Coconino Bikepacking Stage Race

I’ve had the Coconino Bikepacking stage race on my radar for a couple of years now, but things have just not come together. It is a little challenging because it is in the beginning of the Arizona “season” and I’m usually in pretty lousy shape this time of year. With some encouragement from friends and a helpful Kaibab bikepacking trip in September, I felt like this was the year. And, of course, Nancy is always game.

One of the things that sets this race apart is the format. It is composed of 4 stages – one per day. At the end of each day everyone stops in the same place. That gives us an opportunity to cheer fellow racers as they come into camp and talk about the next day’s segment. The social aspect alone makes this a worthy event.

But before tires hit dirt, there is preparation. All this stuff

Needs to be compressed down to this

The drama started before the race. The first segment includes Andersen Mesa. This is a pretty awful bit of trail due to cows punching holes in the dirt. More importantly, just a hint of moisture turns the clay into “death mud”. Rain was forecast for the week before the race on Wednesday and Thursday. We watched the radar maps all day Wednesday as Tucson got soaked and Phoenix got some good rain. But there was a bubble around Andersen Mesa. I unwisely started talking trash, so the next morning they got over half an inch of rain – not good. After some emailing with Scott we got a special dispensation – if Andersen Mesa was bad, we could take a bail out to Lake Mary road to get around it. We should know  before the bailout point if it would be bad or not. 

Race day arrived. Most folks met at “The Place” in Flagstaff for a hearty breakfast. Since this is a self-timed, self-supported race people left when they had stuffed enough bacon and eggs and oatmeal and pancakes into themselves. Breakfast was done, last minute details being attended to.

Nancy and I motored on out of Flag around 8:00am and quickly found ourselves riding with Ben. Five minutes into the race and we are making a new friend – awesome. Turns out he is a fellow singlespeeder – rocking a rigid fork. Got out of town and down into Walnut Canyon. The cool morning, moisture, and warm sun combined for some great looking fog.

Being in a canyon means you have to climb at some point.

 It started out well, but then became the first of quite a bit of hike-a-bike that we’d do this weekend. Assume the position.

Everybody loves hike-a-bike

Up on top riding through beautiful pine forests. 

About a mile from Marshall lake we discovered that the rain had done it’s thing – death mud.

So, we bailed out to the road and rode along Lake Mary for a good long while.

Checking out the Osprey Overlook

Eventually we made our way back to the Arizona Trail (AZT). Jason had caught up with us on the road and was riding along with us.  

Although the rain was supposed to be past, there were a few dark clouds and we did get some rain. However, as soon as we put our jackets on, it stopped. False alarm. 

Onward down the AZT to a series of dirt roads that would pretty much take us to the overlook in Sedona.

We caught up with Seron at this point. He was having some issues with his good knee, which would end up sidelining him. Ironically, the knee that he had extensive surgery on was fine. At least he got to complete the first stage.

Onward over some decent and some pretty lousy dirt roads until we hit I-17. A 2 mile detour down the freeway got us to a Chevron where we stocked up on snacks, beer, and wine – bikepacking doesn't HAVE to be all about suffering. We cruised back down to the dirt and headed toward Sedona.
First look of Sedona.

We headed down a little way and took a really beat up jeep road up to our stopping point for the night. We ran into a truck hauling a port-a-potty up the jeep road – very slowly. Another truck in front of that one was hauling a smoker – looks like there was going to be a party up on the overlook.

Finally, we rolled into camp and walked over to where everyone was chilling. I’ve been to Sedona plenty and have seen it from a bunch of different angles, but this view was just stunning. Pictures truly do not do it justice.

We joined the group, passed out some beer (I wasn’t going to drink it all myself) and enjoyed the view from the top of the world. Now that’s living.

Nancy went and found us the perfect spot to set up camp for the night.

 Went back to where everyone was gathered and waited for other folks to come in and for the sunset.

Basking in the afternoon sun.

This is living

Another great Arizona sunset

We knew that the next day would be a long one. We would descend down to Sedona and ride some of the great trails around there, then head out to Mingus mountain where we would ride to the top of the mountain. Nancy and I were up before dawn, picking out way down the techy trails in the dark. By the time we got into town the sun was out and it was another perfect day. Short stop at Circle K for coffee and donut and water and we were off – through Sedona.

Once again, Jason caught up to us and rode with us for a while. He ended up having some serious chain issues and would be the last one up Mingus that night.

Weeeee

Once we left Sedona, it was all new trail to Nancy and I. The Lime Kiln trail started off with a foreshadowing of the hike-a-bike we’d do on Mingus. 

An aside: One of the things about these big bikepacking races/rides/adventures is that you always end up pushing your bike at some point. We call it hike-a-bike(HAB). It is challenging to do this in the usual carbon soled race shoes, so most people seek out more HAB friendly shoes. I used the gold standard of HAB shoes on the AZT 300 a couple of years ago, but found that they hurt my feet really bad from where the pedal contacted the shoe. They are great for hiking – not so much for riding. So, I’ve been searching for an alternative ever since. Recently picked up some new Pearl Izumis that are supposed to be the perfect HAB shoe. Nice and stiff where the pedal hits the shoe and supposedly flexible enough for hiking. Well, it turns out that they are REALLY good riding shoes, but when hiking they rub the back of my foot, above the heel. This started to become an issue on the Lime Kiln HAB and would become worse and worse throughout the weekend. 

Lime Kiln doesn’t see much traffic and can be REALLY hard to follow in parts. It was kind of amusing that we kept seeing riders who were faster than us because they’d blow by a turn, realize it down the trail, and come back to pick it up. At our pace we never got too far off the track.

Scott coming up on us, with Sedona in the background. 

There were plenty of yellow flowers out in the fields. In many parts, the cairns (and the gps track) were the only clue of a trail.

Heading down into Cottonwood, with the dreaded Mingus mountain ahead.

Eventually the trail led us to Cottonwood, and Hog Wild. Oh yeah. Gimme a huge sandwich and unlimited coke refills – and a sandwich to go for dinner or lunch the next day. Devon got 3 burgers, one for lunch, one for dinner, and one for lunch the next day. Sure that meant dragging a lot of extra weight up the mountain, but that’s some good calories. 

We rolled through Cottonwood and up to the mountain. The road started out not so bad. I told Nancy to just go, because she is a strong climber, and I’m not so much. This is a sight I see a lot - Nancy pedaling away from me on a hill.

The surface isn't so bad, but it is getting rather steep. And a long way to go. 

Gaining elevation

The road got steeper, and sloppier and then kind of mellowed for a while. OK, not so bad. By this point my feet were hurting pretty bad. I tried putting moleskin and blister bandaids and even gorilla tape on my heels to keep the shoes from rubbing. However, my feet were sweating and nothing would stick. Riding felt fine, but walking hurt quite a bit. Unfortunately there was still a lot of walking to be done.

Not fit for cars? Well then that's where we are going.

Next I hit the “trail” that would take us to the top. It was narrow, and steep and occasionally rocky. There were times when you wondered how you were going to get your bike up over that rock. And for us flatlanders, the elevation played a part. I was REALLY hoping to get up to the top before dark, but the sun was getting low in the sky. Pushing up this trail was like doing bench presses with your bike, over and over. But, yeah, hell of a view.

Really? Really?

I'm  not sure this trail was quite wide enough for a horse. Way in the distance there is Sedona.

Of course the closer you got to the top, the more gnarly it got. I ran into Scott at one point. Apparently he was having stomach issues so he just had to sit for a bit. This climb was a mental challenge as well as physical. 

After what seemed like an eternity I finally hit the top. The sun was pretty low in the sky, but I still had a couple of miles to go to camp. Fortunately it was mostly downhill on dirt roads so I managed to roll in as the sun was going down. Made it without pulling out my lights – victory.

Some of the fast folks (who had probably been there for hours) had a camp fire going. I limped over to the fire and had  mangled pop-tarts and trail mix for dinner. Just couldn’t eat the pulled pork sandwich I had hauled up the mountain. That was some serious hurtin’. And yeah, Nancy beat me to the top by about 15 minutes. She’s tough, that gal.

We knew that the next day was a big day (68 miles) with another (much smaller) mountain at the end. So, once again, we got up before dawn and rolled down to the Yager trail. This trail almost made up for the previous day’s climb. Fast and rolling with some fun berms. What a joy.

That took us down the mountain to some dirt roads along a power line. For a brief while all 4 of the single speeders (Ben, Ray, Nancy, and I) were rolling together. Then Ben and Ray decided to get down to it. Later, guys.

We rode around Mingus back to the north side.

Because you need a stop sign on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere. 

Headed down to the Verde river. It was a nice long downhill on a dirt road. Enjoy it while you can.

The last water was Cottonwood and the next water was Williams, so the Verde was an required stop to fill up for the hot, thirsty climb up the Mogollon Rim. It was a good opportunity for everyone to test out their water filters.And also a chance to screw around a bit. I hydrated and ate my sandwich from the day before – it was delish. There was a rope swing, so somebody had to try it out.

It was all uphill from there. The Verde River is at 3800 feet and the top of Bill Williams mountain is 9000 feet - so lots of climbing was in store. We climbed decent dirt roads and lousy dirt roads.

Still gotta go way up there.

Devon taking a break.

Then pedaling away from me.

The Great Western Trail was not so great. I think they called it a trail so they didn’t have to maintain the road.

Devon made good time on me. That's the top - right?

Up and up we went until we finally crested the rim. Flat, well maintained forest roads – what a joy.

I meandered for a while and eventually caught Nancy. We hit some pavement for the final approach to Bill Williams Mountain. It don't look like all that.

Bill Williams is not a huge mountain, but we were going to go over it. It started out with a little HAB (ouch, ouch, ouch, my feet) and then had some rideable parts. But the higher we got, the less we rode and the more we pushed.

  

It looks like we are way up on the mountain, but there is still a good amount of HAB to be done. And yeah, there is a nice, graded road to the top. But we took the trail - because AES. 

Almost to the top, where it always seems to be gnarliest.

Finally we made it to the top and headed down. But this would not be like the Yager trail. This was a techy, rocky, steep, pay attention type of trail. I followed Artec for a while, then he pulled over. I led for a bit until misjudging a section and going over the bars. I landed on the left side of my face, with the bike on top of me. Artec got a front seat view of the wreck and was kind enough to pull the bike off me. I was super lucky and landed in a fairly soft pile of sticks – not rock. Ended up with a sore jaw and a small cut – nothing broken on bike or body. Whew. I dropped my speed after that and Artec pulled away. 

Eventually I finished the tech fest and ended up on the residential streets of Williams. Waited for Nancy to finish. She finished surprisingly soon after me – despite taking a (less dramatic) spill of her own.

It was windy and cold so we quickly rolled into the hotel we had reserved. Showered and went to dinner with Caroline, John and Devon. Again, spending time with friends is one of the great features of this race.

The last day was long in mileage, but supposedly some easy miles. We slept in and actually rolled out after the sun was up. Before heading out, I tried patching up my heel with band aids and moleskin. Turned out that having clean, dry skin was the ticket. The patch job held the whole day and helped to keep the pain down when walking. It was plenty chilly when we rolled out to breakfast at McDonalds. Next it was out of town into some fairly flat and easy dirt miles.

Rode past buffalo.

Down to Sycamore Canyon.

More than one person referred to it as "Suckamore" Canyon due to the profusion of techy hike-a-bike sections. However, they were mixed in with some nice trail and interesting views. 

Artec caught us and gave us the lowdown on rock climbing in the area. Apparently these basalt columns are really great for climbing.

One of the nice bits of trail.

And one of the less nice bits of trail.

Back up north toward Flagstaff on more open dirt roads. Some nice, easy miles – unless you are on a singlespeed. Oh well. The mountain in the distance is our destination.

Finally made it to the Texaco in Clark – right on I40. Coke, milk, burrito, and potato chip were what I needed to fuel the rest of the ride. Nancy opted for Hagaan-Daz and Gummie Bears. Artec was already there and left soon after we arrived. Devon arrived pretty much at the same time, but left before us. John arrived a little after us and left before us as well – hey we were in no hurry. 

Devon, Nancy and I at the Texaco - photo by John

Flagstaff is on the right side base of those big mountains over there. Getting closer.

A nice little place in the country.

We had elevation to make to get to the high point the day, so we started climbing on dirt roads. Over to Wing Mountain for more climbing – ending with a final ugly HAB to the top. From there we took some motorcycle trails down. They were steep, with marble sized chunks of dirt to make it “interesting”. Nancy got things started off good by going over the bars. Got up, dusted herself off and down we went. What a trooper. We had caught up with John and rolled with him for a while.. 

 The moto trails got super fun further down the mountain.

photo by John

Rolled up to a dirt road that would give us the bulk of the climbing for the day. John stopped to eat some food. Nancy and I ground this climb out, then took an old jeep road for the final ascent to Aspen Corner where we would ride the AZT most of the way back.

Aspen Corner is up there, in the aspen. 

We are the red dot. It's good to be at the high point.

The section of AZT from Aspen Corner down to Snowbowl road is only a couple years old and is fabulous. The top is fast and swoopy through pines and aspen. Beautiful and so fun. Down near the bottom it is not as steep, but throws in some tech so you still have pay attention. One of the most enjoyable 5 miles of AZT. 

From there it was some rolling up and down until finally heading down on another very fun trail. At this point we were on very familiar trails and knew it was pretty much downhill to the end, but these sections just took longer than I expected. Eventually, we rolled off trail onto pavement and the official end of the race.

Wow, that felt good. We still had a pretty long roll through town (a grand tour of the Flagstaff Urban Trail System) to get to our car. First thing I did was take off my shoes and put on sandals. Sweet relief.

John rolled in a little later and we went for some very delicious pizza.

Writing this the day after, there is hardly a part of me that isn’t sore. Between riding and pushing my bike (an amazing upper body workout) over those 240 miles I managed to use just about every muscle in my body. Was it as hard as the AZT 300 – not really. But it is still a stout challenge - for mind and body. The route was really rewarding and the stage format made it quite fun. Nothing like shared misery – we all complained long and hard about the Mingus climb as we sat by the campfire on top. But I think we all felt pretty proud to have done it.

This ride made me question if I’m getting too old for this sort of thing. But I suspect that I won’t be able to give it up.

Full set of pics here:

Ray's blog post here.
John's blog post here.