Although I’ve wanted to do the Arizona Trail 300 ( AZT300 )
race for a long time I didn’t fully commit to it until about 3 weeks prior to
the start date. Most of the winter I
worked and skied on the weekends with some riding in between so I wasn’t sure
of my fitness. It was a mild winter down
low with the trails sporadically ridable so I was able to get some weekday
rides in when the trails were dry. I
also made some desert trips for bigger rides throughout the winter so it wasn’t
like I was “off the couch”. Also, hiking
in ski boots for good powder isn’t exactly easy either and I think it benefited
me on the hike-a-bike sections. I
finally decided to throw my hat in the ring after feeling pretty good on a 9
hour White Rim 100 mile ride.
This plan apparently paid off! I finished in just over 2 ½ days (2:12:50) http://www.topofusion.com/azt/results.php
. The race was 300 miles and 40,000 feet
of climbing. I was the fastest single
speeder and finished 4th overall.
Bike and Gear: My
bike and equipment setup was minimal.
Just the necessities that matched my race plan and emergency gear. I think this is where my experience from the
Colorado Trail Race paid off. I used
about the same setup as I did in the Colorado Trail Race except I didn’t bring
a cooker this time. My plan was to ride
almost the entire time so I didn’t bring a sleeping bag, bivy or tent and
elected instead to carry a lightweight emergency blanket which saved
weight. I rode my singlespeed with 32x22
gearing which I felt worked out well although it resulted in a lot of
hike-a-bike. My tire choice was the
Schwalbe Nobby Nic with snakeskin and had no issues. In my research prior to the race there were
racers with a lot of tire issues and after seeing the trails first hand I can
see why. There are tons of jagged, sharp
rocks which are the perfect size to slash a sidewall. I was prepared with needle, thread and Stans
but the tires performed great!
Water: I had 200oz of water capacity (half on the bike and
the other half in my Osprey pack) which I filled completely at a majority of
the water stops. I never ran out and
never got water from questionable sources but I had tablets just in case (no
water filter however). Kentucky camp is
a critical spot to top off water even though it is not far after the previous
source.
Food: This is where I
had my stops and calories planned but decided to get whatever sounded good at
each stop instead of a strict plan. It
could be the best food for me but if it doesn’t sound good and I don’t eat it
the food doesn’t do me any good. I had
enough capacity for 7000 calories and I filled it up at both of my two food
stop which were Sonoita and Oracle (This included calories from energy drinks
that I poured into my Osprey hydration pack).
My plan was to graze and not eat big portions after my CTR
experience. The Sonoita store had
minimal choices but I think if I had stopped there on the way to the start and
took a closer look when I wasn’t rushed my stop during the race would have been
much faster and I would have got more desirable food. I went to the Oracle market for my section
food stop which had a good supply and some pre made stuff.
Race plan: Prior to
the race I looked at a variety of blogs and times for previous finishers. I typically like to ride through the night
with none or minimal rest so I modeled my timing and plan after other racers
that had that similar approach in the past.
I wanted to go lightweight so I didn’t carry any more than I really
needed. No luxuries! Also, I wanted to avoid towns as much as
possible since they have a way of sucking time.
No mail stops either. Prior to
starting the race I resolved that I wasn’t going to stop at any of the few restaurants
available throughout the race when passing through towns and I stuck to it.
The Race: I felt good
the night before with no anxiety but I couldn’t wait to get started. Up to the start you can second guess your
choices for gear and setup a thousand times but after the start all you can
think about is racing.
After a quick speech from Scott we rolled off immediately down
a rocky hill where racers who didn’t fully check out their gear setup in
advance would probably be stopping frequently to reevaluate their setup.
The first section through Canelo pass was technical and had
a lot of hike-a-bike. Especially for
anyone with a singlespeed. I was careful
not to go too hard at the beginning and just rolled at a nice steady pace that
I felt I could maintain for a long time. I felt good through to Sonoita. The front bottom of my feet were hurting a
little from all the hike-a-bike. This is
where I realized some hiking in my bike shoes instead of rigid ski boots would
have been good preparation.
In Sonoita I stopped at the gas station/store and picked up
enough food that I thought could get me through to Oracle.
After a climb on a graded road the next section at Kentucky
Camp was awesome! I definitely want to
come back and check this out again. I
had topped off all 200oz of my water in Sonoita but I chose to top it off again
at Kentucky Camp which was absolutely necessary. In hindsight I might have just got 100oz or
less at Sonoita but I wasn’t sure of the situation at Kentucky Camp so I lugged
all that water up the hill with me just in case.
I had my one and only crash after Kentucky Camp. On a technical downhill I flipped over the
bars but both myself and my bike were unscathed. It got dark on me somewhere between Kentucky
Camp and I-10. This section was very
rocky and slower in the dark. In the
daylight it might be a different story but I seemed to really slow down through
there. After coming out of mountains I
was rewarded with a nice gradual downhill that offered the perfect break after
the previous section.
The section after I-10 to Colossal Cave started out at an
easy grade then slowly got steeper but was pretty ridable and flowed well. This is where I saw one of two snakes. I practically rode over the tail of a diamond
back but it didn’t even move. I elected
to pass up La Selvilla campground since I had enough water to get to the next
stop.
I got on the pavement and pedaled to Saguaro National Park
where I topped off every water container I had.
It was still dark and I knew the next section was going to be hot and I
wanted to make it up as much as possible in the dark to avoid the heat. After a very sandy section of trail and a variety
of miscellaneous roads I made it to Redington Road and started the big climb
up. The route eventually splits off onto
an extremely rocky 4-wheel driver trail that is difficult to ride up or down in
the dark. It seemed like there were some
ridable lines that would be more visible in the daylight but in the dark all I
could do was walk big sections.
After what seemed like an endless amount of rock obstacles
the old road became more ridable and the sun came out. Then the route went back on singletrack which
was pretty nice but did have some hike-a-bike sections as it steadily
climbed. I passed up the West Spring
water source without getting anything and that is where the climb got
nasty! I pushed, carried and hoisted my
bike up the side of this mountain. It
was brutal getting the weight of my bike and gear up some of the rock ledges
and my only consolation was that my setup was lighter than some other racers. The downhill on the other side was at least a
little ridable but there were definitely sections that I hiked down.
The route then crossed the Mount Lemmon Hwy where there was some
additional singletrack and hike-a-bike climbing. The highway is visible almost the entire time
on this section so watching road bikers easily motor up the paved road made the
climb that much more difficult.
Eventually the trail emptied out onto a graded road that led
to the Mount Lemmon Hwy. Getting on
pavement and being able to pedal continuously was a nice change although my
gearing was a little hard for the climb.
I’ve never seen so many road bikers as on this section. I did actually pass one but the rest were
going by me. I got the impression most
of them did not comprehend what I was out there doing and the majority didn’t
even say anything to me. At least one
knew about the race. The climb seemed to
have not top. I stopped at the Palisade
campground and topped off my water near Summerhaven.
After climbing from under 2700’ to over 8000’ we were
rewarded with the Oracle Ridge trail. In
this section and the following section where it rejoins the AZ trail you bomb
down the hill at less than 2 miles an hour walking over boulders while
endlessly hitting your calves and shins on your pedals because there was not
enough room to down-hike with a gap between you and your bike. To top it off
there was a brutal wind. This was defiantly
my lowest point! I was ready to blaze
into Oracle and reprimand them for having their name on something so unpleasant
and how they could even call it a trail.
The rocky downhill eventually appeared to have some recent trail
maintenance toward the bottom that made riding much easier. However, the recent trail improvements appeared
to be designed and constructed by anti-mountain bikers (Or just incompetent
people). There were square water bars
used in spots that obviously did not need drainage features but created
dangerous situations in corners and were not easily ridable uphill. After that section I was thinking of
demanding my donation back from the Arizona Trail Association because I didn’t
want it to fund this type of poor trail construction. This section emptied out into a parking lot
then crossed a paved road. This is where
I got a little confused and took the paved road into Oracle thinking it was Hwy
77 at first. This ended up being more
miles to get into Oracle then back to the same point than the actual Hwy 77. The positive side was I made it to the Oracle
Market before it closed and I might not have if I’d gone the original way I
intended.
In Oracle I stocked up on what I thought was enough food to
get me through to the end. I took the
road back to where I had exited the trail. The sun went down somewhere before I got to
Hwy 77. The next Antelope Peak section
had endless climbs and drops. The trail
seemed routed through the very bottom of every wash to the tip top of every
little peak which made for a lot of hike-a-bike.
After riding for about 40 hours straight I was starting to
get goofy. I was running into rocks, not
steering straight and I felt it was really slowing me down. My mind was also playing tricks on me. I stopped to rest for the first time during
the race where I laid in a wash shivering for about an hour worried about
snakes and scorpions. Even though I
really didn’t get any sleep I did feel much better. I got up, checked my stuff for scorpions and
put on everything warm I had which wasn’t much.
At Beehive I got some water to get me through to the next source. The sun came up between Beehive and Antelope
Peak. It started to heat up right at
dawn and I stripped off any warm layers I had on. At the Freeman Cache I topped off all my
water containers. Not long after I started
down the extremely fun singletrack on the boulders section. It was nice to be pedaling continuously again
after a night of frequent hike-a-biking.
The Ripseys section was awesome as well except for the sandy wash
section. The Ripsey ridgeline is definitely
something I would like to come back and do again. I was glad to see it in the daylight! The majority of the climb was ridable. It was hot and the climbing seemed endless
but the views at the top were very rewarding.
The downhill was a blast and the remaining section to the Gila River was
very ridable.
I topped off my water around Kelvin. It was very hot and my feet were killing
me. A quick soak in the river felt great! I had ridden this upcoming last section
through to Picketpost before and I was feeling good except for my feet. I could see the light at the end of the tunnel! Somehow when it seems like I’m close to
finishing I can muster up strength to power through when my legs should be
noodles. From the Gila River I was riding
just about every climb I had on a previous ride and this climb is huge! I saw 4 Gila monsters in a one mile stretch
on the climb. First I through dirt on
one in an effort to get it off the trail which was moderately effective and
eventually worked. On the next three I
just yelled at each of them to get off the trail and that was much more successful. It was really windy which made the climbing
harder but it also cooled me down a bit.
It was HOT!
I really wanted to get through most of this section in the
light because I knew the ending was technical and would be slow in the
dark. I made it to the top of the big Martinez
Canyon climb just as the sun went down.
At the top of the next climb I saw eyes looking down on me from the top
of the cliffs but I just kept pedaling.
The remaining section went very slow in the dark. My feet were really killing me now. Even coasting down hills really hurt if I had
to stand up. I started clipping out and
standing on my pedals moto style for the downhills. It was difficult to figure out where I
was. There were a few landmarks that I was
looking for on the trail to orient myself but I completely missed one of them
and the other what much further along than I thought. I was having some troubles steering in the
technical sections and felt like I was riding a little out of control. It was hard to contain myself since it seemed
like the end was so near.
This last stretch seemed to be taking forever compared to
when I had ridden it before. Finally I
rolled into the parking lot. I was ready
to be done! The only people around were
a couple who were photographing the race, big Dave, Laura and a drunk cowboy
sleeping on a bench next to his horse and dogs.
It was a great feeling completing the race. After a bit of rehashing the race with my new
friends I loaded up my stuff and headed to Phoenix for some food. First I hit a Carl’s Jr and got a burger then
at the next exit there was an In-n-out where I stopped and got another burger. I thought Carl’s Jr was better but maybe that’s
because it was first… After riding a
mountain bike for 2 ½ days then getting into a truck and driving I felt like I
was going 100 miles an hour. Then I
looked down and I was doing 45 on the highway…
Tough race! But what
an adventure and a great way to see southern Arizona!
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| Getting ready to start |
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| Bike Setup |
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| View for the entire time |
