English bloke looking for AZ Bikepacking advice...

[Dkoi]

Hello,

I'm from the Midlands in England and I got it in my head that I want to bikepack in Arizona.

I have an English mate living in Mesa who I plan to ride with but neither of us have any experience with the AZ trail.

So... if there is anyone on this forum wanting to advise us, share their personal experience or direct me to credible sources of information I'd be really interested/grateful. Hey - maybe even ride with us? (we're far from pro-riders, and not in amazing shape!)

We're looking at early - mid 2017 (depending on weather / when I can get cheap flights!!)

Many thanks in advance,

Dave.

[DarthStiller]

A lot of sections of the AZT go thru wilderness areas, where bikes are prohibited. There should be other trails where you can ride mountain bikes, though.

[jonathanpatt]

While yes, a number of sections of the official AZT route go through Wilderness Areas and you won't be able to ride on those sections, people have been biking the AZT enough in recent years that there are some unofficial but commonly used bike routes which bypass the Wilderness sections.

http://topofusion.com/azt/race.php

http://www.bikepacking.com/routes/bikep ... trail-azt/

[Sredfield]

And ATA members have access to a very detailed mountain bike data book for the entire route, with bike-legal routes around the Wilderness areas.

[cw50must]

You may also want to check in the Arizona Forum on MTBR, I know there are members there that have done similar rides.

[flagscott]

This route covers some interesting terrain that you won't see on the Arizona Trail: http://www.bikepacking.com/routes/bikep ... nino-loop/

[Nighthiker]

You may want to obtain a copy of Biking the Arizona Trail by Andrea Lankford. The book is very informative and offers alternatives to the wilderness areas where bicycling is not allowed. Since the book was published several sections of the Arizona trail (Now called the Arizona National Scenic Trail) has been relocated.

I would also recommend a copy of Arizona National Scenic Trail by Matthew J. Nelson and the Arizona Trail Association (http://www.aztrail.org)