The Queen's Ransom is a 5 day / 4 night bikepacking route around the greater East Valley of metro Phoenix and beyond. It includes a series of trail networks and the famed Picketpost to Kelvin section of the Arizona Trail. This route is singletrack heavy and very technical. This is NOT a gravel bike route. It's been rated an 8/10 for difficulty. The route has been published on both Bikepacking.com & Bikepacking Roots pages for a bit more in depth detail of what to expect.

This page is a landing spot for route updates and past ride reports.

NOTE: This is the current published public route here: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/45308406

Next year's group ride will be Thursday, Feb. 27th to Monday, March 3rd, 2025. We'll roll out from my place at 8a. Registration will open one month prior, at 12p (noon, MST) on January 27th. Link will be posted here. Follow for updates on the QR Instagram page and the Facebook group page. The ride will be capped at 30 riders. I'll create a wait list, if necessary. If you want to be a part of the group ride, I suggest setting an alarm as it often fills quickly.

Here are the ride reports from each year:

2024, 2023, 2022, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014 (Day 1, Day 2, Day 3), 2013

A couple of really well produced YouTube videos that give a really good sense of what to expect:

Chris Wilson of PNW Bikepacking

Neil Beltchenko from Bikepacking.com

QR Swag!!

If you've completed the route, I have some pint glasses on my Zazzle page. Check 'em out.

Queen's Ransom
by John Schilling

If you're more the coffee drinking type, Katie Anderson at Hello Fern Creations, has offered to make Queen's Ransom pottery coffee mugs. They are spectacular!! You may order directly through her, email is best: Helloferncreations@gmail.com Here are some pics from the 10th Edition in 2023, the logo has been slightly updated and the '10th Edition' has been swapped out for 'Arizona'.