2016 AZTR300/750 Race Discussion Thread

[Ahaughey]

Wow!  A big shout out to Scott Morris for "organizing" this event and keeping it going.  Big thanks to Aaron Boatman and Todd Denham for all the great advice.  Enjoyed meeting various other racers on the trail. (Mike Barlow, Barry Ritchey, etc.).  I'm with one of the previous responders with the 'choice words' descriptor for oracle ridge.  Great to finish up at Picket Post with wife, 5 yo son, and cold beer waiting for me.  Wish I had left my Spot on a few more minutes so it would have laid down my last point.  My actual finish time should be 3d 5h instead of 3d 22h.  I went back out to picket to meet Todd Denham when he came in and turned my spot back on at that point to at least have a finish registered time.  Oh well, such is life. 

[Adam Alphabet]

Thanks xcracer...


Dude is hammering to the end! Under 6d 12h.. Get it Neil!

[mtbcast]

‪#‎AZT16‬ - John Schilling called in from Pine!
http://mtbcast.com/site2/category/azt16/

[HawkeyeGreg]

Blown away by Beltchenko's ride. What a guy, what a ride!

[windowace]

Hats off to a great ride Mr. beltchenko! Cheers!

[ScottM]

I always try to time the AZTR with the full moon, and this year I knew 300 riders wouldn't get to experience it, but I figured surely everyone in the 750 would.

Then Neil had to go and finish right at sunset, beating the full moon!

Congratulations Neil, that was some speed that the world has not yet seen.

Eszter and her friend are here at the Grand Canyon to run rim-to-rim-to-rim.  As we pedaled over to the rim to get her friend's first view of the canyon I noticed a guy in a kit that was too filthy to be anything but an AZTR rider.  It was Joe Grant, who talked our ears off with funny stories of the ride so far.  He was excited for a full moon crossing of the canyon.

There's a decent little bike shop at the visitor's center -- enough that Joe got his wheel trued and some spare spokes.

[mvmorten]

Uh-oh, looks like Schilling is on the road heading back to Pine.

[windowace]

Actually if you zoom in you see he went to Long valley cafe.  They must have pretty awesome food to go that far off route.  Or maybe it's just John being John. Nice.

[ne14cycling]

Props to Stan Potter - he's be suffering from asthmatic conditions off and on for a few days and he lost the ability to hold his head upright!  Neck went very wrong.  Rested it at M. Lake for over 12 hours - but apparently it looks like he's going to be forced to pull the plug in Flag.

A few days ago he was feeling fine and in 5th back at R. Lake....This event is a beast.

Ugg.

Bravo(a) to all still out there!

CW

[xcracer]

Hopefully the unicycle guy left oracle with plenty of water. It's 100 degrees in the desert today!

[mtbcast]

‪#‎AZT16‬ - Derrick Perrin called in with a post-race call!

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

[Jalene]

I thought I'd share this here in case any of the upcoming riders see smoke and wonder...the AZT will not be closed because of these burns.

From the AZT Association:
"Fire managers from the Coconino National Forest are planning several prescribed burns this week to reintroduce fire into the ponderosa pine ecosystem and reduce forest fuel accumulation in strategic areas around northern Arizona. Depending on weather and wind conditions the following areas are planned ignition sites. The AZT will not be closed, but trail users will likely see smoke in these areas.
- Eastside Project: The burn includes 500 acres southeast of Flagstaff, near Pine Canyon subdivision and the Heckethorn community off Lake Mary Road.
- Clints Project: Located about 5 miles north of Clints Well. This burn includes up to 1,100 acres and the amount of burning will depend on conditions and the weather.
- Lake Mary Project: This burn includes approximately 500 acres located about 5 miles southeast of Flagstaff near Lower Lake Mary.
- Pete Project: This burn includes approximately 300 acres located about 2 miles north of San Francisco Peaks and four miles west of US Route 89."

[Jalene]

The AZT Association did a write-up about Jack in their latest e-news edition:

"The Arizona Trail Association has seen a lot of mountain bikers attempt a thru-ride of the entire Arizona Trail, but we've never met anyone quite like Jack Mahler. The 26-year old from Bend, Oregon began his cross-state adventure astride his Kris Holm 29er unicycle on April 15th. Sirena Dufault, the ATA's Social Media Coordinator and Gateway Community Liaison, caught up with Jack near Colossal Cave Mountain Park and he shared his thoughts about the ride so far.
 
Jack has been riding bikes for most of his life, and unicycling for six years. "I road raced for a while and mountain bike raced for a few years," he said. "I picked up the unicycle in high school when looking for a new hobby."
 
Jack is familiar with desert riding, being from the drier side of Oregon, but says the terrain here is looser and more gravelly. He learned about the Arizona Trail when researching bikepacking a year ago and it sparked the idea of doing a long distance trip. He has done multi-day unicycle packing trips, but this is his first long trail. Since a unicycle provides only limited real estate to attach bags to, Jack puts most of his gear on his back. Carrying many liters of water has been a challenge since the balance of the unicycle changes depending on how much weight is on it. He is able to ride most of the trail, only occasionally dismounting to push the unicycle over obstacles.
 
Jack is hoping to ride the 750-mile route in 21 days (mountain biking around wilderness areas decreases the overall mileage of the AZT, from 800 to 750 miles). "I'm looking forward to the ponderosa pines of Northern Arizona, and of course-the Grand Canyon!" he said."

[Gimmearaise]

Then Neil had to go and finish right at sunset, beating the full moon!

Congratulations Neil, that was some speed that the world has not yet seen.

There's a decent little bike shop at the visitor's center -- enough that Joe got his wheel trued and some spare spokes.

Thanks Scott, and everyone throwing good vibes my way. It was a fun ride, painful, but I really tried to enjoy myself, and I especially did on the first 300 miles this year. Then it got interesting with lack of knowledge after that, lucky I never really "messed up" too bad. I can't believe how difficult that last section of the ditch hike was, I did re arrange my pack setup a dozen times or so, I finally found a good compromise of weight on my shoulders vs. hips, but no matter what, I think it hurts, who's idea was that

Sorry about the full moon deal, I really tried hard to finish before sunset, I really did not want to ride at night again. thanks so much for getting my spot deal all fixed, did anyone actually find mine? If not, I may head back one of these days as I was thrown off route a few times in that section. I think it's actually off the trail somewhere.

It looks like Joe finished, I wonder how he set up hiS Mountainsmith Strapplets, he did not have any hip belt. When we spoke the day before the race.

Cheers, Neil Beltchenko

[maettu99]

Is Joe Grant's Spot still working? He's a bit too long at the same place...

[mtbcast]

‪#‎AZT16‬ - Brett Stepanik called in from outside Flagstaff.
http://mtbcast.com/site2/category/azt16/

[mtbcast]

#‎AZT16‬ - Rod Dagneau called in from Flagstaff!

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

[aarond]

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.

You could have another career in Vegas.

[GunPilot]

You could have another career in Vegas.

No kidding!! Hit it within 28 minutes! 

[Adam Alphabet]

Give'r Sam!