Nice one Ian and all rest! Currently sitting in by the way campsite Eating me tea having hooned it down from aviemore to see a few folk back - 100 miles of tailwind and ace trails!

Pretty sure Fraser is done.

GregMay wrote:Pretty sure Fraser is done.

He is back. We've left the pub (momentely!) to see him back

Looked less knackered than I did !

...I guess it's pretty damn important to be able to get your sleeping kit out as fast as possible and packed up as fast as possible too. Is that something you multi day people practice?

Looking at that finishers pic, Javi packed in a hurry

Finished this morning at 7:13am. Decided to Bivvy at the top of the Staircase. Lars went by me at 2:30am. I "slept in" until 3:30 then got going as I was cold (+8 bag, freezing temp..). This mornings ride in was stunning - glad I waited to finish in the morning sunshine with functional legs than trudge through the night.

Congratulations to all who finished and those still riding #vaguely exciting

Great job Ian, must have been a breathtaking way to finish the ride!

Looks like we've another couple of finishers. Don't think there'll be any more for a while, next rider is just coming in to Ft William. I think that's something in the order of 14 riders finishing in under 5 days which is bloomin' impressive. A bit hard to tell from the TL site as some who have finished are still shown as active. Well done to all.

Hope the weather holds for the rest of the field though the forecast is for the occasional shower today.

Overnight Finishers:
Alan Goldsmith
Lars Henning
Andy Laycock
Ian Barrington
Phil F-Thomson
Scott Lindsay
Bryan Singlton

Please Note:

TRACKLEADERS WILL BE DOWN
From about 9am - as they need to change servers.
You won't be able to follow dots.
Go do some work.

Ian wrote:Finished this morning at 7:13am. Decided to Bivvy at the top of the Staircase. Lars went by me at 2:30am. I "slept in" until 3:30 then got going as I was cold (+8 bag, freezing temp..). This mornings ride in was stunning - glad I waited to finish in the morning sunshine with functional legs than trudge through the night.

Well done Ian!

Good work Ian B! Sounds like a great way to finish. Have to admit to being inspired and impressed by guys like you and Alan that are out there every year. It says you truly enjoy it I think? .. as if it's as tough as I suspect then going back when you know what you're in for is admirable.

(edit - bit about packing and decamping faff moved to Greg's thread)

jameso wrote:Good work Ian B! Sounds like a great way to finish. Have to admit to being inspired and impressed by guys like you and Alan that are out there every year. It says you truly enjoy it I think? .. as if it's as tough as I suspect then going back when you know what you're in for is admirable.

(edit - bit about packing and decamping faff moved to Greg's thread)

Trackleaders back:

http://trackleaders.com/highland16

Fantastic effort by all, well done. Not really a blue dot watcher but this had me gripped, I even had my wife rooting for and asking about Lee Craigie's progress .

Astonished by how fast the pace is this year, although the perfect weather (compare with last year) will certainly have helped, with better trail conditions and a big motivational plus. Did a tour of the Southern Loop last week, so I am well aware of just how hard the long HAB sections are, regardless of weather.

Bravo to all those gladiators for the stupendous racing we have witnessed this year; you truly are a very special breed.

Finisher Update:
Steve Field
Zbynek Simcik

Kenneth Decker - should be done in 5mins or so!

[quote][Question on this sort of thing...

...I guess it's pretty damn important to be able to get your sleeping kit out as fast as possible and packed up as fast as possible too. Is that something you multi day people practice?

I notice Ian B was tweeting / posting on here whilst eating too. I'm guessing that's probably not too bad an idea as it stops you absolutely cramming down your food./quote]
Interesting question. Greg is correct that pointless being quick packing but slow in other ways. I think I rarely did less than an hour eating / bedding down before and an hour eating/ packing up i.e. a 7 hr covered stop for me would only actually be 5 hrs sleep but I have warm night meal and breakfast. On the final night I had a 2 hr stop half way up the hill from Ft William. Here I didn't eat and just got bivvy bag and sleeping bag out. Getting moving again still took me about 25 mins to pack all away and get myself sorted. Lee and Javier were on another planet in terms of minimal sleep and Ian Fitz took no stove for warm food. Ultimately I think it's what you feel comfortable with.

I'd echo what phil said. And would add that there's no right way.

You need to find what works for you. Out of the first 5 of us to finish the HT550 I'm (by far) the slowest rider. Philip is super quick, Javi is as strong as anything, Lee is two years out of being an elite level racer, Liam was a pro roadie until recently...

Out of 101 hours total time I was only off the bike for 17 hours. That includes eating, sleeping, faffing, gates. That's only reason I was able to finish so high up the field.

It looks like Marshal is on the home stretch he's come a long way to ride the HT550 so he should be pleased with that result though I fear from the pictures I've seen of the conditions he may have got the wrong impression about the normal weather conditions in Scotland

Loads of finishers - no scratches.

I fear I may have to change my avatar.

Glad to see Phil FT finished. Well done

I fear I may have to change my avatar.

The Panda of good tidings perhaps?

Maybe, maybe...

I'm counting over 30 finished, only 8 scratched, all on the 7th day in? Awsome results! But what is going on over there? Somebody spiked the water?

Someone spiked the weather I believe.