HT550 2016 ITT starters

[KamelTrek]

Hi Everyone,
This is a thread for those who will attempt the HT550 as an ITT. Based on my schedule, I will arrive at Tyndrum Friday late afternoon and will ride to Kinlochleven or there after so as not to disrupt the group start on Saturday. If anyone is interested in staring with me, please let me know.

Also, please indicate your start date and time below in case others want to join you.

[AlasdairMc]

Good luck with that. Chances are you won't encounter anyone in Kinlochleven given that the route no longer goes that way...

Edit: I'm starting the Saturday prior, but I'm undecided whether to ride the full route, the 430, or something completely different.

[KamelTrek]

Thanks Alasdair, yes I remember now that the beginning was changed to avoid that very long boggy mess before Fort A. I'll check the GPX as soon as I get a minute.

[boxelder]

Completing/attempting the route at the same time as the group start isn't the best idea. The limit to numbers on the group start is there for good reasons - pressure on limited accommodation etc. A couple of us will be setting off from Tyndrum Friday, but doing a different route (last years HT550 to Laggan), then reversing some of it. Or may do something totally different. Only got 3 days.
If set on attempting the HT, consider choosing a different week, or starting later?

[AlasdairMc]

Completing/attempting the route at the same time as the group start isn't the best idea. The limit to numbers on the group start is there for good reasons - pressure on limited accommodation etc.

This is another good point - riding the route as an ITT while the race is going on really is a technicality to avoid the mass start, and unless you're super fast, you'll be in the pack within a couple of days.

My plan is to finish in Tyndrum the day before the mass start, but we shall see...

[fatbikephil]

If your planning on starting PM you should be able to manage to Ben Alder cottage on the new route for a first night of luxury. Probably OK starting the day before the group start as once off the WHW (only 5 miles of this now heading out) there will be bugger all ped traffic so no-one will mind! - maybe email Alan to get his view?

[Mark E]

If you do end up staying at Ben alder cottage I left an exposure fuel cell on the window of the right hand room a couple of weeks ago! Thought I'd post up on the off chance that it is still there.
Thanks
Mark

[Howard]

Good luck with that. Chances are you won't encounter anyone in Kinlochleven given that the route no longer goes that way...

Edit: I'm starting the Saturday prior, but I'm undecided whether to ride the full route, the 430, or something completely different.

Alasdair, I am thinking of starting Saturday 21st - 9am and having a go at the full route, with the vague hope that I might be back in Tyndrum to see the group start. However, I was so slow on the CL last weekend that a) unless I can go any faster they'll be half way round before I finish and b) if there's any snow I'm changing my mind

[touch]

I was so slow on the CL last weekend that [...] unless I can go any faster they'll be half way round before I finish

Speed is not the key to the HT. It's all about keeping going every day. Being the only finisher of CL shows you've got that!

See you in Tyndrum on the 28th

[Howard]

Speed is not the key to the HT. It's all about keeping going every day. Being the only finisher of CL shows you've got that!

See you in Tyndrum on the 28th

Aww - thanks . HT is 3 times longer than CL though - Not sure I'd have been up for the equivalent of two more laps of the CL!

[AlasdairMc]

Good luck with that. Chances are you won't encounter anyone in Kinlochleven given that the route no longer goes that way...

Edit: I'm starting the Saturday prior, but I'm undecided whether to ride the full route, the 430, or something completely different.

Alasdair, I am thinking of starting Saturday 21st - 9am and having a go at the full route, with the vague hope that I might be back in Tyndrum to see the group start. However, I was so slow on the CL last weekend that a) unless I can go any faster they'll be half way round before I finish and b) if there's any snow I'm changing my mind

Have you sorted your transport plans etc? I've got two spare train tickets from Glasgow to Tyndrum on Friday at 12:15ish due to two mates having to pull out, and you're welcome to a space in my hiker hut in Tyndrum (as dodgy as that sounds). My aim is to leave very early on Saturday to hit Fort Augustus at dinner time and then possibly kip a bit further on.

[Howard]

Have you sorted your transport plans etc? I've got two spare train tickets from Glasgow to Tyndrum on Friday at 12:15ish due to two mates having to pull out, and you're welcome to a space in my hiker hut in Tyndrum (as dodgy as that sounds). My aim is to leave very early on Saturday to hit Fort Augustus at dinner time and then possibly kip a bit further on.

I don't get invited to a night in a dodgy hiker hut very often , but as tempting as that is - my wife is already heading north that day anyway so was planning to drop me off (quite coincidentally I've literally just found out that she is meeting up with someone to do a recce of the Corrieyairack in preparation for going over with horses a fortnight later!). Also means I won't be there "very early" so sounds like I'll miss you . I wasn't going to overdo it on the first day anyway - I was thinking of Ft Aug for breakfast rather than dinner.

[AlasdairMc]

Haha, fair enough.

In terms of the route, I found that going over the Corrieyairack on day 1 really made a difference to me, so I'd recommend aiming for that if at all possible. I camped just after Laggan in 2013, then over the pass in 2014 and beyond Fort A in 2015.

I scratched in both 2013 and 2015 - 2013 was lack of experience and 2015 was a combination of having already finished in 2014, and a bonk to end all bonks!

[KamelTrek]

My understanding, as long as Alan has not changed his mind, that it's OK to do the ITT any time, as long as you don't start at the same time as the mass start. I think a day apart (before or after) is a reasonable gap and should offer the mass start the space and room it needs. I'd avoid starting on Saturday when the group start is planned.

I am starting a day before as I'd like to ride for a bit with the front runners at some point. I think it will be a great experience to meet them and spend a few minutes or hours with them. By the second day the pack is quite spread out, so I don't believe that a handful of extra riders will make any significant impact.

I'll be setting off Friday afternoon. Let me know if you'd like to join me at the unofficial ITT start.

Happy to adjust my view on this if there are any strong objections.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Maybe email Alan and see what his thoughts are?

I am starting a day before as I'd like to ride for a bit with the front runners at some point. I think it will be a great experience to meet them and spend a few minutes or hours with them

They're just people, people who can propel a bicycle forwards very quickly for a long time ... but just people.

[Mariner]

..................spend a few minutes or hours with them...........

In my case that would be seconds or just feel the breeze as they pass.

[Trail-rat]

Fresh tyre tracking going in their exact direction will please the front runners as they chap their twit in to catch the guy thats ahead of them.....only to meet him and find he started the day before.

Should go down like a lead balloon.

Of course alan cant stop you- but theres the spirit of the rules imo.

Similar had crossed my mind when i didnt get an entry- but i decided it would be a very twattish thing to do.

Ill do it another time :)

[Chew]

I'd like to ride for a bit with the front runners at some point. I think it will be a great experience to meet them and spend a few minutes or hours with.

If you wanted to do that I'd suggest that you should have asked for a starting place.

There's a reason why there's a limit on numbers and entry requirements. ITTing the route and setting off a bit before the event, but still wanting to be a part of it sounds like you're trying to bend the rules.

Remember rule #1

[whitestone]

Personally I'd start either a week before or a week later, you are going to get the benefits of the longer hours and potentially have the same major weather patterns but aren't getting in the way of those in the group start.

Wasn't there someone who ITT'd it last year who started two or three days later but was still on the "event" Spot tracker page?

[KamelTrek]

I appreciate everyones concern for the main event. I assure that I share many of your reasonable values and I have inquired and came to my timing conclusion based on that. I checked my e-mail threads from Alan and it's very clear that I was invited to ITT as long as I don't start on the same day as the group start. I also stated my intent to start on Friday in the thread a few months back, so this debate is done in my pinion. If there are any other rules that I am missing, please let me know. @Chew, rule number one is for drafting, which does not apply to my plan to meet some riders along the way.

I think as long as the ITTers do not start on Saturday, then we're OK. I'll post my plans so front runners, don't sweat it too much, although they can check on track leaders, and also we post on twitter so everyone knows who's doing what.

I am arriving on Friday, May 27th, at 18:37. Will grab dinner in Tyndrum and hit the trail around 19:30, (will announce loudly my departure so that front runners don't freak out from my front facing tyre tracks the next day.) I plan to ride for three hours on Friday evening, then set off at dawn Saturday morning to keep a 6-8 hour distance between me and the starting pack. My pace will keep me ahead till sometime on day two.

You are more than welcome to start with me on Friday evening. Alan even suggested for ITTers who want to start together to collaborate, which inspired this thread.

[whitestone]

Fair play - it sounded from your initial post that you weren't aware of what has subsequently been pointed out. Cue red faced smiley

[KamelTrek]

Yes, apologies everyone. I realize I fired everyone up by not being clear. I do appreciate everyone's passion for this amazing route.

To keep this simple, please use this thread for the following:
Stating your ITT attempt plans.
Joining a fringe start with other ITTers

Advice and compassion also welcome :)

[AlasdairMc]

the spirit of the rules

This is it. The upper limit was set as an arbitrary level relating, I presume, to what Alan considered responsible access. Someone riding at the same time as the mass start makes a mockery of this - it's about being responsible. Where do we stop with this - do we end up with a splinter group starting the day before and doubling the volume of people on the trail?

The Outdoor Access Code, while a great thing, firmly places responsibilities before rights, so it's the appearance of bending the rules and looking for a technicality that irks me. If you didn't get a mass start place due to capacity, in my opinion you shouldn't be riding an ITT at the same time.

On a separate note, if you're doing an ITT you really don't want to be riding only 3hrs on the first day as you're wasting race time sleeping so early on.

[ScotRoutes]

Hmm. Dodgy.

Start the day before, ride for three hours, ride with the rest of the group for a while..... It's like refusing to pay to ride in a Sportive because" the roads aren't closed anyway". Still, it's your moral compass, not mine.

If I ever get around to doing the HT550 I think I'll do it anti-clockwise during the group start. That way I should at least get to see everyone once after they leave me for dead at Tyndrum

[cyclingtiger]

I think for me, the issue would be whether I would affect someone else's ride. Weather is always a bit trickier up in the Highlands and this past weekend's efforts on the CL show how precarious a cold snap can make it for riders and their chance of completion.

You're right, the front of the bulge is likely to catch up on the second day. You don't know until the day what the weather is going to be like. If it pans out bad then you, like them will seek the best shelter available. Bothys, hostels, hotels, or just that last descent sheltered spot to put a bivy down. I've seen bad weather compress riders into larger groups so it seems reasonable that the demand will be higher. With your extra 6-8 hours of riding, you'll have an advantage in getting into one of those places early. If that space then puts out a rider who has made the effort to get through the qualification, registration, training and planning for this one fixed date it could cost them a completion. I know I would feel pretty bad about that.

Of course no one is stopping you, but that doesn't mean you should do it. But I guess you feel comfortable with the risks and that's the beauty of people. We're all different. i guess if it were me, and this were the only time I could make an attempt, I'd delay for about 24 hours and leave in the evening after the start. Pick up the backmarkers and ride with them for a bit. I reckon they'll be more interesting than the front runners and you never know, you might be of a bit more help than possible hinderance.