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The top three women in this year’s Arizona Trail Race have now passed the 300-mile mark and are continuing north. We reached out to our friend Eszter Horanyi for an update on how things are going. Find her report from the field here…
Words and photos by Eszter Horanyi (@ez_gone_coddiwompling)
Ana Jager has had quite a year. The relative newcomer to the bikepacking race scene, hailing from Anchorage, Alaksa, won the women’s Tour Divide, finished a close second to Alexandera Houchin in the Colorado Trail Race, and just rode away with the Arizona Trail Race 300 title with a time of 4 days, 3 hours, and 15 minutes. And she’s not done yet, as she’s still riding toward Utah in an attempt to become the second woman to complete the bikepacking Triple Crown, currently in the lead of the Arizona Trail Race 800.
With a fall start date after a summer of heavy monsoons, the Arizona Trail was in relatively rough shape. Ana seemed undeterred by the overgrowth, starting off fast from the border and leading the field through Parker Canyon Lake 16 miles in and beyond. Katie Scott, riding in her first bikepacking race, was quick to give chase, and Alexandera Houchin also moved up in the field throughout the first day. Midway through the second day, the top three women were still riding in close proximity to each other through the heat of Tucson, Katie relying on speed, Ana on an even and consistent pace, and Alexandera on her course knowledge.
When Alexandera peeled off to climb the Reverse Lemmon Drop, taking rugged trail to the top of Mount Lemmon instead of the highway, the race for the 300 was effectively reduced to Katie and Ana. The two spent the rest of the race leapfrogging, with Katie riding faster but resting more, and Ana consistently closing the gap. The two came together at Kelvin, just 38 miles from the finish, when Katie was forced to wait nearly two hours for the delivery person from Old Town Pizza in nearby Kearny to show up for work and deliver a pile of calories. Ana also benefited from a pizza and a milkshake that she described as “the size of her face.”
The final 38 miles to Picketpost are anything but easy. Katie’s knee started to give her issues while riding the trail along the Gila River, slowing her down and causing her to hike her bike much more than usual. Still, she was able to maintain a gap on Ana heading into the Martinez Canyon traverse. It was ultimately sleep deprivation that would decide the race, as Katie was forced to take a nap at the water cache high in the canyon in the early hours of the morning, allowing Ana to get past. Continuing her ever-even pace, Ana maintained a small gap on the final undulating miles into Picketpost, finishing just 40 minutes ahead of Katie in the end. Alexandera finished later in the afternoon, and Isabelle Fisk is on the final run into the finish and slated to finish first thing in the morning.
But the race isn’t over for Ana, as she has 500 more miles to race to get to the Utah border, with a Grand Canyon crossing tossed in there as well. But as of Picketpost, she’s leading the 800-mile race ahead of Alexandera, looking comfortable, and cruising down the trail.
There’s still lots of trail left for those out on course. Head over to the event page to follow along live. Eszter’s website, TheTownBicycle.com has more women-focused coverage from the event as well.
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