Hi Tom (...imagining a circle of addicts saying it in chorus) [...] baby due in 17 days [...] lose weight [...] hobby [...] bushcrafting [...] love getting out into the woods practicing skills [...] lot of nights out camping [...] rekindle the old days of out on the bike and mix it with the enjoymen...

The first of which was a 17 hour non-stop ride this weekend to work on fatigue management which I am now trying to recover from! Plan is to do the Cairngorms/Lakeland ITT's and then I think I've sorted myself out enter next year's race. Otherwise at least go back and do the second half. :-bd Stick ...

I rode a Jones with loops over 450 miles in the Alps. Loads of tech and HAB-accessed trails. No issues whatsoever. But put me on a susser w/o a packed load and I'd be on normal 740mm bars. Many things can work in the same places for the same people on different days is my point, it's more about you...

Oops, ja, looks like I completely miss understood you. A normal in this very forum more likely will be a Krampus than a 26” enduro. If a susser, it should have ample room for a spacious framebag, 29” wheels and 130mm max. This is then to be considered as the bearbones enduro bike :wink: Go to pinkbi...

Brothersmith wrote: it just made me question how out of touch with the "scene" i am.

Good feeling this, isn't it?

I was on a bike packing trip in the very eastern part of Switzerland this weekend. Practically all riding on single track. Some of them quite challenging (add a bit more difficulty to say Doctors Gate, add more loose rocks, bigger boulders, some snow and precipices, set this at 1500 - 3000 m). Pedal...

Thanks, looks like tons of fun
A shame we don't have such a community of bike packers in switzerland. Saying that, I'm out for three days to the borders of the swiss national park - with a good friend

Good stuff. Quite hilarious... I had some good laughs. Well worth watching every minute of this rawness. And I still struggle to remember how bloody long it was. Good grief. Soreness... that... just that. Thank god our mind is good in forgetting that stuff. What works? I am guessing prevention is be...

Chicken Legs wrote:Thanks everyone, the race has been brutal and amazing in equal measure, for a boy from the flat lands of Essex to finish in the top 20 has blown me away, must be all that training in Wales

You just made my day - rubbish - my week

Hats off to you.

For the swiss stages of the Albrecht route I know that this route misses the best parts, albeit running paralell to them. The Albrecht route too often follows tracks that are boring. Some examples: Albrecht follows a road down from Pass da Costainas instead of hitting the trails just some 15-20 min ...

I’ve got a X-lite 200 and my girlfriend a LiteLine 300. Good bags. You get a lot for what you pay. Rab’s Infinity 300 (Girlfriend’s got the 500, so this gives me a good idea how the Infinity serie performs is) may get 2-3 °C more out of the same weight than a LiteLine 300, due to the better layout o...

The gnar = fun, techy singletrack

SteveM wrote:and yes, Greg got a new job that meant this years race is on hold

That's... err... epic!

Back on track: Are there actually any trails, singletracks on the TD? Is it gravel grinding with some 10 % or so of tarmac?

s8tannorm wrote:However, I think there's a difference here ... I wouldn't expect (or want) people to use words like 'reet' and 'nowt' when they were talking to me

You are of course right. I was being a tad sarcastic.

If you speek the local language, or even try to, it opens you many a door.

Cheers Ian. Fantastic vid

It took me to those magic places.

This and also the Against the Elements show your talent in capturing the surrounding atmosphere and also the riders moods. This during such a stark exertion, with a GoPro... Hats off!

Good Linking! Cheers +1 The small insight Andy allowed me as we rode in Wales this April and now knowing he's under way leaves me with this true feeling of plain joy. You can't be anything else but really fortunate for him. Big slap from me too. Good going Andy. Good going all. I realised that Greg...

One of the best single tracks of the HTR for Iona now. Constant speed with only a pedal stroke every 100th meter, undulating but slowly loosing height, technically dead easy and full of flow, without being boring. Yet, well sized and rounded rocks waiting to eat you and your bike should you not be p...

Stellar performance of Alan "Chief Sadist" Goldsmith (Ian) :-bd His cold is another fine example how much can go wrong. There's not just back problems, knee and tendon inflammation, but also coughs and colds, stomach bugs (mind those streams surrounded by sheep), blisters, sore bum etc. I ...

Just saw Phil S. left KLL at 5 am. But he must be completely knackered. It's taken him 3.5 h to get across the Glen Coe road (most dangerous part of the route, crossing that on a Sat morning after the start). What an effort. I still try to fathom how he kept fuelled. I'm afraid he won't make it sub 4.

Ian wrote:He's got just over 3 hours to get in under the 4 day mark. Two big climbs still to do. Going to be tight...

If he left Kinlochleven round about 7:00 he'll have to go all out... FLV and I went hard last year and left KLL about 7ish too. I missed the sub 5 by about 4 min...

@Ian. Back to reality then. I guess it was intense. 400 km in 2 days does set things into perspective. Very impressive riding. Well done :-bd The bar was set high after last year, and people have raised their game to suit. I do have the feeling that this year’s HTR is going to go down in the history...

Really impressive effort of Iona. And Markus and Richard S. You all had a strong day. Keep it up!

Chew wrote:Ians covered the same ground as last year (~400k in 2 days), its just other people are riding faster. Ian was only around 8-10 this time last year, but the mamouth last all dayer and retirees moved him up to second.

Very true.

composite wrote:he's too much of a racer to stop to film surely?

Good question...

Can't stop thinking Ian could go faster, but instead is stopping on occasions to do some filming. I'm quite convinced he's going to return with some vaguely exciting footage. (and wouldn't be astonished if he starts catching up towards the last legs) Phil S. just ascending one, if not the most intri...

Phil S. might hand over his GPS tracking data to Alan "chief sadist" G. (IanB).
This should sort out any scepticism. But I guess Steve H. was there all along until Phil started pulling away, so that'll be confirmation enough.