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Off to bed, I'll update with any more dropouts in the morning.
Go Hutchy! Hope his hands and wrists don't play up and go numb like after the Puffer. Absolutely flying.
martinxyz - Member
Go Hutchy! Hope his hands and wrists don't play up and go numb like after the Puffer. Absolutely flying.
I reckon everything will be numb by now.
Colin is probably wishing he'd done it now. 🙂
Keith looks like he's doing well, but doesn't seem to have started yet this morning.
I wonder if they have the thick morning mist over there as well.
Colin isn't wishing he'd done it, though he's wishing he had the mental fortitude to be able to do it!
Looks like we have three folk with navigation errors this morning. Markus is off down the wrong descent and it'll be heart breaking when he realises. Craig has missed a turn onto some singletrack into Achmelvich and Gunther seems to have turned onto the northbound route at Oykel Bridge (though it looks like he made a mistake in the same place on the way north too). I feel like shouting through the screen at them 🙂
Ahh the joys of watching sleep deprived people try to read a GPS screen 🙂
So, this morning Neil Evans has scratched. He had a bad day on the bike yesterday and is still feeling s**tty so he is out and touring back south under his own speed.
Another scratch from Martin Rutherford:
[i]That's me dropped out - well, I dropped out yesterday but have only just got home now.
I made it to Fort Augustus on Sunday afternoon and headed along the Great Glen, but my knee blew up (not literally). Having had this before I reckoned I'd better head back for Tyndrum rather than push further north. Followed the return route from Fort Augustus - spinning slowly was bearable but I couldn't get any power through my knee - will see what warranty I have in place for it.[/i]
Markus has turned around and is correcting his navigational error.
He could have dropped something, it's happened to me before. Leaving a wallet on a rock in the middle of nowhere...it'll be there, but it is a pain in the ass.
He had taken a wrong turning and headed off down the wrong track. He's back on route now.
Scratch update:
Steve Large is out, knees are gone and he is going to ride back on the road. All well otherwise.
Is it just me or does the tracker website show Phil Simcock going quite a way off route as he makes his way down the west coast?
Not sure if its a glitch in the tracker system or something else wierd
Gutted to say that Ian Barrington from Wildcat is scratching from the HT550 with an inflamed Achilles tendon.
Is it just me or does the tracker website show Phil Simcock going quite a way off route as he makes his way down the west coast?Not sure if its a glitch in the tracker system or something else wierd
It's possibly you. He's on route to Dornie where I'm looking at him
hey greg, do a rewind, 10pm through 1am. Phil Simcock looks way off route to me too. If that isnt a tracker error that will be gutting.
I really hope its an error with the tracking and not a navigational error. It would be awful!
don't know how these trackers / plotters work but that's just a straight line error? couldn't cover that ground at that speed in the dark...
There are no actual plots in between Poolewe and Torridon YH, just an after the event interpolation..
madness - the though of doing 5 or 6 BB200's back to back makes me feel odd 😳
madness - the though of doing 5 or 6 BB200's back to back makes me feel odd 😳
after making it 149 miles into the Welsh c2c before scratching due to weather (but no bugs / beasties), I have soooooooo much respect for these dudes!
would love to say next year but I think a big audax style event beckons first!
Looking at the track again it seems to be very much a straight line, going directly across ridgelines etc, rather than round them. There then seems to be a pause before continuing along the correct route. This may add weight to it being a tracking glitch
At "lochinver larder" with alasdair at the moment. Weather now fabulous sun and gentle breeze. Feel good slept like a baby at wee old lady b+b near kylesku , she even washed and dried my clothes!
The SPOT sometimes has a habit of dropping signal. If (When) they do it will just update and ping the next time it does, then the mapping tool just draws a straight line. Image below will give an idea, going South to North, my SPOT dropped out near the top then gave big gaps:
[img] 
[/img]
Thus you get straight lines. Phil will have to send a GPX anyway to make sure the route completion is a real one. I don't doubt it is.
Nikk and I met up again today - at the pie shop in Lochinver now just refuelling for the afternoon.
The top loop was brutal yesterday - hoping to get to Ullapool today for my weekly wash.
Scratch Update:
Martin Rutherford has scratched with Knee issues.
Nothing but massive respect for all you peeps still out there, the weather's been brutal the last few days. Hopefully it'll ease up a bit for you all!! 8)
Yeah, the course the tracker has sent to the map is bonkers. I'm pretty sure that if I was expecting a nice road section down Loch Maree I'd have turned back before making an ascent of Liathach across it's summit ridge. Mind you, having seen the effort that's been put in so far....
love this. bonkers.
love this. bonkers.
Wait till next month. Then the big one starts the [url= http://trackleaders.com/tourdivide14 ]Tour Divide[/url]. I was supposed to be there this year, but am not due to too many things.
The TD is very different to HT550, less technical, but much -much -much longer days in the saddle.
Phil is about to hit one of the steepest pushes in the race -then into some of the best riding in the race as well. It looked like this last year:
[img] 
[/img]
Who knew that watching dots move slowly across Scotland could be so compulsive?
Just had an email from Rich... apparently the weather is lovely, but this could just be in comparison to yesterday. No mention of sore knees so I think he mmust have sold them on eBay.
I know he is checking in on this thread occasionally, as are others. I guess that they could all do with words of encouragement at this stage. So for the stubborn sods at the back.
Rich - doing well for a grumpy old man. Minipips wants to follow in your pedal strokes.
IONA - what an incredible effort. Keep it up girl.
Markus - what has possesed you to do it with one gear????
do****cher - Member
Who knew that watching dots move slowly across Scotland could be so compulsive?...
It's compulsive all right. Stayed up late watching the crawling dots, then up early to watch them. And in between I dreamt I was doing it - woke up exhausted.
So I hate to think how the real racers are feeling.
Keep it up lads & lass. 🙂
Seriously impressed by everyone in the HTR.. looks really tough going. The chances of a really wet few days would by my biggest concern there so hats off to everyone who started out.
Is anyone doing this at a resonable/human pace, like 70 mile days and 8 hours sleep per night rather than total?
Can you do the Highland Trail anytime? and does it have a time limit?
I have been wiling Iona up the hill to CP4 all morning and nearly cried at Markus' wrong turning. That must have been heartbreaking. It is good to see that he has recovered.
As for Rich, I got up at 5:15 on Sunday to make him a cup of coffee before realising delivery from our kitchen in Hayfield could be a little problematic. I know it was Simon Barnes' comment up thread that made him go on when he stopped in Strathpeffer. He had sounded really spent on the phone a couple of minutes earlier.
Is anyone doing this at a resonable/human pace, like 70 mile days and 8 hours sleep per night rather than total?
Al. I think richpipps is doing it at a more sensible pace......hats off to him still.
these blokes deserve to big respect.
Can you do the Highland Trail anytime? and does it have a time limit?
It's an open course - you can do it whenever. There is no time limit. However, remember you have to carry what you eat and there are BIG sections wth 100+ miles with no food stops. So moving faster is easier in a perverse way.
More info here: [url= http://www.highlandtrail.net/ ]http://www.highlandtrail.net/[/url]
Should also add the 'other' UK rides that are out there: [url= http://selfsupporteduk.net/ ]http://selfsupporteduk.net/[/url]
Please note, these are not official races, just suggested routes. You're on your own out there. Please, realise this before you do anything rash.
I think richpipps is doing it at a more sensible pace
I think he is timing it so that the kids will be back at school when he finishes...... so very sensible pace.
Scratch Update:
Michael Cleveland has left and is in Switzerland somehow!
Scratch Update:Michael Cleveland has left and is in Switzerland somehow!
That's a fair navigation error!
Went to the start and there were a lot of midges about this year. Gary Thomsett had forgotten all his riding kit including helmet. So my socks are travelling quicker than ever before! He got sorted with the rest of his kit as well, including a helmet.
Sunday morning was unpleasant where I was. Saw the Singletrack mag van North of Moffat as it came past me. Gave me plenty of room but I really needed a 'sticky bottle' 😉
Just catching up as I toured back to England.
Some pics here of the start:
[url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/12617230@N03/sets/72157644457186738/ ]HTR550[/url]
GregMay - Member
...Please note, these are not official races, just suggested routes. You're on your own out there. Please, realise this before you do anything rash.
Don't worry. I live up here and I've seen what can happen to the overconfident and unwary. 🙂
Gary Thomsett had forgotten all his riding kit including helmet.
Bit of an oversight. 😀
Following this with lots of interest, after the Selkirk marathon a few weeks ago (ok I was ill as well but it felt like a survival task) can imagine how hard it is. Pretty awesome people! Can't work out how anyone can forget their kit AND helmet though 🙂 Even I couldn't do that!
Gary had put all his riding kit in one box and then forgot to pick the box up before leaving home.
Ah well good for him getting it sorted, must've been pretty annoying with so much to organise for it!