2026 Vulture Mine 300 Pre-Ride Report

 November 2026

Summit at Vulture Pass

Brian McGuire and I met at the Cortado Coffee parking lot for the Vulture Mine 300 pre-ride. We checked in with the new eBrevet app and rolled out at 0600.

Some light construction on Cave Creek and Pinnacle Peak Roads, we passed safely inside the barriers.

We almost caught two mountain bikers on Cave Creek Road in the pre-dawn darkness. They were nearly invisible dressed in black kits and faint rear lights. We were glad to be in full RUSA reflective gear and bright lights. In fact my rear light was so bright it nearly blinded Brian when I took a pull.

It was a warm 60 degrees at the start and the temperatures did not drop, like it normally does, when we hit Sonoran Desert parkway so we made a quick stop to take off a layer and dim my rear light. Since I pre-rode the NV400, the bushes have been trimmed back and the bike lane was clear.

We stopped at mile 17 to top off our bottles before the long service free run (40 miles) to Wickenburg on the Carefree Highway.

The shoulder on Carefree Highway is constantly changing from good to rough to very rough. We found the last ten miles the worst. When traffic was clear we rode on or to the left of the fog line during those last ten miles and enduring the thump-thumps when traffic was in sight.

US 60 to Wickenburg is much better !

Brian spotted a new bike path in Wickenburg that avoided a busy traffic circle and crossed the historic US 60 bridge which is closed to traffic and is now a nice park. Look for the embedded horseshoes in the pavement!

Park display in Wickenburg.

We rolled through historic old town Wickenburg.

This new multi-use path appeared outside town on the US60. The bike lane on the Highway was fine and we didn’t use the new path. 

The desert is very lush with the recent rains this year. We stopped at the summit to take a few photos.

It’s a gentle downhill run for 40 miles all the way to Wintersburg, but we decided to make a detour 6.8 miles after the summit to the Vulture Ghost Town ruins. It’s now a park. We spent a few minutes here then got back on the route. The entrance is noted on the cue sheet (mile 71.7), and the GPS route has a cue, but does visit the town.

Just outside Wintersburg we encountered a 2 mile construction zone. They are paving the right lanes, and before you jump down on that fresh pavement, note that it is a base layer and here is a sharp drop down to the new pavement. When we passed through there were construction workers present and fresh oil on the new pavement. We stayed in the traffic lanes, and did not encounter a single car in the construction zone.

We rolled into the Wintersburg General Store right after clearing the construction zone. 

We made it a longer lunch stop, it looked like our trusty steeds needed a break in the shade! Its a full general store but has limited pre-made sandwiches. Mine was good and went nicely with an Ice Cream Sandwich for dessert.

On the Salome Highway you might be wondering, 'What's that smell?' That would be the Hickman Farms egg facility.

At the control at the Palo Verde School (mile 116.7) there was a staff member grilling food for a wedding reception later that day. We stopped to check out this new water source. I topped my bottles off here.

At mile 127.1 there is another water source. We pulled into the Tartesso development and rode about a half-mile to the Community Park. Nice restrooms, water and shade available here. It was surprisingly warm on the climb/false flat heading north and was a good place to take a break. 

My bottles were already low so I topped them off. Normally I would add electrolytes to one bottle, but figured I was good on salt. When we reached Sun City Festival I had some cramping in my right calf. We stopped there and I iced and salted both bottles and let Brian lead us back into town. A V-8 at the next stop, more salt, and the cramp was in check, but it was still sore to the end!  

The shadows got longer and there was mostly golf cart traffic as we make our way through Sun City West.

One last bout of construction on Happy Valley Road, but the route has already been modified to avoid it for the main event.

We enjoyed a very quiet approach to the finish on Rose Garden Lane and rolled into finish control 13 hours and 20 minutes after we started. Its too late to sign up for the AZ Brevet Week that starts tomorrow with the North Valley 400! I will be riding the last event, the Desert 600 next weekend, until then, just keep ridin'!

Steve

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