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So I had this idea for my 40th to have a go at the HT550 next year so I thought I would have a go at the pennine bridleway just to see where I am fitness wise and what I need to know for travelling light and trying a route at pace.
I had a go at the pennine bridleway the last couple of days but had to bail because of all things a lost wallet which meant no money for train home. I am pretty pi55ed with myself. Still had to ride 40 miles home 🙁
The thing that struck me though was to knock out 4 or 5 days of similar terrain to the pennine bridleway would be sadistic and near on impossible. The rocks..oh the rocks on a rigid hardtail I feel like I have been violated with a battering ram.
Is that what the HT550 is like or is there a lot more fire road?
Or do I need to man up, get some more thickly padded shorts and a better seat for distance and get on with it?
I've only done odd bits of the route, but you'll find tons of info and write ups over on the Bearbones forum.
[url= http://bearbonesbikepacking.co.uk/phpBB3/ ]Bearbones[/url]
The HT550 is highly varied. To get the distance there are miles of doubletrack and fireroad - but also loads of singletrack, pushing, carrying and technocal riding. The Pennine bridleway is a more urban comparision. To do the HT in 4-5 days you would be doing the Pennine Bridleway every day for several days - it is some undertaking.
AlanG has qualifying rides in order to get in as part of the group start - this is to allow people to see how serious an undertaking it is.
It is a brilliant route, and one that you will find will change your outlook on life.
As @large418 says, Alan has some qualifying criteria for the group start but that doesn't mean you can't do it as an ITT - quite a few set off a week earlier this year for example. Qualifying ITTs include: The Cairngorm Loop; the Lakeland 200 and the BearBones 200; there could well be others but those should give you an idea of what to expect.
There's a few blogs about this year's group start (quite a few are multi-part):
Ian Barrington - https://ianbarrington.com/2016/06/12/a-highland-tale-the-final-chapter/
Lee Craigie http://theadventuresyndicate.com/blog/2016/6/10/the-highland-trail-550-part-one (three parts)
Phil Addyman https://padonbike.wordpress.com/2016/06/07/the-fight-for-the-2016-highland-trail-550/
There are more if you do a search.
From most reports the important things are looking after yourself and your bike, last year the long time leader Josh Ibbet all but ground to a halt due to the bearings on his bike wearing out. Some take full suss, some hardtails, some rigid, some do it singlespeed. Strategy is also key: being able to keep going with minimal stopping time keeps your average speed up but also you need to get to the few shops/cafes/hotels when they are open in order to restock.
The thing that struck me though was to knock out 4 or 5 days of similar terrain to the pennine bridleway would be sadistic and near on impossible. The rocks..oh the rocks on a rigid hardtail I feel like I have been violated with a battering ram.
If you think the Pennine Bridleway is difficult I'd not even think about the HTR
Also can we refrain from banding Chief B's name about. We don't want to see anyone/the event getting into trouble if something was to happen. Ta muchly
I didn't understand any of that - Chief B? Trouble?Also can we refrain from banding Chief B's name about. We don't want to see anyone/the event getting into trouble if something was to happen.
Wasn't it said that between 10 and 15% of the HTR route us taking your bike for a walk?
If you think the Pennine Bridleway is difficult I'd not even think about the HTR
It wasn't the distance at all, I bailed as had no money for the train home but was on schedule for some time around 36/38 hours and that was with a 9 hour overnight camp with a couple of beers on top of a hill.
It was just becoming increasingly uncomfortable to sit down and pedal.
I think I need to go with plan b and mess around with tyre pressure, go tubeless, better padded shorts, different saddle (I recently changed saddle) and a bit of MTFU.
Was a learning process to see where I am and what I need to know for doing a HT550. Learnt a lot but also learnt that I need to know more. Was very different to a more sedate 2/3 day backpacking as pacing and food strategy was more important than usual.