The trail is in good shape: smooth and mostly free of debris, but it's loose for some sections. I'd suggest at least 35mm tires, and take some chain lube: by the time I got to Papa's Store for resupply, I had trouble shifting. It's a fine dust in places. Two water bottles in cool weather got me to Papa's Store, and then another two got me to the start, but it was close; according to my Garmin temps were between 63F and 95F. Good idea to plan for three bottles. I tried to be conservative with my pace, and used my 30 ring and 35 cog a lot, sometimes visiting my 40 cog, but after 5,000 feet of dirt climbing, the stretch from Lake Hughes to the start was a tough 2,500 feet. I probably would've cramped catastrophically with a 1:1 ratio.