2010 AZTR discussion thread

[Lee Blackwell]

Congratulations Ian! A fine effort against many odds.

Here's my blog post of how the race went for me.   http://leeblackwell.blogspot.com/

Lee

[mtbcast]

Mark  calls in from near Roosevelt Lake and he may finally have his mechanicals behind him! Hang in there, Mark!

[OurManInTheNorth]

Wow - not sure I thought Id see the Picket post sign. rolled in about 12.08. 300 (and a bit!) down. Times running out.

Sounds like Mark Caminiti is sharing my mechanical woes - keep hanging in there, we're on an adventure not a race now! Up to 11 patches on 1 tube now, 1 left but the slime/superjucice ,means theyre not sticking too good, plus 5 superglue spots on that tyre and 3 tyre boots that refuse to stay in place. Anyone know anywhere in Apache Junction that would sell a tube?

Highway 60 to Apache where I am now was pump 150 strokes, roll 3/4 mile, repeat till arms drop off. All of yesterdays 'superfast' singletrack was straight into a headwind. Only one gear at a time working, takes 10 mins to change, not optimal. Booked into Focus cyclery tomorrow am for Rohloff fixing (JB weld didnt work!) and hopefully to sort tubeless woes. Reckon Krefs will catch me in a day or two! Great effort from Brad and Matt at the sharp end, will there be more or less snow if I make it that far?!

Looking at making it to Payson and bailing there. Or pushing work and family commitments perhaps a bit too far and seeing how far I can get? We'll see!

Oh and for anyone that didn't make it over Oracle Ridge, once the nightmare of that in the dark with a touring weight bike/kit was over, the rest of the trail has been incrdible! Cody Trail onwards singletrack all fantastic, Box canyon on a full moon with only a weak dynamo cos i forgot to buy batts was like a martian or lunar landscape, the singletrack to picketpost was almost too much for a no sleep mind and always too high or too low gear but stopping to rest and enjoy the views made it all better again.

Thanks for all the kind words and encouragement from those I've met, however briefly. More... whenever.

[OurManInTheNorth]

OK I'm in Gold Camp I think not Apache Junction, but a detouring waaaaaaayy off into Mesa for solutions to problems I didn't know I had until this thing tomorrow anyway, then hopefully back onto the trail to Roosevelt by the pm.

Having just wasted some time :-) reading reports, lists, blogs, can't believe there have been so many scratches on the 300, feeling much happier about plugging away for a ridiculously slow time now.

Mary - wow can't believe I encouraged you! I thought you were being super strong when we kept meeting as I always had no idea where I was or was going or where to get food or what water was OK to drink, and was pulling 2x as long days to get the same distance! Sorry you didnt make it - next year for sure?

I'm liking the sound of the oop north conditions, that's what Ive trained for, packed for, chosen bike and kit for... only hope wasting time darn sarf hasn't blown the chance to experience what's going on up there. I can hear the work and family clock ticking aaaggggh!

Night all,

Ian

[sherpaxc]

Ian, you are riding a very inspiring ride.  Keep it up!

[AZTtripper]

Alright Mark and Ian, of those that started at the border the two with the most difficulties are the last two moving that's great. Looks like Kurt is off and running, conditions are likely perfect out there.

[mtbcast]

Mark C calls in from Payon where he's at the BK giving an update. He heard about Brad and Matt's misfortunes. Sounds like no one is without a misfortune or two.

[marycycle]

Here's my blog post of how the race went for me.   http://leeblackwell.blogspot.com/

Lee
[/quote]

Awesome story of your AZ300, Lee! Trail magic saves the day! and the night! Looking forward to bike-packing with you in the future and learning your trail wisdom.

[wookieone]

Wow, pretty intense out there, any word from Matt/Brad about the trail up there? Also to Mark and Ian, you guys are tough cookies, keep it coming. What was Kurt's departure time at the border? I feel a bit weird to be home watching it all go down instead of being out there, it is stuck in my head and I will give it a try soon, actually can't stop thinking about it. Nice work everyone.....Jefe

[mtbcast]

Mark C. has some confusion over the detour. I forwarded this to Scott Morris. I’m posting it anyway as he has some other comments and someone else may be able to assist.

[ScottM]

Thanks for the message, Joe.  I left a message on Mark's phone.

As far as I know the snow comment from Matt Fusco was new snow coming down, not older drifted stuff.  But I am not sure.  At this point I would say to stick with the route as planned and ride/hike the Highline trail.  I wrote Matt back to clarify and will post if I hear more.

If anyone else has any info on Highline or can talk to Matt or Brad, please let me know.

More about Kurt in a bit here...

[OurManInTheNorth]

Scott - if there are any updates re reroutes could you call/text/leave a message on +358451293989?

Bike repairs in progress as we speak :-)

Ian

[ScottM]

Ian -- will do.

Kurt Refsnider started at 7:07am from the Mexico border, May 1st. 







It was an idyllic morning.  A little chilly on the fast descent down to the border, but warming quickly to perfect cycling temperature.  Calm winds, cooling clouds building later on in the day.

A start contrast to last week when the AZTR and AZT300 began.







Mile 1-2 of Kurt's ride.  They have done some serious work down by the border.  Five years ago this road was a rocky jumble, and the road along the border a grassed in 2-track.  Now both are ultra graded, smooth enough to ride a road bike on.  New to the border fence are the welded railroad ties -- no wall yet at least.







Kurt on a piece of singletrack not used in the 300 -- just before Parker Lake.  He was very calm while getting ready and heading out.  He knows the first 300 miles well enough, then the adventure really begins.

About the only thing he seemed paranoid about was tube and tire issues.  All the issues other racers this year encountered have him worried, not to mention the flat attacks he suffered last year.







Off down the AZT from Parker he goes!  And then he posted the fastest Patagonia split ever -- under 5 hours!  He is smoking it right now.  He claimed he would sleep a fair amount tonight, but it'll be interesting to see if he can shut that freight train down long enough to actually catch some Z's.

I rode a bit of both Canelo east and west, and it was pretty comic to see some deep tire ruts in a few places.  No real trail damage, just cosmetic for short stretches.

I updated the tracker so that his splits reflect his start time.  Note that they start at Parker (for comparison's sake) just like everyone else in the AZTR.  It took him 1:30 to ride from the border to Parker, so add 1.5 hours to get his total time.

Go Kurt!

[ScottM]

Just got this from Matt Fusco, regarding snow on highline:

All new snow on highline 2 to 3 inches and wet.  Very slow going and sticky.

Talked to the guy at rim touring (mick) and he said most of rim road was still closed and had up to 6 foot drifts
with new snow expected.  We looked at alt routes too but didn't have enough time.  I would at. Least plan for  36
hours ++ of food from payson to Mormon lake if mark wants to follow route.  It took us 24 from payson to Washington
park with maybe 3 hours down time.   And no food to make it over the rim.  It was flurrying in payson when we left
at 3 yesterday.  Boarding a plane now let me know if you have more questions.

Go mark!

Weather looked more clear today, but who knows if the new snow melted or not.  At least there is no old snow on Highline.

For sure detouring over to I-17 as Mark was talking about in his MTBCast call in doesn't make much sense.  Staying on 87 or (eventually) FR3 would keep you closer to the route and give better options for jumping back on.

[DaveH]

Looking at Kurt's first ~ 24 hours, the split projection chart and the weather forecast has me thinking he will be challenging Jefe's new benchmark.  He got a good sleep in last night of about 4 hours, well at least he stopped.  I hope he was able to turn it off and get some sleep

Even with the stop he's moving so quick that he's only ~1:42 off the fastest split to Colossal cave.  With some luck on his side he'll be back on top of the leader board by summerhaven.

The forecast is 70's today, 80's tomorrow, 90's tuesday.  Were I in his shoes I'd be making tracks to get to Payson!  90+ will slow him down during the day, once he makes Payson he won't have to be too concerned with high temps.  Then it will be snow and mud but ah well ... he'll will get through all that I'm sure.

Generally speaking, it looks to me like his weather window is fantastic so long as he really attacks the southern half.  If he stops near Roosevelt tomorrow he can make Payson well before the desert heats up.  I'm betting he pulls that off...

[ScottM]

Yep, Dave, I think your analysis is mostly right, but perhaps a touch wishful.  He's moving fast, and conditions are looking perfect today.  But I don't think he'll finish the 300 before sunset Monday, and even if he did, it would be a tall order to make it to Roosevelt before it starts warming up.

So, I think he's looking at the better part of one day in the heat and down low.  But at least he'll be on roads for that day.  Then, the warm up should serve him well from Payson onward.

It's all arm chair speculating, though.  We'll just have to see what he lays down.  Flawless execution so far...

[DaveH]

Armchair speculation at it's finest

As the previous record holder - a record set in less than ideal conditions as I recall - I'd bet he is thinking about it, and is probably reasonably confident he can do better than last year.  The question is really whether or not it is worth the risk to the rest of his ride to lay down that much juice so early.  The benefits go beyond a new record too.  It's really a conundrum for him, I wonder if he see's it that way?

His ride so far looks fantastic.  It's pretty exciting to watch.

Ride on Kurt!

[DaveH]

Oh, and the split projection chart?  Last time I looked it had him at the Utah border in 6 days including a 4 hour rim to rim traverse.  It also puts him at superior about an hour faster than Jefe's time.  Not sure what sort of algorithm you've created for that but I'd have to say that's optimistic!

[ScottM]

Oh, and the split projection chart?  Last time I looked it had him at the Utah border in 6 days including a 4 hour rim to rim traverse.  It also puts him at superior about an hour faster than Jefe's time.  Not sure what sort of algorithm you've created for that but I'd have to say that's optimistic!

It's just based on average speed and distance to the check points... nothing fancy.  Yep, the 4 hour rim to rim is pretty funny. 

It's a good point about the record.  I would bet it's on his mind, and going for it does make some sense given the uncertainty of snow/mud up north and the likely need to detour on more than just the north rim.  It would be something else if he does it...

[mtbcast]

Mark calls in from Pine sounding tired while giving a rundown of the of the tough riding from Payson.