Arizona Trail Race 2014 in progress

[ScottM]

Good to hear from both Justin and Jeff -- 2 of our untracked riders. 

Another untracked rider, "Big" Dave Wilson has scratched after getting roasted on day 1.  I don't think that was reported here, but was posted on "the" facebook.

[ScottM]

Oh no.  Christina Nacos has bailed into Tucson from Molino.  She had a sinus infection going into the race, so was far from feeling 100%.

Jill has gone with an unorthodox strategy, hitting a cafe/steakhouse along I-10 and fairly far off route.  Hopefully she was able to eat (and keep down) a big meal!

[ScottM]

Day 3 update.

We have two closing in on the 300 finish.  Shawn Gregory should finish shortly, in what I believe will be a new singlespeed record.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Chris Plesko holds it from 2009!

JayP follows.  He's falling behind Kurt's 7:08 record in the 750, but is still easily in striking range.  We'll see if he goes for a big push to wrap up the 300, or takes a bigger view and conserves for the long run to Utah.

Aleck M appears to have bailed into Tucson, after climbing nearly to the top of Lemmon.  Hope he's ok -- I was really rooting for him to finish this beast this year.

Caroline S. is nearly to Oracle.  She's out of food and plans to rest up in Oracle once she gets in.  Hoping she and Alexis can meet up and ride into the Gila 100 tomorrow.  Alexis is going to see how her knee feels in the AM.

Jill H is moving into the night, showing no signs of slowing down.  Super impressive to see her bounce back.

Brad Mattingly is into Flag.  I believe he will need to detour around the first miles of AZT south of town due to the small fire.  Looking for an update on that.

Most of the pack is on into the "Gila 100", or the last 100 miles to Picketpost.  No services, not much water and miles of remote and beautiful desert!  Oh to be out there in this huge moon and with a warm night.

[mtbcast]

#AZT14: Day 3 True Up!
http://mtbcast.com/site2/category/podcasts/

[cmn529]

Crawled through the Canelos the first day and experienced the heat shivers in Patagonia. After resting overnight in Sonoita, Matt Quinn and I made good time in to Tucson and pushed up Redington to bivy. Day 3 heat coupled with this horrible sinus infection had me crawling to Molina. Mind and body were cooked and had to bail down Catalina to Tucson. I was really looking forward to seeing the North AZT and the big ditch again! I guess I didn't want it badly enough.

Matt continued on in good spirits!  Best of luck to all the racers!

Christina

[mtbcast]

AZT14: Christina Nacos called in to officially say she’s OUT! And Mark Caminiti called in from Oracle Ridge!
http://mtbcast.com/site2/category/azt14/

[mtbcast]

AZT14: Southbounder Brad Mattingly called in Flagstaff. He’s re-routing around the fire at Fisher Point.
http://mtbcast.com/site2/category/azt14/

[schillingsworth]

Really good to see Alexis & Caroline on the move this morning.

Also, a shout out to El Freako for reaching Picketpost this morning!! 

[Walkurtalk]

Hey all, its Jill. Yesterday was so much better. Stomach is back to cooperating with the grand plan. Not riding fast by any means, trying to be conservative and take care of a body that has a long way to go. When I got to 83 yesterday afternoon, I knew I would never make Rincon Store before close so I decided to roll into Vail and get good food and ice water to push on into the night. The full moon with Mars was phenomenal and many memories of years past came flooding back as I rode along. Hard to be at the back of the race, knowing I am days behind, but in a way, not crushing myself feels very different but very good.

I took a hard crash late last night when my foot would not come out of the clip. Landed full force on my left quad and put another new gash in my elbow, tore my kit up as well as knees and forearms. The screw in my cleat was missing and it turned sideways making it impossible to get free without taking my shoe off while underneath my bike. Limped into town to bivvy behind the Hilton and am headed to Broadway Bikes to replace cleat and deal with a (maybe) bent rear derailleur.

No one said it was going to be easy, but Triple Crown is the goal. Another reboot possibly today, maybe tomorrow, depending on bike repair and quad swelling/cut clean up.

Now its all about finishing, come hell or highwater (to quote myself previously). I have to stay positive and do what it takes. If nothing else, a good story and a good tour of the stuff I have never seen in the daylight....Ah, the antics of my crazy life.

[Walkurtalk]

ALSO: Bummed to see Chrissy out. Very cool lady and super tough! Really cool to meet you, CN.

Get it Caroline, dont weaken!

[ScottM]

Yep, really glad to see Alexis and Caroline both back at it after a rest in Oracle.

Lots of finishers overnight.  Apparently we had a run for the women's 300 record by Dr. Alison Kinsler, an Army surgeon from El Paso.  She wasn't tracked and finished a few minutes after midnight.  That's an impressive rookie run!  Congrats to her!

JayP is now at the front, having pushed in to the 300 finish at 2:30am.  You may recall that during Kurt's 7-day record run, he broke Jefe Branham's freshly minted 300 record, running a much faster time than JayP, but then took a big rest in Apache Junction.  So the race is definitely still on!

[ScottM]

Wow, Jill, sorry about the bad luck.  Surely better luck is ahead.  Keep at it.

[boatmana]

So stoked for everyone keep going.

[T-Race]

JayP is now at the front, having pushed in to the 300 finish at 2:30am.  You may recall that during Kurt's 7-day record run, he broke Jefe Branham's freshly minted 300 record, running a much faster time than JayP, but then took a big rest in Apache Junction.  So the race is definitely still on!

Are split times available? Thanks!

[ScottM]

I'll have to dig splits out later.  I'm going on memory at this point.

Good news on the fire by Flag -- they expect it to be fully contained this evening.  Trails are still closed, though.  Will keep monitoring.

Brian Brothers finished -- first fat bike to complete the 300.

[mtbcast]

AZT14: Alexis Ault called in from Freeman Road with another geology lesson. Tom Wolf is with her. And Mark Caminiti called in from the route above Oracle.
http://mtbcast.com/site2/category/azt14/

[tioscoot]

I was redirected from the 2014 planning thread to the in progress thread:::

Attention:
If you lost a GPS unit on the AZT 300 or AZT 750; I have found it and will return it to you.
Please reply with a good description of unit and features.

If you know anyone that is bummed they lost their GPS unit, have them reply to me and we can make contact.

Saturday April 12, while riding south of Interstate I-10, I met a man on the trail that was racing in the AZT 750.
That is how I found out the name of the race.
After doing a little internet searching I found this site, forum, and thread.

I thought I'd register and try to find the owner of the GPS unit.
Plus I want to give a shout out to all the riders. You are Inspiring and Amazing. Let's RIDE!!!!!

[mtbcast]

I was redirected from the 2014 planning thread to the in progress thread:::

Attention:
If you lost a GPS unit on the AZT 300 or AZT 750; I have found it and will return it to you.
Please reply with a good description of unit and features.

If you know anyone that is bummed they lost their GPS unit, have them reply to me and we can make contact.

Saturday April 12, while riding south of Interstate I-10, I met a man on the trail that was racing in the AZT 750.
That is how I found out the name of the race.
After doing a little internet searching I found this site, forum, and thread.

I thought I'd register and try to find the owner of the GPS unit.
Plus I want to give a shout out to all the riders. You are Inspiring and Amazing. Let's RIDE!!!!!

Awesome! At this point we don't know if it's a finisher or someone still out there. Thanks for posting hopefully someone chimes in.

[DaveH]

JayP is now at the front, having pushed in to the 300 finish at 2:30am.  You may recall that during Kurt's 7-day record run, he broke Jefe Branham's freshly minted 300 record, running a much faster time than JayP, but then took a big rest in Apache Junction.  So the race is definitely still on!

Are split times available? Thanks!

Yep, scroll down this page from Kurt's 2010 tracker page: http://trackleaders.com/aztr10i.php?name=Kurt_Refsnider

Jay is roughly 3.5 hours behind Kurt's pace as of Roosevelt, but I do seem to recall Kurt slowing down for a bit after finishing the 300.

Kurt told me that ride was the hardest thing he's ever done. I'll have to ask him if that has changed

[ScottM]

Yeah, the 750 is a hard, hard route.  The 'final exam' of bikepacking races, as Justin S put it.

I'm not sure if those splits are corrected for a border start.  JayP's are showing 2 hours low, since splits are from the 9am Parker start.  So he could be up to 2 hours further back.

Tonight we have a full moon AND a lunar eclipse:

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/OH/OH2014.html#LE2014Apr15T

Imagine being sleep deprived, using the massive moonlight to guide you through the open desert, then having it suddenly turn red and disappear.  Hopefully some of our racers will be up to witness it.

Great field this year.  Only ~10 scratches so far.  The finish rate was close to 50% last year.  It's looking to be higher this year, despite a brutal day 1.  Today was another perfect and predictable April day.  Seasonable temps, warm sun, cool night.  Good timing for the bulk of the field crossing the hottest part of the route.

We have JayP climbing parallel to the B-line highway into Payson tonight.  His reprieve on the wilderness detours is about to end, as Oak Spring and Highline loom ahead.

Aaron Johnson may be resting up for the night in Apache Junction.

Brad Mattingly is making quick work of the "flat" and bumpy forests, approaching the drop off the Mogollon Rim.  He will likely bump into JayP tomorrow sometime.  Good chance they'll both be walking their bikes when that happens!

In the ITT category, we have Aaron Denberg off to a quick reload.  He started at 6am this morning, and is just getting to the fast/smooth stuff of the Cienega Corridor.  Prime night riding and a prime night.  He had a perfect day 1, but will be facing warming temperatures for the next couple days.

Aaron Boatman starts his 750 ITT tomorrow morning.  Good luck to him.

So far we have 14 finishers in the 300, here they are:

Kurt Refsnider - 1:21:07
Aaron Gulley - 2:00:00
Neil Beltchenko - 2:01:20
Shawn Gregory - 2:12:50
Alison Kinsley - 2:15:03
Jay Petervary - 2:17:29
Mike Behrendt - 2:21:07
Jeff Hemperly - 2:21:48
Dan Holmes - 2:22:18
Anthony Diede - 2:22:26
Brian Brothers - 3:01:13
Josh Van Jura - 3:04:34
Aaron Johnson - 3:04:59
Sam Newbury - 3:06:08