David's spot hasn't updated for a day and a half now and the last location is the Kinlochewe Hotel so neither of the ITTers seem to be on the move anymore.

Pity that I reckon once you've got out of Fisherfield you've cracked it unless something horrible has gone wrong with you or the bike.
The Strath Sealga crossing is fine just follow the line and have faith. 2015 was about as bad as it would ever get failing some sort of weather cataclysm and everyone got through eventually, including Rickie Cotter who by her own admission wasn't an ideal height for such shenanigans.

Slow start at work for me

I've found David's HT550 ride on strava so he's definitely scratched

https://www.strava.com/activities/1565633504

I couldn't find Guy's ride but from strava I think they are both from the Isle of Man so probably know each other.

sean_iow wrote: I couldn't find Guy's ride but from strava I think they are both from the Isle of Man so probably know each other.

Looks like this might be the final section: https://www.strava.com/activities/1570081149

Good effort from both. The weather hasn't been as nice up here recently as the river levels would suggest. Lots of wind and a few heavy rain showers.

Alan emailed today to say that one of the ITT riders had run out of time and the other had had bottom bracket problems so had called it a day.

Someone I know has just finished touring the middle and northern loops though they did the original way out of Fisherfield to Poolewe. I'm not sure he appreciated the hike-a-bike sections There's a shot of the barn at Carnmore looking as salubrious as ever

whitestone wrote:Alan emailed today to say that one of the ITT riders had run out of time and the other had had bottom bracket problems so had called it a day.

Someone I know has just finished touring the middle and northern loops though they did the original way out of Fisherfield to Poolewe. I'm not sure he appreciated the hike-a-bike sections There's a shot of the barn at Carnmore looking as salubrious as ever

I’ll think of something suitable to tweet as an update...

David reported the Fisherfield river as being knee deep. The previous week a guy touring the route said it was about three feet deep but no problem at all to cross.
I think there are other rivers that could be more dangerous than this one. I've had difficulty getting across the Allt Phocaichain above Fort Augustus before as it is very rocky and fast flowing when in spate.

Another ITT just started

PETER .... your forgot to turn right

Reversing the route maybe?

Mart wrote:Another ITT just started

PETER .... your forgot to turn right

He's on the section of WHW above Bridge of Orchy which was only included this year, so presumably he has the correct gpx file to follow. Just he's missed the first turn and is now following the line in the wrong direction?
Could be a while before he notices if he's not familiar with the route/area.

I might be speaking out of turn, but do we need to be careful what we say? If he realises his mistake because he see's it here is that outside assistance?

I've some friends who I've sent the tracking link to for the group start but I've told them not to try and contact me even if they see I'm going the wrong way as it's self supported.

touch wrote:

Mart wrote:Another ITT just started

PETER .... your forgot to turn right

He's on the section of WHW above Bridge of Orchy which was only included this year, so presumably he has the correct gpx file to follow. Just he's missed the first turn and is now following the line in the wrong direction?
Could be a while before he notices if he's not familiar with the route/area.

Alan sends the GPX out as two files: "out" and "back", the change-over point is Achfary which is just after you've dropped down from Bealach Horn. If he's loaded the wrong one then he'll just be following that line as it doesn't have directions or turn by turn.

As for outside assistance: last year I basically turned my phone off except for when I had a good idea I'd get a signal and I only really used it for a text chat with Greg to sort out my SPOT problem. (Not a problem with the SPOT, I hadn't actually started it!) My wife was away for the BH weekend so she wasn't dot watching but I'd told her not to tell me how others were doing, etc. This year will be the same but hopefully no chats with Greg - nothing personal

If you're doing an ITT I see there is a start date and time listed on Trackleaders. Do you have to time your attempt from that or is it just the time you actually took? So if say you went back to the start and thought, 'I'll try again tomorrow', would you have 24hrs added on to your time or would the clock re-set when you started?

I'm open to correction but I'd have thought if you restart an ITT from the beginning again then the clock resets.

If you're doing an ITT I see there is a start date and time listed on Trackleaders. Do you have to time your attempt from that or is it just the time you actually took? So if say you went back to the start and thought, 'I'll try again tomorrow', would you have 24hrs added on to your time or would the clock re-set when you started?

We started twice last year. Just get in touch with TL to reset your start time.

So, without giving any assistance to anyone, if say hypothetically you'd set off on an ITT and gone the wrong way just after the start the best bet would be to ride back to Tyndrum, have a good meal and a sleep, chalk it up as experience and then start again the next day and go the right way.

That is odd that Peter has gone the wrong way, as last year when he gave it a go, he went the right way.

Last year he went the right way on day one but followed the line in the wrong direction on his second day and found himself back in Tyndrum!

Will he realise when he gets to Fort William? I did feel sorry for him, but 2 years in a row?

Alan - are there any stipulation to say which way round you have to do it?

As Bob said, the route is supplied in 2 halves 'out' and 'back' which should mean it's impossible to go the wrong way, provided you start with 'out'. This means there are no points where you have to decide which way to go at a junction, just follow the pink line on screen. The previous results don't show a direction so I assume there is only the one way to go round.

He’s still trucking! Through KLL and nearly at Fort Bill.

To be fair though, the route has never had a reverse completion and glen Lyon would be a lovely finish

ianfitz wrote:He’s still trucking! Through KLL and nearly at Fort Bill.

To be fair though, the route has never had a reverse completion and glen Lyon would be a lovely finish

Maybe but I wouldn't like to ride up the Corrieyairack from FA having done Fisherfield etc.

I've done few bits of the route in the other direction and some of it is definitely better that way but.... Ben Alder?, Achfary to the Bealach Horn? Eek!

ianfitz wrote:He’s still trucking! Through KLL and nearly at Fort Bill.

To be fair though, the route has never had a reverse completion and glen Lyon would be a lovely finish

And a good chance of a tailwind from Fort William to Fort Augustus