2018 Arizona Trail Race 750 - Day 3

My alarm was set for 6am today. I was giving myself a sleep in but I woke at about 5:45 to the sound of tyres crunching gravel. A couple of riders were rolling out of the campground to attack Mt Lemmon. I laid back and stared up into the tree above me. There was no burning desire to leap up and give chase, instead I was enjoying the warmth of my bivy and the lack of rattle in my chest. While it was far from perfect at least my breathing wasn't as laboured as it was last night. Maybe 8 hours of solid sleep and a lower dust environment helped with that.

I slowly hauled myself out of bed and slid into my riding gear. I wasn't wet or sweaty which is one advantage of racing in a near zero humidity environment. Now that it was light I could survey my surroundings. It was quite a pretty little spot under this big 'ol tree.

Skunk free digs

2018 Arizona Trail Race 750 - Day 2

I awoke and it was still dark. Good, I didn't oversleep. I had set my alarm for 0430 and I tried to pry my eyes open to see what the time was now. 0420. Nice. Time to get up.

I jumped up and got into my kit as quickly and quietly as I could, mindful of the people camped just near me. I ate the second half of my Sonoita takeway buritto, washed down with a can of Starbucks esspresso, mmmmm, coffeeee, while I stuffed my gear into the bike bags. It was cold so I layered up a bit. I knew I would warm up quickly as there was a big HAB right from the get-go this morning. I had watched all the passers by last night push up to the top of the ridge.

So, I began Day 2 by walking that ridge too. Once at the top I was warm and for the next hour or two I grovelled along, riding a little, pushing a lot. The singletrack was very narrow along here and kept dropping into small drainages which climbed steeply on the other side. I felt good this morning but was getting a little frustrated at my apparent lack of progress.