I just spoke with Mike K. 

He crashed near pine and is unsure if he broke or bruised a leg but is unable to continue on.  He's pulled the plug on the race and got a ride home.

Go, Lael!  Hope you find your dragon.

As someone who has not (yet) done the race..

1. Good thinking on simplifying the decision to seek medical help and tilting the balance in favor of caution.

2. The earlier the start the better.  I agree with the poster who questioned the staggered start.

3. On the trail magic, I think it may depend on what you are trying to accomplish with the race.  If you want to see the sport/race advance in popularity, I think it would be a mistake to discourage spectators and well-wishers.  Maybe the rule could be no prearranged trail magic and any real trail magic is to be had at a full stop (nothing gets packed for later).  Maybe also no repeat trail magic (same person helping a favorite racer).  Just ideas, I don't claim to know The Path.

Geekonabike aka mike kunnecke is iDNF with multiple issues chief among them a broken rear axel.
 Limping back to picket post via roads.
 

I's wondering what caused you to depart the course.  Sorry to hear of your troubles, Mike.

I visited Bikeshophub because I was worried about tire/rack clearance on my ECR and they were super helpful and friendly.

If you haven't already figured this out, keep an eye on the AZ section on MTBR, check out the Arizona Endurance Series, and make a couple connections of Facebook to get plugged into the AZ bikepacking scene.

If you're on the fence between sizes, consider that the larger bike will hold a bigger triangle bag.  I figure my natural size is 20 and ordered a large (20) but built it up before realizing I had received the XL (22).  I'm very happy with the XL.

Here are some of my better pics from the event:

Found some mud above Lake Mary.




It seemed to be a good year for the Yucca on Schnebly hill.



My camp setup.  I was very happy with my Sea to Summit poncho.



Waiting on the sunset.



Me and my horse.



Mike, before his GPS track ran out.



And you thought I was telling tall tales at the campfire.  Here are the bear tracks I found.



I thought this balanced log was pretty cool.

What a great event! (Now that the memory of climbing Mingus is starting to fade)  Thanks for putting it on!  I had a great time and enjoyed riding with you all.

Here are my results.  I can upload my tracks to some other site if needed.

Stage 1 - 6:12:10 - http://www.strava.com/segments/8337318
Stage 2 - 13:18:28 - http://www.strava.com/segments/8337278
Stage 3 - 12:11:45  - http://www.strava.com/segments/8337118
Stage 4 - 9:17:53 - http://www.strava.com/segments/8337158

Total: 41:00:16

I'm a little unsure of the stopping point for stage 2 - Please advise if segment edits are needed.

I'll probably mark these segments private after time is established;  No sense having public segments with a bunch of wrong turns! 

To the person who left a pair of tubes in a silver bag at the Verde. I have them in room 110 at ABV.

That would be helpful, wouldn't it?

L&M Vis 360+ (http://www.lightandmotion.com/choose-your-light/vis-360/vis-360-plus).  Not much light and I would have to pack an external battery charger if I was going to use it much.  Not sure how likely that is.

Hi all.  My first post is for the purpose of committing to this event. 

I'm debating on the use of my ECR that I have set up as a commuter with dyno headlamp vs. my hardtail mtb without.  Any input on that is appreciated.

My goal will be to finish in four days.