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Ultrarunner from the adrenalin project on Vimeo.

RUN RABBIT RUN 100

Last month Luke Jay, Greg Abrahamson, Casey Hill, and Jason Michalak all ran the run rabbit run 100 mile run in Steamboat Colorado. We got three guys across the finish line! Jason had a full body shut down at mile 85 (ouch!)...and was sick for 2 weeks after the race. Read Luke's race report here.

http://lukejay.blogspot.com/2014/10/run-rabbit-run-100-2014.html

Huge thanks to the project sponsors! SWIFTWICK for the best socks and keeping our feet happy. CHAMPION SYSTEM for our sweet custom kits. LIFEPROOF for keeping our phones in one piece and taking pictures in any weather.

Dirty Kanza Report (ADAM VAUGHAN)

It was going pretty well for a while but around mile 190 I just ran out of gas. Nothing really seemed to help so I just kept going and watched my speed slowly tick down. Eventually I saw the university ahead and you could hear the noise from the crowds at the finish line block party. That gave me the boost I needed. The last leg took 3:27. My official finish time was 12:57.

http://adventuresinmediocrity.com/dirty-kanza-200/
(read the rest here!)

we aim to please (and enjoy)

PATRICK VALENTINE takes the overall win at Xterra LoganSport (Indiana) 
JASON HILGERS  takes 2nd place single speed and 9th overall at the Bailey Hundo (100mile mtb)
TRAPPER  takes the WIN at the E-ROCK "dawn to dusk" mtb race (covering 154miles)

Thanks to amazing support from CHAMPION SYSTEM clothing, SCOTT bikes, SWIFTWICK socks, LIFEPROOF adventure proof cases. 

give me a five

wham and bam...its June already.   The AP has been busy and done some pretty rad stuff already (at least our moms are proud of us)!   Trapper kicked ass and covered 154 miles in the "dawn to dusk" mtb race at E-Rock....Wade and Adam did the epic DIRTY KANZA and both finished 200 miles of gravel in sub 13hrs...dang.  Luke and Greg just wrapped up the Ultimate Mountain Challenge at the huge GOPRO games in Vail. They raced 4 events in two days (kayak, mtb, trail run, road tt) to finish a solid 6th and 7th overall in a very fast pro field. Jason is racing the Bailey Hundo in his SS, Patrick has some XTERRA triathlons coming up. Sean Fey kicks on his quest for leadman with the leadville trail marathon this weekend.   #SEEKANDENJOY

2014 RESULTS:
-1st place overall team (ADVENTURE EXTREME MOAB)
-1st Place SOLO MALE (E-Rock dawn to dusk MTB race...154miles)
-6th & 7th place overall for GO-PRO mountain games in Vail (ultimate mountain challenge)

-2 sub 13hr finishers for the Dirty Kanza (200mile gravel road race)
-3rd place at ANTI-EPIC (169mile gravel grinder)

2014 Team SCHEDULE:
Bailey Hundo (100 mile MTB)  -JUNE 14th
Leadville Marathon  -June 14th

Xterra Richmond - June 15th
Silver Rush Mtb race (Leadville) -July13th

Xterra beaver creek - July 19th

Xterra aspen valley - July 26th
Mt Warner 50k -JUly 26th
LEADVILLE 100 mtb- Aug 10th
LEADVILLE 100 run -Aug   16th
BRECK EPIC (mtb) -AUG 10-15
Colorado Trail Race (500miles)  -AUG

Glenwood adventure race - September 6th
RUN Rabbit RUN (100miles) -Sept 13th

Xterra Nationals (utah) - September 20th

kicking off 2014

Hot off a team trip to Moab to get a little sun and fitness. Lots of white thighs and high fives...Minivans and sun-tans. Patrick Valentine and Luke Jay even took home the team win at the Adventure Extreme Moab adventure race on saturday. Here is a little update for everyone. 2014 is looking to be awesome!  Here are just a few events we will be tackling this year.

Leadman series 
Adventure Extreme Moab (1st place team)

E-rock sunrise to sunset (mtb)

Bailey HUNDO, June 7th

Run Rabbit Run 100mile run (sept)

Silver Rush 50 mtb, July 12th

Leadville 100, August 10th

Gorge river 50k run

Colorado Trail Race 

Grand Junction Off Road, Aug 29-31

Dirty Durango Century (100 mile MTB)

Breck 100 (100 mile MTB)

Vaport Trail 125 (125 mile MTB)

Coconino stage race (250 mile MTB)

Laramie Enduro MTB (70 miles)

BRECK EPIC (stage race)

Also giving our own WILL KELSAY a little big shout out. After Xterra Vegas he is off to Europe. Here is his international schedule....dang son!

• April 13: XTERRA West Championship - Las Vegas, NV
• April 26: Lost Worlds Ultramarathon - Tuscany Crossing
• May 25: XTERRA Spain Championship
• June 1: XTERRA Portugal Championship 
• June 21: XTERRA Greece Championship
• June 28: XTERRA Switzerland Championship 
• July 6: XTERRA France Championship 
• July 20: XTERRA Ireland Championship
• July 26: XTERRA Italy Championship 
• August 9: XTERRA Czech Championship 
• August 16: XTERRA Germany Championship 
• August 31: XTERRA Denmark Championship
  
• September 20: XTERRA USA Championship

also check out his great review of the new SCOTT 900SL.
WILL's SPARK 900SL REVIEW  

for 2014 We are so very happy to have the support and sponsorship of these brands:
-CHAMPION SYSTEM custom clothing
-SCOTT BIKES
-SWIFTWICK socks and accessories
-ADRENALIN CYCLES
-LIFEPROOF phone cases

Will's world

WILL KELSAY  a man of many talents, always full of fun and speed. Read his breakdown of 2013
here

a new video to kick off 2014

the adrenalin project from the adrenalin project on Vimeo.

a quick edit of some great Colorado training. get outside. SEEK AND ENJOY!

snow shredding

adrenalin project member Sean Fey making the most of life and ripping some snow on his fatbike.
http://m.pinkbike.com/video/342526/

Jason gets hairy at EPIC MT CHALLENGE

Gecko's Epic Mountain Challenge in Pagosa Springs turned out to be an amazing even with an overwhelming amount of support and organization.  But the real story is the amount of muscle that showed up to compete for the $60,000.

This event is a 2 day stage race combining 4 races.  Day 1 is a half marathon trail run in the morning and a 20 mile mountain bike in the afternoon.  Day 2 is a 10k road run followed a few hours later by a 4k mountain bike hill climb. I only completed day one.  2 days of racing with Xterra Worlds just 3 weeks away probably was not the best training.  So I told myself if I was in the running for top 5 I would keep racing day 2 otherwise I would call it early.

Lining up for the start of the half marathon was a small group of maybe 60 or 70 runners but 50 of them felt like they belonged in the front row. And when Morgan started us off I realized immediately that they all did.  It was like racing a 400 up the first hill.  The entire front end of the group was flying.  I stayed back and tried to keep a steadier pace.  After about a mile I started passing a few people and after 3 or 4 settled in with 2 other solo racers, Kyle Leto and Ben Allen.  We went back and forth for a while, Ben and I railing the ups and downs while Kyle would just real us back in on the flats.  Some of the downhills were very loose and steep along with some of the uphills.  But the course was a good mix of hills and flats.  Unfortunately the scenery wasn't there but I was staring at the ground for the entire 94 minutes anyways.  On the final techie decent and climb Ben and I dropped Kyle until about a half mile left and we see Kyle flying through the switchbacks to run us down.  We both put in that final kick to finish Me, Ben, Kyle only about 7 seconds between each of us.  Such a great time racing with 2 guys at the same level. Josh Merrick, Jason Donald, Josiah Middaugh, Howard Grotts, Brian Smith was the order of  solo men 1-5.  I came in 8th.  There were 3 duo guys ahead of all top 5 solo men. These guys were crazy fast.

After the run Alexis and I took Edgar for a walk and then headed to Farrago's for lunch (so good we went back for dinner, even better for dinner!).  I used every bit of fortitude I had to not eat the entire basket of sweet potato fries that came with my panini.  Then we headed back to the hotel to put the legs up and read for an hour.  2 o'clock came and I was out the door pedaling around trying to loosen up the legs the best I could.  I put in a few short hard efforts only because I was worried about getting stuck behind a crowd by the first single track.  The start line was the same as the run.  One small group all gunning for the front.  Morgan started us off again and same as before it was a sprint up the hill.  I managed to tuck in behind Greg Krause and Brian Smith which left a nice wake for me to cruze up the hill in.  I hit the single track in a good spot but still got stuck behind some guys on the first two descents.  The 2 lap course only had 2 techie downhills and couple of tough steep climbs per lap.  The rest was a flat power course on single track.  The first lap I had absolutely nothing. My legs were as flat as could be.  I struggled on every uphill and flat.  But about a 1/4 the way through lap two I suddenly felt amazing. I was standing on every hill, I road away from the guys I was with on lap one.  Passed a few spread out guys and finished with way too much left in the tank.  Not sure how that works but I obviously did something wrong between the two events.  Howard Grotts, Dan Hugo, Josiah Middaugh, Brian Smith, Thomas Spannring was the order 1-5.  I was 12th.  Believe it or not there were 2 duo guys ahead of Howard Grotts. Sorry, no individual names only team names listed.

We ended up leaving early Sunday morning because of a family issue, but I had told myself that if I did not have a shot at the money by the end of day one I would cruze through day 2.  I had Xterra Worlds coming up in 3 weeks and I didn't think it was wise to race 4 events in 2 days just for fun. 1 day was great anyways.  My run was fantastic and my bike felt strong.  It gave me great motivation for Maui.

After I left day 2 went on but the results did not change much.  It was a battle for first place with Josiah Middaugh 2 minutes ahead of Howard Grotts, followed by Brian Smith, Jason Donald, Bradley Weiss, Josh Merrick, Dan Hugo, Travis Macy, Kyle Leto, Ben Allen and 12 more guys.  I didn't mention it mostly because this is already a long post but the women's field was just as impressive with Emma Garrard putting in a dominating performance.  What an insanely competitive field.  My hats off To Morgan, Mike, and the rest of the Gecko crew who managed to pull off such a unique and AMAZING event.  I'm in for next year 100%!  

 

4 passes run

Killer 28 mile run around 4 passes loop! Casey, Jason, Luke.

Leadville 100 run, Leadman (luke jay)

 

Luke Jay wrapped up Leadman 2013 with a solid 3rd place overall in series. The last event was the epic Leadville 100 mile run. He finished 14th overall in 20:14.  Read his report here!
http://lukejay.blogspot.com/2013/08/leadville-100-run-report.html





                   SEEK AND ENJOY

 

LEADVILLE 100 MTB

Such an amazing race that has turned into a legendary high profile event. Leadville is at 10k feet so the air is thin and racing 100 miles on the mtb there is no joke. 2000 people started the race and 1300 finished. Great day for the adrenalin project!

TRAPPER rode a phenomenal  time of 7:15 (that's really fast) to place 23rd overall with a huge pro field. He also got some great shots on cyclingnews.com.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/leadville-100-2013/100-miler/photos/276124
http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/leadville-100-2013/100-miler/photos/276015

LUKE JAY rode a solid 8:10 to move up to 3rd place in the Leadman competition. He is racing the final event which is the 100 miles run this sat in Leadville. Both earned their "big buckles" ! Luke's race report:  http://lukejay.blogspot.com/2013/08/leadville-trail-100-mtb-report.html

Huge Thanks to CHAMPION SYSTEM for our kits. GIRO for shoes, helmets, gloves. SWIFTWICK for socks. LIFEPROOF for the best adventure phone cases. ADRENALIN CYCLES for keeping us rolling strong.

silver-rush 50 and updates

Leadville silver rush this last weekend...Trapper, Luke, and honorary project racer Wade. Cool race a big field. Not the best luck, as Trapper had a gnarly crash and had to go to doctor to check out his bleeding face/head/lips/legs/back.... He got away pretty lucky but could have been really bad! Flat legs and a couple flat tires later Luke finished in 4:28 and Wade finished in 5:37....we backed it up with a great time at the local distillery tasting some fine moonshine mules and sausage!

Check out Luke's blog here http://lukejay.blogspot.com/ to see his full race report as he racing the full Leadman.

Big race coming up next weekend! We  will have Will Kelsay, Hairy Jason, Patrick Valetine,and Jason Hilgers all toeing the line at beaver creek for the XTERRA Mountain Chapionships. Stay tuned.   

Bailey Hundo Race Report (Jason Hilgers)

The Bailey Hundo is a 100 mile mountain bike race in the Bailey/Buffalo Creek area of Colorado. It’s by far my favorite race of the year. Buffalo Creek is one of my favorite places to ride and I try to make the hour long commute to ride there at least once a month. The race included 6 miles of dirt road to start followed by 50 miles of trails. The final 40ish miles are on mostly dirt roads with some pavement thrown in. This is the third year I’ve done the race and was my second time on the single speed. 100 miles, 10,000 feet of climbing, on a single speed: Let’s go. The Spot Rocker belt drive was souped up with some carbon Reynolds wheels pre-race thanks to Adrenalin Cycles.





I was lucky to have two of my brothers crew for me during the race so I didn’t have to worry about stopping at aid stations or bag drops. I have my nutrition dialed in for endurance racing, which consists of a bottle of water, bottle of grape First Endurance EFS, and a flask of First Endurance EFS liquid shot every two hours or so. I would be relying on nothing but liquids for the roughly 7.5 hours of racing and would be getting hand-offs roughly every two hours. I didn’t have high hopes going into the race as the single speed field was relatively stacked. I finished 2nd overall in the single speed category last year in a time of around 7 hours 42 minutes. The previous year’s winner (Jeff) was signed up (who bested me by 10 minutes last year), as well as the Rocky Mountain Endurance series leader in the single speed category (Carlos) and a handful of other strong riders (Dan et al). I also had to deal with old man Ed Oliver who decided to throw his He-Man legs into the single speed category. I had a 3:30 AM wakeup call Saturday morning to get some breakfast in me and make it to Bailey for the 6 AM start. I picked up Ed Oliver on the way and we rolled into Bailey just after 5 AM. After the gun went off (literally) there is about a mile of slightly downhill pavement that puts the single speeders in a bit of a hole. I spent the following 5 miles working my way through the masses to get near the front. I passed last years single speed winner just before the turnoff onto the Colorado Trail and the start of the singletrack. I figured I was somewhere near the top 25 overall at that point. Once on the trail if was difficult to keep the smile off my face. I love riding these trails. I tried to keep is smooth on the flats and downhills and push the hills. I felt pretty good early on and rolled through the first 40 miles with a pretty steady pace. After passing through aid station 3 I saw Carlos up ahead and new I was in relatively good position. Carlos is pretty damn strong (to say the least) and the fact I was near him was encouraging. I lost some time to him on some flat double track and when I stopped to swap bottles and EFS flasks. I rode with some geared riders through a long portion of the Colorado trail and then caught up to Carlos again on a steep climb. I dropped the geared guys to bridge up to Carlos and the made my way past him about 2/3 the way up the climb. I noticed the way he way cranking that he was probably had a bigger gear ratio than me. Once I went by Carlos I got a huge blast of motivation to keep pushing hard. I met my brothers near aid station 4 and they said I was the lead single speeder. This added to the motivation and I just kept pushing. I caught a geared rider at about mile 55 or so who said the next single speeder was less than a minute ahead. I realized that I was not longer running scared at the front but running in2nd. I just kept pushing and got a glimpse of the leader (Dan) on a steep climb. At the top of the climb it was about a 4 mile descent down the Platte River. I kept on it the best I could but the sandy descent was working me over. I hit the Platte River and met my brothers for a quick refuel and I was off on the 12 miles of flat pavement and dirt road into Deckers. I let my brothers know that there was still one single speeder ahead of me. This flat section was brutal on the single speed. Some quick 130+ rpm bursts with a quick coast, then repeat, for an hour. A geared guy caught me, which was a welcomed relief and I drafted him for a while. He throught the lead single speeder was up ahead but we could never see him, even with the long open roads. I was thinking to myself Dan must have one hell of a big gear on his bike. Another couple of geared guys caught us and three geared guys rode off into the distance leaving me all along once again. About 4 miles from Deckers I was caught by another geared rider who said there were two single speeders about a mile behind. Apparently, Dan was getting some nutrition from his drop bag when I passed and was now riding with Carlos. I was the first place single speeder. Shortly thereafter, my brothers came rolling by and said I had a 1.5 mile gap on the two single speeders. I knew Carlos and Dan were riding with a larger gear ratio than me so I kept the cadence as high as I could to keep them from closing the gap. I thought that if I could make it to the Stony Mountain Pass climb in first it would be tough for the two to close the gap. With the help of a geared rider I was able to make it to the base of the Stony Mountain Pass climb with the lead. It was all in my hands (or legs) now. I may not be the best technical rider (especially descender) but I can power up smooth climbs with the best of them. By the way, the Stony Mountain Pass climb is the most difficult part of the race. It starts at about mile 75 and 10 miles and 3,000 feet of climbing later you summit the pass. There are three climbs to get to the summit with a short descent in between each. They get progressively longer and less steep, with the first being a nasty, steep, loose, sandy, kick in the ass. I kept my butt in the saddle and kept pushing only having to stand for a few short segments. Near the end of the first climb it was getting hot and I was hurting pretty bad. My brothers rolled by and said I had a 6 minute lead. I told them it didn’t matter because I couldn’t go any faster if I wanted to. I kept my head down staring at my “Pedal Harder Sissy” stem cap and kept mashing. When I reached the summit I wanted to stop and kiss the ground, which probably would have made me cramp so I kept rolling along. The next 15 or so milers of rollers were a blur of pain, agony, near constant cramping, and absolute joy when I came to a downhill segment and didn’t have to pedal. I rolled through the finish in 7 hours and 13 minutes, 1st single speeder, 12th overall, and 4th amateur overall. I was floored. I took almost 30 minutes off my 2012 time. I stood in shock until by brothers rolled in. We exchanging some high fives and a bunch of hugs. It was probably the best result I have put up in my 6 or so years of racing. It felt pretty damn good. I have to thank by brothers (Justin and Jordan) for all the support and motivation through the day. Without them I never would have been able to put up the time I did. I also have to thank Luke Jay and The Adrenalin Project. All the fast guys have forced me to step up my game. Thanks to Adrenalin Cycles for being the best shop in Denver and knocking out my endless array of bike related issues as fast as they do. Also thanks to all of The Adrenalin Project sponsors whose gear helped power the way including Champion Systems, Giro, LifeProof, Skull Candy, Swiftwick, and Oakley.

new race reports!

Patrick Valentine took 2nd overall at the XTERRA Curt Gowdy. check it.
http://patrickvalentine.blogspot.com/

Luke Jay took 8th overall (4th leadman) in the Leadville Marathon.
http://lukejay.blogspot.com/

GoPro Games (luke jay)

GOPRO games was awesome. I raced the Ultimate Mountain Challenge again and although bettering my times from last year I dropped a spot and finished 4th place. Its cool though because the three dudes in front of me are all real deal fast ass pro athletes. Josiah Middaugh won again (for like 5th straight year) and Travis Macy as always was right behind in 2nd...and Adam Wirth (xterra buddy) from Idaho brought his fast cycling legs to Vail to claim third. So sat morning starts with the 4mile downriver kayak down gore creek (class 2/3) ...20:00 min later and its over. No swimming or major mistakes and I'm stoked. A few hrs later all 8-9 Pro UMC guys lined up behind the huge PRO mtb field. Its a brutal course of 3x6mile laps...lots of climbing. I felt ok but lost enough time to Adam that I knew a podium repeat would be tough. Early sunday morning at 8am we are all lined up with a very fast and large field to race the 10k trail run (11k) ...its at 9,000 feet and we climbed 2k in just 6.5-7 miles...its brutal. I felt strong on the run and could tell all my running helped (weird huh?) I finished 16th overall (with some very strong pro runners) and beat Adam by 5min. (54min finish time) Next was the classic Vail TT up vail pass. 9.8 miles up to 10,000 feet. Once again my legs felt decent but no "snap"...I finished 4th place overall Pro after the 4 events. It was a great weekend with Becca and Ryder. Ryder had a blast at the games doing the zipline, slackline, free stuff, biking, and watching pro BMX dudes jumping. Its rad to see him hyped on this stuff and he yelled at me to "drop the hammer" a few time during the races...so good!  Got home late on sunday from the games and was pretty tired ...but Monday I had a 3hr trail run as Patrick told me I had to run on tired legs...it went solid and I did 20miles with 3k+ of vertical.

A few "gear notes" ....For tires I have been running the GEAX AKA and really like this tire for 95% of Colorado conditions. GIRO aeon helmet has been awesome! super light and comfortable. I'm running the GIRO code mtb shoes this year and have been super impressed with the fit, comfort and stiffness. I used swiftwick socks for all the events and will be using these socks for all my Leadville races including the Leadville 100 run. Don't underestimate the need for good socks and swiftwick is the best in my opinion.  The badass dudes at Adrenalin cycles keep my bikes running smooth and have everything you need for cycling or racing.

Supporters of the project

Huge thanks to Champion System for helping us with the new kits. They are top notch. Shoot me an email and i'll get you in touch with their custom rep if you are interested in getting some custom kits (great pricing!)
Also a shout out to GIRO for shoes, helmets, gloves, and LIFEPROOF for the amazing waterproof (bikeproof) iphone cases. Seek and Enjoy!

300 miles of ________

"Is this the hardest thing you've ever done?"

"yes it is...you?"

"yes....this is harder than i thought it would be"

"I'm so thirsty"

300 miles of riding. Mostly hard singletrack. Tons of hike-a-bike. Arizona sun, cactus, rocks. This is the AZT300 in a few short words, minus the cuss words one feels during this amazingly hard bikepacking race.
It was brutal and as much a mental challenge as a physical one. Finish time was 3day 3hrs. 75hrs total and of that we rode/hiked for 58 hrs!The lows and highs were extreme. Patience and fatigue was tested to the limit. It's pretty amazing what the body can do if you really will it or just believe you can do something. It was a deep and hard experience but something I am glad we did.

Here is my best recap of what happened. Myself (Luke Jay) and Adam Vaughan drove from Colorado on Thursday for the Friday start. We got stranded on a closed 1-25 (near Trinidad) due to ice and snow on the road. 12 hrs later we met up with Casey Hill and Jason Michalak at the finish trail head (picket post, Superior, AZ) We prepped the bikes and drove to Tucson that night. Our buddy Steve Osborne (bikepacking forum) picked us up early in the AM and drove us to the start right near the Mexico Border...THANKS STEVE! Jason, Adam and Myself rolled out with about 40 other racers at 9am. It was pretty warm by 10-11am and me and Jason just forced the early calories down knowing we had a few LONG days of saddle and suffering ahead. Casey's bike had some tire/tubeless issues late the night before so he decided to get brand new tires on Friday morning in Tuscon and meet us in Patagonia...he would miss the start and first 30 miles but Casey is punk rock and was ready to roll when we came into Patagonia. We filled up the bottles and headed out (all 4 of us together)...we knew if probably wouldn't stay this way as there are way too many variables out on the trail to stay together. In Sonoita Adam decided to sit and refuel as he wasnt' feeling great. We later found out his stomach was pretty messed up and he was dehydrated and cramping. He rode all the way to Kentucky camp before making the wise decision to pull the plug and then having to ride all the way back to Patagonia...brutal. So it was Casey, Jason, and Myself cruising along feeling good with the first 60-70 miles under our belts...we didn't know what lay ahead, oh what naive littlet boys we were! At roughly 85 miles in Jason's light was stuck on dim and we were on tech single track...Me and Casey trudged on and left Jason to handle himself. He was fine but just moving slow. We figured we would cross paths soon enough. About 100 miles in me and Casey had almost no food left...we decided to push to Tucson (122 miles) and make sure we had food and water first thing in the AM. It was a serious push and we rolled into Safeway around 3am. We grabbed some warm junk at gas station and found a good spot to camp near school. We slept in a bit and rolled to Starbucks about 7am...we where pretty shelled and tired so we took our sweet time. Casey proceeded to order 2 Venti Coffees and down them both in 10min.

We stocked up with food at Safeway and where back on the trail by 8am...after some serious climbing and missing a turn we where cranking away the slow miles in the heat...it was getting brutal. Almost ran out of water and filtered some from a sketchy "stream". After a massive hike-a-bike out of some canyon we made it to the bottom of Mt Lemmon...refill with water...Casey pooped for 10min...We started the long 18mile haul up Mount Lemmon and Casey hammered the climb like the roadie he is...I passed Max Morris and Aussie Ross on the climb and we all rolled into the Summerhaven cafe about 7:50pm (20min behind Casey)...we ate alot! Sweet potato fries, coke, coffee, pie, hummus, chicken wings. We felt good and full and decided to ride as much of Oracle as possible..well 5 min into Oracle we realized it was "hike as much as oracle" as possible..our plan was to hike till 1 or so and then sleep. We saw a light catching us from behind, it was Neil. The dude had to buy a new fork in Tuscon and had made great time and caught back up to us. He was speed hiking like a runner and had his headphones in and was jamming. The three of us passed Dave Wilson in his bivy and he yelled something funny about us missing our campground. The three of us rode/hiked till 1-2 am then found a good bivy spot. Amazing sunrise and then Dave rides by as we are getting ready. Neil took off after a few minutes of riding and me and Casey kept moving along.

We rolled into Oracle (gas station) about 9am and bought a ton of food and ate as much as we could (about 18hrs later we found out we grossly underestimated how much food we needed) a few hrs of pretty fun riding and things are a little less clear after this...i think because i was focused on the GPS, worried about water supply, etc....we just basically went into "tunnel vision survival mode" and do what you need to do to keep moving. We suffered in the heat and my rear tire was getting bald...so i had to take it easy on the rocky sections and descents...I hear my tire go psssssss! crap!. Hopped off and turned the leak down and within a couple seconds the Stan's plugged it up...but our stress level was pretty high as we are 60miles from anywhere and its almost 90 degrees, no shade, no water for 20+miles. Pray and hope we make it. We finally hit the Freeman water cache (mile 226 ish) late that afternoon (2nd day) and our bottles where bone dry (after no water antelope) as the sun was going down we stopped for bit (15min) to eat ...we saw two guys behind us and realized it was Jason and Ross...seeing them was a good moral boost and the 4 of us rode together. I was still pretty worried about my tire (geax aka) as it was getting more and more "bald" with each mile. Ross kept hammering leaving Jason, Casey, and myself back together again. The "Bro-muda triangle".

As we started getting later into the night I truly feel this was the time where the real challenge started. It was dark and technical and the miles where barely ticking by. The smallest things seem to aggravate us. It's hard to focus and your mind really "wonders"...you start "seeing things" and your butt hurts. Knowing we still had 50-60miles left of really hard terrain was extremely hard to digest and accept. We rode late into the night thinking we might be able to push up and over through the night. We had almost no food left. After some debating back and forth we finally just stopped and camped
around 2-3am.

We had about 30 miles left. We woke up at dawn and where back riding by 5:45. The sun and heat came way to soon. We made the decision to filter water from the Gila river. Its gross and metallic but we needed water so be it. We all had spread out to suffer solo at our own slow paces...but making sure we stopped and could at least see each other. I saved one single GU for when/if things got "bad enough"  I took it around 10am. The final 9 miles was downhill and took forever but we made it around noon. Casey finished about 30min in front of me and Jason was a 15-20 minutes behind me. I had zero food left and 10oz of water left. It was 92 degrees. My tire looked like a road tire. Blistered hands. Jason's hub axle broke in the last 1/2 mile. Numb toes. Adam was waiting with some gatorade, coke, snacks with Ross. I think i just sat there for 10-15 minutes decompressing....it was done. Loaded up the car.  "Let's go get some pizza".