2018 AZTR300/750 Race Discussion Thread

[joeydurango]

Congrats Neil!

Gonna go on my own bike ride now.  Can't wait to come back and see how Kaitlyn finished it out!

[hanyo66]

Neil - pure insanity! What an amazing ride.

We’re getting breakfast then getting on the highway. Gonna see how we feel on the ride in, if my knee isn’t jiving or my buddies cramps don’t go away we’ll probably end up riding back to Jacob lake and scratching. But we hope to keep going.

[LandSharkBrian]

Lee, looks like you got a ways up the hill and decided against it. 

Your last note said it all - I encourage you to re-read Mr. Schilling's 750 blog: if you're not all in you're not gonna finish.  Hell, for that matter, I need to re-read it as well.

Your last note pretty much looked like you had significant doubts. 

Next time!

[joeydurango]

Kaitlyn, awe-inspiring work out there!  Super stoked for you!

The two D's are slogging through the Gila canyon in the heat of the day.  Been there, done that.  Don't envy them right now!

[hanyo66]

Lee, looks like you got a ways up the hill and decided against it.  

Your last note said it all - I encourage you to re-read Mr. Schilling's 750 blog: if you're not all in you're not gonna finish.  Hell, for that matter, I need to re-read it as well.

Your last note pretty much looked like you had significant doubts.  

Next time!

We gave it a decent go! The winds were strong and some storms were rolling in. Felt pretty good today, the knee is feeling better. I agree with you about what John said, if you’re not 100% in then you won’t finish. We’re going to ride to the canyon early tomorrow and go for the crossing though and then turn our ride into a true tour, may road ride down to flagstaff and catch the trail again, or not. Not enough time off work to tackle the whole trail at this point since we’re way behind,, but we’re just gonna have some fun for the next week and then head home.

Truly appreciate all of the advice and help I’ve gotten from everyone on here the past couple of months. The bikepacking community is awesome. Going to get stronger and come back out at some point to give it a go again, but not this time!

Good luck to everyone still out there!

[bmattingly]

In Flagstaff today winds were calm this morning and early afternoon.  They are cranking up now.  Denberg looks to be across Babbit ranches and into the trees.  He will have plenty of trees until Flagstaff.  Man is he moving.  Flagstaff in two days from Utah is way impressive.  He may make it here by dark or shortly after.

Yes the trail section next to the Gila is hot.  Once they ride up into the Gila Canyons away from the river they should get some shade to help cool off.  Was a little warm in Flag today.  The deserts got to be smoking.

Went on a ride today and was remembering how pumped the legs get by Picketpost.

[gesose]

I had to scratch due to some health issues the doc couldn’t lock down. So instead I am going on a mtb road trip. Stopped through Pine (scenic way to Sedona). Next thru-biker to hit up That Brewery in Pine gets two beers on me. You just have to “look like a mountain biker”. At least that’s what I told them. 

Such a great group of people and a great trail (from what I’ve seen) - I’ll be back for sure. Thanks Scott!!

-Geoff

[tubeSSnapper]

Made it to the Grand Canyon and I’m out of time.
This is a great race and punishing route
My only regret is that I couldn’t go faster
Of course it was hard but it was also a lot and I mean a lot of great trail riding.
These were my first AZT miles but certainly not my last.
So that’s it. Tubessnapper (Jeremy noble) is out.
BTW the trail is kinda rocky

[LandSharkBrian]

Made it to the Grand Canyon and I’m out of time.
This is a great race and punishing route
My only regret is that I couldn’t go faster
Of course it was hard but it was also a lot and I mean a lot of great trail riding.
These were my first AZT miles but certainly not my last.
So that’s it. Tubessnapper (Jeremy noble) is out.
BTW the trail is kinda rocky

Impressive ride, Jeremy.  Bummer you can't go on, I was sort of interested in seeing how your GC crossing was going to go! 

[joeydurango]

Nice work, Dana and Dion!  Did you guys actually battle it out for 3rd as it looks like on the tracker, or did you finish together?

Can't wait to hear the stories from everyone.

Keep it up, everyone still out there!

[the.hamtron]

Rode into Picketpost at 6:12 this morning. I won’t be continuing forward to Utah, as the last 300 miles were plenty for me to digest and reflect on for a while. I got absolutely roasted  down by the Gila yesterday afternoon. That was seriously harsh and mind-numbing for a good while.  Barely kept it together heading up The Hill and ran out of water soon after. Dehydration really got the best of me. Serious congrats to those who’ve finished the 300 thus far, and to those pressing forward, you’re seriously tough.

- Paul Hamilton

[swami29]

Very inspiring race so far. My hope is the weather cools a bit for those still in the desert. Congratulations to the north south riders still pushing as well as the crew who had to scratch. Just showing up and trying is no small accomplishment. Special shout out to Tony Berberich and Ron Thompson. I know Tony will shatter my time in the 300 by a couple days and I expect Ron will continue to dig deep and better his record again. Tracking the racers really gets the desire to get out and do it again flowing. So easy to forget the blazing days huddled under a shady shrub gathering the willpower to go on or huddled by the fire waiting for the sun to rise and the snow to stop😂. Keep on cranking. Maybe I’ll see some of you out there next year if I can get my sorry ass out of Oregon and to the start line!

[Dana Ernst]

AZT 300.  Whoa. So much to process.  Let me tell you about my Friday night...

After reaching Tiger Mine Trailhead before dark, I made the call to wait for Dion.  I knew I was a little fucked up at the time, but after all the miles and lack of sleep, it sort of felt “normal”. Dion arrived after maybe an hour of sitting around relaxing and off we went.  I think in general, Dion is a slightly better rider than I am.  He’s certainly better at descending than me. However, when we had last seen each other on Thursday evening, I think I was riding slightly stronger than him.  That’s what I unconsciously remembered and I was looking forward to some slow miles.  But now it's Friday evening and Dion is feeling fantastic.  About 30 minutes after leaving Tiger Mine I realized that there was no way I could keep the pace up and I was starting to feel awful. I told Dion to feel free to drop me, but he stuck by me.  He slowed it down a bit, but shortly thereafter, the wheels completely came up off the bus.  I started getting super dizzy and my vision was totally messed up.  I started falling over and couldn’t steer my bike.  Dion was pretty far in front of me and I was getting really worried.  I had never felt that way and the thought of being alone in the dark in the middle of nowhere (with no tent or sleeping bag!) was pretty fucking stressful. I decided I would try to lay down at the top of the next hill.  When I pulled over the top, Dion was there waiting.  I collapsed into the dirt and laid there.  Dion was futzing around with gear and debating what to do.  Meanwhile, the sky was spinning for me and I couldn’t really get up.  15-20 minutes go by and I start to feel way better. I get up and we ride pretty slowly for maybe another hour and another dizzy spell hits me, but this time it is worse.  I tell Dion to leave me behind and hope that sleeping for a couple hours does the trick.  So there I am just laying in the dirt in my puffy.  Not my thing!  I was so tired that all the fears of the scary shit that lurks in the dark didn’t matter.  I feel asleep instantly.  30 minutes later I was startled awake by a coyote yip that sounded like it was right next time.  Now I’m wide awake.  Another yip.  And another.  From 3 sides of me!  I jump to my feet and shine my light and count four of them circling me. I threw rocks at them, yelled, and jumped onto my bike.  I was convinced they let me go, but reflecting now, I have no reason to believe they didn’t follow me for a bit.  Now I’m back riding and feeling quite a bit better, but I got no “go” juice and I am riding really slowly and walking pretty much everything that goes uphill.  I’m shattered and alone in the dark in the desert.  I’m fighting to keep moving, fighting fear, fighting the sleep monsters.  I convince myself to try to ride to Freeman Road.  I made it to within about 3 miles and started falling asleep while pushing my bike up a hill.  Then I started to hallucinate. For about 5 minutes I saw women in 50’s style clothes and kids wandering in the desert as if the cactus were racks of clothes. So weird.  They were completely silent.  At that point, I decided to sit down for a minute.  45 minutes later I woke up. I hopped on my bike and rode the last couple miles to Freeman.  Dion was there sleeping.  Somehow he had only been there for 2 hours.  I collapsed in the dirt and slept for about 30 minutes before I started shivering pretty intensely.  Dion and I got up around 5:30am (I think), gathered up our stuff, and pushed off for Kelvin.  Within 5 minutes, I felt absolutely fantastic as if it was a fresh start.  We flew to Kelvin where we rested in the shade at the ADOT yard and wedged a giant pizza.

[Jeff Z]

BTW the trail is kinda rocky

lolz. understate much.

Bummer to make it so far and not finish. You need to come back for all the super fun sections after Jacob's Lake. It's a great way to finish.

[ScottM]

Good stuff here everyone.

Just heard from Leigh that Freeman only has one public gallon left.  (!) Anyone game to head out there tomorrow earlyish?  Since the majority of the pack is through it should cover that cache for the race's impact.  It would be *much* appreciated.

I've asked the Hansons since they are the most local, but haven't heard back yet.

[Jalene]

Good stuff here everyone.

Just heard from Leigh that Freeman only has one public gallon left.  (!) Anyone game to head out there tomorrow earlyish?  Since the majority of the pack is through it should cover that cache for the race's impact.  It would be *much* appreciated.

I've asked the Hansons since they are the most local, but haven't heard back yet.

George and I will head out there early in the morning, Scott.  We'll drop a bunch of water and pick up any empties and trash.

[ScottM]

Thank you!  This race is a group effort.  I'll let the Hansons know you will cover it.

[dsrt taco]

Looks like Kurt and Aaron are about to cross paths at the top of Highline on the edge of Mogollon Rim. Amazing efforts put down by both those guys to get there from each end of the trail in 3.5 days!

[windowace]

Great location for a handshake. Grime level +100! Revel dudes!

[dream4est]

Im having a sweet night ride azt rules