2018 AZTR300/750 Race Discussion Thread

[lbeltchenko]

I hosted Neil B. at my house & drove him down to the start this year. He's been asked a few times if he was going for Kurt's record and he said 'No', just riding for fun. He has a relatively new bike, that's kinda heavy, but must be a blast on the downhills with a dropper post. I'll never be able to relate to a 'casual' 300 pace being in the low 2d range, but he's on a different level. I may have to set an alarm tonight so I don't get to Picketpost too late tomorrow!! I plan on spending some time out there this weekend, so hopefully I'll get some good 300 finish shots and see some 750 riders pass through.

Thanks for hosting him and being there to pick him up, John! Wish I could be there, too!

[Yogi the Barry]

John,
Your passion for this sport is both amazing and greatly appreciated!
-Barry

... I may have to set an alarm tonight so I don't get to Picketpost too late tomorrow!! I plan on spending some time out there this weekend, so hopefully I'll get some good 300 finish shots and see some 750 riders pass through.

[mikepro]

 

Denberg is blazin' south towards the North Rim.

Well, 67 is all downhill in that direction, isn't it  ?

We're witnessing quite a treat this year.

Yes, yes we are.  There are quite a few dots moving with some real purpose and pace.  I can't quite recall a non-event in the past 5yrs with this much going on.  I keep toggling back-and-forth btwn women, men, 300, 750, SS sub-cats, then realize that there's ITTs and the SB riders to track, too.  Also, thanks for the splits, John.

[AZLobo]

Kaitlyn hits the current Oracle timing spot with the same time Eszter went through Summerhaven. Quite the ride happening there.

I wondered if she could hold onto her form after that storming Old Pueblo ride. I guess the answer is yes.

Neil is holding close on Kurt's time.

[AZLobo]

Kurt is dead on with Neil's Summerhaven (2016 750) time.

On current pace Kurt looks slightly ahead coming into Oracle.

The back and forth on their current and historical rides is good fun.

[ECEGatorTuro]

If you look at Kaitlyn's stopped time, it's only just 39 minutes. :O

[AZLobo]

Alice Drobna is slightly behind her 2015 pace, but as always is super steady on the single speed.

Max M and Paul Hamilton look an hour or two ahead of Joe Grant (2016) coming into Summerhaven.

By the way did Max have on a large backpack in John's pictures? New canyon strategy?

[BeltchenkoFanBoy]

This is a really fun race to watch! Kaitlyn is super impressive. Kurt is killing it. Neil out front. Loving it. Hoping everyone can keep it up!

[AZLobo]

Aaron is at the North Rim.

Warm day for this time of year. 86 down at Phantom. Hope the water is turned on and the lemonade is cold.

[AZTtripper]

By the way did Max have on a large backpack in John's pictures? New canyon strategy?

He has a new Osprey, not sure the model has a light frame to keep the pack off of your back for air flow, can't hurt for the canyon either. I believe it's the same model Scott Morris used on the his first tour for the first legal canyon crossing.

That summit pack that he used last time was pretty much destroyed by the end of that ride, he needed something new this time and that's what he decided to go with. He has a slightly heavier load this time but a pack that should carry it well. He is only slightly off his target for last night.

[JoePAz]

Neil just dropped into Bloodsucker wash! 3:40pm Wow

[joeydurango]

Yogi, I'm too honest to work on Wall Street.    But I still like the "what-if" scenarios... I do that for myself during my own races, so it's second nature to do it for others while watching.

Haven't been able to watch all day... checked it out just now and man, what a race!  Kaitlyn is just motoring, along with so many others!  Glad to see Dana's tire is apparently holding air again - either that or he has a really quick method to fill it back up every ten minutes.

Might have to wake up in the middle of the night just to see what's going on.  Wait til morning and some races could be over!

[mikepro]

Aaron is at the North Rim.

Warm day for this time of year. 86 down at Phantom. Hope the water is turned on and the lemonade is cold.

He packed up and dropped in quick (~40min) ... not messin' around.  If he moves thru the night, there's no lemonade to be had that early in the morning.  Here's to hoping he tops out on the South Rim 3am-5am and gets breakfast in Tusayan.  That'd be a sweat way to roll into that tourist trap.  " ... 'sup everybody, what have YOU been up to the last 24hrs?"

On the 750 NB side, there are fully twelve riders on sub-9-day pace.  Long way to go, but damn that's a fast field this year.  3 SS in that group, too.

[hanyo66]

Were at Jacob lake now.

Those first miles out of the start were brutal. About 8 miles in got bounced off the trail on a downhill and ran headfirst into a stump and went over the handlebars. Landed square on my back and then rolled like a rag doll five or six times down a little hill, gashing my knee pretty good in the process. One of my riding buddies is having really bad cramping in odd places on his thighs. We’ve been incredible slow.

The post-holes from the cattle up on top of the plateau between government reservoir and bucksin Gulch trailhead were pretty whack, super demoralizing riding for me on an otherwise flat and easy area.

Assessing the situation and going from there. Incredibly windy up here right now with black clouds. Aaron is crushing is, talked to him before he took off this morning and he barely had anything with him. Also said he mounts both of his tires in a triangle on his chest and puts his frame on his back. Epic!

[LandSharkBrian]

Sad to be missing it, but it is a helluva year to be stalking dots!

Thanks John and all for the piccies.

[AZLobo]

He packed up and dropped in quick (~40min) ... not messin' around.  If he moves thru the night, there's no lemonade to be had that early in the morning.  Here's to hoping he tops out on the South Rim 3am-5am and gets breakfast in Tusayan.  That'd be a sweat way to roll into that tourist trap.  " ... 'sup everybody, what have YOU been up to the last 24hrs?"

On the 750 NB side, there are fully twelve riders on sub-9-day pace.  Long way to go, but damn that's a fast field this year.  3 SS in that group, too.

You're right on the lemonade. Maybe last call. A guy can dream after all.

[ScottM]

This is quite the race.  Love the discussion, stoke and geekery here.  Keep it up everyone!

If anyone has info on David Weyer (if a racer reads this), his family would like to know.  His tracker is all plugged in correctly on our end, but he hasn't tracked since dropping down to Patagonia.

[AZLobo]

Aaron coming up on Cottonwood. Solid trip across so far. Now the trudge to Phantom.

[bmattingly]

What is the record time for Southbound 750s?  Danburg is flying.  Think he is gonna make a great run this year.  Amazing pace for the front runners.  I'm amazed at how little sleep I think they have and how long they can sustain the hammer pace.  Wow!!!

[hanyo66]

What is the record time for Southbound 750s?  Danburg is flying.  Think he is gonna make a great run this year.  Amazing pace for the front runners.  I'm amazed at how little sleep I think they have and how long they can sustain the hammer pace.  Wow!!!

i think Mattingly did it in 11 days? I think he could have finished faster too but his ride couldn’t make it so he split his last push up into two days