That was definitely hard again. Two photos taken from the same spot showing the difference in snow between this year and last. https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4162/34358169196_e8940741b2_c.jpg IMG_1436 by Heatherstalks , on Flickr and https://c1.staticflickr.com/8/7154/26751966501_ea4efc1ba1_c.jpg Byn...

Bike all packed and in the car for the morning. Looking forward to it

Anybody interested in a backmarker? http://share.findmespot.com/shared/face ... 0qsn5d0HAi

I've had full blizzard whiteout (less than 18" visibility) in May. I've also set off in shorts with a completely blue sky and 4 hours later been in snow and cloud.......

Watched video of Mike where he says he's struggling to see in the dark. 120k is a big ask....

Sad dot watcher that I am - but seems that Mike has just overtaken Kristof. Could be a faulty tracker but some people saying not. I can't begin to imagine what their respective mental states are right now...... Ha - that was short lived - Kristof's dot is doing some interesting things that don't bea...

Sarah wrote:Going on Sunday in Preston. Anyone else there ?

Was good tonight. Enjoy

padonbike wrote:Interesting pics of the river crossing by Loch Lyon. This was rideable and just a couple of inches in the summer. Snow melt making a big difference.

Phil, these were taken on May 21st last year - no snow melt - just lots of rain!

Hi Rich, Alan is correct - I got very wet in the first few miles. This was the deepest. It felt fairly safe - but it would have been above Tom's waist and I was wet and cold for a while after! From memory I don't think trying to get across the "stepping stones" was a goer. https://yqfalg.b...

Planning to go myself - just wondered if anyone in this neck of the woods would be there too?
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bikepack ... bookMarkus

Maybe if the CT is that easy he's using it as a warm down lap

Well I'm already doing the CL and HT. I want to do the Borders - but I've run out of Brownie points at home to get the time off, so it's for a future year. Last year I did CL, HT and the Deeside Trail. So that's another triple. Does it count :grin: Or should we be talking about the Quintet and inclu...

What is it about endurance sports and long distance that changes people? Makes them friendlier? More inviting? I have to agree - I still remember the dick on a tungsten bike with clean socks that looked down his nose at me when I turned up at a time trial on the single speed bike that I chained to ...

voodoo_simon wrote:Well that was tedious, winge, winge, winge.

Bunch of pussies

Thanks for the heads up - saved me having to watch it all

Agree with everything that ScotRoutes said, with 2 comments:- 1) Definitely buy a midge net whenever you go. It weighs about 60g and is worth many times its weight in gold :lol: 2) I've only stayed at the Rumblie once, and they were very welcoming (I was on a bike, my wife was on a horse!) and the r...

... I came off the bike on ice over Christmas and landed pretty hard on my shoulder. Turns out it's a grade 3 AC joint separation which is pretty unhelpful but I should be back on the bike in a few weeks and able to get training for this... You're not having much luck Adam - hope you get back to fu...

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...

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 enoug...

I had a brief email conversation with Steve at the start of December - mainly along the lines of surely it can't be as bad as last year! Anyway, barring injury I'm definitely doing the April start a) because it's a brilliant route and b) it's part of my prep for the HT550

Just ordered some XM9's to my local Evans to try on for size. 15% off discount as well today so costing £105, not bad! Good luck! Wiggle were excellent - I checked with them first, but they were happy to send two sizes at the same time knowing I would return one. One thing to consider is socks. A w...

I used to use Tahoe but wanted something more substantial for HAB. I went for Shimano XM9, below is a copy of a post of mine from April. "Just to say that I plumped for the Shimano XM9 and having now done about 20 hours or so through boggy places that bikes shouldn't ever go (researching routes...

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.

For those of you who didn't get into the group start and are maybe considering an ITT, I've posted my experience of going through that journey a year ago, over in the trips board http://bearbonesbikepacking.co.uk/phpBB ... =10&t=8923

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 wh...

There was a chap who ITT'd the route before the group start (not Howard, but another chap who's name escapes me :oops: ). Anyway, he also short cut the crossing which I believe lead to a non-qualifying finishing time. Oli Huw? Alan told me just before the group start that Oli hadn't "claimed&q...

Richard G wrote:I assume that's "the" Mike Hall?

Ha - That's exactly what I asked Alan

Fame is when you get "the" put in front of your name!