I did an ITT of the HT550 the week before the group start in 2016, and there has been a write up of my trip inside me for a while. It has finally come out, prompted largely by the fact that a lot of people want to do the race but very few people do an ITT. So I thought I would also try to capture what motivated me to actually go through with an ITT when I didn't get a group start.....

I don't have a fancy blog site so I'm afraid it's a pdf download at the following link http://www.kyria.co.uk/?ddownload=1273

I enjoyed that Howard - a great read and fab photos. Just one thing - where is the badger video?

htrider wrote:I enjoyed that Howard - a great read and fab photos. Just one thing - where is the badger video?

Thanks - when I work out how to put a video in a pdf I'll add it in

But just for you - here is a link to the video in one drive https://1drv.ms/v/s!AurNeGbT1dA1gfBTbhSIq68XGWkpVw.

Great read Howard, I have been re-reading blogs this week of the event and to have someone's fresh perspective of the route was very enjoyable.

Howard wrote:

htrider wrote:I enjoyed that Howard - a great read and fab photos. Just one thing - where is the badger video?

Thanks - when I work out how to put a video in a pdf I'll add it in

But just for you - here is a link to the video in one drive https://1drv.ms/v/s!AurNeGbT1dA1gfBTbhSIq68XGWkpVw.

Brilliant! Never seen Badgers in daylight before so you were very lucky

Fantastic write up, really enjoyed the read. The HT550 and the Cairngorms Loop are on my to do list!

Great write up Howard.

I don't know anyone who has said the HT is a bad ride, it really does get under your skin in a way that can't be explained!

I enjoyed that write up. Great pictures too.

Interesting about you seeing badgers, about ten years ago I was climbing on Carnmore Crag as we were starting to descend off the top of the crag late one evening I caught a glimpse of what I thought at the time was a Scottish Wildcat. It was the way it moved that looked feline but it might well have been a juvenile badger.

I've seen badgers in daylight before - there was a set on the family farm - they don't quite have the classic mustelid gait (think Stoat, Otter, etc) there's more of a waddle in there.

Some cracking shots there Howard.

Great read and lovely photos Howard!

You really captured the excitement of the trail.

Thanks for a great write up.

Great write up Howard... those photos are so clear (and panoramic, were you using a drone )

I started 2 days after you (and a bit slower too) but injuries caused me to abandon at Kinlochewe... (but I still had 75 miles + a couple of trains to get back.)

Well done.

slarge wrote:it really does get under your skin in a way that can't be explained!

I completely agree Steve, the whole experience gets to you. It's something about the suffering but the elation at the same time, with the dogged determination that comes from riding pass after pass, each section of pain rewarded with a new vista and a good descent.

To paraphrase someone more notable than I - if you have to ask, you'll never understand.


EDIT: I've just read through the article as well, and loved it. Spectacular photos, and they're once again reminding me how good the ride is.

Thanks for everyone's positive comments - especially about the photos. I just had an iPhone6 which is pretty good as a camera (and has the added advantage of memory map as a backup gps). I think really though I was just lucky to be in some spectacular locations in spectacular weather and unfit enough to be happy stopping regularly

ericrobo wrote: I started 2 days after you (and a bit slower too) but injuries caused me to abandon at Kinlochewe...

If you can get to Kinlochewe, you can get to the end - work out how to avoid the injuries and go for it again!

Howard, your pictures are incredible, almost the best I've seen, were you using the panorama view or something ?

I've an iPhone5s and the pictures are very good but not as good as yours.

I also use MemoryMap as a backup, so detailed and clear.

I may be back in May... contemplating NOT taking a stove and (600mls of bio-ethanol) fuel, to save a bit of weight...

BUT that feels a bit like Team Sky's "marginal gains".... I think I need a TUE (if I couldn't have my tea and freeze dried meals I would probably need a TUE... )

And yes, I've done most of the route after Kinlochewe in 2014 when I did the HT430, so had I known about the problems of trains back to Tyndrum I would/should have carried on...

ericrobo wrote: were you using the panorama view or something ?

Yes - I use it a lot - but very rarely do the full amount, even 20 or 30 degrees can produce a much better composition. When you've got enough, you can either press the button again, or as I discovered recently, just start going backwards and it stops automatically. I also cropped some of them in photoshop to get the best composition I could (thought I'd make the effort for the write up). But really, it would be hard to take bad pictures with the scenery and lighting I was treated to

ericrobo wrote: I may be back in May... contemplating NOT taking a stove and (600mls of bio-ethanol) fuel, to save a bit of weight...

That's my strategy. You can get hot food every day on the HTR, unless you're really unlucky and miss the Pie Larder in Lochinver by minutes (me in 2015).

AlasdairMc wrote:

ericrobo wrote: I may be back in May... contemplating NOT taking a stove and (600mls of bio-ethanol) fuel, to save a bit of weight...

That's my strategy. You can get hot food every day on the HTR, unless you're really unlucky and miss the Pie Larder in Lochinver by minutes (me in 2015).

Or presume it's still closed when passing at 9am and then find out later that it'd been open much earlier!

I finally found a bit of time to sit down and read this. Thanks for writing and sharing Howard, I enjoyed that.

Really good write-up Howard. Cheers.

Great read mate thanks for sharing!

That was an enjoyable read, cheers for taking the effort to write it

Top read (and ride)! Thanks and well done sir

Thanks, a really good and inspiring read, well done.
Peter

Inspirational! Along with your report and me currently dot watching my pal coming to the end of the double-marathon day in the Marathon des Sables, I think I'll have to give the 550 ITT a go one day. Thanks.