are trail conditions much slower now in the first 100 miles heading north bound compared to spring time?

Yes. After a massive monsoon season, the amount of vegetation encroaching/hiding the trail altogether are making things very rough out there.

Cool, thanks! I guess I should clarify that I'm only planning on the 300, so cold should* only be an issue for me going over Lemmon. That said, I'm always cold so I'm sure I'll overpack in some regards.

My main concerns are if I'm trying for sub 3 days how best to understand the pacing, about how far people get each day, and smart places to find sleep/nap spots, the more reliable and crucial water resupply places, etc. I'm coming off my rookie attempt of the CTR and I made some really stupid sleep choices, I just kinda rolled off the trail randomly in some really dumb places (lots of debris, on a slope) when there were perfectly good flat spots just a few miles further if I had known....

Also, can someone write my term paper for me, I just found out it will be due Monday Nov 1 which puts the stress on me to finish quickly!!  

My biggest suggestion would be to take a look at the results page https://azt300-800.com/results/ - check for those who are close to your target time and find some times that are hyperlinked to blogs about it. Though the 300 route has changed a bit over time, but a lot of this info will still be relevant.

As far as sleep spots, in my experience they aren't that difficult to find. Oracle ridge I suppose could be tough but even then there are still a couple spots to crash out if you really wanted to. Given your desired sub three days (which is quite quick), I would say that is going to most likely leave your resupply options to Tucson at a 24 hour convenience store and Oracle at a similar. Most other options will likely be closed. As the result gets closer to 4 days, more things will be available (stuff in Summerhaven, more options in Tucson).

Water shouldn't really be an issue given the pace you are looking at. That said, there are great resources available to help you find info. Join the ATA and you can get water reports there. You can get the Guthooks app which will show potential water sources.. though the comments from them will be mainly from the Spring thru hike/ride season. The blogs you can read are also a good resource for this and will show you the kind of water you will be dealing with. Hint: in many cases it isn't that pristine and clear Colorado water

Enjoy the research, and good luck on your attempt!

Fantastic ride evdog!

Sweet - added to the watch list.

I ordered because I can always use a good excuse to funnel money to the ATA

Also, looks like Katie is bedding down at one of the two spots available to do so while in the big ditch - cottonwood campground. Can't wait to watch that push unfold tomorrow. Go Katie!

Bummer! it was A hot day today.

Yeah... AK has a heck of a ride happening given the heat today. Will be interesting to see if the lack of the sun beating down on him allows him to pick up the pace a bit over the evening hours

Kurts spot has been still for about 2hrs. Hope It's just not pinging. I'll take a beer Adam!

I think he might be done based on something he posted on an Instagram story

After an early head start by AK Chewbacca, Kurt caught him and appeared to pass him briefly - but it looks like AK pulled ahead - hard to tell for sure, but they are very close at the moment. I'm sure both are ready for someone to push the sun behind Mt Wrightson I should note - this isn't the first time they have been this close in a race, though this one is slightly warmer than the one I am aware of. Fun stuff!!

Bryan is about to wrap up an impressive ride in what should be well under 2.5 days barring something crazy. Katie is making her way down towards the mighty Colorado... She just keeps pecking away at the miles. Super cool! And Kurt is Kurt. Hopefully his ankle holds strong and the heat doesn't get to him too bad out there... Will be fun to watch.

And the KR dot is off!! Looks like a 7:45a start...

Dots all over the state today!!

Track history isn't showing up for me... I think it's because TL doesn't have him as officially starting until 9:50?

Awesome decision, and can't wait to watch.

We have our first rider at the South Rim!! My guess is he waits until tomorrow to drop in based on how he's been riding so far, i.e Early-ish nights.

I don't know he just pinged again.... he's either getting a really good look or dropping in!

For the 800 mile riders It was pretty hot over the weekend.  Still plenty of snow on the rim from Blueridge to Mormon Lake in shaddy spots.  I imagine they rode through some pretty muddy or soft trail sections at times.  Pretty dry around Flagstaff.  How many full AZT riders are out there??

Three total on route at the moment on the tracker. One approaching the GC, one just got into Flagstaff proper, and one battling the Canelos after starting yesterday.

Bryan off to a speedy start. Hopefully Rob is OK out there...

It's a scratch for this Alexis Rose.  Pretty darn hot out there this week.

Eww David!! That really stinks, she was cruising out there again.

It's better than Alexis Re-loaded, isn't it??

 

Does anyone know who Alexis Rose really is? She's making some good time into Kentucky Camp.

No idea lol. Love that show though.

Seriously though, I mean I get it if you don't want to be super public about riding the route - but it kinda stinks for the people who are watching. And yeah, she is riding strong. This is definitely the year of the pseudonym on the AZT.

Congrats Jefe!

Sorry about the bouncy spot, must be infuriating to watch.   It's a newer Spot GenX, set to 10min intervals to conserve some battery.  Had similar issues last fall with it not updating as fast as others do.  Sounds like everyone was getting hour updates, not 10mins.  I have it in my back middle jersey pocket.  Maybe that's the issue?  and it gets blocked by my body too much?  I don't know.  I'll try to mount it on the bike next time away from me and see if that helps.  Open to suggestions.

The track (AZT300 2021 v6) that I downloaded from https://aztrail.home.blog/route-gpx/ is corrupt or something when uploaded to my Garmin etrex 30x.  Don't know how I stupidly didn't notice it until I was out there, but it only goes from parker canyon lake to 77 miles, right before the I-10 crossing.  I re-downloaded and imported the file this morning to make sure it wasn't a one-off bad export/import before, and it did the same thing.  The simplified 10k version has the entire 277 miles.  Lesson learned on previewing the whole course on my device beforehand and/or having multiple track files on the device.  Fortunately had my phone as a gps backup and was able to use trackleaders/mtbproject and a call to the girlfriend to make sure I didn't miss anything.

Wow, was a blast watching you kill it out there, congrats! I will say that yeah having it in your jersey pocket is probably a contributing factor - OR WAS IT THE SPEED??!! lol. I attach mine to my shoulder strap of my pack near the top so the top faces the sky. Never had any issues doing that. And as you also got to learn, the eTrex family will cut off anything over 10k points, so the simplified versions are what to use and why they are provided. I can't believe you dealt with that logistical issue while riding such a fast pace.

Congrats again!

For all you time split data geeks (like me) I created a Google doc from the Trackleaders leaderboard grid going back to 2010. Makes it a little easier to find what you're looking for. Link to the file is here: Google Doc AZTR Time Splits
It's also linked on the AZTR website on the Results page, down with the Records.

Super cool!