I trust that Lael carried everything and did all of "that stuff" the right way. The X factor is the knowing (on a daily basis or maybe even multiple times a day) that you will be meeting with someone is a huge pull no matter how you slice it. I will never dream of being able to move as fast as Lael or other top riders but I do know that when I am "out there" - if I know that someone is waiting for me at a location it makes me ride differently - heck this happens even during a day group ride. Now put a person at as many places possible (not gonna list them but they are extensive based on the IG feed of Lael) and it has to be considered support. Whether the racer believes it is or isn't.

This shouldn't be construed as "hate" by anyone who agrees. I think Lael is a freaking badass. But the rules are right there on the site and nothing new. My only wish is that Lael would have not put the RD in a position to make this call. Take ownership of your choice to ride in this manner and call it a day.

Lael finished her 800 ITT a bit ago, about 2h 20m ahead of Nate's winning time from last October.
Rules. The AZTR has them and enforces them. Rule #2 explicitly states no media crews & no record will be acknowledged if a media crew is used. There's also a visitation rule which states excessive use may result in relegation. Unfortunately this too occurred over the entire 800 miles.
Lael's finish time of 9d 8h 24m will be noted, but not recognized as the record for violating the above rules.
I know a lot of you are very passionate about these events, keep it civil.

Killer effort by Lael - no way around that. However the rules are good and are there for a reason. Thanks for keeping the line from getting blurry, John.

He scratched - the heat took its toll on him from what I saw on FB.

As soon as I post that, it sounds like there has been a change to the route to eliminate the pavement stretch of SR82 - and the new gpx files are posted. If you aren't following the "Arizona Trail Race (mtb)" group on FB you really should.

Okay, thanks. I was thinking of planning an ITT this Spring. Are there any known closures from last year?s route? Thanks again.

I am not aware of any at this time, again using last year's gpx as at least a planning tool will get you 99.99 percent of the way there if not 100. In the event of something changing, keep your eyes here or in the facebook groups for more up to the minute route impacting changes especially as ITT's start to get scheduled.

Hello, gang!

Do we know when the 2022 gpx files will be available?

Hey there. John usually will have final versions of the gpx published about a month prior to the event. You can grab last year's version and it will be very close to what the final will be this year. More than good enough for planning anyway.

There are way too many variables between now and then to release a final 2022 route. Wildfire detours, other planned/unplanned work, etc. always crops up between now and the grand depart which is the reason for nothing being available at this time.

Is Alexandera OK?

I hope so. It's been a real challenge out there for her according to her calls into mtbcast. Just starting this beast with a bad ankle is inspiring, but  it has definitely impacted her but she has been continuing to push. I got the feeling from her calls that she really wants this... and she is one tough person. Hopefully her batteries are dead...

How come Nate does not appear on Race Flow on TrackLeaders?
Is he asterisked or something?
Also, has he been having bike trouble?

I wonder if he doesn't show up because he is currently "off route" in Flagstaff proper. Looks like he stopped at the bike shop there but he's on the move again.

Thanks for all the info John and also thank you for all the work that goes into handling all the various seen and unseen things behind the scenes in order to have such a great through ride season.

TL and TW look to be riding the course from 2010?

Interesting...

There's a 2 mile stretch of private land that we've been asked not to ride in the dark on.  They were running out of time to get that done so they went around it instead.  John gave them the go ahead on that route since it's slower and longer.

Yeah I was aware of the private land issue - didn't bother to look at the time that they bypassed.. that totally makes sense, thanks for the info! Bummer they missed the new stuff - it's such a good addition!

#AZT21 - Melissa Ross called in en route to Kentucky Camp!
http://mtbcast.com/site2/category/azt21/

I was hoping to hear why they took the old route to Patagonia rather than the new section.

Maybe he was looking to get out of the wind.  It was pretty windy coming from the west last night.  Looks like where he ended up was at least a little sheltered by a mountian/hill.

Maybe!

Why did Garrett turn around last night?
Is there a burn area he didn't want to camp in?

Not that I am aware of. I am curious why he turned around as well.

Bummer.

Any word on Miron? In the other thread Scott mentioned he was targeting 48 hours... hopefully everything is ok with him.

A few more 300 ITT dots got going this morning, Jason & Jennifer Hanson & Melissa Ross.

Sweet!

Another 300 rider starting this morning in the wee hours, Miron has now crossed into the west Canelo Hills.

Off to a very fast pace!

Some really nice temps are going to be on tap the next couple of days for him to tackle the four peaks climb and to get up to Goldridge and beyond

Yeah Garrett is plugging away. I'm curious on how that section from Kelvin to to the turn up from the Gila is looking... He is gonna run into more of a vegetation mess at some point though. Not sure where it starts as I didn't get that far, but 6-7 miles of that 10 mile descent to Picketpost were very overgrown. Nothing he hasn't experienced to this point though. Good news is there will be some more open riding and less vegetation after that. Well until boulder creek