Sunset on the 300

How did this all start?

I don’t know. I got bored in grad school, toured the divide, ran into Mike Curiak and Pete Basigner, I raced the divide, I fell apart, I hated it, I raced the easy version of the Arizona Trail, had the adventure of a lifetime, I came up with the 300. At the time it was a bit of a nutty concept, even for me. So much singletrack, so much hike-a-bike. Putting together so many epic rides that by themselves have torn me down. It was the first singletrack bikepacking race — that I know of, anyway. (Not that such things weren’t inevitable…)

And since the first year, the goal has always been the same – make it to the Picketpost Trailhead, the finish, before sunset (on Sunday). Winning the race and breaking the record are secondary — it’s all about the sunset, and always has been. (Though sunset is also quite close to record pace…)

The first year I didn’t get there until 1:30am. It’s now the seventh year of the race, and I still haven’t done it. I fast toured the route other years, branched off to ride the Grand Enchantment Trail, bailed due to snow on Lemmon and lack of appropriate clothing, bailed due to a bum ankle despite being on pace, and finally skipped a year.

This year I am putting everything I have into it. I always time the race with the moon, and in previous years I would see the moon in March, getting bigger and bigger, and begin to fear it. The 300 is coming. Calendars are phony and only in our heads. The moon stares back at you, stares back at you with the cosmic truth.

The suffering is coming, the empty nights out in the desert, and all the unknowns and anxiety. Also the bliss, the white moments, the times when everything comes together and you just flow. Maybe. Just maybe.

But this year I don’t fear it, I welcome it. Maybe the memories have faded just enough. Maybe I’m just being naive. Maybe I need to suffer again. Or maybe an iron resolve has returned.

I’ve been ‘training’ all winter, am arguably in the best shape of my life. My bike and kit are as dialed as they’re going to be. I’ve been out on the course, because there’s so much good riding, and because I’m ye old race director. I’ve even been tapering, resting up for the shock to the system that I know is coming.

So, I’m ready, and I know I can do it. But a lot has to happen between Parker Lake and Picketpost, to make it before the sun disappears. A lot of things have to go right. If it were easy where would the interest be?

There’s the kit, complete with ripped shorts. A fellow racer boy (I’m one too, at times) came skidding down the hill towards me. I got one foot out and came to a near stop, but there was nowhere to go on either side of the trail, so he rammed right into me, making me take a seat on a pencil cholla. His front wheel got tweaked, and bars twisted. My bike was fine. Just some road rash and bruising on the hip for me, or so I thought. About an hour after I got back and after I scrubbed my hip out in the shower, my knee started to tighten up and swell. Not good. This is the one that I’ve struggled with on and off for the last decade, and even small amounts of swelling/injury are hard to get rid of.

So I am resting it today, and hoping riding tomorrow goes well. I may not know if it can handle 300 miles until 50 or 60 miles into the race, unfortunately. But I’m not going to let it affect me yet.

The new AZT tracker is online:

http://trackleaders.com/aztr

Featuring racers from 11 different states and 3 countries (I’m sure more will come out of the woodwork). Also featuring a new weather overlay that gives current conditions and forecast for just about any city you want to know about.

Race starts @9am on Friday the 13th.

Backtracking…

After the big weekend and the Empire Rita ride, I definitely needed some easier time on the bike. Taper time.

My ‘hood. I’ve grown to love the southside commute to the trails, dirty and rough as it may be. Chance of getting chased by dogs is non-negligible, but manageable.

GPS man. Heart rate was not 164 when the pic was taken, but was later in the ride! I like going fast, even if it’s just for a set amount of time and on a paved road. Restlessness builds the need to expend energy!

My training buddy and good friend Krista Park came back to town, but she was in no shape to ride mountain bikes. She crashed on a drop while pre-riding the World Cup course in South Africa. The result? Grade 3 shoulder separation, meaning 3 torn ligaments. Amazingly, the doc told her to just do what she could — there was really no way she could make it worse. She took that to mean the next World Cup race (just weeks away) was possible, but she’d need a super fast recovery.

She built her new bike with one arm, only relying on me to cut the bars and get the grips on.

First ride was around her yard. By the look of it I wouldn’t have thought mountain biking was possible any time soon, let alone racing — but still, she was riding.

Then bike path. Trying to avoid even the smallest of bumps.

And the road! We’re on the 300 course there, Freeman road. 🙂

Coke machine is gone at Saguaro National Park (major bummer for 300 riders), but at least we get a “most dependable” and hydration pack friendly fountain.

And then, mountain biking — just like that. I thought she was going to ride some easy trails, then she would split off to ride road and I’d continue on trail… but we did a respectable MTB loop, and she was cruising. How? I am still not quite sure.

The other side of the wash Krista is descending into in the pic above is where I got T-boned by the racer boy. It’s narrow and blind, and I have probably descended that section faster that he was going, so I can’t fault him too much for it. How do I know he’s a racer boy? They didn’t have a single allen key between the three of them (I gave him mine so he could fix his bars).

Solo ride on Wormhole.

Poppies are gone, but new stuff is blooming, including cactus now.

Two days later, MTB ride #2 for Krista.

Think she’s ready to ride trail yet? Pretty crazy what determination and hard work can do sometimes. To be riding trail like that (Prospector — one of the rockiest around) just 3 weeks after severing 3 ligaments in your shoulder!

“Don’t you always zoom in on people’s GPS’s to see what kind of numbers they have, like heart rate and stuff?”

“No photos of numbers!” Even on an injury recovery ride. :p

We met up with Chad, out doing a little bikepackin’, and it was hot enough that rather than riding we sat in the shade at Gilbert Ray CG, laughing and drinking. We did some silly riding together, then all split ways — me back home to stick with the ‘training plan’ aka not doing 5 hour rides, Krista to try to find some more TSS on the TMP big loop, and Chad on with his 200 mile loop.

Otherwise, I’ve been spending a lot of time working at the computer, trying to find a minivan (some funny craigslist stories to go with that) and getting ready for the race. It’s been an awesome spring so far, and allergies have not struck yet!

I’m sweating the knee a bit, but if Krista can bounce back (she is now in Belgium, for the next world cup) after all that, I should be able to handle a little bump to the knee, or so you would think.