2016 AZTR300/750 Race Discussion Thread

[ScottM]

Scott, what do you think the chances are of you getting a spot to Neil in flag?

Good.  We are camped just off the trail on Schultz Creek.  Worst case, if he ends up coming by in the dark, I will leave it with some reflective tape, right in the trail.

We are a good 3-4 hrs of riding *past* Flagstaff for him.

[ScottM]

I see Calvin is now 'scratched' any update on what went wrong?

Nothing in particular.  He had just had enough by the 300.  You really have to want it to endure the suffering the full AZT doles out.  Just ask Neil, or Joe, right now.  Whooo-eee.  It's a rough section from Payson all the way to Flag.

[ScottM]

I need Scott's topofusion phone number ASAP
Text or phone me 604-990-1030

Rod, you are all good.  You nailed the first section of the Gold Canyon Singletrack.  Gold star for that extra effort.

All good.  Ride on, amigo, ride on!

[jakomait]

Watching these things  I see how entertaining Spot Trackers are!  I hope Neil stays strong but for my sake I hope he gets another Spot so I can follow him along with the rest of the others out there.  I keep refreshing my trackleaders page hoping to see the update!

[mtbcast]

‪#‎AZT16‬ - Overnight: Brett Stepanik called in from Gold Canyon!

http://mtbcast.com/site2/category/azt16/

[jakomait]

Neil's at the Arizona Snow Bowl.   Looks like he's doing some post hole traveling ahead:  http://www.arizonasnowbowl.com/?q=webcams
Anyone know if the snow persists beyond Humphreys peak?

[mtbcast]

#‎AZT16‬ - Sarah Jansen called in to say she scratched due to her crank falling off!

http://mtbcast.com/site2/category/azt16/

[dream4est]

I may be overly optimistic, but by my calculations Neil Beltchenko will crush Kurt's record and finish in 6:12:00 or so.

He is throwing down out there.

[jcluddite]

I'm sorry to hear about Sarah. I thought she learned her lesson last year when her Specialized cranks fell off in the TDR. My understanding is they require a specific tool.

[mtbcast]

‪#‎AZT16‬ - Mike Prochaska called in from Pine with an important twofer!

http://mtbcast.com/site2/category/azt16/

[ScottM]

Neil's at the Arizona Snow Bowl.   Looks like he's doing some post hole traveling ahead:  http://www.arizonasnowbowl.com/?q=webcams
Anyone know if the snow persists beyond Humphreys peak?

The snow shouldn't have lasted long.  Just the north facing section off the side of the peaks.  Everything 8000 feet and below is dry, so he's out of it now.

[ScottM]

I may be overly optimistic, but by my calculations Neil Beltchenko will crush Kurt's record and finish in 6:12:00 or so.

He is throwing down out there.

Quite possibly.  He set the fastest split between Payson and Flag the race has ever seen.  Improvements to Highline are a part of this, but still, he's flying.

Eszter and I threw him a new SPOT at McD's in Flag last night.  He looked good, energetic almost, and certainly in good spirits.  I was impressed given the pace and how difficult/rough all the stuff south of town is.

He said he wasn't looking forward to the canyon, especially with his 'janky' setup.  He has a pretty small/light pack. 

So, yes, I'd say he's looking for sub-7, certainly, but the canyon is anything but a foregone conclusion (for him, or anyone!).

Excited to see how it goes for him.

[mtbcast]

#‎AZT16‬ - Sarah Jansen called in to say she has a new crank on the way and is back in the race!

http://mtbcast.com/site2/category/azt16/

[ScottM]

#‎AZT16‬ - Sarah Jansen called in to say she has a new crank on the way and is back in the race!

http://mtbcast.com/site2/category/azt16/

Yes, yes, thanks Joe!

Not only that, but she is *walking* to Payson (appears to be 20+ miles from her last point).  I told her that if she hitched and returned, I'd still list her as a finisher but with an asterisk.  She wrote back to say that the parts aren't coming in until tomorrow anyway, so she may as well walk.  That's some determination.

[ScottM]

Actually she is currently 31 miles out and tracking again.  (!)

[Yogi the Barry]

[I've alredy edited this a half-dozen times, as more brains cells come back to life]
I promise to get my thoughts organized, after a day or two back at work, and probably after I pull and replace the leaking radiator which made the drive home a stressful PITA [gotta pay to play], but here's a short blurb...
I finished the 300 at 3:17 PM on Monday. Rolled into Picketpost with a 750 rider [Mike ?], who I rode with a bit two years ago. Mike and I remember each other from taking pictures during a full moon-rise [later full lunar eclipse] on Tiger Mine Road. I felt so bad after the wind blew Mike's bike over, breaking off his GPS, right as I handed him my camera to snap my photo... But I digress...
My time this year was something like 10 hours faster than my 2014 300. Coulda, would, shoulda - made less mistakes, taken zero pictures and managed my sleep better to easily have come in under 3-days. However, I didn't. It is what it is and I still had an experience of a lifetime. BTW, my time is First Place in the Almost-Bald, Left-Handed, 59-year-old Category! Ha!
Friday thoughts - Skipped the lengthy lunch at Velvet Elvis. Miles and miles of tall grass brushing the left leg all day and night, due to that wind, wind, wind. Amazing how cactus-free the first 50-60 miles of the course is. Live oak reminds me of the TX Hill Country and the tall, dead grass the West Coast, but without a Pacific Ocean over the horizon. And the oh so sweet smell of mesquite reminds me of the namesake honey, when the blossoming branches drag across your face. Probably my most enjoyable night riding ever, on the awesome single track north of KY Camp, up to I-10. Somebody coughing/hacking all night at Sevilla. Overslept the next morning. It's hard to hear the phone alarm with the mute switch engaged.
Saturday - Just awesome fast 'n' flowy riding thru Saguaro NP at dawn. Went by the farmer's market while they were still setting up. So, had to settle for dirty chai and food at Starbucks/Safeway, an extracurricular 4 miles. Think I shamed 'Desmond' Dumont Tutu at the Safeway because he wasn't drinking a Tecate. He said they only had the 24 oz size. This time, in the daylight and cooler temps, the grind up Reddington was almost fun. Portage up and over to Molina truly sucks. Where the flip is the spring at Molino? Wasted a half-hour searching. Singlecrap up to Prison Camp continues the sucking theme. My goal of making it up to Summerhaven, before the Sawmill closed, put me into the deepest part of the pain cave for the entire race. I rode at my redline pace for over two hours, with my core temp fading away. That was the coldest I've been in a long time. I was convinced that taking the time to don tights would eat up too much time. Stupid logic... Took me 20 minutes to stop shivering in the restaurant. Awesome hot tea, soup, more soup, sweet potato tots and burger at Sawmill. Cycled that hand warmer in the bathroom many times... Is that cheating? Knee jerk reaction to the cold caused me to claim the heated bathroom as my luxury motel. Ironically I tossed and turned all night in the heat. Plan was to warm-up, eat, nap and ride again until about 1-2 am. At least getting across the bulk of Oracle Ridge... Didn't leave Winterhaven...
Sunday - Left Summerhaven at 4:30 AM-ish. Yep, Oracle Ridge still sucks. But got to share the suck with Mike and Jason. Relying on the cloudy memory from '14, took the first paved road towards Oracle. Oops... Only about 4-5 miles of wasted riding. So sad the local Oracle market is closed down. Had to pay Corporate-K. Riding to Freeman was a bit of a hot grind. Riding thru terrain like that is an intimate experience of what Edward Abbey called the real stinkin' desert. My water load wasn't gone when I arrived at the water cache, but Freeman is a much appreciated oasis that I took advantage of. Tried to cheer-up Kaitlyn, who had bailed and become a refugee there. The Boulders and Ripsey riding to follow, in golden hour and moonlight, was simply awesome and will forever be etched in my mind. In '14 I hated Ripsey, because it was windless, the temp in the 90s and I was baked. This time riding at night, fun, fun, fun. At the water cache above the Gila, tried to convince an Adam that the ride out from the Gila bridge was not as easy as he had imagined. Slept on the north side of the Gila bridge. Somehow I was stressed something would get into my bag, so I fully zipped up my bivy cover netting. I'm sure that paper-thin fabric/netting would save me from the boogie monster. Warm when I went to bed at midnight, but freeze-ass cold a few hour later. Froze half the night, because I couldn't' motivate getting out my bag to grab the down jacket, just three feet away in my bar bag...
Monday - Overslept, but the dawn lighting along the Gila was a major reward. I finally had to remember this was race of sorts and stop stalking photos. A bout of near hallucinations in Alamo Canyon - for a while my bike felt like a chopper, with the back 6" lower than the front. Rocks seemed to sparkle more than they should. Gravity seemed to be... different. Only other vision like this was also during the daylight on Sat, when a couple of pebbles moved. Maybe it's those polarized prescription glasses, right? A few miles shy of the finish, Mike, mentioned above, caught up to me and I became a bit more grounded. After riding mountain bikes for almost 30 years now, I can say that the Gila Canyons to the Picketpost finish is some of the most incredible single-track out there. I wish it was just a wee bit less steep.
Comments: Riders ahead of me seemed to litter less than in '14. Can't say the same about the stashes of water left at nontraditional ATA locations. More dead trees than in '14. The cactus all seemed a bit more water stressed. Taller grass though [must have been a wet summer?]. Palo verde is a SOB plant. Same thing for cat's claw, which is to experience death by a thousand cuts. ATA volunteers who stock those water caches are gods. Scott Moris, Joe Polk, anyone reading this, their families, those still on the course, those who bailed, those doing research for next year... are ALL a rare breed of awesome and winners in your own way.
Will post a few pics later. You have to see my shot of Tarantula Wasp vs. Tarantula, which I snapped on the Boulders section in magic light...
Ciao for now,
Barry Ritchey

[WyoRacerX]

Barry, the heat of the bathroom didn't keep you up, it was that darn motion sensor light that would come on every time you moved a toe.  At least that was what it did to me 2 years ago. Also congrats on the faster finish

[jcluddite]

Sarah is really strong. I remember trying to stay with her last year during the TDR.

Really glad to hear she's still racing.

[Adam Alphabet]

I wrapped up my ride early early Monday (1:43am) (more on that later) and was greeted by Dejay and Hunter with some food and a sleeping set up in Dejay's van. Hallucinatory mumbling conversation, some stories and some good times were had before retiring for the night. What a way to finish up a killer ride. The next morning we saw Sam Aspacher come through the finish of the 3 before continuing on. He was in good spirits.
A nice breakfast at Los Hermanos in Superior and the three of us drove out to Freeman. Checking the trackers we knew a good group of riders were coming through; John, Brett,and a couple others, sorry I can't remember all the names I was still a little zonked out. Dejay and Hunter went for a little shred south of Freeman to meet friends, I passed out on a cot in the shade of the van waiting for them to get back. Some pics of riders below.....

1) Sam Aspacher at Picket Post
2) John 'The Man' Schilling break time in the shanty
3) Brett Stepanik stoked on chicken and flacid vlasic pickles
4) The crew chillin' in the Freeman shanty.
5) Paul Spencer quick stop and roll out

Everybody seemed to be in a great mood, it was hot but the attitudes were great. People stoked to be out riding, sharing war stories and camaraderie of getting their asses kicked and kicking ass out in the desert and mountains of Arizona. Big Smiles all around.
For those out there keep ripping! You guys all rule!

[Yogi the Barry]

While fully enjoying the magic hour light on the Boulders segment at full speed, I came across this [photo] and had to stop. Just a foot off the trail I saw this and immediately knew what was going on. Back-story: many years ago, my better half and I were getting a ranger-led tour at the Alibates Flint Quarry, probably the least visited [but underrated] National Monument in the US [just north of Amarillo, in the middle of nofrickinwhere]. While hiking, our group came upon a tarantula and a tarantula wasp fighting. The ranger told us what would probably happen... and it did. Our group guessed wrong. The spider does not kick the wasp's ass. The wasp almost always wins. Here's the details which will make tonight's sleep come a little less easy. Stings from these respectfully large wasps don't kill the tarantula, they just essentially put it into a coma.
My photo was taken after the fight. The tarantula is as limp as overcooked pasta and being dragged [backwards] by the wasp. I was lucky to catch this just a few inches before they went into the hole dug by the wasp. Are you ready? Once inside the hole, the wasp lays eggs, which will hatch and consume the still alive, but soon to be really dead, spider. What baby wasp doesn't want to eat fresh tarantula...
On the subject of more insects. 10-15 minutes down the trail, after the wasp/spider sighting, I saw a relatively large walking stick on the trail. I'm certain the front wheel cleared, but didn't stop to photograph and confirm the rear wheel's trajectory...
Sweet dreams,
-Barry
[Edit: I only saw a couple of the Spiders from Mars this year, which give off that really cool blue/green twinkle when your lights hit their multiple eyes. Back in 2014, you would see them almost every 100' on certain sections of the trail. Guess it's a bad year for spiders all-around.]