• Highland Trail 2019

Posted: **Mon May 20, 2019 7:15 pm**

I also noticed James Hayden has appeared on the Group start list, plus a few others not on the original list. And the Adventure syndicate are either going to be fashionably late signing up or they ain't going!
Isn't James Hayden a roadie? Guess the Highland trail route will provide an opportunity for a rapid mountainbiking learning curve.

Drumbeg stores is one of my must stop locations (as well as the OBH natch), also the Kinlochewe hotel (good selection of ales), Inverinate garage (good selection of scran plus last shop 'till F. Augustus), the butchers in Ullapool and of course, Pizza in FA. I cannae wait

.

Hmm - bivvy bag or mesh inner??

Posted: **Mon May 20, 2019 7:24 pm**

htrider wrote: ↑Mon May 20, 2019 7:15 pm I also noticed James Hayden has appeared on the Group start list, plus a few others not on the original list. And the Adventure syndicate are either going to be fashionably late signing up or they ain't going!
Isn't James Hayden a roadie? Guess the Highland trail route will provide an opportunity for a rapid mountainbiking learning curve.

Drumbeg stores is one of my must stop locations (as well as the OBH natch), also the Kinlochewe hotel (good selection of ales), Inverinate garage (good selection of scran plus last shop 'till F. Augustus), the butchers in Ullapool and of course, Pizza in FA. I cannae wait .

Hmm - bivvy bag or mesh inner??

It looks like a few have dropped out so Alan's brought in the reserves!

Looking at the forecast I reckon a tent might be in order

The Tomich hotel does ace sandwiches, just off route though. From memory there's a cafe over the road from the hotel as well but not tried that. If you were really chilled you could try out the new Kingshouse as well

Posted: **Mon May 20, 2019 7:39 pm**

Javi wrote: ↑Mon May 20, 2019 5:29 pm Just seen James Hayden on the Group Start. Winner of several TCR's and cowinner of Italy Divide. Interesting!!

History shows the last TCR winner attempting the HT550 getting beaten by ... a single speeder!

Posted: **Mon May 20, 2019 7:52 pm**

htrider wrote: ↑Mon May 20, 2019 7:15 pmIsn't James Hayden a roadie? Guess the Highland trail route will provide an opportunity for a rapid mountainbiking learning curve.

He's been tweeting today about ending up bum-first in a pile of nettles, sounds like he's progressing nicely along said curve...

Posted: **Mon May 20, 2019 8:10 pm**

padonbike wrote: ↑Mon May 20, 2019 7:39 pm
Javi wrote: ↑Mon May 20, 2019 5:29 pm Just seen James Hayden on the Group Start. Winner of several TCR's and cowinner of Italy Divide. Interesting!!
History shows the last TCR winner attempting the HT550 getting beaten by ... a single speeder!

...And we are 6!!!
You mean Josh Ibbett? He was way ahead of everyone else until DNF'd for a problem in the shock. Beaten by Tom Rowntree as well.
Nelson Trees last year said he had no idea of mountain biking and finished very quick unscathed.

Posted: **Mon May 20, 2019 9:45 pm**

I do believe Josh Ibbett is a very good mountain biker. He raced for Torq Fitness, I believe he did National xc events in expert or elite and has a number of marathon / middle distance mtb events to his name before he did any road ultras.

Why he doesn’t do more mountain bike ultras I do not know! Social media suggests he is doing the divide this year though.

Posted: **Mon May 20, 2019 9:55 pm**

I recall Josh Ibbet vowed to return to the HT after 2015 (on a rigid single speed?

) but didn't....
I guess sh*te weather was kind of inevitable after three dry (ish) years, hey ho

Not sure what to make of this however:- https://dotwatcher.cc/races
I think Regs live bivvy from last year will be more interesting

unless the person has eyes on the ground and a lot of artistic license....

Posted: **Mon May 20, 2019 10:01 pm**

Isn't Josh the South Downs Way double record holder? I saw he's doing the Tdr this year. On the videos he does for GCN he seems like a nice lad, can't remember if he's a mug dangler though

The forecast is now for rain? Will the river crossings be an issue? I'm not much of a swimmer if it all goes wrong, my wife suggested taking arm-bands

ever supportive she is!

Posted: **Mon May 20, 2019 10:11 pm**

The forecast seems to be for showers but not heavy consistent rain. If that's right then the rivers shouldn't be a problem, it's been very dry in Scotland this last month: the bog getting to Benalder Cottage was as dry at May Day as it was last summer. A big storm in Fisherfield might change things though

I was asked by Dotwatcher if I'd "comment" but I declined as I'm not going to be near a computer for the week and ...

Posted: **Mon May 20, 2019 10:12 pm**

sean_iow wrote: ↑Mon May 20, 2019 10:01 pm
The forecast is now for rain? Will the river crossings be an issue? I'm not much of a swimmer if it all goes wrong, my wife suggested taking arm-bands ever supportive she is!

Nah - its dead dry at the moment - a pal was up Ullapool way last week and noted how low all the reservoirs and other fresh water bodies are. So far there is nothing to horrible in the forecast just drizzle / light rain so rivers shouldn't be an issue (in theory) In 2015 it was wet from January all the way through to the group start hence the bog fest the route was (and the waist deep strath na sealga) so all being well the trails should running pretty good......

Posted: **Tue May 21, 2019 12:15 am**

Just applied dubbing to my walking boots looking forward to the weekend!

Posted: **Tue May 21, 2019 7:31 am**

Josh has been around a long time in the Ultra circuit. He's _quite_ well known from those of us who've spent most of our formative years racing 24 hour races.

Nice fella too. I hope he does well on the TDR this year.

also, South Downs DOuble record holder is Ian Leitch - 15hrs and change in 2015

Posted: **Tue May 21, 2019 8:35 am**

Javi wrote: ↑Mon May 20, 2019 8:10 pm
padonbike wrote: ↑Mon May 20, 2019 7:39 pm
Javi wrote: ↑Mon May 20, 2019 5:29 pm Just seen James Hayden on the Group Start. Winner of several TCR's and cowinner of Italy Divide. Interesting!!
History shows the last TCR winner attempting the HT550 getting beaten by ... a single speeder!
...And we are 6!!!
You mean Josh Ibbett? He was way ahead of everyone else until DNF'd for a problem in the shock. Beaten by Tom Rowntree as well.
Nelson Trees last year said he had no idea of mountain biking and finished very quick unscathed.

Agree Javi. I was being a bit sarcastic and I agree that people who spent most of their time on road bikes can do pretty well on mountain bikes, even on extreme terrain like the HT.

Posted: **Tue May 21, 2019 8:33 pm**

Mart has tweaked his ankle, hence the slower pace. That, and he's enjoying himself.

Posted: **Tue May 21, 2019 9:00 pm**

Looks like Steve wasn't tempted by Shenavall and he'll soon be at "the crossing".
There were flood warning issued for Eastern parts of the country today: https://floodline.sepa.org.uk/floodupdates/
but we didnt get much rain in Inverness so i'd guess out West it'll be fine.

Posted: **Tue May 21, 2019 10:07 pm**

It looked like he'd stopped at Larachantivore but now seems to be progressing over the beallach muice

given the onset of dark o'clock and the lack of bivi spots until Carnmore that's quite an undertaking....

Posted: **Tue May 21, 2019 10:15 pm**

I just had to email Alan to send him my pre-start scratch.

My ankle is pretty much ok, but I've got a kidney infection and won't be off the drugs til mid next week. Be a bit rash to start given my medical history. All in all it's been a bit of a disaster this year!

The bonus is that I've got next week booked off work so can spend half term with the kids, hopefully meaning I can get away somewhere later on in the summer. Gutted though.

Good luck to all of you, I'll have to make do with watching the dots.

Speaking of which, if anyone is having a spot crisis, I've got a rented one sitting here with nothing to do...

Posted: **Wed May 22, 2019 8:13 am**

htrider wrote: ↑Tue May 21, 2019 10:07 pm It looked like he'd stopped at Larachantivore but now seems to be progressing over the beallach muice given the onset of dark o'clock and the lack of bivi spots until Carnmore that's quite an undertaking....

And he's heading for Carnmore barn

Looks like he stopped there last night. I thought Matthew Mcwhirr had stopped at The Old Schoolhouse but zooming in it looks like he stopped just over the bridge so possibly the bothy was full, he didn't get there that late. Similarly I though Peter Admiraal had stopped at Melgarve but his tracker shows him bivvying at the road head a few hundred metres away, maybe he didn't know it was a bothy.

The SEPA site is giving most river levels in the west as being at very low levels, most are "low" or at the very bottom of their "normal" range.

Posted: **Wed May 22, 2019 8:54 am**

whitestone wrote: ↑Mon May 20, 2019 7:24 pm The Tomich hotel does ace sandwiches, just off route though. From memory there's a cafe over the road from the hotel as well but not tried that. If you were really chilled you could try out the new Kingshouse as well

The cafe over the road in Tomich is also good. Matt Kemp and I stopped there in 2017. Good coffee, cakes and bacon rolls.

Posted: **Wed May 22, 2019 10:22 am**

whitestone wrote: ↑Wed May 22, 2019 8:13 am I thought Matthew Mcwhirr had stopped at The Old Schoolhouse but zooming in it looks like he stopped just over the bridge so possibly the bothy was full, he didn't get there that late. Similarly I though Peter Admiraal had stopped at Melgarve but his tracker shows him bivvying at the road head a few hundred metres away, maybe he didn't know it was a bothy.

I'm not sure what Matt was doing? I can't image that bothy being full on Tuesday night. Maybe there was a few others there and he didn't want to wake them if he was planning an early start?

I'd guess that Peter did actually stay in the bothy though. If the tracker updates every 10 mins and he turned it off as soon as he stopped, his location won't update until he turns it on again in the morning so sometimes it looks like people have stopped a little bit earlier than they actually did.

Posted: **Wed May 22, 2019 6:00 pm**

Confirming Matt S as a scratch with tyre issues.

Again.

Posted: **Wed May 22, 2019 7:33 pm**

Thats a bugger - Bealach dubh waterbars perhaps?
Steve got to the Bothy at midnight - good effort!

Marts done well despite his ankle injury and MM progressing well (he did do it last year in 4 days 6 hrs mind)

Hard to judge Bothy usage - in 2015 apart from HTers the bothys were quiet. No one was in Suileg, There was a small group in Shenaval and one solitary person in Carnmore. Since then they seem to have got increasingly busy - when you add in 60 folk all looking for digs throughout the week you can;t afford to rely on getting in them.....

Random cow / wood / deer sheds however.....

Posted: **Wed May 22, 2019 7:36 pm**

Looks like an early night all-round today though. MM seems to be settled down in Shenavall, Martin has stopped at Carnmore and looks like Steve may be heading for the hostel up the road from Achnashellach? (can't see anything else worthwhile up there?)

Posted: **Wed May 22, 2019 8:01 pm**

Following Greg's comment I checked Matt S's ride last year and it looks like he scratched at Oykel Bridge.

The water bars heading up from Benalder Cottage are a bugger as I know to my cost: some are rollable, some need a hop and others are just too wide and/or have a sharp edge on the far side. Working out which you need to dismount for is hard. I think it's because you are heading uphill so don't have a lot of speed - those on the other side of Bealach Dubh don't seem as bad because you are generally zipping along and even a crap bunny-hopper like me can get enough weight off the tyres or even a mm or two of air for them not to be a problem.

Posted: **Wed May 22, 2019 9:01 pm**

touch wrote: ↑Wed May 22, 2019 7:36 pm (can't see anything else worthwhile up there?)

Sleeping outdoors is very worthwhile.

I've not checked on the weather, but if it's not raining, why sleep indoors? I feel much more connected to my surroundings when sleeping out and believe I'm not the only one to see the HT also as a lovely way to spend time in and with nature.

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