I’ve got a 9.8sl, it’s a fantastic bike and the isospeed works really well. It’s one of these things you won’t notice when riding, but will significantly improve pedalling over rougher ground and overall fatigue for longer rides. You can only really see how effective it is by doing a back to back comparison with a similar bike without the isospeed. I’ve got a checkpoint which replaced my boone, both of those had it as well and it was a main point of me choosing these bikes and buying treks.

Looks like he’s on to beat the record by about 3hrs. Angus was in a battle to the end last year with the guy that eventually finished 2nd (after puncturing 10miles from end). So I’d expect that race would have spurned both of them on, so I’d be surprised if Alex could eek out the record by more than what he’s up at the moment. But who knows, the pace is incredible and to take that much off an amazing record anyway is something special. Kerry about 2.5hrs off Lee Craigie’s record so on the cusp of making it under 4 days.

Was there a bit after 8, looks like he was straight to the chippy. And not for a massive amount of time. 15 chip butties to go please….Adding an extra sense of adventure crossing fisherfield at night. Does anyone know if he’s actually stopped yet (for sleep)?

Looking at last year’s if I’m reading it right then Angus Young was at bealach horn in 27hrs so Alex potentially 3hrs ahead of record. However long way to go, and depends on sleep stops (if any) at this point also.

It’s a fair old push and ends up about 700ft of extra climbing than the low route so depends on timescale and energy levels at the time. I did the 360 route last year and ended up doing the high route by mistake as had used the wrong gpx route. It is a nice section once you’re up there but I’ll take low route next time.

Echo the comment about taking the road for the climb out of Fort Augustus, there are a ton of gates on the off road climb which become very annoying.

I used hardtail and was definitely the tool for the job for me. I bought a gravel bike last summer when we moved to Inverness and for some reason I keep reaching for the mtb over it even for these types of rides with easy gravel and road sections. Think combination of lower gearing and more comfort on mtb is swinging it that way but will give the gravel bike another chance soon.

It really is a great friendly event and as mentioned a relatively “easy” century, especially with the other riders on the road and hopeful tailwind.

I did the double for the 2nd year in a row, riding down to Gretna from Fife and turning back at the border, rather than the extra 24miles return to Carlisle. Meant I still got the 200miles in by the time I got over the Forth bridge and home.

The headwind down wasn’t as bad as last year, think it was off the west so more a cross head/cross wind at times. Still tough going though.

We’re moving to Inverness soon so someone jokingly said I could do Carlisle to Inverness next year instead. Actually quite like the idea now, 262miles, think I’d need at least 20mph southerly to get me to Inverness by the Sunday dinnertime…

I just had this last week, DB5s. Bleeding them solved the issue but looks from other comments might not solely have been that. If you’ve got the stuff lying around a bleed as 1st option could be quick remedy to at least rule that out.

Yeah kirkcaldy to kinghorn nice up and down track with few stairs. Kinghorn to burntisland cycle path on pavement all finished now. Burntisland to aberdour beach nice track with few bits of tarmac. On road briefly in aberdour through town then off along avenue by golf course to dalgety bay. This bit has just all been tarmac-ed, just finished last week. Then nice coastal path through dalgety bay (no need to go on road at any bit) to north queensferry to bridge. Enjoy!

Great for the “shoulder” months. Would highly recommend

The trail from Poolewe into Carnmore would be a great way to spend a morning. Properly stunning with some nice bits of singletrack on the way. Join it up with some of the dead end out and backs to Ardlair jetty and bad bog (on OS map top NW of Fionn Loch) to get some more scenic remoteness miles in.

Ullapool to inverness grand for cycling, mostly flat to downhill after 20miles. I found the Garve train times to inverness made it worthwhile to just carry on riding all the way, time on the bike better than time sitting at either train station. I wouldn’t recommend road cycling on Skye, had a massive amount of close passes the past couple of times so won’t be doing it again unfortunately. And a lot of them by motorbikes which I always find bizarre. Ride through the hebrides stunning, the ride itself pretty easy going, flat, smooth roads, good chance of tailwind. Just depends how much time extra you want for exploring.

I think my idea of the WHW being a “thing” has come from the likes of Gary McDonald, Rab Wardell then 1 of the tour pros (Luke Rowe?) all doing FKT’s in the past couple of years. These were supported rides with no kit on bikes going south to north though. But also with the WHW being at the end of the HT550 route, and then on Monday I opened up an MBR article about top 5 UK bike packing routes where the WHW was on the list at no.1.

I certainly have even more admiration for the HT folk doing it at the end of their massive multiday ride, that must be brutal.

I think if doing again I’d probably do FW to KLL again but take the fireroad I’ve since seen on the map that drops down to KLL rather than the rock slabs and steps of the offical WHW. Then miss out devils staircase for the road to kinghouse and back onto the WHW at Glencoe as suggested, I now can see this is showing as a better track on the OS map.

I was advised not to use fairy liquid as there’s salt in it

For Stirling to the FRB I’d go along the forth, north along fife coastal path for more paved cycle paths or south along John muir way (Bo’ness, blackness, Dalmeny house) for nicer bits of gravel/forest routes. Otherwise if you’re not going through the ochils then it’s pretty much alloa to dunfermline cycle path. You can go mostly offroad up cleish hill to blairadam, through St Ninians open cast mine to track along bottom of hill of beach then down through Fordell woods to dalgety bay train station then back to bridges. But to get there not many gravel routes I know of.

How do I share the gpx file on here?

The Cape Wrath route uses the HT550 route from west merkland lodge to gobernuisgach lodge then carries on to the ben hope road then the gravel section from there to south loch eribol (see an turas mor route). There is a river crossing at the start of this section, quite wide and nearly up to the knees for me but isn’t a fast flowing bit. From there just roads to durness and cape wrath once you catch the ferry. Although cycling time to cape wrath wasn’t too bad (1hr10mins each way) along with the cafe stop and detour to bothy but mainly due to waiting on the ferry (its a request style) I ended up nearly 4.5hrs total between arriving at ferry slip and getting back there after.

The other route I started at Rogart and went up the A9 to Dunbeath and then on singletrack road turning to gravel over to Forsinain. Then road to Kinbrace-Syre-Althnaharra and option of going over crask (pint) or carry on and do the west merkland lodge gravel mentioned above in reverse.
There were loads of gravel roads leading in all directions on the dunbeath to Forsinain which aren’t even on the OS map so plenty to explore.

Despite having a 1 year old and thinking my cycling “career” was over I’ve managed to tick off a few rides I’ve had on the list for ages. Capital trail over 2 days was pretty brutal due to constant rain in the lammermuirs and not being able to get any sleep to recuperate for day 2.

The 2 that stand out are cape wrath and my longest ride to date of 165miles.
Cape Wrath I used some of the an turas mor route to do some awesome gravel sections up to Durness then the Altnaharra road back to where I’d started. The Cape Wrath road surface is bumpy to say the least but you get a real feel of the end of the world setting you’re in. My particular highlight was the owner of the lighthouse cafe, after I walked in with a mask on.
“Nae need fae the mask, it’s over.” I wasn’t sure if he meant covid or the war judging by how remote it is out there. When I went to pay for lunch I asked if he took card. “Nae internet” was all he said. Ok, cash it is then. It was £6, I gave him £10. Seeing the £5 I had in my hand he asked “Got any singles, change is brutal out here.”
The bothy I visited off the road is fantastic and beside a stunning beach. Definitely one to return to for an overnighter at some point.

The 165mile ride I did was up in similar area, using some amazing highland gravel sections to join up the quiet and scenic roads. Great day out.

I’ve done it the last 5 times solo but not this year and quite glad of it tbh (I can still feel whats left of my wrists aching just thinking about the final descent).

What are the course changes this year compared to the usual tried and trusted out of interest?

One of the biggest cons is always cost of new tubeless system, but if youve already got the wheels anyway then why not give it a shot for the sake of buying valves and sealant (presuming tyres are tbr or have still to be purchased)

Imo it’s a worthwhile upgrade

I’ve got mw7’s which have been good but like any boot there’s only so much water they can keep out. I teamed them up with some grib grab gaiters and endura mt500 XL overshoes (I’m size 10) for the puffer this year (wet and muddy) and socks stayed dry amd warm throughout the 24hrs. Either that or you could use velotoze but lot sweatier and will take you about 2hrs before each ride to put on.

Was going to suggest the same as shortbread, great route I do often from Dalgety Bay, 30miles from front door with about 1mile on the roads. Link up with moss plantation from cowdenbeath, go down past chicken farm then up through cullaloe.
The 2 bridge cx is great route, fife coastal path to kelpies then back along john muir way. Good gravel bit between grangemouth and bo’ness to keep you off the road, turn off by scottish water sign after grangemouth. Extend the route by doing loop through dalmeny estate to crammond.
Another is coastal path to kinghorn then through golf course and up the binn hill then onto cullaloe or go straight on at dunearn and through farm back to coastal path/aberdour.

I’ve never had any problems but can just be your luck sometimes along with time of day or year if it’s busier. Mostly flat to downhill as well and depending on train times you can still catch the same train from Inverness than if you’d boarded the train at Garve anyway (although I know that’s not your plan)

I ran mudhugger rear and crud catcher xl at puffer and they were both exceptional. The mudhugger definitely seemed to be the rear guard of choice amongst the other riders.

Endura mt500 XL overshoes go over my shimano mw5 winter boots, hold up well and feet are never cold when those 2 are paired up (and with some woolie boolies on). Easy enough to get on and off. Choose smaller size of overshoes of you’ve got summer style smaller shoes.

There’s no problem with a 105 on an ultegra, I’ve got a stages dura ace and swap it onto 105 on the winter bike. Never had any problems with it except it can eat through batteries a bit. Make sure it’s a gen2 though rather than the original gen1 as I think they had problems with water ingress.

It’s not overly technical just very rooty and bumpy final bit which takes its toll after 1 descent never mind a few (for me anyway)

Yeah riding solo after my riding partner had to pull out last minute and I couldnt persuade anyone to stand in for him. Was solo in 2015,16 and 17 and pairs last year. Thought might as well just go for it rather than not racing at all. Fitness is fine more the thought of that final descent several times over makes my wrists and arms ache just thinking about it!

I’ve got a trek procaliber 9.8 and its brilliant for endurance racing and eating up the climbs. The isospeed is 1 of those things that makes the difference without you realising it. Got the same on my Boone cx bike, front and rear.

Gravel bike is fine for badger divide with 38/40mm tyres. Hardtail would be more fun and comfort on corrieyairack downhill but full suss might be bit overkill (depending on how good and light i.e. expensive a FS it is)

Did it last year for xduro Scotland in 2 days with overnight near corrour station. 90miles 1st day and over 100 the 2nd. https://www.theracingcollective.com/scotduro.html

Did anyone do 10UTB yesterday? Was amazed how many folk were racing on full sussers, I only saw a handful of hardtails (and 1 gravel bike) and was surprised especially due to the amount of climbing. However the downhill sections were bumpy and my wrists, back and shoulders were shot after 10laps on the hardtail so maybe it was a good choice by the majority after all!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Adspec®-Cable-Female-Adapter-Tablet/dp/B00KJQAVTU

Currently unavailable but this is the one I use for my Garmin edge 500

Endura bibs and bib longs been amazing. 24hrs of strathpuffer and many long road and mtb rides on them

I dipped my toe in at Cathkin and found myself a bit out of depth on some of the steep stuff, having a big crash in practice didn’t help race confidence either….I needed a lot more time to see what I could and couldn’t do on the course before racing it. The only thing I would say is that the entry to B lines weren’t very obvious at all, thought they might have had sign beside them for novices like me! Organisation and marshalls were spot on though. Was a bit surprised by the muddy run ups, I should have kept the studs in the shoes after the cx season!

I’ve got an entry to Dunkeld that I can’t use and organiser said ok to sell on, cost me £45, does anyone want it for £25? Thanks

2tyred, how does it work with all the different categories racing at the same time on a short lap with tight sections etc? Do they all get set off at the same time or staggered? Also is there allocated time for practice on the day before the race and what length is the sport Male race (as it seems to have been left off the race length times on the sxc website). Thanks

How technical are XC races? Mainly looking at SXC for myself, I’ve done GT7 and strathpuffer and am definitely a red route rider (though not the fastest and most confident) so just trying to gauge it to see if it would suit me. Thanks

No the SQ one that was in February

I raced callander park on a borrowed bike last year with grass track style tyres and was all over the place, these tyres were far from slick but I spent most of my time going through the tape on the descents and not being able to get up any gradient. Though it was very muddy irvine wasn’t particularly muddy and was different type of grass but was slippery all the same and depending on what race you’re in there might have been 2days of racing on the course before you so it’ll be torn up nicely. Racing at callander park put me off a bit, was well out my comfort zone as was so all over the place and reminded me how important right kit and setup, particularly tyres, is.

Yeah I’d say so. 4 of us started together, me on mtb with 2.0, others on cx/gravel bikes, 1 with 40mm, 1 with 38mm and 1 with 32mm! Everyone has different preferences and beauty of these type routes is there’s no correct answer. I’d say 40mm spot on though for balance as was pretty bumpy on Saturday and lot of tarmac and fast rolling gravel yesterday. If doing again I’d go on cx bike which takes max 38mm (but would go 40mm if I had the bike that took that width).

Did this event at the weekend. Great route, lot of climbing and hard work into the wind at times. Most folk on gravel bikes and me on a hardtail which was good for day 1 as the descents were fun without getting too battered. Yesterday was more of a slog as there was a lot of tarmac and cycle paths where the gravel bikes effortlessly went away from me.

We were down to loch ossian by 1930 after starting at 0900 but I think most folks were there closer to 2200. Pretty epic route and weekend all round though.

Gpx can be found here

https://www.theracingcollective.com/xduroscotland.html#logistics