2010 AZTR discussion thread

[ScottM]

Can't tell how the canyon went exactly, but he was rolling early this morning from the north rim, and should be wrapping up the final descent to the Utah line in the next couple hours.  Incredible run, Kurt.

[brendanc]

Just got to unpacking some of the gear I was carrying.
I found a pair of sunglasses on the trail the first day, when it was still snowing.
Get in touch with me if they're yours and we'll get them out to you.

[donkey]

And he's done......with a new record?

B

[ScottM]

Indeed, though he rode a harder route, it's a new record for fastest traversal of 'the Arizona Trail.'   By about an hour and a half!

The AZTR route, even with snow detours, is so much harder/slower than what I rode in 2005 that I didn't think anyone would go faster than the old record (7:08:16).  Not this year, anyway.  That was some solid work, Kurt, way to show us how it's done!  Huge congrats!  

Still waiting for word from Mark C, who is likely to be the AZTR winner and only finisher (since Kurt is technically an ITT).  

[mtbcast]

Mark Caminiti calls in from Jacob Lake after crossing the canyon. He's beat but is determined!

[ScottM]

From Kurt:  "I finished your monster of a course this afternoon and it pretty much destroyed me... or I destroyed myself on it, one of the two."

And Mark:  "Oh man, I can't even describe to you the Grand Canyon thing...it is off the charts wicked stupid.... I ah... I would never do that again, ever.  I'm completely destroyed, my legs are shot, everything's shot..... I'm going to finish this bastard!"

...

I'd say the AZTR was a success.  

[Stefan_G]

Huge congrats and hats off to both of you two!     That sounds like a helluva grand adventure - pretty hard to fathom sitting at home prepping for naptime.  Well done, and I can't wait to hear the stories!

[mtbcast]

Mark calls in from Utah. Lots of wind noise on this recording but you can tell he's in St. George and that he finished at 10-something. Congrats, Mark!

[ScottM]

I got finish times for both Kurt and Mark, and results are up:

http://topofusion.com/azt/results.php

Amazing rides by both of them.  I heard a few stories from them on the phone today, and I can't wait hear more.  One thing they both agreed on: this is the hardest bikepacking race, period.

I won't spoil anything more as both indicated they'd post some pictures and words later on. 


That wraps up the 2010 AZTR.  Thanks for following along and for all the enthusiasm.  Some amazing riding and noteworthy stories, this year, for sure.

The 2011 version will again feature the full and 300 options, and hopefully a little less snow -- both at the start line and up in the northlands of AZ. 

Mark your calendars now: Friday April 15th, 2011 -- Tax day, and two days before full moon.  See you there!

[ScottM]

One more thing -- if you haven't sent your SPOT back to me, please do so soon.  The next big race, Tour Divide, is only a month away and we will need each and every SPOT available.

Also, I want to thank Joe Polk at MTBCast for call-in support -- call-ins add a very nice angle to the coverage.  Thanks Joe.

[AZTtripper]

Congratulation's to Mark and Kurt an amazing job by both, Mark, while slower certainly endured greater extremes in weather at least in the beginning. I would never have believed anyone could ride all of the single track as fast as Kurt did. Oh and welcome to what is for now a fairly short list, though I should think that may change over the next couple of years.

[bmike-vt]

some pics and a few words up.
can't wait to read more. been fun following along.

[krefs]

Hey all...I'm back in Boulder, slept for almost 24 hours since finishing, and still feel like crap.  As I told Scott over the phone yesterday, my legs were just about finished when I reached the Grand Canyon, but the switch to hiking was a sort of blessing in disguise, allowing the cycling muscles to rest a little.  It took just under 14 hours rim-to-rim, including a ~1 hr stop at Phantom Ranch for lemonade, adjusting the pack system, and talking with people (rather than lizards, cattle, and the wind) for essentially the first time in almost a week.  I reached the north rim at 1 am, only to find a continuous blanket of snow everywhere except on the road and parking lot.  It was 29 degrees, and by some incredible stroke of luck, the trailhead outhouse was unlocked, so I sought refuge in there and slept for 3 hours.  My shoulders and feet were the most sore of anything, but I was pretty spent.  So much so that after I set the alarm on my phone, I couldn't seem to figure out how to get to the map to look at the terrain for the last 70 miles.  It took several minutes for me to realize that I was punching buttons on my phone rather than the GPS.  

I made it to Jacob Lake for 2 breakfasts (the third real meal I ate during the entire week).  The Inn there has some of the best pancakes and chocolate chip cookies I've had, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't because I had eaten the last of my food on the ride there.  The last 30 miles of the course were delightfully fun, though all the sharp limestone rocks had me scared and did slice through my rear tire with 20 miles to go.  After the finish I noticed 4 more slices nearly all the way through my rear tire...it was the new "improved" WTB Nano I picked up in Flagstaff to replace my sliced Michelin Wild Race'r.  So a word of caution to all the Nano-devotees out there: The Nano's now have paper-thin sidewalls and I wouldn't even trust one for Divide racing, so buy up all the old ones you can find if you don't want to switch to another tire.

I finished at 1:42 pm and coasted exactly 1.2 miles down the road to the next trailhead, where a big crew of ultra runner friends from Boulder were parked.  I waited around until they finished up, ate most of a watermelon, and shared some with a tan, leathery hiker who appeared out of the brush.  He had been walking since San Fran and was slowly making his way east toward Moab and beyond, with no particular destination in mind.  We sat in the shade of the outhouse for an hour and chatted, enjoying the similarly-minded company.  Part of me wished I could have joined him for some of his adventure, in which distance covered in a day and the route taken were of little concern.  The runners soon returned, and I packed up my gear in Caroline's car, gave the hiker some food, water, and told him to head to Paradox Pizza when he got to Moab for some advice from Fred on where to head after that.  

This encounter immediately after the end of my utterly exhausting week-long effort made me wonder why we do what we do, whether it's flat-out racing a particular course for days on end, taking in only a fraction of what we pass along the way, or moving more slowly, with or without a destination in mind.  Are we searching for something in the journey, or at the end of the trail, or is the experience itself what we're after?  I obviously have no answer to this question, but it'll be interesting to continue to reflect upon this as my brain slowly regains some of it's normal capacity for thought.

Anyway, thanks again to Scott for engineering this thing and helping me get to the start, Scott and Matthew for getting the show live on Trackleaders, all of you out there watching excitedly online, my friends and family for all their encouragement, Troy for coming out and riding with me for a bit above Flagstaff, they guys at Absolute Bikes in Flagstaff for helping me get back on the trail so quickly, and Caroline, Ning, and the rest of the Special Idiots crew for feeding me, helping me get home, and making fun of how pathetic I looked after finishing (this coming from a group that themselves were walking a little strangely after all their long runs in the past few days).

I put up a some photos on my blog and will try to get something more written up there sometime later this week.

[murphyo]

Congrats Kurt and Mark! Fun to follow you guys from my armchair. Envious as hell, even though it sounded worse than hell at times. Enjoy the buzz for the next few weeks/months. Kurt, hope you feel normal again so we can hook up for some summer rides.

-Owen

[dream4est]

Hey everyone I am back home and that was one hell of an adventure!! I turned 40 on April 25th so this was the best birthday present ever. I have lots to say and plenty of people to thank. I still cannot believe I pulled it off after having massive mechanicals, mistakes, issues, injuries and bailing off-course for nearly 20 hours and 40 extra miles just to find a tube.

Only five people have done this route unsupported, including the are you kidding me traverse of the Grand Canyon. I had the fortune of either riding with, meeting or talking on the phone with the each of the other four guys during the race. Thanks Lee, Scott, Tim and Kurt.

I will post a write-up soon with some crappy pix. I now want food and really feel well after hitching back home. I actually want to clean and fix my bike and ride it!! That is something I did not expect. Maybe I will attempt to finally kick the Grand Loop's ass after 3 failures.

I will cherish this race/ride and what happened to me for a long, long time. It was really a life-changing experience

Mark C.

[donkey]

Question:

What's the AZT like from Flag to the South Rim? If it's good trail it seems like it would make a nice 2 day/1 night from Flag.

B

[DaveC]

Question:

What's the AZT like from Flag to the South Rim? If it's good trail it seems like it would make a nice 2 day/1 night from Flag.

B

Good trail right out of Flag (apparently even more as of late), then dirt two track of varying quality most of the way to the rim.  Once you're within ~10 miles of the Grandview tower you get onto some "singletrack" that's more sandy, old logging road.  From the lookout it's 16 miles to Tusayan (right outside the park).  The first 4 or so is a ripping singletrack descent, the rest is winding doubletrack. 

Overall scenic value of the ride is high.

[krefs]

There's also 5 miles of somewhat loose, sometimes steep singletrack that starts ~10 miles before reaching the Coconino Rim singletrack, which is pretty awesome in and of itself.  That takes you to the Grandview lookout tower if I remember correctly.  It's a pretty nice ride, although with a 30 mph headwind, it will suck the life out of you. 

[alpenzorro]

congrats to all racers! i can partly imagine what you've been through since i'm currently following your footsteps. started my bikepacking trip to canada in tucson about a week ago and am more or less doing the azt for a start. a dozen flats  after oracle? done that. dying of heat after box canyon? done that too.not racing it though, so i dont mind hitching a ride on a pickup truck for 30 miles of highway to apache junction ;- ).

the trip is live on the internet for a german mountainbike magazine, check out http://www.mtb-news.de/forum/showthread.php?t=460366 if youre interested. oh, and please email me (stefan at stuntz.com) if you live somewhere along the route and want to meet a german bikepacker for a beer!

currently sitting at mormon lake and it's starting to snow. arizona rocks :-) and the azt is one of a kind!

[mr.hobbs]

"Meine Hoffnung auf Trinkwasser erfüllt sich allerdings nicht, und das wird langsam zum Problem."

I understood 1 of those words, and yes that water was a PROBLEM.
Roll on!