7 More Bikes of the HT550 and how to follow them

Mike DeBernardo

Bike: It’s a Brother Cycles Big Bro.  29×2.35 rear, 2.6 front, Hope hubs, single speed 32×21, faux-Jones handlebars, XT brakes, Brand X dropper. Homemade frame bag from another bike that mostly fits the frame – has since been slightly modified, homemade seat, snack, and bottle bags.  A well-aged Revelate gas tank bag and a Straight Cut handlebar harness thing holds a drybag with sleeping kit etc.

Annie Le

Bike: Salsa Spearfish in 29er mode.

Kit: With bothies shut and a cold, damp forecast, i’ll be carrying my Hyperlite Mountain Gear Dirigo tent. Im also going to carry my winter sleeping bag (in May!), a Rab Neutrino 400. Probably no mat, who needs comfort anyway? My secret weapon if it’s really wet, is a Paramo Jacket, the only waterproof that works consistently in Scotland! It might even keep me dry from my tears. I will have a midge net, although hoping it’ll be cold enough to keep them away. Sealskin socks for that sweaty foot feel. Everything will be kept cosy and dry in Revelate Designs bags.

Aim: To Finish. To finish without crying/swearing too much.. My rough aim is 6 days, but of course anything can happen and right now, I don’t know if I can even ride that far! I’m hoping to enjoy most of it, I’m aiming for fun rather than full sufferfest. And of course, getting to Lochinver in time to get a rhubarb and strawberry pie from the pie shop. If I achieve that, and finish, my life will be complete 😉

James Craven

Bike: Cannondale FSI hardtail

• Pacenti i30 wheels with dynamo hub
• Vittoria Barzo/Mezcal rear tyres
• SRAM GX 1×12 10–50t gearing with 34t chainring
• Custom bar end/pad setup
• Ergon gp3 grips
• Supernova E3 Pro 2 and supernova rear light.

Kit: Bags from Alpkit and Ortlieb, and a rucksack with bladder. In the packs are PHD sleeping bag & Alpkit Elan hooped bivi bag. Wahoo Bolt for navigation. Igaro D1 and battery pack for charging. 

This is my first HT550 so my main aim is to finish. I think I’m in okay shape and recently set a course record on Dales Divide. The field this year looks strong but maybe if everything goes to plan and goes well for me I’d like to be near the pointy end of the race and finish in under 5 days. The terrain and weather will be some of the most challenging I have raced on so I will have to see!

Jorne Bluekens

The bike is a fully Lapierre carbon x-flow 912, with 27.5” wheels. My aim is to finish the trail without mechanicals or failures along the route. My personal goal is to gain back some resilience, which has reduced the past corona year. And of course I hope to meet some interesting people along the way and come back with good stories.

Huw Oliver

You may have seen Huw’s adventures and reviews within our pages before. For the HT550 this year his goal is simple: ‘to have fun, for fun is fast and more importantly, fun is fun!’

Ben Anderson

Bike: Cube AMS 100 mostly stock with Nemesis wheels, Schwable Racing Ray and Ralph tyres and a mixture of SLX and XT for the drivetrain and braking. I have made some small alterations to contact points. Aelous Comp saddle. Ergon g2 grips, insert in the rear for security. Lucky Fox water bottle.

Kit: Revelate Design Bags mostly, mix of second hand and a local shop stocks them. Sweetroll handlebar, Spinelock, what a seat pack, Montane Jaws 10 trail running bag and soft flask (not pictured) stashed in handlebar bag. Clothing mixture of Fox and Endura kit. Sleeping system is an Alpkit Bivvy with an unbranded summer bag plus my Rab primaloft jacket, Marmot synthetic shorts and Rab winter walking mitts with Decathlon overgloves, this is also my warm kit. No cooking set up carried. Electronics include Garmin 520 for nav, InReach Mini for safety and phone as backup for both with large-ish external battery pack for recharging electronics and lights.

Aim for the ride for this route is to enjoy the enjoyable, don’t let the lows get too low and keep moving forwards. I would like to complete the full route as I haven’t done so previously.

Crispin Hoult

Bike: Much ridden second-hand Canyon Dude, now 4 years with me and just received its first upgrades. Scavenged XX1 cassette and derailleur with 28t chainring from Wolf Tooth. New post-lockdown wheels from Nextie arrived (at T-minus-48hrs!), fitted with 4.0 Jumbo Jims, build by Slam69.

Kit: Luna Solo tent with Neoair mat and OMM Raid sleeping bag in Wildcat front harness. Navigation with Garmin 810 and printed map backups. 45 Nrth Japanther shoes, Paramo Quito Analogy jacket, BAM bamboo socks, Morvelo Overland shorts my and trusty c. 1998 The North Face top still going strong. Exposure Axis helmet light. Snacks and electronics in AcePac fuelpod and stem cell. Open-ear headset with episodes of podcasts by Patrick Farnsworth at BoD. Servicing by Aberfoyle Bike.

This bike will not be at the pointy-end of the race!

Plan was to complete before #50… but scratched on an ITT that year (2019) and obvs I have no idea what happened in 2020… so back for a 2021. Group Start is my greatest life achievement… just hope I can do it justice!

We are intrigued to note the Crispin sells goat’s milk ice cream just off NCN7 from Gravelfoyle. If anyone is riding by, we are most interested to hear some tasting notes!