Fresh off the 2026 Arizona Trail Race, Geoffrey Wong was one of only two singlespeed finishers on the 800-mile route, and he completed a singlespeed Triple Crown Challenge. Find photos and a reflection from Geoffrey here, including why he describes the AZTR as the final boss of bikepacking races…

Words and photos by Geoffrey Wong

What felt like a relentless series of obstacles on top of an already difficult course, the Arizona Trail Race was truly the final boss of bikepacking races. I’ve never embraced weather as much as I have on any endeavor. Deceivingly low temps at the start fooled me into not hydrating as much, which led to a bout of nausea. I got it under control as I made my way to the infamous Lemmon Pusch.

The usual scorching temps near the Gila made the race feel like it was back on track, but an impending hurricane was making its way in as I reached higher elevations near Payson. As I sat in my hideaway for two and a half days, I anxiously planned how to make progress. On that Monday, which projected only half an inch of rain, I set out again, only to be met with some of the sketchiest creek crossings. One of them involved lifting the bike on my back through chest-high, swift water.

I luckily made it out of the Mogollon Rim, and I thought I was uncomfortably close to “being lucky.” I knew the next couple days I would have to face the pilgrimage through death mud, but I was naively optimistic, thinking, “It should dry out by then.” Dead wrong; I was making pottery on my wheel. Progress was painfully slow, but I counted my blessings that the sun was out and I had plenty of food. I rounded out my way to Flagstaff, got a room, washed my bike in the shower, slept, resupplied, and rode to the canyon. Finally, I had some fast miles after the Snowbowl, and before I knew it, I was in the Kaibab forest.

If I thought the Lemmon Pusch was the single most difficult thing, the canyon portage was about to redefine all of that. I packed up my bike and started down the South Kaibab Trail. Like last year, this route had us going down South Kaibab, over to Tonto, and out Bright Angel. But alas, a rockfall had blocked the way through Tonto to Bright Angel. In John Schilling’s infinite wisdom and coordination, he had a few of us go halfway down Tonto and turn around, heading right back up South Kaibab. It took me 11 hours—much longer than I expected. It felt like I was in gravity jail as I made my way back out at night.

Relieved to be done with this trial once again, I had one last day for my victory lap back to Flagstaff. But not without one more battle with the mud near Cedar Ranch. At this point, I had a special relationship with the mud, and I just fully embraced it. I came back over the Snowbowl, zombie’d my way back down to Flagstaff, and met my partner.

This effort had two goals. To finish the singlespeed Triple Crown and to propose to the one who has supported me all these races, Kassandra.

I set my soul on fire

And let it smolder to ash

Only to let it be reignited

By the one who makes me burn bright

Triple Crown Challenge

The Triple Crown. An arbitrary set of goals to achieve the elusive title, let alone doing it Singlespeed. What started as a joke among a few other riders I met on the 2025 Tour Divide, the Triple Crown became a conversation. I had just finished Escape LA, which was my first bikepacking race on single speed, and knew I was hooked. I was singularly focused the entire year, an addiction that was easily fed. As part of the training, I thought the more events I could jam before the Tour Divide, the better.

As spring came around the corner, Doom was the first event. Over 100 miles of singletrack was the headline. I was stoked. I finished stronger than I expected, and it gave me a lot of confidence for the next race. I’d tried to tour the Stagecoach 400, my “local” bikepacking race, on three separate occasions. But this time, I gave it my full effort. After a few weeks of fatigue from Doom, this one started to stack up and was harder than I thought.

Last race of the season, Tour de Los Padres. Again, a monster ride in California’s Los Padres National Forest backcountry. This time, I could really feel the fatigue, and for the first time, I thought I was doing too much. I finished and recovered as much as I could before the Triple Crown’s first race. Here I was in Banff, ready to take off. This time, having course knowledge gave me a huge leg up and helped me go faster. I was on track for my goal, but about the time I had arrived in Colorado, the wind had other plans for me. Seven days of straight wind, demoralizing and disappointing, and I wouldn’t finish on time. I made peace with the wind, and little did I know it was the first test.

I finished in 21 days with my good friend Tanner, who inspired me to go singlespeed the previous year. The Colorado Trail, the stoke was high for this one. The singletrack really appeals to me, but not being acclimated was a different story. I knew being a beach boy going straight up to the mountains would have me struggling. And it did; I think I hike-a-biked nearly every climb. Not only was the elevation a factor, but the smoke from the fires added another wrinkle to the race. The silver lining was that each descent felt like I was ripping down every mountain pass. I found myself nearly dead last; I trucked my way through, making sure to protect my lungs. I was in Durango late on the seventh day of the race.

The desert was calling, and Arizona had a special plan for me. It had it all: sweltering sun, cat claw, cactus, barely rideable trail, unbelievable hike-a-bikes, torrential rain, swollen creek crossings, and unimaginable death mud. The AZT stripped me of it all. Nothing left to give, nothing left to take; we transform. A monumental effort, both useless and profound, I could not think of any other way I would want to spend my life.

Check out the 2026 Arizona Trail Race Tracker page to follow along on the live tracking map, and stay tuned for more event coverage. Find it here.

Further Reading

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