The Time Has Come !!!

Well, that 3 month period went quick !!! I can't believe that I am jumping on a jet tomorrow morning, bound for the US of A and a world of hurt and wonder on the Arizona Trail!! (warning-excessive use of exclamation points in this post is highly likely!!)

I went to my last PT session with Jim at Transitional Fitness this morning and I can't thank him enough for all of the effort he has put into training me. I am feeling strong from a overall perspective which will be important as I wrestle my laden bike along the sometimes overly kindly named "trail" that is the Arizona Trail. While my cycling prowess might be a few notches below the fitness I carried into the Tour Divide, I am happy to sacrifice some of the on-bike fitness for the overall strength. 

The Gym Bike sweat sessions are over!!

I am a little less confident in my gear setup unfortunately. I simply haven't tested all of my gear on multiple overnights. This was partly because of time constraints and partly because some major players in my kit (like my bivy) are awaiting me in the US as they weren't available to purchase locaally or over the interwebs. My philosophy with this aspect of my sub par preparation is that I will just harden-the-fuck-up and make it work!! I am again taking a massive chunk of time out of my family's life by taking part in this silly race so I plan on not wasting that time and will just get it done.

I still have to pack my final gear into my bags and to box up my bike. Before I do I will be shouldering the bike for one last (first actually) hike to see how it rides on my back. Nothing like leaving it to the last minute!! 

1st and only hike.......what could possibly go wrong....?

I have fitted the latest SRAM Eagle GX gearing to the bike so I should be able to pedal up a vertical wall if I so desire. 

The length of the derailuer cage is a bit concerning but I have a spare mech hanger just in case. Lets hope it isn't needed!

My gear exceeds the capacity of my bags but I can't see myself doing the race with less than what I have laid out here so the final cull will have to be made in Sierra Vista, the day before the race start.

Gear.......

Tool Kit

The link to Trackleaders is here so that you can follow all of the action from the 5th of April, 7am MST. The time conversion for us Aussies is 7 hours ahead but 1 day behind. That means the race starts at midnight, Friday EST here in Oz. The race discussion forum on bikepacking.net can be found here.

The racers to watch will be former record holder and Tour Divide winner Kurt Refsnider, current record holder, Idtarod 350 winner, Colorado Trail Race winner, TD 3rd place getter (in 2015) Neil Beltchenko, female Single Speed record holder Alice Drobna, mtb mega-star Rebecca Rusch(300 race) and probably a whole bunch of others I haven't heard of before.

Well, I hope you enjoy the show. I know I am going to have a love/hate relationship with this trail. I am just hoping that love triumphs eventually. ;)

See you on the other side.

Cheers.

Grabbing Life With Both Hands

Things have been trundling along for me with everyday life stuff going on. You know, the usual rat race stuff of going to work, taking kids to school, mowing the lawn when it gets to be 22.8mm long...... plus some riding. Being blessed with great trails right out my back door probably likely sees me taking the riding a little for granted. 

Since the Thunderbolt Challenge back in April there haven’t been any riding challenges on my horizon which can make it a bit hard to find motivation. Well, there was The Great Cycle Challenge in October, but that was spread over the whole month, not a specific, self supported race challenge.

I have been toying with the idea of racing the Arizona Trail since late 2015. It is meant to one brute of a race. Tougher mile for mile than the Tour Divide Race even though it is “only” 750 miles in length. Anyway, my leave ballot was recently open and it looks like I will get time off next April to have a crack at it. This won’t be confirmed until January but with the race starting on the 5th of April,  I have less than 4 months to get my shit sorted!

Since the 2015 TD race we have had a frequent, infrequent catch up here in Brisbane between Dave Wicks, Mark Meyers and I to discuss all things bikepacking, reminisce on the 2015 TD and sample a few cold brews. Since mentally committing to the Arizona Trail Race in the last week or so I have been telling myself to get an email out to them both so we can gee each other up about it over a beer. 

I wish I had.

Today I learned that Mark passed away last weekend. Details are sketchy as to the reasons but whatever they turn out to be, he has been taken from us too soon. He was in training for the Hunt 1000, his next bikepacking expedition and we had discussed it during our last bench racing session. We will all miss his dry wit, raspy chuckle and cheesy grin. To Mark’s family I offer my condolences and thank them for the time that they allowed him to spend with us, on our bikes.......or drinking beers and laughing.

Mark showing me the first few kilometres of the TD route, pre race 2015(and helping to settle my butterflies!)

While very sad and waaay too soon, to me it is another lesson that we need to be out there, living life, going for it as you never know how much time you have left. I am going to get stuck in and knock this AZTR750 out of the park because if it is worth doing, it is worth doing well and time is precious.

RIP Mark.

Mark and I, Spray River Trail Banff 2015






I am going for a ride...........