A couple of ITTers on route, let the dot watching begin

https://www.followmychallenge.com/live/ ... =8&b=0&p=0

Great idea thanks. I've toyed with the idea of going out with the kids. They're 8 and 5. Looking forward to seeing what others are doing.

Marshal Bird finished in 24 days 8 hrs at 68 years old, he's doing CTR as well

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/acyEM7psHJzG6mk6/

The bikes are up on bikepacking.com, there are quite a few.

https://bikepacking.com/bikes/2024-tour ... gs-part-1/

Jeez, Marshall Bird is going for another run. How many has he done now? Wow... didn't Marshall celebrate his 60th in 2016? We met during the HT550; I remember how we met en route and he kind of felt he must make room for me to pass (on a single track), but I stopped and said something like too good...

Thanks very much, that's fantastic info. I've plenty to work through there but as you say a fair bit of time to do it

I'll play around with taking some weight off the bike too and of course TLS

Thanks for all the detailed replies. I appreciate the excellent suggestions and advice. Lots to work on for the next while :-bd I guess I firstly need to limit my stopped time and increase efficiency/speed at HAB. These alone could lead to major time savings by themselves. I'll definitely add a drop...

Said I’d strike while the iron is hot :grin: Hoping to have another crack at the HT550 next year. I completed it in 2018 in 6.5 days on a hardtail bike (no dropper seatpost) and I’d like to go a bit faster next time. My stopped time was excessive which is an easy place to start but I also hiked down...

He's back on route and on the move again, fair play.

That looks like tough going but if you can manage to get a new wheel then you're back in the game .

Nice write up by Jenny Tough.

https://jennytough.substack.com/p/finis ... um=reader2

Excellent, best of luck with it. We'll be watching

The very best of luck, have a great time and remember to enjoy it

That's some going, fair play to him

The battle for second is very tight!

Really looking forward to this. Love seeing the bikes/gear and the dots starting to ping from Tyndrum. The very best of luck everyone!

5th fastest to Correyairack this year.

voodoo_simon wrote: ↑Tue May 30, 2023 7:19 am What’s the record/FKT for the route?

Per Dotwatcher, 'Neil Beltchenko’s 2017 record of 3D 10H 22M'

It's a pity but Kurt Refsnider is delaying his start, per Instagram below. Good decision if he's not feeling well. Would've loved to see him battle it out up front though. ' Things don't always work out as planned, and usually the best one can do is adapt and roll with it in one manner or another. I...

+1 for Ton's recommendation too, the best of both worlds.

I've an old back injury which caused me to put a lot of pressure on my hands. Same as The Cumbrian, I've found that raising my handlebars above the seat level has really helped along with On-One OG bars (backswept like the Jones). I also use Ergon grips to spread the load. The combination works well...

That really puts things in perspective.

Yep looks like he's solo. https://www.instagram.com/p/Cl4NQSase5a/?hl=en 'Tomorrow I’ll jump on a train heading north to Scotland once again. This time the goal, the famous HIGHLAND TRAIL 550! One of the toughest summer bike packing routes the UK has to offer, but adding to it, winter conditions and...

Thanks I'll keep an eye on that. He's a brave man in this cold snap, fair play to him. Had to Google the name, that's some palmares.

Couldn't find a thread for next year so thought I'd start one. The start list looks extremely strong, it's going to be fascinating for the rest of us

I twist and turn a lot trying to fall asleep so I'm hoping this will make is easier than being in a sleeping bag (with no zip to save weight, bad decision!).