...and we have a winner of the first ever Caldera 500! Arthur is the first in at 5 days 4 hours and 54 mins.

Impressive ride Arthur - congrats!

The course looks relentless. Looking on Trackleaders at Arthur's speed plot is telling. Speeds are either hiking pace or road pace - nothing much in between. In the last hundred miles (about mile 240 - 340) he has very little moving time over 5 mph!

He certainly is determined and is putting down a stellar ride (er - hike). I hope he doesn't run out of time! This is taking longer than we thought!!

Art is having a good ride today too and is over the high point.

It is exciting to see a new event unfold like this.

Arthur K is the only racer moving on the 500 course now. He is headed for the 11.4k high point this morning! Should be a nice view up there. He is looking determined.

Their average speed overall as a group is slower than I expected to see this morning. Must be tough terrain out there!!

...and they are off. http://trackleaders.com/caldera15 Exciting new route as they hit a 6.4k climb right now on the first day!

Thanks for posting. What a great loop. Awesome photos. That mud!!

Your day 3 pic link goes to day 2 photos.

What an enormous ride Neil is putting out!

Go Neil!

Congrats on a great ride Steve. It was fun to watch your dot fly through the route. Glad to hear you loved the remoteness and the rustic nature of the trails. Dixie 200 is not to be underestimated!!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/12617230@N03/14280985824/in/set-72157644457186738

Really enjoyed seeing these pics and all the bike set ups. I thought there would be a lot more mud guards (U.S.= fenders) on bikes. Thx for posting the link.

Big congrats to everyone finished and good luck to everyone still out there.

Beautiful photos. I look forward to the next part.

Better late than never - part 1 of my AZTR750 recap.

http://mowglimedia.net/journal/2014/4/30/aztr-750-race-report-the-first-300-miles

Congrats Mike! Great ride.

Dang Sean, that's a tough ride you had. Good luck with the next step in healing your knee.

Great suggestions here.

Instant mashed potatoes pack down nice and small and are tasty mixed with a foil packed chicken breast or tuna etc. Not to mention they are fraction of the cost of dehydrated meals.

Larry,

Like others have said, the most common cause of cramping in skeletal muscles while riding, is going harder than you have before.

Here is a rundown on preventing cramping while on the bike  http://lwcoaching.com/how-do-i-prevent-cramping-during-races/

Lynda

Go, go everybody. Day 2. Everybody is looking fast this year!

Great looking route!

Congrats Kurt! Smoking fast time!

Congrats to Bobby and Kaitlyn too. Great to see riders out there flying around Coco.

Great pics. Thanks for sharing.

Congrats on a great ride out there.

Wow Eszter, just wow! I knew you had pretty dam high power and fitness going into this event but holy smokes you absolutely smashed it!! So impressed. Hugely proud to be able to call myself your coach today and jump around about your amazing ride! Just awesome!! So stoked for you.

Congrats Aaron!! Great race.