
http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/ultralightbiking/?yguid=167399441
It's been pretty stagnant for some time and I'm trying too get it back up and running. Come join us. It's pretty active right now.

Gary


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## Ghostrider (Jan 14, 2004)

Thanks for the report. The trip sounds like fun, I love that part of the country. I was in the area in January and did mostly hiking. Hope your friend is doing good.


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## Lee Blackwell (Jul 31, 2005)

*good long solo ride*



rocky rode said:


> Hi Folks,
> 
> I just completed a 6 day ultra light bikepacking trip in southern AZ. Scott Morris suggested I post it here. That's a good idea 'cause I usually hang out on the 29er forum and I rode a cross bike on this trip. I wasn't sure where to put it.
> 
> ...


Hi Gary,

I think you are at Kentucky Camp, Arizona right now, I happened on your site just tonight. Good ride, but it sounds like you missed some nice sections of AZ trail which were not so far from the roads you were on. The trails would have been slower for sure but prettier too. Guess you'll just have to come back!

Lee Blackwell


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## rocky rode (Jul 13, 2005)

*Thanks!*



Lee Blackwell said:


> Hi Gary,
> 
> I think you are at Kentucky Camp, Arizona right now, I happened on your site just tonight. Good ride, but it sounds like you missed some nice sections of AZ trail which were not so far from the roads you were on. The trails would have been slower for sure but prettier too. Guess you'll just have to come back!
> 
> Lee Blackwell


Hi Lee,

Actually we are in Patagonia tonight. We splurged and got a B&B here. We did camp and ride the AZT into Kentucky Camp yesterday (ride #9 on "The Map"). Today we rode from town out San Rafael valley to Canelo Pass and the AZT back. Great ride. The constant up and down towards the end wore Patti down pretty well. After 3 long days in a row (for her) we're going to take it easy tomorrow and do a hike.

We are incredibly fortunate to have had Scott (Morris) show us a great ride the first day (50 Year) and loan us his map and also tell us about the great rides down here. We are very grateful! We wouldn't have had the same experience without his help.

Hopefuly you and Scott will make it up to CO this summer and I can return the favor. If we make it back to Tuscon before going home I'll call Scott. Maybe you could ride with us?

Gary


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