Mountain Bike Reviews Forum banner
Cancel

Queen's Ransom Bikepack

Jump to Latest Follow
1 - 20 of 24 Posts
schillingsworth

· DFL>DNF>DNS
Joined
·
3,434 Posts
Discussion Starter · #1 ·
I'm pleased to announce the Queen's Ransom route has been officially published on Bikepacking.com. One of the writers at BP.com, Miles, and Patrick, Bikes or Death podcast, came out in December to give it a whirl. I met up with them afterwards and we decided it needed to be on the website. I'll still host the annual group ride, but that will be limited to 25 riders. Sign-up form will be available on Feb. 4th for the March 4-7 ride.

The published route differs slightly from my group outing, starting & ending at Gateway Airport instead of my house. Plus, the general route won't have the stellar SAG stops of the group ride.

It's pretty cool to see how popular it has become. My first attempt at the route was back in 2013, I dnf'd it on day2 that year due to saddle issues and heat as I was trying it in early April. 2014 I moved the route forward a month and had one other fella, Larry, join me. We finished the route in 3 days and I decided that night it should be a 4 day route!! 2015 saw two guys from CA join for the fun. 2016 had the first good sized group at 10 riders, topping out at 29 riders for 2020. The route has generally stayed the same over the years, but I did wise up and move it off the rowdy Pass Mtn. downhill after 2015. Every once in a while a fence pops up or construction detours the route, but that's to be expected when you cover a lot of ground.

I'll be curious to hear the feedback when folks start riding it on their own. I have a feeling 5 days is going to be the popular choice for days to complete the route. I expect the group ride to fill quickly this year, so after I publish the sign-up form, don't delay. Just make sure you know what you're getting into as Day 1 is over 70 miles.
Water resources Ecoregion World Map Natural environment
 
8

· Guest
Joined
·
5,889 Posts
#6 ·
I've thought this ride sounded like fun for a few years now, but been reluctant to sign up because I don't want to take a spot from someone who's actually part of the crew. Now that the route is on BP I may have go to solo this thing. Looks amazing.

Congrats on getting published John. I know you did a lot of work on the Fools Loop last year, but is this your first officially published route that you put together yourself?
 
schillingsworth

· DFL>DNF>DNS
Joined
·
3,434 Posts
Discussion Starter · #7 ·
SingleSpeedSteven said:
I've thought this ride sounded like fun for a few years now, but been reluctant to sign up because I don't want to take a spot from someone who's actually part of the crew. Now that the route is on BP I may have go to solo this thing. Looks amazing.

Congrats on getting published John. I know you did a lot of work on the Fools Loop last year, but is this your first officially published route that you put together yourself?
Click to expand...
SSS,
I'd say if you've thought about it and really want to check it out, join the group ride. There is no 'crew' even if Jeffro is trying to push my eButtons, although I would love to see him bring a gravel bike on this ride. I could use some amusement. I think it's going to be a stellar group this year as I've already been contacted from a rider in Germany & eastern Canada about joining as long as travel isn't restricted. The SAG stops alone are worth the group start.

Yes, this is my first published route that I've put together from scratch. It's cool to see how it's come together, from those early dead end scouting rides, the day I had my wife drop me off in Florence and I told her I'd find a dirt way home. I spent a couple of years getting the initial route to go, mostly due to time constraints, but I knew I'd find something worthwhile to ride.

A lot of the routes I've put together over the years are day rides, like a few of the AES routes, but even those didn't really require a lot of advanced scouting. Jeffro was on one of those scouting rides, the original Picketpost Pulverizer A route, that day we ran out of daylight and believe it or not I was the one that actually had a light!! We now use that scouting ride as the current B Route and for anyone who has ridden that route, just imagine, that was the second HALF of the A Route!! The first half had riders going up Montana Mtn. on FS650, then AZT to Telegraph Canyon Rd, then the current B Route. Oof. Of the AES routes, I'm really proud of the Pleasantville route, that one had me guessing most of the day during the scouting ride as parts of the route was under water!! Like the Fool's Loop, I've done quite a bit of route modifications too, like the AZTR. With Jeffro and the latest gravel route craze, it's nice to still see singletrack heavy routes get published. I have two monstrous routes I'd love to check out, just need to make the time to go scout them. There's a tremendous amount of logistics involved the bigger the route gets, the different land agencies it crosses, etc. Arizona is so diverse, but that's what makes it great.
 
dtownmtb

· ...
Joined
·
1,501 Posts
#8 ·
schillingsworth said:
Jeffro was on one of those scouting rides, the original Picketpost Pulverizer A route, that day we ran out of daylight and believe it or not I was the one that actually had a light!!
Click to expand...
Ha! Good times that. And I only had prescription sunglasses - which were awesome in the dark. I now have a light as part of my kit on all rides - especially with John.

This loop is not easy, so do a little training. However, it is very much worth doing. Super fun to do with a group and the day 3 swag stop is essentially a party (many thanks to John's unusually understanding wife). And just to be clear - Ebikes are not allowed in Hawes and AZT, so don't even. While a gravel bike would be awesome on parts of this (like the initial road miles), there are enough other parts (Jacob Crosscut for instance) that make it a real bad idea.
 
dtownmtb

· ...
Joined
·
1,501 Posts
#15 ·
phatmike2112 said:
Here's my write-up of this stellar event.

2022 Queen's Ransom
Click to expand...
Great write-up, as always. Tough weekend, but so good.

I did something different this time. Instead of a camera, I brought a GoPro - intending to do sort of a video diary. Since I'm pretty new to GoProing I had issues with accidently taking snapshots instead of video and running out of battery. All that is to say that I missed a bunch of the good stuff. However, I did get some of it, so if you have 15 minutes you can see some moving pictures from QR2022 here. This has minimal editing and fancy stuff - cause I just started learning how to do that - so keep expectations low.
 
phatmike2112

· Registered
Joined
·
530 Posts
#20 ·
dtownmtb said:
Great write-up, as always. Tough weekend, but so good.

I did something different this time. Instead of a camera, I brought a GoPro - intending to do sort of a video diary. Since I'm pretty new to GoProing I had issues with accidently taking snapshots instead of video and running out of battery. All that is to say that I missed a bunch of the good stuff. However, I did get some of it, so if you have 15 minutes you can see some moving pictures from QR2022 here. This has minimal editing and fancy stuff - cause I just started learning how to do that - so keep expectations low.
Click to expand...
Fun video Jeff! Looking forward to seeing more of that kind of stuff.
 
1 - 20 of 24 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
About this Discussion
23 Replies
7 Participants
Last post:
Sparticus
Mountain Bike Reviews Forum
A forum community dedicated to Mountain Bike owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about bike parts, components, deals, performance, modifications, classifieds, trails, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
General Discussion Downhill - Freeride California - Norcal Passion Shocks and Suspension
Top