AZT 2010 Photographs

It is now just over a month since we returned from the US. I have been trying to get around to producing a short write up of our experiences but have been distracted doing entertaining things like riding in the welsh rain. I will write something soon. In the meantime, here is a link to some of the photos Nerys took during the trip:

http://picasaweb.google.com/crichards1976/AZT2010?feat=directlink

August 2010 : Back to North America

Some 2 years after travelling to North America to do the GDR I am about to return to do some more biking. The trip is the brain child of Scott Felter who met/stalked us on the GDR in 2008. The plan is to tackle 2 long distance bike trails over a period of about 6 weeks.

The first is the Kokopelli trail that extends some 150 miles between Fruita in Colorado to the town of Moab in Utah:

Kokopelli trailmap

Kokopelli trail near Fruita CO

The second is the Arizona Trail (AZT) which extends some 800 miles south from Arizona's northern border with Utah to its southern border with Mexico:

AZT Trailmap

AZT biking

The riders on this occasion will be Scott, Nerys and myself. There is a possibility that we will be joined on the AZT in Flagstaff by Cass Gilbert from Bristol who has spent the last 12 months living it up on a bike between Alaska and Guatemala in South America. In addition, I am keeping my fingers crossed that Harriet (of GDR 2008 fame/notoriety) might also be making an appearance. Unfortunately, Hywel's involvement on this occasion will be limited to driving bikes and kit to Heathrow airport.

We are going to be travelling fast and light with very different setups to the GDR. There will not be a pannier or trailer in sight as we are all equipped with bike bags designed and produced in Scott's living room/sweatshop in Banff. The kit allows the bikes to better tackle rougher terrain, although there is something of a penalty to pay in terms of overall carrying capacity.

Scott's setup

I think this particular endeavour is going to be a little tougher than the GDR. The AZT in particular will involve rough singletrack terrain, long sections of 'hike a bike', limited water availability and the small task of crossing the Grand Canyon. As on the GDR, we will be equipped with a SPOT device which will allow our progress to be monitored online.

Nerys and I should be flying in to Grand Junction Colorado at the end of August. Scott will be flying to the same location from Canada. The riding starts on Tuesday 31st August.