Just checked the leader board, Kevin and Steve are "Scratched" 🙁
Found Paul E and a few others off course.
Looking like Oliver is back marker.....take your time...make it round !
Maybe it's harder going than we can imagine from the sofa in front of countryfile with an empty bottle of red and demolished roast.
I know its hard... Ive been saying that since the start of the thead. Ive ridden/walked/pushed alot of the trails they are hitting. Wuldnt fancy much on a loaded bike !
And countryfile weather report on now.
Rain, lots of rain, bearing down fast on them !
Around Orrin/Strathpeffer it was around 12c and a nice temp for riding in short sleeves. Still snow on the hills but it was warm through the night so they haven't had it bad. Yet.
Im loving the replay feature on the tracker, the leaders will still moving (fast) well past midnight when all others had stopped. Feel sorry for the American dude who seemed to take a wrong turn at the start, unlucky.
Good spot stato
Team Jmc , phil seems to have stopped very early today. - any ideas ???
The Spot trackers (and the website tbh) seem to be a bit flaky. I'm guessing various reception problems. If you have a look at folks history you can see all sort of bit where there was no logging for a while. I'd assumed that Phil Simcocks signal would spark into life at some point and show him close to Aidan.
Some early starts today, movement at 4am!
TR- looking at PS on the replay he was level with AH the majority of the way till 6pm when tracker stopped, prob just run out of battery or something?
Another link since i keep having to search for it 😳
[url= http://trackleaders.com/highland13 ]Highland Trail 2013[/url]
hope thats the case - he hasnt moved for a long time , aidan seemed to keep going till the wee hours - and was back on it again at early doors this morning.
youd never guess he has previous in this stuff 😉
aidans pulled a 30 odd mile lead over Mark now- over tough terrain. Aidans speed last night would indicate its walking terrain - which would be my thoughts IF its the trail i think it is with a loaded bike !
no idea where phil is - surely not still where his tracker says - he hasnt moved for 14 hours.
The Spot trackers (and the website tbh) seem to be a bit flaky.
I think its down to personal set-up and positioning on the bike, they are not really designed for exact path tracking, just close position at intervals.
Just caught up with this.
I agree with scotroutes although it seems to be a minority opinion. The concept just seems plain wrong. 😐
Obviously wish them all well and good luck to pedalhead (Mark). 🙂
The concept just seems plain wrong
What exactly is wrong? the idea of following them via web or just the idea of poor tech?
The idea of following someones location via the web is a regular issue on the bigger races (where same tech is used) as some people have actually had race interference due to knowing where riders are. Ive read stories of some riders turning tracker off for last hour of riding in hope of ensure a undisturbed nights sleep.
Poor tech cant really be resolved easilly, especially when you consider the very fact you are watching them is because the racers have forked out money for a tracker (£120) and a subscription to the service (99eruo a year) or have hired one (maybe £50 for the week?). Short of having people on the ground posting updates what else can you do?
STATO : I think c_g was referring to my discomfort over the whole event 🙂
i think scotroutes means the concept of racing through some of the most beautiful and remote scenary scotland has to offer.
Yes, the whole event. I dunno, really find myself in a quandary these days with people treating the world as their playground and, yep, confess to being a bit of a hypocrite. 😳
What is worrying, imo, is that this concept could flourish with others being organised along a similar route.
its only worrying if someone tries to profit from it and sent hundreds of riders out into the abyss.
10-20 riders doing it once a year - no issue.
Big companys organising "challenges" and other such races getting involved and sending hundreds of riders out with no respect for the country side. WRONG - bit of rain and they leave alot more than foot prints - more of a scar
Just for balance - I've also pointed out that I'm pretty much in awe of all the participants and I've been glued to the tracking website.
But how can you stop companies organising this? If there's an opportunity to make money, can you blame them? Should morals/personal responsibility come into it?
A bit like stopping climbers going up Everest or going up Ben Nevis as I did, which I bitterly regret.
I dunno, need coffee me thinks.
I'm not sure anyone is making money out of this particular event (other than the pubs and cafes 🙂 )
Looks like some more folk are heading for home this morning.
i guess it comes down to us boycotting their attempts.
lets face it , you send out half the people that sign up to the etap caledonia - as a challenge who then pick up a bike a couple months before on this route and all you have done is provide your self with the headache of mopping up the aftermath - its an expensive taxi 😉
Multi day rides like this are beyond just "picking up the bike"
you have to train almost specifically for it or be a very keen cyclist anyway.... therefore the onus is on us to boycott folk trying to organise events like this for profit and support grassroutes controlled "challenges" such as this and the cairngorm loop , there is a reason these guys limit the number of entrants - these could easily spiral out of control. - you have to justify your entry to the tour divide these days and almost "qualify" your place.
EDIT* I realise this event is non profit , non race but the hypothetical is that as these get more popular....
oops, still a bit dumb this morning sorry all.
I dont think events like this will really raise the profile of multi-day events, they are still very niche. Having said that there are plenty available already, especially walking/running ones or even "multi-sport" ones.
While more people are entering them i think there is a limited pool of competitors who are willing (lets not say capable!) to take on events of that nature. One thing that separates those 'organised' race/events is support, which is not allowed on this type of event. I think this needs to be clearly pushed on all these remote events or challenges.
looks like paul E ,, paul pomphret and john russell have all defaulted to the road for the trip back to base at drumnadrochit.
looks like brian dawson has either gone well off route into dingwall for repairs/supplies or to catch a train.
Phils still stationary , tracker has to be broken.
I did an audax this weekend..... there was support cars ! ..... ok a mate was greatful of this as his wheel exploded but its not in the spirit of the audax.
noticed from when i started 4/5 years ago a 300k audax taking in some of the biggest hills around got an entry of 30/40 riders... now it reaches cap at 130 riders.
jump to a 600k on a similar route and that drops to 30-40 riders again.
[quote=trail_rat ]looks like paul E ,, paul pomphret and john russell have all defaulted to the road for the trip back to base at drumnadrochit.
And Keith Pitcher
Alasdair McLean (AlasdairMc on here) has just posted on FB to say he's out too.
Wow, very high attrition rate. Aidan still looks to be going well.
phil is out , broken mech and GPS and the bus to inverness wouldnt let him on.......
dont know how you would get in touch but he is pushing 60 miles to a trainstation..... anyone in that neck of the woods not busy ?
Put word out to colleagues up north, see if anyone is on a day off and can go get him.
Trail rat do you know where Phil is - on the ullapool rd? I'm flexible today and could nip up and get him if need be.
Do you hve a contact number for him?
i dont , if you want to offer your services i suggest trying his twitter feed at spillippe
ive also emailed someone who might have details.
meanwhile aidan appears to be a few moments off approaching twice the speed of light.
total respect to mark and aidan and all the other SS'ers, i love my singlespeed but there are times when its so hard to make good progress on it, so through the highlands i can only imagine how hard it is!!
In response to those worried about this as an organised event..don't be. It is just too hard and the website is damn clear that this is a self supported time trial. Why not look at the fact that it may inspire some other lardarses to get off the sofa and ride bikes?
We need more frontiers and these guys are hammering away at them. Go go go!
Aidans hit 306miles ! with a massive lead.
3 are in Fort Augustus, presumed bail out's or thinking about it.
Oliver has moved on, and looking at the spot is maybe lost or bailing out.
Oliver is back marker going on other chatter on here.
This is way more fun than that fast car race in some town yesterday 🙂
Go Oliver.
I thought Oliver had stopped too. That leaves Nik Kinloch as the last man "on the road".
keith pitchers binned it too by the looks of it - hes at drumnadrochit.... - you know times are bad when you bail to drumnadrochit.... the cafe there is/was grim - only good thing is you can get mashed on the whisky....
think olivers gone for a swim.
Oliver must be a STW forumite.
Hope he has allowed lots of time off work. Be epic if he does make it round....or even half way 🙂 i get to follow his progress for the next week.
I wonder if he looked at this event and just thought "hell yeah, looks like a giggle" and entered. Can't win but going to have a stab at it anyway.
Will look back later see if he has doubled back to find the missed turning.
Go Oliver !
olivers been milling about that area all day tbh....
Did anyone manage to get in touch with phil ? Jase and dave are both in tenerife doing that bike riding thing so i cant get a number. thats a sodding long walk.
I think Phil has neglected to notice there's a station in Garve 🙂
(Still a bit of a trek mind!)
There's plenty train stations up that way and plenty bus links that take bikes....
Local knowledge is priceless though.
I scratched this morning with Brian Dawson. I had the beginnings of an Achilles strain when I started pedalling and didn't want it to develop into something more serious during the sixty mile wild bit between Contin and Ullapool.
Nik left us on his way to Ullapool although he's aiming to do it in the full eight days. Kudos to him though - I really hope he makes it.
Next year's strategy will be to train more with a heavy bike, just carrying it up hills. Also, to eat more and carry less. Suspension is also being considered as the rigid when fully loaded was hell on my arms.
No regrets though - a brilliant route that seems to test everyone. The leaders were expecting sub three days but that looks unlikely now...
Good attempt Alasdair, well done for having a go.
Sub 3 days is a scary thought.
Off to check on Oliver 🙂
Hard to say what's happening with Oliver.
Will assume Nik is the new back marker.
Interesting watching the spread of riders as Spots still active, so we know who has scratched but can still track there escape routes.
Well done mr AlasdairMC! Heal well.
Bryan is out with sore knees. Steve Wilkinson faceplanted himself and is out but don't think he had a tracker. According to Matthew Lee SW may need surgery to regain his dashing looks. Hope he is ok. Anothetr of the front runners has knee issues but do not want to give anyone encouragement.
Oliver Webb is on his honeymoon and no great rush. Saw him atk Ossian YH where we had brandy with the warden. Andy Farish went wrong in Kinlochleven losing 2 hours but doing ok now.
My seatpost kept slipping causing a knee problem. After Ossian it could be a problem getting out so on my way home, sadly. I also think I did to much a few weeks ago - I bikepacked across Spain - and was not riding strongly.
Awesome route and plan to tour it sometime. Cannot believe Aidan's pace. Aidan, Mark and Ian Barrington all on singlespeeds. Arno Minaar is and Oliver even built his own singlespeed.
Thanks for the offers of help. Managed to patch the bike up as a makeshift SS and rode to Inverness. Now on a bus back to Glasgow.
This is an awesome race, and well done to Alan for organising it. I'll be back next year without a doubt!
I reckon Andy Farish will make it. He started at Loch Ossian YH yesterday at around 4:30am, and we met him at Melgarve around 9 looking frozen to the core. We met him again just outside Fort Augustus where he bought most of the shop and pressed on to Contin. He's a tenacious guy.
Despite his cock-up Andy Farish had a massive smile on his face at Ossian. Big trip for him from Denver.
Anyone know the correct positions of the racers? It seems to show John Russel as leading but his tracker shows he hasn't done the full route.
I thought Aiden Harding was leading? Also i was particularly interested to know what position Alan Sheldon was doing as i ride with him regularly, it looks like he was next on route after Mark Goldie
Its aidan harding mark goldie , alan sheldon
The others went to drumnadrochit and then turned back to rejoin the course and continue on the return leg so show as ahead.
Thanks trailrat i thought that was the case but wasn't sure
This all just keeps getting proper awesome.
Riders down, serious fight for the win, and Oliver 🙂
Thats pure class, make your bike, saunter round on your honeymoon (is Mrs Oliver with him) and stop for brandy breaks, he must be a STW member.
So Oliver is just making it round at leisure so Nik is racing back marker.
Anyone thats attempted this, i salute you. From the comfort of my armchair.
Edit.
Nik is nearly halfway, about 106 miles behind leader Aidan. Quite certain i would not have made halfway by now.
Big Kudos to all riding. Brilliant fun watching, hope the weather is not as bad as last night forecast I saw. 3 out of top 4 on Singulars, Sam will be happy. If you do a search for #HT400 on twitter there's some extra info.
The weather has been grim at times. I rode around loch ness earlier and Invermorriston and Fort Augustus were great shelter stops.It said 14c on met check but I wouldn't have guessed it in double figures at Fort A.
^ Not surprised to hear about a local bus (usually train with room for 2 bikes :O/ )not letting him on. It's not like its hard to throw a bike into its massive luggage compartment.
[quote=AlasdairMc ] The leaders were expecting sub three days but that looks unlikely now...
Are you quoting odds on that? Assuming Aidan carries on to Fort Augustus this evening he then "only" has a fast blast down the embankment/railway/towpath to Fort William before tackling the WHW 😆
Aye - the fast section of the WHW - that's got to be 4 hours at the very most.
I'd not be surprised if Aidan just keeps going now until he's finished.
Sitting in bed in hotel in ullapool. Ahead of where I thought I'd be but still back marker! Very very tough ride so far, way beyond anything I have ever done before. Staying fuelled is a problem, too easy to crash physically. Feeling sick a few times a day due to too much going out and not enough going in. Can't even begin to imagine what everyone else, esp the leaders are going through. Legs stiff as heck, left knee sore on side , think muscular from day 1 "awkward moment". Bath, breakfast, then see if I can still turn the pedals!
Well done Nikk - keep going!
I am wondering if I could take the kids up to see a finisher in....
Hi Nikk - its Kevin from Friday night / first day. You are going well, you will get through it. Try and each fresh food rather than processed for a bit if you can.
Just having a look at my saddle bolt, I have rounded it off trying to tighten. Oh dear!
I see overnight Mark Goldie has dropped to 4th and Ian Barrington has pushed on into second place. Mark seems to have rested longer. Looks like Aidan pretty much rode through the night to increase his lead.
Ah so its who thought with sore knees 🙁
My photo's are here:
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/12617230@N03/sets/72157633755786159/ ]HTR400[/url]
Good luck Nikk. Just get a couple of breakfasts down you and see how you feel. Well done for making it through yesterday - how was it compared to the days before?
I'm still eating like a horse so imagine you'll be the same!
What happened to Mark over night he still seems to be in the same place? I thought he was on for second but Ian and Alan have shot past!
looks like alan and ian rode straight through the night on the replay where as mark slept.
We could really do with Aidans tracker kicking into life about now 🙁
It looks like he camped, and John Russel is sneaking up on him..
John russell... johns not racing anymore is he , he headed back with PE ?
watch the replay - its quite funny when PE gets on the train...
MG Is now out looking at his facebook.
He has injured himself , he is heading for the road and is heading to get checked out by a medical professional.
I believe he has it all in hand with regards to being extracted.
Sorry to hear about Mark, he was going so well. His partner, who is up there, had DM'ed me via Twitter to say he was having knee issues.
Anybody know anything more about Steve Wilkinson?
Arno Minner got a move on after a slow start. Last saw him just after Kings House and he was 3rd from the back at that point. As a veteran of AZT750 I suppose Scotland is not so tough. A really nice, friendly guy.
Ahhh shame for Mark I was cheering for him there. 😐
Mark on Twitter:
Crashed on Monday morning. Not sure if it's a cracked rib or whatever but too painful to ride through today so that's my race over.
Aggggh, bollix. I was following MG and initially thought he'd ridden the wrong way round the Loch.
Hope he is OK and not done any lasting damage. Still, he has ridden further and harder than pretty much all of us will ever do.
🙁 Heal quick.
Ive just been in contact with him, sore and out for sure. Hes off to get an Xray and a shower and some sleep.
Aidan has just tweeted he finished 20 minutes ago. So a time of ~3 days 2 hours and 20 minutes. His SPOT stopped some hours ago.
nice one , chapeau aidan , suspect that record will stand for a long time 😉
That record wont be beaten for a while.
Good work.
hugely impressive, well done that man!
[edit] Infact well done everyone who started, irrespective of where they are or if they are still going, big risk taking on something so huge with no idea how it might turn out[/edit]
Aidan is a machine! not sure when he last slept
Another tweet has said he did a straight 31 hours into the finish!
Amazing feat.
Come on you others, keep at it (he says from warm kitchen table...)