Nice write up Jill, tough luck with the flats. Good luck slaving at the bike shop it will no doubt serve you well in the future. I would consider 3 tubes a minimum for the AZT, and never leave a tube with slime behind. It's even good to have a way to transfer slime from one tube to another.

Anybody know what his plans are at the Utah border?  It's only about 2 hours from my house in StG.  I wonder if he'd like some company from Jacob Lake to the finish followed by a ride to civilization?

I know he would. His first plan is to ride south and east to Lee's Ferry and then on to Flag at some point putting his thumb up. I have a 2 day ride coming up on the 30th-1st somewhere up north. Chris Campy and I aren't sure what we will do yet but part of the plan was to swing by Flag on the way home if Max needed a ride from there. He has 18 days off total, I told him if need be we could do our 2 day ride at the State line. I bet he will finish faster then that though.

Tim and all of the other trail volunteers, thanks for all of your efforts in creating and maintaining the AZT and making this type of ride even possible.  A special thanks for the last minute work on the Oracle ridge. 

And finally, Scott...loved the route.  The climbs at the end were par for the course. But, lets be honest here, this is not a mountain bike race, this is a multi-sport event.

Erick Lord

Glad to hear you had a suffering good time on the AZT 300 Hike a Bike race. That actually might be a fair way to state it.

Now that Oracle Ridge has a Segment Steward things should improve. Not that it will ever be easy just less annoying hopefully.


The Magic Gate before.


And after.


Fritz clearing the way.


Kurt's all smiles here, and looking strong we were surprised to hear he was dropping.


Fritz with Joe. Joe was looking a little beat but all he wanted to know was how far ahead Kurt was. Tired yes, but still on the hunt.

Fritz was certainly impressed with these two guys.

I would like to hear/read more about Max's setup.  Appears to be carrying almost nothing?  No bar bag, small seat bag, looks like a Jandd frame bag, and small gas tank.  Would like to know more.

No, he has plenty of gear along. He has a small stuff sack (sleeping bag) under his seat, his own system of holding it there (road bike inner tubes). He has a bag under and over the bars (pad under food on top) and the Jandd bag has his stove. His pack was not light at the start he had a fair bit of food, mostly stuff he didn't need right away. But knew he wanted and knew he couldn't get on course. He does have a very light bike though.

He is a super fit guy who rides all of the time. We did a bunch of riding together over the last month including a couple of overnighters in the Gila area. One was a reverse of the final leg Picket Post to the Well, so he knew what that part was and he wasn't happy about it. But he was also determined to do what ever Scott laid out. One of the hardest parts for him was the not riding for the last two weeks. Sure he got out for a few easy spins but he also took it easy so as to be well rested.

Keep at it Max you got this thing.

Looks like Max got his moneys worth out of the hotel and has hit the road. He's out past Tortilla Flat so that puts him in the dirt section of Apache Trail.

I was surprised not to see him moving this morning as well, maybe he's getting his moneys worth out of the hotel. By refusing to leave until check out time. Either way a good rest can do wonders.

Stick with it Max.

Erick is out of the Box and nearing the last demoralizing climb at least he'll get there while it's cool out.

Max is nearly out of the Box. He seems to be sticking to his steady pace plan. It will be interesting to see if he has enough H2o to skip the Arboretum. And then if he will take advantage of the first on course motel in Apache Junction.

Looks like Jamil is almost back on trail so things must be coming together for him. Not surprised to see him beat some of the bikes in the Canelo's. There are several section where one wonders why bother with the bike.

Can't tell what's up with Brad spot shows 11 hours in Oracle. Looks like he is at the "A" Frame Motel so hopefully a good nights rest and a shower will set him right for another go at it.   

That section west of Flag got hit by a tornado just before last years race.

The FS had cleared some of them by the time we got there.

It was pretty cool to see.

Looks like Max is at the campsite just past the Well my guess is he will be getting some rest and then up and at it early like 3 am. That's pretty much his standard work schedule. I have no doubt he could be going faster but he knows he is in it for the long haul.

That's awesome way to go Lynda!

Good luck to those still out there suffering in the heat.

Looks like Lynda is almost there Brad is in the Box and Max is almost to the top of Ripsey hill.

Looks like Brad M has gone off course again time will tell whats up.

all these start pics are so funny, I only got to see the border and Parker Canyon Lake covered in snow! I was amused at Matt Fusco heading to the 750 start even though he was just doing the 300, purely to see what the border normally is like!

Yep we thought they were in for the whole thing when we saw them Brad Kee as well as Matt rolling down the road towards us. I hadn't been to the Border since 06 it is a pretty cool spot and it only took us 2.5 hours to get there from my place. Hint hint.

Is anyone else using IE9? I can't get the trackleaders maps to show

Mozilla Firefox is the way to go I made the switch when Trackleaders first started a couple of years ago. Haven't use IE since.

Looks like Lynda is well into the Box so only 2 big climbs left.

Tough luck with the GPS units this year.

Max looks to be moving along steady, I just realized that the track is still on Freeman road. I know he wants to do as much single track as possible so I bet he will follow the AZT signs if he see's them. Wouldn't surprise me to see him camp at the Well or just past it. There is a nice shady campsite just past it. Getting up at 3 am is his normal work schedule and I am betting he will want to hit Martinez fresh in the cool hours of the early morning.

Both leader spots are now reporting in Lynda has a pretty good lead at this point. She is heading down for the Gila River and the beginning of Martinez Canyon. She has a least four big climbs ahead of her but she should be able to get them done before the heat of the day.

Max is right on schedule after being just a bit off the first two days he made it to his planned on bivi behind Circle K. Max is strong and fast and could likely be farther along if he wanted to, but knew that the best plan for the long haul was to hold a steady sustainable pace. 

Brads spot hasn't updated in over 12 hours so he could be anywhere. Hopefully he can recover from yesterdays extra workout.

Matt R the other 750 rider seems to have recovered from the long drive and lack of sleep Thursday. He still has time to finish but it is going to be close.

Matt F and Erick L both seem to be making steady progress.

I can't see Brad catching Lynda at this point.

Today is supposed to be a little cooler with a breeze hopefully that will help JC motivate to get back out there.

With only 8 out of 21 riders still in the AZT is taking it's toll again this year. Anyone who finishes is a winner in some way.

It's been over 2 hours since the last update from Brads spot so there's no way to know if he is still there or not. I can't see hiking back up from Dan Saddle but if he used up a lot of his water getting back up there maybe he had to go up for more. There is a creek down where he went off but I don't know how far down it is pretty sure it would have water though. At least we know he made it back up to where there is water.

Yep I was just there but you know how it is when you know where you are going I didn't really pay that much attention. There is a sign that give distances but I don't think there is an AZT sign. When we got to Dad Saddle yesterday there was a lot of brush so we cleared things up some. When we got back to Dan Saddle the guys working on the mine had just opened the gate over the cattle guard and laid it down across the trail. I put it up against the fence out of the way but they have made a bit of a mess there.

I know there is a cairn there at the start of the single track but I could also see how easy it would be to start down the road on the left. Or the one on the right for that matter, in fact we did see bike tracks heading down that way. But then there was a second set coming right back up. I asked Kurt if he had gone down by mistake and he said no so it must have been Joe. But he didn't go that far. I could see how easily one could end up so far down as to make getting back up a deal breaker.

Not sure what to make of it looks like he might be at the ranger station. I can't believe he went off course and then bushwacked back up not in that terrain. I would guess the spot is just connecting dots.

Definitely looks like he went back up the ridge though. That's some tough hiking even with out a bike so something must be up.

Looks like Eric is making good time must have been a spot glitch.

Lynda seems to be gaining ground on Brad, good chance she may be this years winner as well as the first female finisher ever.

Looks like Max is making good time down the ridge.

Looks like Eric L might have missed a turn it's a easy one to miss as you can fly down the road and then need to go through a gate onto single track.