2011 AZTR Updates / Discussion Thread

[OurManInTheNorth]

And given my record as slowest ever finisher of the AZT300, I'm certainly not going to forget the other riders!

Matt Fusco is pushing through the night, having hit the wash at the end of the long straight gasline section about 4 hours ago, and if about the same distance behind Brad as Brad is behind Lynda.

Eric Lord had an early night and an early start, camping just past Oracle and setting off at around 3am. He's riding some sweet singletrack between cacti, but heading down into the desert and the long , straight, rolling gasline stretch (it's pretty fast as it's on average DH however).

Max Morris camped in Oracle, and set off at a similar time, around 3am. I guess these guys are trying to avoid the heat of the day as much as possible, especially for the run down through the desert. He's currently leading the AZT full meal deal, and closing in on Eric for the AZT300 (and if I recall correctly, an Eric set off from Parker Lake early - was it Eric Lord or Foster - so Max may be ahead on time and in 4th in the AZT300 standings).

Next up is Brad Mattingly, who's back in Summerhaven and hasn't moved according to his Spot for 11 hours now, after what looks like a detour on Oracle Ridge yesterday. Hopefully a nights rest and refueling will see him through for a good crack at the Oracle ridge section in the daylight, the altitude will certainly help with the temps.

Matt Ruscigno, our only other 'Full Meal Deal' taker, has been camped out at around 4000 feet between Reddington Road and the Mount Lemmon Highway, hopefully the cooler weather up there has let him have a good nights sleep ready for the climb up to the top and the push over Oracle Ridge. Again, staying high will help with the temps, but as he heads towards Oracle and then the desert things will warm up again.

The two JCs are a few blocks away from each other, one (JC Cullen) currently in my favourite position of the back of the AZT300 pack, and hopefully gathering the strength to push out of Tuscon and up Reddington Road. I'm not sure what hotel he is in, but I can recommend the recuperative powers of the eygyptian cotton sheets at the Hilton in Tuscon! I couldn't pedal any further towards the cheap motels on the other side of town when I arrived, having had both (mild) hypothermia and heatstroke the day before, and with a resting heartrate of well over 130 even after a night in a sleeping bag. 6 hours in a king size bed and I was up and raring to go again!

Our other JC should be setting off towards the startline, and will be the only racer literally toeing the line. I hope his running shoes offer better protection against the rocks that seem to have claimed a few sidewall victims this year, and the cacti that have done similar, both problems I experienced last year.

Anyway, good luck to all, it's fun vicariously experiencing the bits I know from last year, and wondering about the new bits and whether I'll get a chance to see them on an ITT later this year.

Ian

[OurManInTheNorth]

Oh yes, there is also the question of whether Lynda can sneak in under 3 days, a time reached by only 5 riders so far of the 43 or so that have made the startline for the AZT300 or ITTs over the years. While this course is substantially different, with Scott suggesting that the easier beginning is more than made up for by the section Lynda has just finished before reconnecting with the old course in Box Canyon, it seems that the overall times might not be too different. Or maybe Lynda is just superhuman (which we kinda already knew, but her current progress seems to just confirm that!).

[OurManInTheNorth]

Ooops, I should say that this is the second glimpse of the Gila River for Lynda! She's already crossed it once at the new to the AZT crossing about 5 hours, before looping north of it and then heading west and south to reconnect before the start of the climb into Box Canyon and on to the finish... As has Brad. Still no point from Lynda for 2 hours now, Brad is only 20 miles behind her last known point now - have we got a race for first developing? (See above for reasons why we might have, no signal in the canyons or stealth mode activated!).

[AZTtripper]

Both leader spots are now reporting in Lynda has a pretty good lead at this point. She is heading down for the Gila River and the beginning of Martinez Canyon. She has a least four big climbs ahead of her but she should be able to get them done before the heat of the day.

Max is right on schedule after being just a bit off the first two days he made it to his planned on bivi behind Circle K. Max is strong and fast and could likely be farther along if he wanted to, but knew that the best plan for the long haul was to hold a steady sustainable pace. 

Brads spot hasn't updated in over 12 hours so he could be anywhere. Hopefully he can recover from yesterdays extra workout.

Matt R the other 750 rider seems to have recovered from the long drive and lack of sleep Thursday. He still has time to finish but it is going to be close.

Matt F and Erick L both seem to be making steady progress.

I can't see Brad catching Lynda at this point.

Today is supposed to be a little cooler with a breeze hopefully that will help JC motivate to get back out there.

With only 8 out of 21 riders still in the AZT is taking it's toll again this year. Anyone who finishes is a winner in some way.

[ActionJackson]

No doubt Tim, they are all winners. Keep on hammering everyone!

[Chad B]

A strong ride last night by Lynda...the home stretch is near. Great ride Lynda!

[ScottM]

Strong ride for sure.  Only a couple hours for rest and now back motoring.  Hopefully she can bust out the solid rock rollers and get into Orphan Boy soon.

Her last SPOT dot is right at the top of the climb in the background of this shot:



By now she is no doubt up the climb Lee is pushing his bike up.

Go Lynda!

[OurManInTheNorth]

Yep, looks like Lynda went to half sleep rations, stopping for about 2 hours just before she reached the Gila for the second time. That allowed Brad to catch up to 15 or so miles behind, from about 30 behind when she stopped, but Lynda looks to be making very good progress again heading up towards Box Canyon.

I suspect she's not quite going to sneak in under the 3 days, with just under 2 hours to go, though the rest of the route is pretty much all ridable if you have superhuman strength, and I'm sure she'll enjoy the miles of singletrack to the finish after catching some sleep, however little. Go Lynda Go!

[ScottM]

Hmm, she is off route at a spring, according to the topos.  I have no idea if there is ever water there, but it's a little disconcerting that she's looking for agua -- hopefully she is just going for extra insurance.  She did not stop for more than 10-20 min at the artesian well, if at all.  There is some chance of flow or pools in the next canyon over, and also in Box itself (off route, downstream), otherwise there really isn't anything else out there that I know of.

[Chad B]

Hmm, she is off route at a spring, according to the topos.  I have no idea if there is ever water there, but it's a little disconcerting that she's looking for agua -- hopefully she is just going for extra insurance.  She did not stop for more than 10-20 min at the artesian well, if at all.  There is some chance of flow or pools in the next canyon over, and also in Box itself (off route, downstream), otherwise there really isn't anything else out there that I know of.

If it is some spring, I would not put it past Lynda to know about it. The Lynda and Dave clan hunt for water sources in their free time. I heard once that they have been to every hot spring in Nevada, and there are more than 3k of them!

That would be a nice place for some shade also

[jbuchanan]

Do you think Max will climb Antelope Peak for the 75 min time bonus?

[ScottM]

Do you think Max will climb Antelope Peak for the 75 min time bonus?

LOL.  On a day like today, it should be worth 200 min.

LW did not stop long at the supposed spring, and made it up the next hill only to stop for a small break.  Waiting for another point...

Forecast for today has changed from ~92 to ~86.  Still PLENTY hot, but definitely good news for all involved.

I just heard from Brad Mattingly.  His GPS froze on him so he was navigating based solely on cues/intuition.  He went part way up the traverse of death and thought "no way this can be the route" so backtracked and tried the Catalina Camp descent... before deciding that couldn't be it either!  He is back in Tucson now, I tried to help get his GPS going (hard reset) but he is considering his options now.

JC Cullen is pulling the plug, and is looking for a ride to Picketpost.  Anyone that might be heading that way (Mike S?) please contact him: 520-747-1414 Room #209.

[AZTtripper]

Looks like Lynda is well into the Box so only 2 big climbs left.

Tough luck with the GPS units this year.

Max looks to be moving along steady, I just realized that the track is still on Freeman road. I know he wants to do as much single track as possible so I bet he will follow the AZT signs if he see's them. Wouldn't surprise me to see him camp at the Well or just past it. There is a nice shady campsite just past it. Getting up at 3 am is his normal work schedule and I am betting he will want to hit Martinez fresh in the cool hours of the early morning.

[Walkurtalk]

Hey all. It seemed the majority of my time was spent repairing tires. I sliced a sidewall 5 miles from the start, booted twice and limped into Patagonia on a flat. Thanks to BK for the help booting yet again with cardboard and duct tape. This got me to Tucson where I found the closest bike shop for a new back tire. Things were going better and I was overcoming the frustration of losing about 4 hours fixing tires when I flatted again. Not an hour after I used my last tube, I tore a front sidewall just before the long hike-a-bike up to the Catalina highway.

Spirit broken, I set up camp and contemplated my options. Riding ten miles back to Tucson (think duct tape again) to get yet another new tire and losing the better part of a day just wasn't in the cards for me.

I had a great time, loved the race and I will be back next year. Hopefully with a little better tire karma.

[ScottM]

Yikes, bad year for tires and GPS units.  Many torn tires and flats among the field.

Brad M is back in this thing.  I am not sure if his GPS is 100% back, but he is heading back to Oracle Ridge.  Wow.

Lynda has a couple "easy" miles, then the final rally to the finish, where Dave Harris should be waiting with cold drinks in hand.

[caseygreene]

Yikes, bad year for tires and GPS units.

I was thinking the same thing, but never haven ridden down there, thought it was just in the water or something (or lack of it).

Id be curious, after all's said-n-done, what were the gps models that failed? Seems like this course eats them.

[SlowOldGuy]

If anyone can give JC a ride to picketpost please email me for his cell number.  He will start riding the road up to Florence around noon.  jcandshanna@hotmail.com

[ActionJackson]

I was thinking the same questions about GPS units. I have a Garmin Vista HCx with a MicroSD slot, so technically I could have the GPX file loaded on the device and the MicroSD. If I had to perform a hard reset, which as I have been reading today, wipes all data from device, I could insert the MicroSD to reload the map file only if the hard reset works.

Anyway, back to the race...

[Done]

I was thinking the same questions about GPS units. I have a Garmin Vista HCx with a MicroSD slot, so technically I could have the GPX file loaded on the device and the MicroSD. If I had to perform a hard reset, which as I have been reading today, wipes all data from device, I could insert the MicroSD to reload the map file only if the hard reset works.

I don't think that the Vista HCx can actually load tracks from the MicroSD slot. Please, someone correct me if I'm wrong (I'd love to be!).

Anyway, back to the race. I remember someone telling me a couple of years ago that the AZT300 should be my first bikepacking race because it's supposed to be easier than the CTR. Well, with guys like Marshall, Dave, and Kurt bailing out, I'm not so sure! Makes me really want to get out there next year though--the photos are incredible; what a beautiful place. I'll just need to figure out how to attach one of those cafe-sized sun umbrellas to my bike so that I can have some shade!

[ScottM]

Yeah, there's nothing easy about the 300.  It's just a different beast than the CTR.  One thing about CTR is that it starts pretty tame and gives you some time to get your feet under you.  With the 300 you have to be on your game from the get go.

The last two years have seen a pretty insane attrition rate with good riders, so I think it's pretty telling.

Aaron's locked GPS was an Edge 800.  Brad's is a Dakota 10.  The 800 is new and still has bugs.  Brad just needs to update the firmware on his Dakota, I think.

No lockups on the Vista that I have heard of.

LW is nearly to the final singletrack.  ~1 hour of mostly descending, often fun, but also frustratingly slow at times, singletrack to go.  Awesome.