2016 Highland Trail route.

[Alpinum]

That discussion about resupplying already gave me more info than I'd ever get together in first place

After all its a small adventure. Why not anticipate some 'ohh fekk, I'm hitting the wall a third time today'?
I missed on my favourite burger in Ft. Bill just 'cause I had a nice chat with one of the Nevis Cycles lads. It was well worth it. I had two pints and a few fags instead. A lie in the next morning only to miss a sub X day finish by a few minutes. Just let it flow. All will be good given some basic outdoor experience.

Guess I will need to read thru this: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix ... and_jargon

Once I have given some thought and study to 'where/when' on the route I expect reach each day I can begin to determine what my resupply options might be (and make 'hoped for' plus 'contingency' plans)

I will say as nice as it might be under certain circumstances, there will be no stove in my gear. Just not part of my normal multi day race mode.

I am wondering how best to guesstimate my miles per day on terrain and in weather that are both quite foreign to me? I will be studying historic Spot dots of mid pack racers but I can already see the route offers a wide range of average speeds--seems to be fast sections linked by what looks to be extended technical/slow sections.

Anyway, barring unexpected misfortunes I run a pace in the top 1/2 to maybe top 1/3 in the US multi days--I realize this is an unanswerable question with all the variables involved--but any suggestions on how that might translate to distance per day in the HT 550?

I did a 13.5 km/h average under movement (only rode the short HT430), but tons of breaks and sleep. This led to an average of about 145 km a day. I'm hoping to go further next year, as probably every veteran does...

Our crisps are like your chips

Haha, you've just reminded me of one of the low points from last year.
Feeling sick on day2, grabbed what I though was a big bag of plain crisps from contin to eat that night - I can usually eat plain crisps no matter how ill I feel.
Nope, lemon flavour crisps (YES, LEMON!). They got chucked out of the tent in a rage! :(

I missed Contin's resupply by some minutes. I was screwed and ended up in a restaurant slightly off route in Garve. What a treat I had there. Made up easily for some km of sufferimg.

Feel free to spend some time out my way on the way if you're over. Spare bed going!

PM'd

[ianfitz]

Guess I will need to read thru this: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix ... and_jargon

Once I have given some thought and study to 'where/when' on the route I expect reach each day I can begin to determine what my resupply options might be (and make 'hoped for' plus 'contingency' plans)

I will say as nice as it might be under certain circumstances, there will be no stove in my gear. Just not part of my normal multi day race mode.

I am wondering how best to guesstimate my miles per day on terrain and in weather that are both quite foreign to me? I will be studying historic Spot dots of mid pack racers but I can already see the route offers a wide range of average speeds--seems to be fast sections linked by what looks to be extended technical/slow sections.

Anyway, barring unexpected misfortunes I run a pace in the top 1/2 to maybe top 1/3 in the US multi days--I realize this is an unanswerable question with all the variables involved--but any suggestions on how that might translate to distance per day in the HT 550?

Check out the trackleaders data from last 2014 and 2015. it will at least show you where the faster and sloewr sections are - http://trackleaders.com/highland15 and http://trackleaders.com/highland14

[Alpinum]

In addition to that list, Daniel Jessee, his friend, and I will be doing an ITT, starting a week before the main event. I'm hoping we can get on Trackleaders to set an easily beaten benchmark for the pack to follow (or at least my pace will be easily beaten).

Our plan is to get into Tyndrum for the Friday before the start and catch up with everyone then.

Nice! More to look forward to.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/jsee8lwh7qtpmzi/54.1.jpg?dl=0 is that you?

[AlasdairMc]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/jsee8lwh7qtpmzi/54.1.jpg?dl=0 is that you?

Ah yes, that's me, from back in those days when I carried absolutely everything with me bikepacking. I've learned my lesson and travel a lot lighter now...

[Alpinum]

https://www.dropbox.com/s/jsee8lwh7qtpmzi/54.1.jpg?dl=0 is that you?

Ah yes, that's me, from back in those days when I carried absolutely everything with me bikepacking. I've learned my lesson and travel a lot lighter now...

This leads to the question: how to distribute the load? I recommend to think very carefully about having all your gear on the bike, or also a little on the back as for drinks and perhaps your electronics and rain gear. If you want your fun on technical terrain and be more efficient on the HAB, you might be better off with a small, lightweight backpack to supplement your bags on the bike. Give it a try. If you find it works for you, train with that setup.

[Mariner]

Whenever I get too tied up in HT stuff I read this which puts everything back in perspective.
http://phased.co.uk/the-highland-trail-550/

Warning contains strong language and humor.

[ScotRoutes]

Liking the route changes, won't miss the tollie path, I'm sure my 'Alan cursing' must still be echoing round there

You do know what a tollie is in Scots?

I'd assumed that it was the anglicised version of "tollaidh", though I see on the map there's a "Tollie Farm" in the area. A bit of searching and following through (sic) links and given the earthiness of Gaelic place names I'd suggest fanny (US).

The Tollie path is, as you surmised, named from the Gaelic Tollaidh meaning a place of holes.

However in Scots a tollie is a s*h*i*t.

Edit: Swear filter? Really?

[Bearbonesnorm]

Edit: Swear filter? Really?

Hey, what can I say, we're a family establishment

[ScotRoutes]

I have a family. I've seen a lot of sh.....

[AlasdairMc]

This leads to the question: how to distribute the load? I recommend to think very carefully about having all your gear on the bike, or also a little on the back as for drinks and perhaps your electronics and rain gear. If you want your fun on technical terrain and be more efficient on the HAB, you might be better off with a small, lightweight backpack to supplement your bags on the bike. Give it a try. If you find it works for you, train with that setup.

I think with experience comes a ruthlessness about how much stuff you actually need as opposed to what you think you need.

These days i don't care about when I stop, all my clothing is for wearing on the bike, and I generally don't care if I've worn the same socks for a week. The people I encounter might though...

[mountainbaker]

Caring about other people's opinions is overrated.

[GregMay]

Caring about other people's opinions is overrated.

Agreed.

[Ian]

Caring about other people's opinions is overrated.

Agreed.

Subtle

[fatbikephil]

I won't be having any expectations of possible daily mileages as this just leads to either going too hard or demoralisation when you inevitably fail to reach a particular place. Take everything as it comes. Weather and trail conditions will have a massive effect on pace.

[Alpinum]

Caring about other people's opinions is overrated.

I'd like to differentiate, but in the end you're so right. Ride your own ride (as in walking long distance hikes many will say hike your own hike).

[trail717]

This time zone difference is nice, I pop on the laptop at the end of my day and read lots of comments and suggestions, ask a new question and look forward to the next evening. Thanks for all the comments and back and forth…………wish I had time to individually respond to each comment……..maybe later when I am in the home office for a few days……..

It’s been suggested (now and many times in the past) I learn to just go with the flow—nope that’s not my style, tried it once and unfortunately it was a true disaster. I like to over analyze and over plan my multi-day races, knowing full well things never stay on plan. Doing this gives me a false sense of control but with a real benefit in stress reduction and pre-race training motivation. What can I say; it’s just the way I run. I feel if you are looking for your best race you have to optimize what individually works best.

So with that in mind---Some initial ‘resupply/day 1’ musings:

Race starts at 9:00 am Saturday, Fort Augustus is 95 miles in with about 9700ft (2956m) climbing. Much of the day 1 route is new/unknown for most, but with similar distance and elevation as last yr. Quick web study shows the only convenience store in Fort Augustus is a Londis Convenience Store that closes at 5:00 pm (opens Sunday at 10:00am)

Excluding mishaps or extreme weather I would expect to be able to reach Fort Augustus on day 1. However there is absolutely no way I will arrive by 5:00 pm. From my initial route study I would be very pleasantly surprised if I arrived even by 9:00 pm. So I think I have to cross off Fort Augustus as a solid resupply point. If I get there in time to grab a cooked meal at an still open establishment it will be a bonus but not planned on. Also I would not want to wait long for something to open on Sunday morning. In addition the new route doesn’t seem to offer any earlier resupply point deep enough in to sensibly replace Fort Augustus.

However there is a Cannich Spar (or a Post Office that is a Spar? is this correct—a Post Office could be a Spar and can sell food?) at 120 miles in. This location apparently opens at 10:00am on Sunday. Perhaps a morning stop in Cannich at a local café for a hot meal followed by some Spar convenience store snacks to pack & carry might be plan A for day 1 & the start of day 2?
Comments?

Note: Especially from day 1/start I feel its easy to carry enough food for 1.5 to 2 days—anything more requires a bit of thought……

[boxelder]

Post Offices are often a service provided by 'convenience stores' in rural areas.
The Wolftrax cafe at Laggan will provide food for late afternoon. They track racers and stay open.
Contin stores are the best bet for Sunday, then Oykel Bridge Hotel. The hotel will make up take away sandwiches and stuff too - they are very accommodating.

[Karl]

Trail717 you need to keep in mind that the route is being changed by Alan for this year so getting to Fort Augustus may take a different amount of time (not sure if it well be longer or shorter - just take note it is different).

Fort Augustus petrol station is open until 9pm in the summer I think but you can get food at the moorings until 10pm.

You could drop into cannich but would have to climb up the road again, not too bad but always better to have somewhere directly on route.

Contin stores is a good place for resupply.

[whitestone]

Marshall: Yes there can be a Post Office inside a Spar or other shop/convenience store, it's quite common in the UK, in the village where I grew up it was in the pub

If I were doing the route then I'd be thinking of carrying a day to 2 days' worth of food as it's quite possible to get completely out of sync with the opening hours of resupply points but there'll always be a big gap on the Northern Loop between Oykel Bridge and Kylesku/Drumbeg/Lochinver.

[fatbikephil]

The garage in Fort Augustus is open until 8pm. I got there at 1 minute past this year... The pizza shop is open until 10pm (12" vege pizza is highly recomended!) as is the chippy. New day 1 route is miles easier than old (only joking Alan!) no seriously it will be defo a wee bitty quicker into Fort Augustus next year. Supplies wise Day 2 and 3 are the challenge as the only shop is at Contin unless you wait for Cannich stores and the campsite cafe to open (worth it for pancakes with bacon and maple syrup) after Contin you only have 3 hotels until Drumbeg which is a long way.... After that its not so bad as apart from the long stretch through Fisherfield (now much longer) there are more regular places to get stuff. Ullapool tesco is open 7am until 10pm.

Being a nerd I spent ages looking at peoples spot timings on trackleaders after the event (both from this year and last) just to see how fast people were doing the various hard bits (and whether my fat bike was actually a benefit in the boggy bits) but this will give the best guide to timings.

[AlanG]

Leaving Fisherfield on the Postman's Path via Letterewe to Kinlochewe it is going to take at least three hours from where you turn left up the Strathan Buidhe. It was less than an hour to Poolewe from here via the old route. You will need to leave Ullapool with plenty of food since this is the most demanding section of the route with no resupply except for the Hotel off route at Dundonnell. In very wet weather it is also entirely possible you will need to wait at the Shenavall Bothy for the river lever to fall so you can cross safely.
The Postman's Path is not an easier alternative to the Tollie Path, there is still plenty of hike-a-bike! It's all rideable over to Letterewe and through the estate grounds but after that you will probably be pushing nearly as much as riding. In places the trail is a beautiful ribbon of singletrack but in others an overgrown rocky mess. By the end of June I would imagine parts of the trail will have disappeared under thick bracken. Some background infomation here:

http://www.heritagepaths.co.uk/pathdetails.php?path=150

[AlasdairMc]

If you miss Fort Augustus for resupply, there is a shop at Invermoriston that opens either 6 or 7am.

However, I think you're perhaps overthinking things. If you aim to carry enough food to see you to Ullapool you won't need to worry about resupply times. There is such a big window of supply being open that you can just hit it between 7am and 10pm, get enough food for the return and not worry about running out.

Any hot meals and shops therefore become a bonus, and are simply opportunities to eat less of your first choice food you bought for the outward leg.

[GregMay]

Caring about other people's opinions is overrated.

Agreed.

Subtle

Subtle as a half brick in a sock. C'est moi.

[GregMay]

Leaving Fisherfield on the Postman's Path via Letterewe to Kinlochewe it is going to take at least three hours from where you turn left up the Strathan Buidhe. It was less than an hour to Poolewe from here via the old route. You will need to leave Ullapool with plenty of food since this is the most demanding section of the route with no resupply except for the Hotel off route at Dundonnell. In very wet weather it is also entirely possible you will need to wait at the Shenavall Bothy for the river lever to fall so you can cross safely.
The Postman's Path is not an easier alternative to the Tollie Path, there is still plenty of hike-a-bike! It's all rideable over to Letterewe and through the estate grounds but after that you will probably be pushing nearly as much as riding. In places the trail is a beautiful ribbon of singletrack but in others an overgrown rocky mess. By the end of June I would imagine parts of the trail will have disappeared under thick bracken. Some background information here:

http://www.heritagepaths.co.uk/pathdetails.php?path=150

I find myself smiling knowing how much of a "Alan" trail the Postmans path is :)

[AlasdairMc]

"Overgrown rocky mess" sounds like a worthy replacement for the push down the Abhainn Rath we'll be missing after Kinlochleven