Sunday, December 6, 2026 · Fountain Hills, AZ

Ride the Frenzy Hills 100 on a plan, not a hunch

Four laps of a 25 mile loop through the McDowell Mountains, a hundred miles of desert singletrack with the start and finish as your pit every lap. Below is the day the way the model rides it: your finish at three paces, where a fast rider gains on you, the climb you meet four times, and a fuel plan for thirteen hours of cutoff.

No card. No account needed to try it.

01 · The course, as the model rode it

4 loops, 105 miles, 6,362 feet of climbing

105.0 mi4 × 26.3 mi loop
6,362 ftClimbing · 1,591 ft a loop
1,576 to 2,472 ftLow and high point
1Climb that decides it, on every loop
The Frenzy 100: elevation, the climbs that cost most, and where to eat 4 loops of 26.3 miles between 1,587 and 2,441 feet. Shaded and numbered: the climb the model rates costliest, on every loop. Amber dots on the axis: 12 feeds for the guest rider at moderate pace. 1,500 1,700 1,900 2,100 2,300 2,500 1111 loop 2loop 3loop 4 5.2 mi, 0:27 in: 15 g carbohydrate19.3 mi, 1:46 in: 66 g carbohydrate26.8 mi, 2:19 in: 54 g carbohydrate31.5 mi, 2:43 in: 40 g carbohydrate35.8 mi, 3:10 in: 46 g carbohydrate41.2 mi, 3:38 in: 46 g carbohydrate49.8 mi, 4:18 in: 67 g carbohydrate57.7 mi, 4:58 in: 67 g carbohydrate62.1 mi, 5:26 in: 67 g carbohydrate67.4 mi, 5:54 in: 75 g carbohydrate76.0 mi, 6:34 in: 75 g carbohydrate84.0 mi, 7:14 in: 75 g carbohydrate start20 mi40 mi60 mi80 mi100 mi ft
the climb that costs mosta feed, for the guest rider at moderate pace

Aravaipa's event page lists 100 miles and 3,708 ft, 25 miles and 927 ft a loop, through McDowell Mountain Regional Park. The figures above are the model's own reading of a Strava route of the 25 mile loop, with elevation read from AWS Terrain Tiles (it agrees with the file's own to within 1%). Their own 15 mile relay loop is listed at 1,026 ft, more than the 25 mile loop, and a Strava file of the loop measures the same as the terrain does, so the listed figure looks low. Start 6:00 AM, cutoff 13 hours, aid at the start and finish, plus a fully stocked station at Granite Tank on the Pemberton Trail. The same day runs a 50 (two loops), a 25, a 15, an 8 and a 9 hour relay on a 15 mile loop.

02 · Your finish

8:31 to 10:07, depending on how you ride it

The rider the app opens with, 185 lb, 280 W FTP, 20 kJ reserve, at the app's three pace settings, beside a fast rider. Your own numbers move all of it.

the guest rider (185 lb, 280 W FTP, 20 kJ reserve) at the app's three pace settingssteady to aggressivea fast rider (150 lb, 350 W FTP, 28 kJ reserve)the cutoff

Riding it steady costs 1 hour 3 minutes against moderate; riding it aggressive saves 32 minutes and leaves your anaerobic reserve about where moderate does. Each loop takes about 2:16.

03 · A fast rider against you

Where the 2:23 goes

A fast rider

150 lb, 350 W FTP, 28 kJ reserve, aggressive

6:41

258 W average, 15.7 mph

The guest rider

185 lb, 280 W FTP, 20 kJ reserve, moderate

9:03

180 W average, 11.6 mph

How far behind the fast rider the guest rider falls, mile by mile The line is the guest rider's deficit to the fast rider at each point of the Frenzy 100, over the course's elevation. It ends at 2:23. It grows fastest from mile 27 to mile 45. 0 0:30 1:00 1:30 2:00 2:30 2:23 behind at the line start20 mi40 mi60 mi80 mi100 mi
the guest rider's deficit to the fast riderwhere it grows fastest

The deficit grows fastest from mile 27 to mile 45, 29 minutes of it in 18 miles. It takes in climb 1 on the second loop: watts buy the most time where gravity is what you are paying, and on the flat and the descents the gap barely moves.

04 · The climb that decides it

One climb, four times

WhereClimbGradeTimePower
116.1 to 18.1 mi of each loop331 ft3.1%14:25213 W

For the guest rider at moderate pace. Ranked by what each one costs as a share of the ride, not by how tall it looks, then listed in the order you reach them.

05 · Fuel, timed to the course

693 g of carbohydrate, 12 feeds

About 77 g an hour at moderate pace. Each feed goes in about 20 minutes before the model says you need it, on an easier stretch rather than on a climb, and none in the last 20 minutes, where it could not be absorbed before the line.

FeedMileInto the rideCarbohydrate
15.2 mi0:2715 g
219.3 mi1:4666 g
326.8 mi2:1954 g
431.5 mi2:4340 g
535.8 mi3:1046 g
641.2 mi3:3846 g
749.8 mi4:1867 g
857.7 mi4:5867 g
962.1 mi5:2667 g
1067.4 mi5:5475 g
1176.0 mi6:3475 g
1284.0 mi7:1475 g

From the burn the model puts on this course: work along the route, carbohydrate share from the pace, what your glycogen holds for your weight, and 400 kcal an hour through the gut for a glucose and fructose mix. Move the feeds to the aid stations you will actually use; the plan updates.

06 · Progression

Between now and December 6, 2026

Your likely finish, and how likely the goal is

Set a goal time for the Frenzy 100 and the app reads your recent rides against this course: a likely finish range, its middle, and your goal marked likely, possible, a stretch or unlikely. With a power meter from measured watts; without one, from your speed on your own ground.

The same clock, week by week

What your best riding of each week would finish in on this route, so you can see whether the training is moving the number, not just adding miles.

The climbs you have ridden

Each of the climbs above, checked against what you actually ride: covered, mostly covered, thin or not ridden, so the next session goes where the race will hurt.

07 · How it is solved

Physics first, then your numbers

The route is cut into short segments and each is solved for the speed your power holds against gravity, rolling resistance for the surface, and air, thinner at altitude. On twisting trail your speed is capped by how fast you can corner, and on the far side of a climb you keep the speed you carried in. The time on each segment is added up, the reserve you spend above threshold and win back below it is tracked the whole way, and the carbohydrate is burned where the work is done. It is fitted against recorded races: on a Chequamegon 40 validation ride it predicted 2:24:28 against an actual 2:24:20.

Three steps before race morning

  1. Load the route. Aravaipa publishes the loop on CalTopo, and the route is on Strava. Export either and upload it; a file with no elevation gets it from terrain data.
  2. Say what the ground is. Tag the wash, the wide desert track and the rocky singletrack, or describe it in a sentence. Worth 13 to 17% of a finish time.
  3. Set your pace and get the plan. Weight and fitness once, then the finish forecast, your reserve on every climb, the fuel plan and the markers that matter on your head unit. No power meter required.

Frenzy Hills Rides questions

How long does the Frenzy 100 take?

For the guest rider the app opens with (185 lb, 280 W FTP, 20 kJ reserve), the model puts it at 9:03 at moderate pace, 10:07 riding steady and 8:31 riding aggressive. A fast rider at 150 lb, 350 W FTP, 28 kJ reserve is around 6:41. The cutoff is 13 hours. Put your own weight and fitness in and it forecasts yours.

How much climbing is there?

Aravaipa's event page lists 3,708 ft for the Frenzy 100. The route file the model rode measures 6,362 ft over 105.0 miles, 1,591 ft a loop, between 1,576 and 2,472 ft. Their own 15 mile relay loop is listed at 1,026 ft, more than the 25 mile loop, and a Strava file of the loop measures the same as the terrain does, so the listed figure looks low.

Which climb costs the most?

Climb 1 on the chart, 16.1 miles into the loop: 331 ft at 3.1%, 14:25 at 213 W for the guest rider at moderate pace, and you ride it four times.

How much should I eat?

At moderate pace the plan is 693 g of carbohydrate over the ride, about 77 g an hour, in 12 feeds. Each goes in about 20 minutes before the model says you need it, on an easier stretch, and the last is at mile 84 so it is absorbed before the line.

Is the surface right?

The model rode it as singletrack throughout, the app's starting assumption. The organizer describes wider rolling desert terrain, a sandy wash and some rock gardens. Surface is worth 13 to 17% of a finish time, so tag the sections in the app and the forecast follows.

Is it free?

Yes. Load the route and run the whole plan as a guest, no account. Pro ($9 a month, or $59 a year) adds saved routes and plans, a saved athlete profile and the head unit export.

Other race plans

Same model, one page per course.

Every race on the calendar

Plan all four laps before the first one

Same course, your weight, your fitness, your pace. Two minutes of setup now.