Highland Trail 550

large418 – Member
And Tom in 3rd is on a fully rigid singlespeed! That’s double kudos!

Just 10 miles to go…

Gary Tompsett in Camban for the night, or just a stop? Wonder if he knows about the slightly warmer hostel just a few miles down the track?

Edit: Nope, he’s on the move again, shows the mental toughness required to merely stop briefly at a nice dry Bothy and then carry on at 8pm at night.

Markus appears to be stopped in Ullapool, just for dinner or has he found the hostel? I would be surprised if Markus was put off by the tarmac section ahead.

Did Steve Heading take a wee detour of the track on the way up the Devil’s Staircase? Maybe just refilling water upstream of the path.

Tom Rowntree obviously resisted the charms of the Inveroran Pub, or at least didn’t hang around long for them!

Wonder if Johan is camped up in the Strathcarron Pub chicken field 😀

I am still completely hooked on this!

My wife keeps shouting at me for being obsessed with a race I’m not even in!

According to the tracker

Tom finished 4 mins ago 🙂

Tom Rowntree: Moving Time 3:07:0 Stopped Time 1:04:26

So that’s 2 singlespeeds in the first 3 in what is surely the toughest event in the UK. Pretty good IMO.

Markus has stopped for the night and is fuelling up for a big day tomorrow. Seems in good spirits.

Steve Heading rolling up to Glencoe ski center.

The cafe shuts for food at 8.30, bar stays open if lots of micro-lodge and campers in.

Nearly there, will he stop for a swift half or plough on 🙂

Looks like Iona has layed up for a rest around CP5

And the tracker updates….and he’s rolling through and running for the finish, should be in just before closing time 🙂

Looks like the Dornie Hotel has three very hungry, smelly patrons 🙂

Steve is coming round Loch Tulla and bearing down on Orchy bridge, cross the A82 and final leg 🙂

Running just over 12mph at the moment.

Trackers stalled, reading 6mph and close to tarmac for several minutes now.
Possibly at the bridge or even over the main road….about 10 miles left !

8.5mph and at the bridge, final leg, should just make closing time 🙂

if i was there i would get a pint and pie on order for him 🙂

Have a small idea how mentally + physically tough the long hike a bike sections are over that terrain. Brilliant effort + huge respect for these folks.

Is this on again next year ? I’ll be back then and love these sorts of races !

Steves time is given as finishing at 22:30. Still time for a couple of beers then!

Steve Hearding is now being listed as Finished by his tracker 🙂

In before closing time.

Some others are pitched up for a rest, some are making slow progress and still rolling.

Outstanding.

Steve finished at 22.52 according to his gps. He reckoned he’d forget so I posted it here – did the last bit in the dark with no lights . Proper tough riders!

What’s going on with KB and DB? Looks like David had given Keith the slip at the Dornie Hotel but now Keith has a good lead heading into Glen Affric, did Keith’s tracker just not log for a period?

amazing riding guys!
been following them all day – absolutely incredible to see so many manage it in that time.

Gary should be able to finish today. Come on Alan and Bucky, not far now gents.

13thfloormonk – Member
What’s going on with KB and DB?…

Looks like there’s a bit of a race going on for 5th and 4 possible contenders – only 10 miles between them.

Can’t be much left in their tanks, so who can go the longest without sleep tonight… 🙂

Alan has a cold and is in ‘limp home’ mode. He is aiming to finish tomorrow.

No one scratched over night, lets hope this is a good day!

Re Andy and Tom on singlespeeds; Last year Aidan and Ian B were 1st and second on s/s so actually Andy and Tom have let the side down;-)

Amazing effort to complete and the only advantage I can see of a s/s is less weight to push and carry.

My tracker page is showing Keith on the wrong side of the loch. Hope it’s a tracker fault.

Arno, who finished with me last year was also SS rigid, and Mark Goldie who had been running in second until he crashed and broke ribs was also running SS.
Simplicity works when you’re pushing uphill.

Does anyone happen to know if Jonathan Edwards is still on the trail or not?
His SPOT hasn’t worked since Loch Treig.

Watching this has got me hooked. Really hope everyone still going finishes. It’s difficult to imagine the physical and mental demands of just getting round let alone doing it in 4 days!

I’d love to give it a go next year, so outside of being very fit and mentally tough, what’s the best preparation? Looking at the amount of bike-hiking a lot of fell-walking/running would seem to be a good idea, along with general mountaineering skills (navigation, weather/conditions assessment, reading the terrain, planning ahead etc). Anything else?

Suggestion would be to ride at least one 24 solo race and a few BIG weekends with 16/18 hour days back to back before you consider anything rash.

BB200 would be a good place to start.

Got an update from Jonathan – he has not been eaten by a haggis and is doing fine.

Is he still racing but with a dodgy tracker or has he scratched?

Just had an update from Rich from Poolewe. All is good in the world except his front wheel bearing is sounding gritty. Hopefully it holds out to Tyndrum. James – the back wheel he borrowed is still in mint condition.

Apparently it has been some of the hardest riding / bike pusing he has ever had to do.

He is hoping to finish on Saturday (if anyone is about and heading South he would love a lift!)

There’s still a race going on for 5th by the look of it.

Iona has been in Ullapool for a couple of hours. Hope she’s ok.

(On closer inspection it looks like she’s at the best fish & chip shop in Scotland 🙂 )

6th? I can’t see Gary being caught at this point.

scotroutes – Member
6th? I can’t see Gary being caught at this point.

Sorry, miscalculation, you’re right – 6th.

Is he still racing but with a dodgy tracker or has he scratched?

He’s out there somewhere. I’ve not received a scratch from him.

Got a text from AlanG:

“In Fort A now, so two loops done and an easy bit to come. Have a cold by my legs are good!”

Iona is on the move too.

Just had a message from Steve H complaining that I’ve taken some of his Strava KOMs while he’s been away – I predict that I’ll be on the wrong end of a kicking the next time we go out 😆

These supposed ‘backmarkers’ are actually flying round 😮

I hope one day someone organises a more ‘gentlemanly’ ( 😉 ) version of the event, with compulsory B&B stops and checkpoints in every good chippy along the route 🙂