I pushed the sleep deprivation pretty hard on those last couple of days, including the Canyon hike, and my load was really heavy with all the food and water I was carrying. Night riding is my most favorite thing in the entire world, and the hardest thing for me every night was making myself stop to sleep. I go so fast at night and have so much fun. I had an absolute blast (and also fried my rotors).Īny time I was night riding was awesome, too. It reminded me of surfing volcanoes on my fat bike in Guatemala. I also really loved the Canelos, and I loved Oracle Ridge! I did that descent at sunrise and it was so steep and loose and fast, my brakes were locked up and I felt like I was skiing more than riding a bike. The whole Highline/Mogollon experience was one of my favorite moments of the race. It was a short but steep hike, and when I reached the top I was so excited to be up there and for me it symbolized the final third of my ride. I camped near the bottom and hiked Mogollon Rim in the morning. Ben Hanus was somewhere a few ridges ahead of me, and every so often I would hoot or laugh on a descent and I’d hear him echo me off in the distance. I did encounter some death mud in the first few miles, but mostly it was a combination of some steep rugged climbs, some fast hike-a-bike, and so many ripping descents! I did most of it in the dark and I had such a blast. I got on it right at sunset and it had been raining for hours and there was a beautiful rainbow stretched across the mountain. I think people were just trying to scare me. I kept hearing about how awful it was, and I kept waiting for the awful parts to come, but they never did. My favorite part was the Highline Trail between Pine and the Mogollon Rim. What was your favorite part or parts of the trail? Yes, this was my first time riding the full thing! I’d only ridden a few very small parts before – the Canelos, some of the trails leading up to Mt. Was this the first time you’ve ridden the entire Arizona Trail? Thankfully, I had much better luck in the AZTR750! I raced the CTR last year and was leading the women’s field before an unlucky major mechanical ended my race 35 miles from the end. I’ve been racing bikes of all types on the road and mountain since 2007, bikepacking and doing expedition-style trips since 2015, and this was only my second ultra race. I’ve been full-time mobile for four years, either living in my van in the US/Canada or off my bike somewhere around the world. I’m originally from Minnesota, though I’ve lived in Colorado for most of my adult life. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? Here’s the full Q&A with photos, Liz’s full gear list, along with some additional thoughts about the Revel Rascal (the bike Liz rode).įirst of all, congrats on your amazing finish. We caught up with Liz to ask her about her bike, gear, and experience out on the AZT. Over the course of 9 days, 11 hours, and 44 minutes, Liz pedaled some of the finest and most rugged singletrack Arizona has to offer (and hiked with her bike and gear strapped to her back across the Grand Canyon) while making her way from the Mexico border to Utah. You really don't want to get stuck way out here.In case you missed it, at 6:44 pm this past Saturday, April 27th, Elizabeth Sampey made it to the Utah state line and into the record books, becoming the fastest woman to ever complete the 750-mile Arizona Trail Race. You should at least have a small truck or SUV of sorts, with decent ground clearance - as all it takes is one mushy wash and you can be stuck! 4WD and capable tires count for a lot as well, in the very few tricky spots. this isn't a difficult trail at all, but don't try this with small sport coupes or low slung passenger cars. Some people have more money than common sense. Somehow, some people were finally able to get him out of the ditch/wash and we heard he was last seen heading back to Beeline Hwy. A winch could probably have pulled him out, if they could get a hold of something to attach the winch to. Best we could do, ultimately, was wish him well and move on. A number of us, with Jeeps, trucks, etc., stopped and tried to help, but none of us were able to budge the stuck Mercedes. He passed us while we were shooting, but we came upon him later where he had tried to cross a steep and deep sandy and wet wash. His ground clearance was very little, and his tires. We were sure he wouldn't last long on the trail. One fellow, driving a small, sleek, low slung Mercedes sport two-door coupe followed us onto the trail from the Beeline Hwy. We stopped and did a small bit of new pistol "break-in". A few people set up for shooting along the way with shade structures, chairs, and tables. After the recent rains there were a number of washboard areas.
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