Highland Trail Q&A

[AlanG]

The third edition of the Highland Trail group start is now less than six months away and I'm receiving numerous enquires. I'm hoping this post will answer a few of the F.A.Q.

Despite calls to add 100-300 km to the route it will stay the same as last year since only 12 of the 37 starters finished. That will give people a shot at beating what is definitely a very healthy record and maybe even getting below the four day mark.

With all the race reports on the web now, no one has any excuse for not knowing about the severity of the route including the 3-4 hour hike out of Glen Canisp, the intimidating river crossing in Fisherfield and the brutal rocky carry up to the last bealach in Torridon.

As before the limit for group start will be 40 riders but I believe demand for places could be much higher so I will be selecting riders who appear to have the best chance of finishing based on their experience of similar type events/rides. The past two years have shown that over a third will drop out before the start date but rather than have a reserve list I will take 60 names to begin with. Please don’t enter unless you are committed to riding as you will probably be taking a place from someone who is. If you drop out before the start it could reduce your chances of getting a place in any subsequent editions.

Only apply for the group start if you believe you can complete the route in under 8 days, abiding by all the rules (and spirit) of self-supported riding. You will need to be at least 18 years old on May 23rd 2015.

There is no team/pairs category but people can ride together as long as they don't draft each other or share gear/food. I'm hoping there will be a women's category with at least 5 riders.

All riders in the group start will need to use a SPOT tracker and sign up to the event tracking on the Trackleaders website. I will not be arranging SPOT rentals next year so each rider will need to have their own or borrow one, there should be enough out there in the bikepacking community now.

Past finishers of Highland Trail (including ITTs) are guaranteed a place on the group start if they want one. Everyone else needs to show evidence (race results, links to rides on Strava, etc...) of their experience of long distance self-supported riding. Finishers of CTR, AZTR, Cairngorms Loop, Lakeland 200 and BB200-2014 will be looked upon favourably as they are obviously not put off by a bit of hike-a-bike!

Requests for places can be submitted from December 1st but if you are finisher of a previous edition and want another go you can email me from now. I'll try to get a provisional start list out by next weekend.

[AlanG]

Here is the first batch of names for the group start 2015, more later.....

F= female, RV= race veteran, 13,14 = year of finish.

1. Shona Oldfield (F)
2. Rickie Cotter (F)
3. Louise Humphreys (F)
4. Jenny Graham (F)
5. Lee Craigie (F)
6. Andrew Hutcheson (RV,14)
7. Steve Heading (RV,14)
8. Alasdair McLean (RV,14)
9. Keith Bremner (RV,14)
10. Steve Large (RV)
11. Craig McGhee (RV)
12. Mike Toyn (RV,13)
13. Phil Clarke (RV)
14. Philip Fraser-Thomson (RV)
15. Matt Page
16. Josh Ibbett
17. Bryan Singleton
18. Carl Hutchings
19. Nicolas Senie (France)
20. Fabien Frohlicher (France)
21. Jean Louis Doridot (France)
22. Dave Barter
23. Dave Kane (RV,13)
24. Stefan Maertens (Belgium)
25. Alan Parkinson (RV)

[Zippy]

I spy some fast names I recognise!

[fatbikephil]

Hell - I'm no 13...

[FLV]

Thanks as ever for organizing Alan.

[Karl]

Can I ask a question Alan? When will the complete list be confirmed? Can't stand the waiting/not knowing

Thanks

Karl

[AlanG]

This should make Karl happy/worried, some more group starters.

26. Amanda Brooks (New Zealand) (F)
27. Daniel Jessee (U.S.A.) (RV,13)
28. Ed Procter (RV)
29. Chris Alder
30. Darren Koslicki
31. Andy Williamson
32. Fraser MacBeath
33. Karl Booth
34. Giacamo Maltman
35. Steven Sloof (The Netherlands)
36. Bert Platzer (The Netherlands)
37. Scott McGill (U.S.A.)

[Giacomo]

Amazing. Thanks Alan.

Giacomo

[Karl]

Thanks Alan. I'm definitely happy and excited. Ace

[Ed1]

Same here

[FLV]

Good to see Daniel back, is the loon going to fetch a sleeping bag this time?

[AlasdairMc]

Good to see Daniel back, is the loon going to fetch a sleeping bag this time?

We have chatted about that many a time, and I think the answer is yes. However, you never know...

[AlasdairMc]

Anyone on this list who hasn't entered before - I've got 1:50k PDFs of both this year's and last year's routes on my Google Drive. PM me and I'll send you the link - it saves someone else repeating the same task.

[dgjessee]

I brought an e-bivy! And if I had brought a sleeping bag I wouldn't have wandered into an Ullapool hotel to watch all the pensioners boogy down ;-)

[FLV]

I brought an e-bivy! And if I had brought a sleeping bag I wouldn't have wandered into an Ullapool hotel to watch all the pensioners boogy down ;-)

Sounds like it was us that missed out then

Good to see you back over, let me know if you need any logistics help in the journey. (I'm sure you'll have plenty of options of help)

[AlanG]

The start list is now up on the website.
If you are not on it and think you should be, get in touch.

[Bearbonesnorm]

The start list is now up on the website.

http://www.highlandtrail.net/index.html

[boxelder]

Hell - I'm no 13

I'm a reverse 13 - is that good or bad on an anticlockwise loop??