Highland Trail Race

[dgjessee]

Considering we're racing in Scotland, I'd count walking in the rain and sipping whiskey "training" 

[alpinum]

Yes, high altitude training. Running to a bike (le mans start) and speeding down from 3500 to 1800 m.a.s.l.
At 5:49 you see a bloke in a blue smock, blue/white pants and black rucksack overtaking on the left. That's me training for HT400:

10. Glacierbike Downhill Saas-Fee 2013

Due to a start from the back rows I did pedal a lot.
I'm ready  

[rhino-x]

Alan, you got my e-mail regarding a start.....looks like i'm 80% sure of coming over from Australia.

[RossC]

What's the long term plan Alan? Are you hopeful to have this as an annual event?

[AlanG]

Yes, the master plan is for it to be an annual event, not just a one off.

Alan

[AlasdairMc]

Some info on trains:

I took the train up to Tyndrum yesterday from Glasgow with my bike without a reservation. There are 12 bike spaces on that train at minimum, as the train splits at Crianlarich into two trains so each separate train has its own set of six. The train split isn't a problem for us though, all it means is that one train stops at Tyndrum Upper and the other at Tyndrum Lower.

[annoying crack]

As this is coming up pretty soon now, it's more then time to start getting things sorted.
Is there somewhere where I can find FREE maps to put on my GPS for Scotland or do the locals think I can get away with just the track on the screen?
Midges... how bad can they already be that time of the year?
I'm sure I'll come up with more questions as the time comes nearer.

[AlanG]

For free OSM maps try the Talkytoaster website. That's what I used last year and although not all tracks were shown it was good enough. Just following a line on a blank screen is fine until you want to leave the route for some reason!

Although not free, I seem to remember that people over at the Bearbonesbikepacking forum had found some incredibly cheap 1:50000 OS mapping for sale on the web somewhere.

Last year we rode the route a week later and the midges were not too bad. There were some about but only really a problem when camping, just try to pick a spot with a bit of a breeze which usually isn't that difficult! It's been totally different weather this spring compared to last though so maybe that changes things. Bring bug spray!

[s8tannorm]

Although not free, I seem to remember that people over at the Bearbonesbikepacking forum had found some incredibly cheap 1:50000 OS mapping for sale on the web somewhere.

Here's the link for the SD mapping cards Alan mentions above. Worked fine riding sections of the HTR last week.

http://gb.ioffer.com/i/2012-garmin-gb-discoverer-1-50k-full-coverage-127349741

[paul78]

I will be travelling up from Newcastle on the Friday late afternoon if anyone is looking for a lift share.

paul.e

[vistaed]

I'm getting all excited about this race now. Should be fun I've never been round the Highlands on my MTB before so its all going to be new to me. I will be packing a camera.

[annoying crack]

Hi, I'm getting all exited about this ride too.
Finally having found some time to look into the gpx file and getting all frustrated, mostly about my lack of interest and knowledge in electronic gadgets. I'm owning a Garmin Vista Hcx and after finally haven gotten used to using tracks throughout the years... and this file turns out to be a 'route' instead?
so, what is the difference between both and is there a way to turn this 'route' into a track?
I know that my gps can hold 20 tracks of 500 track points but what about a route with 2800+ waypoints?
Anyone who can show me the light?

[vistaed]

I just imported the route into harming base camp and split the track in to sections. My Dakota can handle 999 track points so I just have 3 tracks for the entire route. You will need a few more. There are other ways to do the same thing.

[annoying crack]

Got it done. Found a route to track converter thingy online and now have 6 tracks ready to go.
See you all in Tyndrum.

[vistaed]

Good stuff, see you in a few weeks

[AlanG]

I've found that bikehike.co.uk is the most user friendly way to view and edit routes/tracks. It has proper O.S. maps too.

[AlasdairMc]

Anyone need paper maps for the route or is GPS the preferred option? I've created a set of maps from Kinlochleven to Fort William at 1:50k on A4. Drop me a PM or email if you want the link to my Google Drive where they're stored. There are 29 pages (!!)

[wunnspeed]

This looks quite cool. Might be in for '14 if I can get the wife to say yes.

[phil_rad]

Aidan's tearing it up! Unfortunately Paul E. had to scratch, head is not into it. He just recently raced and finished the Trans Iowa so probably not fully recovered from that. Next year Paul.

[dgjessee]

Just wanted to say thank you to Alan for putting this race on! Beautiful route, brutally hard, amazing experience. I dare say it is probably the toughest bikepacking race under 500 miles in the world. Thanks especially to Greg, James, and Tom for hanging with me on the first day and motivating me to ride hard the rest of the days (next time I'll bring a sleeping bag instead of relying on deer canvasses for warmth). HUGE thanks to Bryan Dawson for putting me up for a night and stuffing me with beer and burgers after the race! Cheers to my fellow American Andy Farish for bringing it home! You repped our country really well dude! Finally, prayers and a fast recovery to Phil and Steve. This has been an experience to remember!