Much of the Colorado Trail is open to mountain bikes.

Ever since I can remember I’ve always been fascinated with trails (go figure). I got into backpacking as a teenager and I quickly became obsessed with the 2,175 mile long Appalachian Trail. For a kid that’s too young to drive, the idea of a hiking trail stretching from Georgia to Maine is practically mind-blowing. Unfortunately bikes aren’t allowed on the AT (or the Pacific Crest Trail on the west coast) which makes it the slow lane for cross country expeditions.

Fortunately the idea of cross-state and cross-country (as in nation) mountain bike trails is gaining momentum. Just last month the annual Great Divide mountain bike race wrapped up and the winner rode his bike all 2,745 from Canada to the Mexican border in a scorching 17 days, 16 hours. Of course not all of us have the stamina (or the time off work) to ride across the US on our mountain bikes so more accessible cross-state routes are being established.

This year the 750-mile Arizona Trail Race covered the entire state of Arizona from Utah to Mexico for the first time. And here in Georgia, Dave Muse and his crew successfully completed the Trans North Georgia from South Carolina to Alabama in May and will be hosting an unofficial race along the route later this summer. For those who think this might be an easy ride, the mountain bike route is 350 miles long with 56,000 feet of climbing so bring an extra set of legs! There’s also the Colorado Trail that stretches from Denver to Durango and although some sections are closed to bikes, it’s possible to find alternate bike-friendly routes around closed areas.

Outside the US the concept of long distance mountain bike trails is taking off as well. Israel plans to spend $30 million to build 3,100 miles of bike trails in the Negev and around the Sea of Galilee. The first section of the Sea of Galilee trail opened this summer and will eventually circle the entire sea, giving tourists an interesting way to experience the history of the region.

This summer I’ll be taking my first overnight mountain biking trip via the San Juan hut system from Durango, CO to Moab, UT and I’m super stoked. In fact I’m already eying other long distance mountain bike rides like the Tahoe Rim Trail around Lake Tahoe and the BC Bike Race from Vancouver to Whistler.

Epic mountain bike routes seem to be good for regional tourism and for that reason we’ll probably continue to see more cross-state routes being designated. Even technology like the SPOT Satellite Messenger is playing a role in making long distance mountain bike trails safer and more accessible. Does your state have an official (or unofficial) cross-state mountain bike route yet? If not, get out there with a GPS and start exploring!

The Arizona Trail Race is back and this year there’s a new option for riders who want to tackle the whole route from Utah to Mexico. Twenty-five riders will set out on either the traditional 300 mile route or the new, 750 mile track this Friday and you can watch the racers’ progress thanks to the SPOT satellite transmitters they’ll be carrying.

If you haven’t noticed, ultra-endurance mountain biking and multi-day MTB races like this are getting more and more popular every year. The AZT Race is really an exercise in extreme bikepacking as the rules state that support crews and supply caches are prohibited. If you can’t carry it with you on your bike, you can’t use it during the race.

Check out the AZT Race tracking website starting Friday to see who’s in front.

Scott Morris over at TopoFusion posted up a cool video visualizing thousands of mountain bike rides he’s taken starting from his Tucson, AZ home. For those who don’t know, Scott is a self-described “bikepacker, GPSer, and desert dwelling MTBer” and a driving force behind the Arizona Trail 300 race we mentioned in our post about multi-day MTB races last week. Anyway, on to the video:

Note the timer at the bottom of the screen showing the length of the rides – some of the longer sessions break the 12 hour mark handily. A few of the dots seem to get stuck in various locations (mechanical problems?) while others simply vanish from the map (shuttle ride?).

Mountain bikers like Scott are fortunate to have access to singletrack (and mountains!) within riding distance of their homes and in fact some of us have been discussing the idea of “riding to the ride” on the forums lately. Hopefully this video will help motivate all of us to explore the rides right outside our front doors!

3D Arizona Trail image created in TopoFusion (from TopoFusion.com)

The Arizona Trail 300 Race starts today at 9am Arizona Time (MDT/PST) as riders race unsupported 300 miles following the Arizona Trail north from a spot near the Mexican border to Superior, AZ. The trail is mostly singletrack, there is no support, no prizes, and no entry fee. Winner takes all bragging rites until next year’s race.

Last year’s race actually ended in a tie between Scott Morris, creator of the super-gnarly TopoFusion mapping software, and Fred Wilkinson, both with a time of 3 days, 15 hours, and 8 minutes.

Since Scott is a high tech guy the race is infused with GPS tech from the route map (riders are encouraged to follow the route with a GPS) to real-time tracking of the racers. That’s right – many of the guys will be wearing GPS tracking devices from SPOT and you can view their progress on a Google Map at the TopoFusion website.

This race kinda reminds me of the classic mountain bike race format – no entry fee, no prizes, and definitely no sag stops along the way. Find out more about the Arizona Trail race to see how you can get involved next year!

There’s an interesting article on Forbes.com about sales of high-end mountain bikes from Scott in southern California and Arizona. Apparently sales are picking up after dropping last quarter and many retailers are reporting sales at or above year-ago levels. The author surmises this may be an indicator of an improving economy…

I don’t know about you but one thing the economy will never affect is my riding. Once you’ve made the initial investment in MTB gear it’s practically free to get out and ride the local trails. Here’s to hoping that mountain bikers with fat wallets and an itch for new bikes can get this economy back on track!