2012 AZTR/300 Discussion Thread

[mikepro]

Props to Dave G and Marshal B on a nice race / adventure.  Way to go guys!

[DaveH]

I haven't been in any of ya'll's shoes...but, man, that's a lot of negativity and wasted energy spent thinking about what others are doing/should be doing regarding following the rules or not while you're out on the trail...

I have worn those shoes...and I completely agree.  For a genre that is so fiercely independent there are those that spend an awful lot of time & energy worrying about the actions of others.  The back-biting always begins while the last few riders are finishing up...  Surely one of the reasons I have always favored the ITT, and why I identify so strongly with ITT efforts in general.

Speaking of shoes, looks like Jill is making great headway across the canyon!  And Marshal is just about in my home state.  Way to go!

[gdillon]

Just like to give a shout out to Mark C. Keep it going!

[dream4est]

About to head into canyon- I am so stoked to be here!

[Kurtis]

A truly Fan-effin-tastic ride. Epic is to small a word to describe it (but will have to do until my vocabulary on words meaning;"Oh hell Yea" gets bigger). Cheers to absolutely everyone who rode any part of it, let alone those who took on and finished the whole chimichanga. It was nice to meet those of you I did and thanx to Scott for stringing up the ball on this disco party.
     We create our own memories and I hope everyone can look back at this 2012 AZT rodeo with a chapped, carpeted and weather worn smile. I know I will.

[JF-mtnbiker]

Hats off to my 2010 TD companions, Dave (Beardog) Goldberg and Marshall Bird. That 750 looks like a real SOB. You old farts kick ass. HaHa. Hope the recovery is an easy one, my friends. John Foster

[mtbcast]

Mark Caminiti called in from Tusayan this morning!

[Marshal]

A few quick observations:

Oracle Ridge is no longer the ‘traverse of death’ but it’s more than slow & fun enough with just a front brake

However the new section of trail on the Gila River is not really that fun at all in baking 90+ deg w/bright sun all spiced up with a cut sidewall.  (oh and in one’s haste to get out of the sun don’t forget to put in the @#*% boot after your pretty stitch job--duh stupid stupid)

½ gal of chocolate milk and ½ gal of OJ combined with an hours ‘early stop’ in Apache Junction hotel room really will work wonders for re-hydration & recover

I am now quite sure no one can afford my new ‘current pay rate’ to ever get me to take a mtn bike though the Highline trail section. Ahhh--never again

It sort of worked, but was probably not wise to do a Flag-Jacob Lake push with no resupply stops.

With no one right in front to catch or right behind to defend that warm dry hotel room at Jacob Lake seemed much much more important than a silly 11pm finish in the dark mixed with rain.

The AZTR 750 compared to all the others?? The GL, TDR, CTR etc etc, well they will just have to stand to the side. The AZTR 750 is the true King of Pain. (Ahh yes borderline hypothermia followed by near heat stroke mixed with miles of unrideable single track, yes just what was I thinking---)

And as always Real Mexican Food is truly THE only correct meal after any such big mtn bike ride, (topped off with a nice chocolaty Haagen-Dazs bar) sort of makes the whole “what was I thinking” thingy just a quickly fading memory

Marshal

(& thanks Scott for all your organization & work--provided quite a memory load!!)

[LyndaW]

Awesome ride Marshall. Huge props for the most excellent finish.

[ImAFred]

Good job Marshall

[sherpaxc]

Awesome job 750 racers.  So envious.  The full meal deal AZT is on my bucket list. 

[ScottM]

Thanks for the epilogue thoughts, Marshal.  AZT750 - King of Pain, I like it.  Great job taking on the King.  I like your choice of words for the canyon hike -- "devastating" is best word I've heard to describe that undertaking.

Glad to hear from our race winner, Kurt S, as well.  The disco ball shines bright from where I sit.  Well done all.

Jill H's tracker isn't working, sadly.  She may be going for a late night finish, and should at least be to Jacob Lake by now.

[Scatman]

Jill told me she was waiting out the rain in the backcountry office at lunch time.  Said she was going to bivy in a yurt and finish tomorrow.  I haven't heard from her since then. 

[bartspedden]

I love seeing so many people out pushing themselves to and their limits and then finding new limits.

Very Well said!

When I first road the CT I had only heard of the CTR, but it wasn't real to me.  How could anyone race such terrain? My mind hadn't expanded enough to get it. And then somewhere outside of Durango you can actually see the curvature of the earth as you look east.  It was magical. It was beautiful. I loved everything at that moment and I knew I was doing something life changing. And then I started to be inspired by what other racers where accomplishing. I started to see some of their dreams manifested in their rides.

I've been in some dark places and left the race.  I've also faced those same dark places and grown and finished. Watching others dig through all the mental minutia of SO MANY days on trail is, for me, more inspiring than great works of art.  Each one of these athletes efforts is like a tibetan sand drawing, exquisite, but only for those lucky enough to see it while it's in existence.

To each and every racer that started... humbly... thank you.

[Beardog]

I gotta agree with Marshal having now ridden all three- AZT 750 is a SUFFERFEST and I mean that in only the best of ways as a longtime ultra athlete. The 26 mile hike a bike up Highline (with like 2 mile cliff section to the rim in the dark and no food) brought me to tears with a broken rear derailluer held together with a mike & ike box and duct tape and the rim to rim as well was a real struggle (a pack and hiking shoes were worth waiting until 9 am to pick up at the PO but could have used poles-instead carried a stick that was sorely needed as I limped up the North Kaibab). For the moment I think Marshal and I are the only two to finish full AZT, TDR and CTR and we are both over 50 so I guess today's 50 is your mom & dad's 30?? I am sure given the ride Kurtis (who wrote in the log book on the Highline that it was to put it mildly a "BRUTAL" trail--if you can call sections of that a "trail") threw down will join us by the end of the summer and he is just a kid at like 38. Congrats to all who finished (and the three that are about to as well) which is pretty impressisve as NO ONE dropped from the 750. Thanks Scott for putting this together and making it work. See you on the TDR.

[Foster]

Awesome finish Dave and Marshall, kicking ass for a 50 year old!  You guys rocked it out there, glad you made it all the way.  Congrats to all the finishers, the 750 is a great accomplishment.

The Highline trail IMHO is the biggest piece of shit on the entire 750.  Brad and I went and did that whole section one day back in october (not sure why) but we were having a miserable time and we hadn't ridden 400 miles before that either, good job pushing through all that.  Dave-I will see you in just over one month in Banff man.

[fastmtnbiker33w]

The stories of Highline are really making me wish I had the time to do the 750.  Seriously...after living in El Paso for 10 years, very few trails are truly demanding for me.  I was all worried about the Canelos....whatever.  Piece of cake.  Then I got a bit worried about Oracle Ridge.  Ripper!  If there hadn't been so much snow and my manginitis hadn't flared I'd say it's about 98% rideable.  I think I'm going to start seeking out piece of shit trails just to make me happy.  El Paso has tweaked my brain.

[mikepro]

which is pretty impressisve as NO ONE dropped from the 750

That's the stat that truly has me grinning.  I'm pretty sure that from the adventure they've so far, MC and JH ain't dropping at this point either.  JH prob finished by now since spot not working?

Beardog - glad to hear that you and Marshal thought the 750 was worth it.  Sage advice from today's bikepacking wise-men.

[Marshal]

The stories of Highline are really making me wish I had the time to do the 750.  Seriously...after living in El Paso for 10 years, very few trails are truly demanding for me.  I was all worried about the Canelos....whatever.  Piece of cake.  Then I got a bit worried about Oracle Ridge.  Ripper!  If there hadn't been so much snow and my manginitis hadn't flared I'd say it's about 98% rideable.  I think I'm going to start seeking out piece of shit trails just to make me happy.  El Paso has tweaked my brain.

Ha Ha Ha--Hope you get the chance to ‘experience’ the Highline with a bike. 

I worked very very hard in there to keep my head in the right place and not get frustrated with the pace/effort—even dug out my seldom used ear buds and rock & rolled through part s of it.

The thing is it’s just not currently a mtn bike trail—ie: there is only a mile or two in there that are actually rideable.  To get a bike through you are constantly lifting the front end up over boulders while your feet twist & slip on loose rocks and the legs take a vegetation beating.  Much of the time the trail is so steep the handlebars are above your head or below your waist as you try to push/lift the loaded bike along.  Its more like bushwacking cross country than riding a trail. 

The groomed trails of the GC crossing are much easier on the feet --and if desired one could time their GC crossing to avoid the worst heat-- which would then make the two about equal in physical effort.

However—The Highline is a very beautiful area and there are several nice cold running water re-supply stream crossings. Personally I would enjoy this trail/area very much with a backpack, no place to be and no hurry to get there. 

Best of luck if you do it!

[Beardog]

You got that right Marshal I have got the hundred plys scabs on my legs and arms to confirm it--after running this same trail in the Zane Grey 50 miler 7 years ago and suffering the rocks and Manzanita without a bike(held this year this past Sat--you did notice the yellow ontrail flagging I suspect and I think Mark C might have even been out there that day) I cannot say in its present condition (zero trail work excpet occassional tree cutting) it would even be fun to hike without armored leggins. To me the most brutal part was after getting through it all and then scaling the rock cliff up to the rim hoisting your bike over bolders - a real blast!! If I were to have a vote I would come up with a rideable detour for this section (there are plenty of other trails and roads to circumvent it) so it maintains a "bike" race genre.