2011 AZTR Updates / Discussion Thread

[Lee Blackwell]

Go Max Go !

[AZTtripper]

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.

[AZTtripper]

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.

[ScottM]

Lynda is cooling off and drinking up at the water cache... has been there for 40 min now.  Good plan, drink until you are swimming, and maybe wait for the sun to disappear.

Brad should be there in about 20 min, and I'm sure we'll see him stop for a long time as well.

Jill H's SPOT is not in track mode today (her last point is very old) but she is also riding very well.  I would hazard a guess that she is either riding with her friend, Eric Lord, or within an hour ahead/behind him.

Both Lynda and Brad have a bunch of riding in front of them.  The 3-4 hours they saved back on day 1 (east side Santa Ritas) will now come back, big time, as they ramble around the Gila, tonight and well into tomorrow.  It will be very interesting to see how many miles they are able to knock off tonight, and how much they sleep.

I've been waiting for the sun to drop before I head out for an easy spin.  It's just that hot here in Tucson.  Well, well above normal for April.

[JeepJenJen]

Hey all, sad to report that Jill is out of the race due to some mechanical/tire issues. Major bummer, I know she has really been looking forward to the race and really wanted to be (one of) the first women to finish, but there is always next year for a kick ass ride. 

I talked to Erick when he was at Summerhaven & about to indulge in some pizza with Matt Fusco & Brad Mattingly.  That was shortly before 1pm (AZ time).  I am surprised to see that Brad's spot is still at the top of the mountain. 

Erick appears to be just outside of Oracle now and I expect to hear from him while he is there.  I will post once I do if there is anything interesting to report. 

[jbuchanan]

I was hoping to do the official 300 start with everyone and be on the trail with Max, but I had a Friday/Saturday engagement to tend to. At any rate Saturday's ordeal finished early and I saw Max was making his way out of Las Colinas as I was driving home from Phoenix. I decided I was going to try and catch him and tag along for some of the suffering. I had my bike at Fairwheel bikes getting serviced so I swung by, picked it up, raced home, and in 15 minutes I was blasting out of my neighborhood  (Houghton/Valencia area) with a snickers almond in my mouth. I saw Max had stopped at the Rincon market and figured he'd be there for a while. At escalante/old spanish trail, I saw another AZT300 racer heading up and he said Max was behind him by 15 minutes or so.  I then caught a pack of roadies and stuck on them until I caught up with Max at the lowest part of old spanish trail. During the climb up old spanish trail I stayed off to the side in the gravel since max was hurting (he was 65ish miles in) and I wanted a bit of a challenge. We chatted about techy trails and how hard the Parker Canyon -> Patagonia section and the Las Colinas (Box Canyon Rd -> The Lakes Rd) sections are. He was just glad that he didn't have to do the sections the other way. He mentioned a stop at the Velvet Elvis Pizzeria in Patagonia saved him from some fierce bonking. He said he'd just eaten like a 5 lb cheapo bean burrito. It ended up giving him stomach problems later. I told him he'd just ingested a 5lb sleeping pill and didn't have much time until he went into a burrito induced coma.  

At any rate, we made good time making light pedal strokes down old spanish trail. We then hooked up with some horse trails and finally popped onto redington rd. I took pictures of Max heading towards the upcoming climb's switchbacks. We took a break at the turn before the Redington climb and max took a shower with some hand sanitizer.

We started up the climb I took off and dropped max hard since this weekend was a peak for me. I wanted to challenge myself up the climb. I stopped a few places and waited for Max to come into view for some pictures. We hit the summit just as the sun was setting. Max was hurting pretty bad and praying for a downhill. We then took a brisk pace from the scorpion gulch TH to the  peak of the climb. At the peak I snapped some final pictures of Max. We then shook hands, said goodbye, and then we each enjoyed our downhills. I'm sure he enjoyed (appreciated) his downhill way more than I did.  I had much more trek in front of me, 25ish miles to my house, making for a good 50 mile bike ride. I wish I could've used my peak at either the Prescott Monstercross or a first AZT300, but I'll have to ITT.

He said his main snag was running out of HEED and Perpetuem and running out of chain lube (left the cap off and it dumped all over). He was planning to buy some wd40 to keep the chain happy until he could score some real chain lube. I did have a full bottle of chain lube in my pack, but I didn't mention it in light of the rules.

[Foster]

I am back at home and even though I would rather be out there finishing the race and suffering I must say that it is nice to sit down on the couch and chill out in the 60 degree weather.  

All in all I made it pretty far despite what I was up against.  Things started out rough right off the bat with a torn sidewall on tire in the first 30 miles, which I fixed using duck tape and bark I cut off a tree.  Running through towns was nice, especially because of the cold beverages inside the stores.  While riding in the dark north of kentucky camp I took a digger a dislocated my right thumb, that ended my night and I set up camp there.   Throughout the rest of the distance I made I had numerous flats.  Looking at my tubes today, all in all I had 18 patches total.  Once I got out of tucson I felt really strong and I was almost certain I would finish the race, until... 1/4 the way up lemmon when my chain broke, derailer hanger snapped and the mechanism for my derailer had issues which I had problems figuring out.  After over one hour trying to fix it, my mechanical experience didn't do it. I headed back down the hill, hitch hiked close to Scotts place and was picked up by him and hung at his house till my ride came.

This was my first ever mountain bike race and I thouroughly enjoyed the suffering.  I'm sure I will see you all at other events and at next years AZ-300.

Great job to all those who came out, finishing or not that was some tough riding.

Eric

[Foster]

Anyone heard from Brad Mattingly?  It looks like he got off route north of summer-haven and then headed back to summer-haven and is chilling in some building and hasn't moved for quite some time now.

[AZTtripper]

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.

[ScottM]

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.

I think I know what happened and it is very unfortunate.  I think he followed AZT signs backwards, going down to Catalina Camp.  He dropped some serious "el" before realizing, and was likely shambilized by it.  Too bad, he was having a great ride.

Tim, can you confirm whether AZT signs still point down/up to Catalina Camp @ the saddle?  You were just there, no?

[Foster]

YA I was looking at the satellite view and he definitely took the wrong trail around and dropped around 700 feet.  Looks like it took him about 2 hr to get back to the proper route and then instead went back to Summerhaven.  That's a bummer to make the wrong turn having done the route before.  Getting off route is definitely mentally draining, even if it is a very small deviation, which his wasn't.  Hopefully he sticks with it and gets on going tomorrow.

Keep with it Brad, I'm routing for you.  Brad said he has a GPS, he should have been using it.

[AZTtripper]

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.

[AZTtripper]

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.

[JeepJenJen]

Just talked to Erick, he is in Oracle refueling.  He was getting there just as Matt F was rolling out.  Max came in shortly behind him.  I asked if he left the summit with Brad and he said yes, but shortly after they started the descent they lost sight of him. 

Erick was very happy to get to town before the sun went down and is looking forward to the cooler temperatures of the night. 

Sending safe thoughts to everyone still out on the trail.

[YuriB]

Max is no doubt spending the night in his spot in oracle. glad to see him cranking on.

[JMeiser]

Back in Tuscon.  Disappointed that I didn't do enough research and failed on the logistics front.  When I arrived back in Oracle I had a handful of potato chips and a pop tart, not enough to get to Superior.  

It is a truth that I didn't have enough food and had to return to Oracle.  It is however, an excuse for dropping.  I could have pedaled back to Freeman Rd. where I bailed and hopped back onto the AZT.  I could have also gone down to Dudleyville, but it is easier to shuttle from Oracle.  To be honest though, I was done with the pushing, lifting, and occasionally dragging my bike.  I imagine on fresh legs the AZT north of Oracle would be 'more' rideable.  It just wasn't today.

I learned a few things out there and I'll learn a few things from the experience that have yet to be divulged.  

[jbuchanan]

Looks like Lynda is about to hit those Ripsey switchbacks I've been seeing recently. Will she call it a night there? Or press on and dominate the road grind after it?

[ScottM]

What a night, huh?

On my ride tonight I got to see the sun setting on one side of me and the full moon rising on the other.  I was reminded how AZT time is a unique time of year, and that timing the race for maximum moonlight leads to some really cool moments.  Hopefully some of our racers out there got to experience the sunset/moonrise, probably from more scenic locales than the middle of Tucson, where I was riding.  They may have just been happy to see the sun go away for the day.

It sure seems like Lynda is happy about the sun's departure.  She is carrying big guns for lights and has, if anything, sped up since sunset.  She is well into Ripsey's climb right now.  Topping out on Ripsey, near midnight and with a full moon, 250 miles into a hot desert epic?  I am trying to imagine what it would be like, but I can't.  Just wow.

She should hit the artesian well near the Battle Axe sometime after midnight, where we'll get to see if she pushes on or goes for a rest.  Not too many miles remain from there, but those miles pack a punch -- even when the sun isn't beating down on you.  I wouldn't be surprised to see her keep pushing through the night.  She has had such a good race so far, and may have, by now, realized that the lack of tire tracks in front of her isn't just a heatstroke and sleep deprived illusion -- she really is in the lead.  That should fuel some serious stoke.

Brad is still trucking along as well.  I would look for him to keep pushing into the night too.  The coming of tomorrow's heat has got to be on both of their minds.

Fusco and Eric Lord have ventured into the Antelope Peak segment, north of Oracle, looking to make miles while the sun is down.  They completed Oracle Ridge with Max Morris today, who may be looking for a classic Max move -- bivying behind the circle K in Oracle.  That's where his SPOT point shows him.

I'm hoping to see Brad Mattingly's SPOT continue on the route tomorrow after his bonus miles excursion on 'the ridge'.  Perhaps he found a place to crash in Summerhaven for the night.

750 rider Matt Ruscigno is making headway on the big Lemmon climb, still on a good pace for Utah.

Our 'lanterne rouge', JC Cullen, has made it into Tucson, still on course, but is thinking about pulling the plug due to heat.  A night at a motel in town might change his mind, and as the age old bikepacking wisdom goes, "never drop out without sleeping on it first."

Everyone else we are tracking is out, as is Taylor Lideen who did take the start.

Man, I love this race!

[ScottM]

PS - I just put a SPOT in my mailbox for early pickup.  Jamil Coury will start tomorrow morning from Parker Canyon Lake.  Jamil will be leaving something that everyone else has behind -- a bike.  Yes, he is the 300's first foot entrant and I'm especially excited to see how it goes for him.

He is on the same tracker, look for the other "JC" blue dot!

[OurManInTheNorth]

So, it's nearly 4.30am AZ time, but I'm using the 'euro late night Spot monitoring advantage' TM here in Finland to follow the race as it reaches its final stages (for the leaders at least). It looks like Lynda is still out in front, and unlike the previous 2 nights where she managed to catch 4-5 hours sleep, I think she's going to try pushing right through to the end. I've watched her descend from about 3000ft to about 1400, and though her last spot point is a little while ago, she should probably have hit and left the Gila River by now, but from the opposite direction to previous years races.

Her next move is essentially to rejoin the trail from previous years for the final push to the finish! I hit Box Canyon, which she will soon connect with, on last years AZT in moonlight and low on headtorch batteries, and it felt like a moonscape or a canyon on a different planet! Gradual climbing in the canyon becomes steep climbing past a couple of mines, finally topping out at around 3800feet. On the climb, I nearly ran over a Gila monster basking in the sun to warm, I'm not sure who was the most dozy of us at 6am... I had blue skies which contrasted beautifully with the green saguaro cacti as you hit the elevation they grow at, and the trail ribboned between these and was surrounded with a carpet of yellow wild flowers. From the top it's essentially downhill and singletrack all the way to the finish, I followed hundreds of lizards down the trail, braking every few tens of metres as a new one took off and stayed on the trail, not heading into the undergrowth until I was inches from running them over.

However, Lynda's hitting Box Canyon a little later than I did, and while she is undoubtedly stronger than me, it'll be interesting to see if she makes it to the top and the relief of feeling the wind in her hair as she hits the downhill before things heat up too badly. Sections of the climb were sheltered but in the sun, making nice little ovens even first thing in the morning on a not particularly hot day...

Lynda's Spot hasn't moved for nearly an hour, but the canyons around their are very difficult to get reception in so it'll be interesting to see if she's stopped or just lost reception (or even gone stealth for the final drag to the finish, leaving us guessing when she exits the canyon!). Her closest rival, Brad, was around 30 miles back when her last point came in...