I'm glad that this has come round again as it gives me a weekend off from being smashed round the Peak District by Steve Heading 😀
He's not taking it 'seriously' this year but his idea of seriously and everyone else's tend to be slightly different.
@bigmandh - very much an honour system but usually these days a GPX and/or a SPOT trace is required. For the UK the routes and fastest times are noted at selfsupported.net but this doesn't usually name the holder. Some ITTs have their own webpage (the Cairngorm Loop does) and you need to find the info there.
Brilliant thanks for that. More routes to add to the must do list now (though maybe at a more leisurely pace!)
Is there anything similar for road biking routes?
Probably Audaxes are the nearest thing.
Is there anything similar for road biking routes?
North coast 500
[url= https://www.strava.com/routes/2943218?hl=en-GB ]Strava link[/url]
I do actually feel like I'm missing out this year.
Using that N. American thing as excuse does feel a bit lame, but I don't think a week would be enough time to recover.
Slightly tempted to head up to Tyndrum tonight to see Howard finish and the rest start tomorrow morning. Anyone up for a pint in the Tyndrum Inn tonight?
Is there anything similar for road biking routes? North coast 500
Sorry I meant more like a register of all the rides and routes that people do road ITT style things on.
like a register of all the rides and routes that people do road ITT style things on
[url= http://www.aukweb.net/events/?From=27%2F05%2F2016&To=12&Days=&Category=&Dist_min=600&Dist_max=&Aaa=&Region= ]Audax[/url]
Plenty of stuff to keep you occupied
fasthaggis - Member
'Is there anything similar for road biking routes?'North coast 500
Some of our local girls knocked that off in 36 hours the other weekend (on road).
now i might be wrong but that was a team time trial - still impressive but not an ITT.
jimmy mac (james maccalums) having a go shortly on an ITT, could be interesting.
That's good going epicyclo.
I am having a go at it this summer ,in 48hrs (weather permitting) 😉
now i might be wrong but that was a team time trial - still impressive but not an ITT
Yes, it was a group ride with support vehicles. I think 3 women rode the whole distance, and the others rode various sections as support.
There aren't formal rules for something like the NC500, so you are comparing apples and oranges. Mark Beaumont was nominally riding solo and unsupported, but he mentions various people joining him on the road as support in his blog.
Things like the TD and HT have stricter rules about self support, but I guess you can still ride with other people, which could make a big difference mentally and physically, compared to a true individual TT.
I mentioned the NC500 ride because regardless of how they did it, it was a very challenging undertaking. I'd want a week to do it, or at best 5 days.
[url= http://theadventuresyndicate.com/home#intro ]They call themselves the Adventure Syndicate[/url] and Lee Craigie who was part of it is doing the HT550.
I'm aware it was different. 🙂
On the group starts to ITTs you end up riding with others for a bit then you find you are on your own for a while until you either catch someone up or someone catches you up. There's definitely a difference psychologically but you do need to be prepared to be on your own for a considerable length of time - one guy in the HT550 didn't see another competitor for four days!
Sharing equipment is against "the rules" as is any motorised help.
chris hopes going great guns. Just exited burn o brown heading for tomintoul.
He was hoping for just under 22 hours, looks like he'll do it well under. Legend!
Coming form more of a road-ey background I'm a bit surprised that I'm a more excited to see how these ultra endurance events (HT550, Tour Divide, TCR, Trans Am) go than I am some of the grand tours this year!
Chris Hope finished just before 2200 in a time of 16hrs59 according to the tracking site. Bloomin' well done!
I saw him on the way to Tomintoul. He wasn't hanging about!
Well they're off and the pace is pretty high at the front, 100 miles in 12 hours is good going by anyone's standards. Fair few have reached Fort Augustus already and several have pushed on (some by a fair distance). Slightly concerned that my mate Karl has been in town for an hour now though, hope he's OK
Probably a massive que if he made the pizza place - if not, he's maybe made the pub and persuaded them for food, or he's drinking a beer.
Refresh rate is 10mins on the SPOTs if they have signal - don't worry yet.
Also - I am the other end of the twitter feed if you're not following it: @ht_550
Karl knows the score. He will rest up then leave 4-5am for a big day tomorrow
Greg - it's dark now 😉
Looks like Lee Craigie is making a good go of it.
The men are flaking
Slightly weird how sitting in my warm living room with a curry, a beer and a film I'm actually jealous of the folks out there on the trail....
In two weeks time it will be my turn!
Hope you've been doing lot's of training. Long way to go to mince about. I've already laid down some coin at the bookies so no pressure 😀
Looks like Lee Craigie is doing a Beryl Burton.
Awesome. 🙂
I hope the wee shop in Contin was pre-warned. By the time the first 15-20 folk are through the shelves will be bare and there's no restock until Lochinver.
They're hurtling through some pretty country.
The leaders are about here right now.
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Scotroutes, you probably have photos of most of the route. How about posting them round about the time the leaders reach those spots?
My mate IanB was quite far down the field las night but has had a short night and is going well this morning, pleased to see.
Today will be the first day of real racing as normal - we shall see who has actually had some recovery in their "sleep" last night.
Example - I "slept" for 6 hrs on the first night in 2013 - I actually slept for about 2 of those. Day two was my worst day. After that, there was no such thing as insomnia.
Lee is going strong, I'd love to see her destroy most of the field 🙂
GregMay - Member
...Lee is going strong, I'd love to see her destroy most of the field
Me too. She's local, and I've been a fan for many years after watching her on the SXC.
I'm hoping her efforts in the recent NC500 don't have a bad effect.
anyone got a GPX of the route they are doing this year ?
The one on http://www.highlandtrail.net/map.html appears to be an old/original route.
I see Lee 'rested' for about 4 hours lats night. I'm pleased about that, I had a a horrible feeling she was just going to keep going!
Ian B also got some rest and is doing really well.
I say this every year but really inspiring stuff out there. I'm sure most will have seen it but I really enjoyed Ian's film of it from 2014 :
[url=
2014[/url]
Looks like the leaders are fuelling up at Oykel Bridge.
Police are reporting a fight breaking out in Oykel bridge. Apparently a dispute over of the last bag of Haribos.....
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Nah, they're all gentlemen, they'd give Lee first go... 🙂
Confirming Ian Wilmshurst as a scratch - injured back, is pootling back to Tyndrum.
Awesome efforts as always!
Passed a few at Contin shop this morning on my way to fisherfeld this morning. On the way home, about 4pm on the short road stretch at Inchbae, I saw a bike coming towards me with bags on it. I tooted and gave a thumbs up but then realised my mistake as it was actually a tandem....except there was no mistake - there are actually two nutcases doing it on a tandem 😯 😯
How horrific is the Hikeatandem going to be??? Perverts.
Then I saw another rider almost get taken out by an utter, utter arsehole in a Porsche. Just to be clear, should you read this in the future unknown rider, my ****er gesticulation was for the driver, not you. 🙂
but then realised my mistake as it was actually a tandem
That'll be Rich and Shona the purveyors of shiney things at Keep Pedalling on their Salsa Powder Keg.
So the weight of that tandem is quite stunning - 40lbs dry without kit on it.
I think they'd got the whole thing to <60lbs bar water.
More than awesome, superhuman more like. Stuart Cowperthwaite is almost at CP4 which is 250 miles.
Ian B had a long stop at the last place, hope he's doing ok.
Stuart Cowperthwaite isnearly at the halfway mark!
Lee is running 4th.
Edit:
He's past it
Great weather forecast until Thursday .. 🙂
