Highland Trail 2015

[Dave42w]

Training, skill and stubborness get you much, much further.

I'll be looking for tips for helping with all these for the BB200

[Ian]

Training

It's a mental thing (unless you want to be fast)

And even then, it's still a mental thing.

[ZeroDarkBivi]

Fascinating watching this years dramas and sheer brutality/gutsiness unfold on the screen after my unscheduled accident enroute to the start. A few thoughts on the elements we often dwell on:
Bikes - Given the diversity of steeds that both failed and held up, makes the idea of an optimum ride even more difficult to quantify; other than being robust enough to deal with the environment, the specifics matter most in how they make the rider feel - mentally more than physically.
Nutrition - lots of things have been discussed about this, but does it really matter beyond consuming sufficient calories to fuel the efforts without making you ill?
Training - how do you condition the body to the demands of this type of event whilst balancing with all our other commitments, and how much does that actually matter?
Mindset - as stated by those who know better than me, this appears to be the critical factor, by far. Is there much that can be done to alter/train this or does it just come down to 'who we are'?
I'd be really interested to hear from those gladiators who have fought there way round this challenge on the key elements to success.

[Dave Barter]

Training - how do you condition the body to the demands of this type of event whilst balancing with all our other commitments, and how much does that actually matter?

This was my downfall I believe. I did a lot of riding but not enough "conditioning", I should have done many more rides with a loaded bike and h-a-b sections which I think would have reduced the likelihood of injury in the race. I had many plans to do this but just too much work in 2015

One other thing you forget is logistics. Making the food stops/hotels on time is important if you are not going to carry days worth of food. This in turn dictates how long you can lie in to recover each day. On the second and third day I found the others leaving 1-2 hours before me from bivy spots whereas I was trying to squeeze in one more hour of rest.

But let me tell you the worst thing about not finishing is sitting here analysing all the things you *could* have done better. Ultimately I think you have to be able to suffer for seven days. There's only one way to know if you can do that ....

[atk]

Ilan has reappeared on the East coast!

[Zippy]

This was my downfall I believe. I did a lot of riding but not enough "conditioning", I should have done many more rides with a loaded bike and h-a-b sections which I think would have reduced the likelihood of injury in the race. I had many plans to do this but just too much work in 2015

Doing the Cairngorm Loop (or half of as it turned out to be, more on that later), my hike a bike and river crossing skills have increased tremendously. As has my respect for the Scottish Weather on the mountains

[boxelder]

Brief thoughts from me:
Bike - one you know and trust. Biggest common factor was 29" wheels and robust tubeless tyres.
Nutrition - I tried to eat at normal times, using cafes and pubs where possible (morale boosting). A beer with dinner a couple of nights was good too. Sarnies from shops and then tortilla wraps with fish and Chia charge bars (salted, fairly wholesome energy flapjacks)
Training - tricky one. You need to get miles in obviously, with loaded bike. Concentrating on riding at a sustainable pace is important. You conserve a lot of energy by knowing how the bike handles loaded, so you're not 'fighting it'

Mindset - You have to want to do it and for the right reasons. You'll feel bad at times and need to know that in an hour it'll be much better. If it's not try to do something to make it better (stop and make a brew, look at the view, put on your leg warmers). I was lucky, being in the "snugglefest group" at Strath Carron. It had been a hard couple of days through the big hills and descending Coire Lair in the wind and rain was freezing. Feeding off the positivity of Javi, Phil, Steven, Rickie and Alan was key for me. The temptation to sleep at the hotel and climb onto a train the next day was definitely there. At 10.30 that night another rider, in a worse state than I'd been, came into to the bar as it was closing. In his words he'd "spent everything" to make it to the hotel in time - no food, no room, just two cans of Coke. Whole body shivering, he refused dry clothes or tent, said "it's at these times that you need to dig deeper" and sprinted off up the road in the wrong direction to generate some warmth before bivvying. Not sure I could have responded like that............

Things I'm really glad I had: stove for brews/food, MP3 player (tiny old Creative running on 1 AAA), Montane Prism warm layer
Things I could have left - Smidge

Best bike adventure yet.

[Zippy]

Things I'm really glad I had: stove for brews/food, MP3 player (tiny old Creative running on 1 AAA), Montane Prism warm layer

THIS is my next purchase!

[GregMay]

I was lucky, being in the "snugglefest group" at Strath Carron.

You kids need to get team jerseys. Then send me royalties :)

[slarge]

Due to the amount of pushing and carrying involved, much of the physical effort is in the core and upper body, not just the legs, so it is important to train accordingly. I did a load of circuit training to help with this, and it does work. The riding bit is fairly straightforward, as long as you are spinning at low intensity rather than hammering it. (Most people can't sustain high intensity for 12-20 hours a day for 5-7 days anyway). I was jumping off and pushing at the sort of efforts I would normally be comfortable muscling up hills with, but for me that was to save my energy and also put less stress on my knees.

Feeding is key, a hot meal is a real morale boost as well as warming and energy supplying. Lots of other food eaten constantly is also crucial (I still lost 3kg during the weeks ride though). I am not sure that the type of food is that important, as long as it has some nutritional value and is digestible (another lesson learned there for me).

The bike is key - it is going to put up with a brutal battering, so a decent bike, but more importantly well prepared / maintained (greasing the freehub a few weeks prior to the event might seem like a good idea, but grease is absolutely the wrong thing to use, in hindsight).

The most important thing though is mindset and attitude. Everyone I spoke to during the race who finished was positive and happy. Most of the people I spoke to who later dropped out were having highs and lows. It's your head that tells you whether to give up or keep going, not the body, and any amount of fitness, feeding or bike grumbles can be overcome with the right mindset.

Painkillers are a little thing that can help take the mind off the body being a reason to crack. I only used Panadol, but they really helped to remove sore muscles and knees as a reason. If your son has recently broken his leg, stronger painkillers are available!!

Having decent gear (clothing and sleeping) also makes a huge difference. Keeping the core warm and dry even in really crap weather is possible, and possibly the outer layer becomes t he most important. I was surprised how well my old Berghaus Paclite jacket worked. It's about 6 y ears old but still completely waterproof, and keeps the biting wind out (and off the head when the hood is up). My montane prism was great when it got cold as well.

Would I have changed anything this year?
Yes, the freehub failure was unfortunate, but I am glad it happened when it did (at the top of the hill outside Ullapool, so I had a 200metre push, then coasted into town!)
Eating a cheesy creamy macaroni cheese was a mistake. It was very very rich and clearly too much for me!
GPS charging - the battery pack I used was a cheap fuel cell off eBay and the micro USB became unreliable so I couldn't charge it. Charging the gps direct from the regulator meant that every time I slowed or stopped, the backlight went on full and I think it used more power than it accepted. A better battery pack next year.

And finishing would have been nice. Especially as Fridays weather was really good!

[GregMay]

Really sad to announce that Jenny has scratched.

Feet won't go in shoes, ankles are not working. Game over.

[Zippy]

Really sad to announce that Jenny has scratched.

Feet won't go in shoes, ankles are not working. Game over.

Sad news. I still class that as maybe the most heroic ride of the HT550 (as far as can be judged from watching dots), and have a new motto for when I think the going gets tough ("What would Jenny Graham do").

P.s. I like your new avatar Greg!

[fatbikephil]

My thoughts....
Training - I did lots of snow biking this year with numerous hours pushing the ICT up 20 degree slopes through knee deep windslab and riding at maximum effort in the granny gear. A gruesome 2 hours of maximum effort pushing up Lowther hill on the southern upland way in the middle of a 13 hour ride also helped! Other than that just lots of hours on the bike pushing hard and then enough slower rides to learn that nice steady mile munching pace that will see you through 7 lots of 14-18 hour days.
Bike just has to be comfy and reliable Period.
Kit - get good kit but more importantly get the nous to use it. One thing I will say is that I had minimal ankle or foot probs which I think is partly down to good boots (Shimano goretex thingies) and sealskin socks which meant my feet were dry until day 5 and only a bit damp thereafter. Over trousers and gaiters also helped keep me dry and warm and keep the granite dust out of my feet and shorts.....

I ate a lot of food - looks like I haven't lost any weight at all during the week.

Have a mantra(s) - mine were 'this too will end' and 'don't you f***ing dare quit'

The weather was my biggest challenge as I'm a wet weather wimp but it got to a point where I just realised it wasn't going to get much worse (it did) so there was no reason to stop....

Just discovered the horrible noises coming from my freewheel for the last 100 odd miles were being caused by the wee inner ball race in the freewheel boddy which had completely collapsed. How it didn't jam up the hub I don't know....

[Dave42w]

Thanks for sharing.

Kit - get good kit but more importantly get the nous to use it. One thing I will say is that I had minimal ankle or foot probs which I think is partly down to good boots (Shimano goretex thingies) and sealskin socks which meant my feet were dry until day 5 and only a bit damp thereafter. Over trousers and gaiters also helped keep me dry and warm and keep the granite dust out of my feet and shorts.....

I'm curious about the river crossings. I use Shimano MW81 Gore-Tex Winter Mountain Bike Boots (but not with sealskin socks currently). I find them warm but they do let water through after a few hours. Do you take these off when carrying your bike across a river? If it was a 25m wade across the river at Fisherfield I'm impressed that you only got feet that were only a bit damp.

Dave

[Richpips]

I'm curious about the river crossings. I use Shimano MW81 Gore-Tex Winter Mountain Bike Boots (but not with sealskin socks currently). I find them warm but they do let water through after a few hours. Do you take these off when carrying your bike across a river? If it was a 25m wade across the river at Fisherfield I'm impressed that you only got feet that were only a bit damp.

I didn't cross Fisherfield this time, but if it had looked like it was going to go over me knee length sealskinz, I would have crossed without socks.

We both had sealskinz and our feet stayed dryish the whole week. No trenchfoot for us.

One other bit of advice, make sure your shoes are big enough for your feet to move about in while walking. Tight shoes will give you achilles problems and or blisters.

[GregMay]

Ilan is in England. Bethnall to be precise. I have no idea WTF he is up to.

[fatbikephil]

Abhain Rath was done bearfoot 'cos it was sunny. The 'wee burn' just before the bealach horn and the Strath sealga were done with socks and insoles stuffed down my shirt so just the boots got wet. I squeezed as much water out of them as possible and then carried on. A right faff but 10 minutes well spent for me. The problem with this was that the boots never really dried and the goretex liner became a hindrance rather than help. A quick drying /draining boot with good ankle support and a flexxy sole is the answer but there isn't one available that I can see. (Axo Pony??)

[boxelder]

The 'Sheneval bothy' river was at least 37"/95cm with the waves on Tues evening.
Good luck with them socks.

[Dave42w]

Thanks for this advice. Really helpful.

I'm curious about the river crossings. I use Shimano MW81 Gore-Tex Winter Mountain Bike Boots (but not with sealskin socks currently). I find them warm but they do let water through after a few hours. Do you take these off when carrying your bike across a river? If it was a 25m wade across the river at Fisherfield I'm impressed that you only got feet that were only a bit damp.

I didn't cross Fisherfield this time, but if it had looked like it was going to go over me knee length sealskinz, I would have crossed without socks.

We both had sealskinz and our feet stayed dryish the whole week. No trenchfoot for us.

One other bit of advice, make sure your shoes are big enough for your feet to move about in while walking. Tight shoes will give you achilles problems and or blisters.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Really sad to announce that Jenny has scratched.

Feet won't go in shoes, ankles are not working. Game over.

Proper shame. I was talking to someone earlier that had been talking to someone else that met Jenny at the bothy before attempting 'the' river crossing ... sounded genuinely impressed by her spirit

[jameso]

I think there's a lot of riders that shouldn't be concerned with a scratch, I'm sure they're very disappointed but what I mean is that to get that far up against your limits is an achievement beyond what most of us have done. The success rate says it must be a hard route.

Training - how do you condition the body to the demands of this type of event whilst balancing with all our other commitments, and how much does that actually matter?
Mindset - as stated by those who know better than me, this appears to be the critical factor, by far. Is there much that can be done to alter/train this or does it just come down to 'who we are'?

Going back to Greg's point I'd say all that matters is motivation. Training volume, stubborness etc will follow from that. If you want to do it enough, for the right reasons, you'll start preparing. Training is what happens when you understand what you want to do and how much time you have to get ready : )

[GregMay]

Going back to Greg's point I'd say all that matters is motivation. Training volume, stubborness etc will follow from that. If you want to do it enough, for the right reasons, you'll start preparing. Training is what happens when you understand what you want to do and how much time you have to get ready : )

Definite, motivation is a key. Can't buy that either. You either have it, or don't.

[reizkultur]

here are my pics, enjoy! https://www.flickr.com/photos/reizkultu ... 3787919485

[Fat tyre kicker]

Great pics

[landel]

Congratulations to all on a fantastic effort whether you finished or not. Thanks for the great coverage and wonderful pictures, much appreciated and fascinating entertainment. It's scary and inspirational stuff