So, 5 weeks to go.
Emails from the event are starting to filter through, the Strathpuffer facebook forum is full of peeps now starting to ride/train on the course.
And of course the usual flood of unwanted entries from folks who thought it sounded like a great idea 5 months ago 😀
Im still going - solo...... may it be snowy and icy....
It's one of those events that sounds incredible, I really fancy it. But when I weighed up costs and logistics I just couldn't self justify it. I wish you luck though !
I'm out, solo entry available😥
@jo90 have you sold it? There was a lass - Kerry McPhee (Gravelfoyle organiser) who was looking for a solo entry on the FB Puffer forum.
@weeksy where were you when i was looking for a pairs partner 😀 all you would have had to do is turn up with a bike, id have taken care of the rest ....
I'm in.
5th one for me (I think), in a quad with the same team mates.
Logistics reasonably easy as 2 of us live in Inverness.
Fingers crossed for significantly sub zero temperatures. It was just above freezing last year and it was a proper mud fest! Although not the worst its been judging by some of the YouTube videos from other years.
I'm out this year. I was gearing up for it, had a cracking year of racing to prep for it then got a concussion and that's undone all of it, and all the years of work leading up to it.
2025 I'll be back for my 8th crack at it. Someone else can have my podium place 😉
Enjoy it everyone who's doing it, it's so much fun.
I'm pitting for my son as I'm currently nursing a broken wrist.
Really enjoyed my puffer escapades. I like to think I'll be back one day...
So STW, where is the best place to sell a Puffer entry - and no its not for me - but for someone else whos looking to sell it on.
Ive advised the Puffer FB forum, but its a bit of a sleepy hollow sometimes. Other than here, where else to capture a large potential audience (or folks on the waiting list...)?
7th time for me, first one was 2006 and last time 2018. Looking forward to it. 👍
There's one in the classifieds
There’s one in the classifieds
No response to my messages on that front. Had only been a couple of days, but want to get it sorted and @jo90 has now fixed it for me.
I did the first one as a quad. Never went back
Makes you think
I'm sitting this one out. I have a couple of pals doing it solo though. One I have no worries for, the other I'm enjoying winding up about how horrendous it is 🤣
I chaperoned my 12 yo last year, he absolutely loved it, so much so that he asked to do 10UTB solo, was well proud 😊
I was all ready for this as a quad (this was before I realised it had sold out and I needed to plan much further than 2 months ahead) and then had a rather large crash. Turns out my team mates are getting married as well on the the same weekend. I think I would make an excellent project manager, always getting into the detail before comminting to something.............................
Joking aside, now I know that it requires a degree of planning and early entry we are looking at 2025 for our first go. Looking forward to following those that do it this year to see how tough it is.
3 Weeks to go!
So far, training has been limited, my various bikes are in bits or have yet to arrive, but I am having lots of sleepless nights (thanks kids) so at least some prep is going well! I've managed a few laps of the course in recent weeks and it's been like glass (even spikes wouldn't have helped) & -5 in the carpark, it's been bullet hard and dry as a bone and then on Saturday it was running rivers but mega grippy fun!
Counting down the days now... bring it on!
@ped sounds like @jo90 got you sorted.
Just waiting on someone else to say theyre not going too over Christmas...
Ive been ordering new bits for my bike, the bits which will get trashed unless its hard snow/ice 😀 Given the weather just now, probably be another wet muddy one.
Getting all the brake pads, ice spikers etc together and the generator a quick whirl before the event just now....
Aye @SSS, all sorted. Kinda …
Mentally and physically I'm there(ish), but hadn't even thought about the bike!
Getting all the brake pads, ice spikers etc together and the generator a quick whirl before the event just now….
@SSS - Now I am really glad I got injured and my badly thought through idea for 2024 is canned. You need a generator? What am I missing here?
@johnjn2000 Although i am solo, I use a generator because i take a horsebox (big motorhome), and a wife, so can use the tv, microwave, power washer etc etc and have 240v for lights charging....
Quad entry. 3rd time. Cannae wait...biking, chat, pizza, beer and coffee are all great!
10 days to go......
Long range forecast. Rain all day today, and from tomorrow onward, dry/cloudy with 3 degrees during the day and -1/-2 at night.
Not looking like a snowy or (sheet) icy one. More likely a mudfest......
Less than a week, getting nervous! Forecast looks decent enough..
Few days to go. From the strathpuffer forum, theres still some ice at the top of the firetrack, but unlikely ice spikers will be needed.
Hopefully the ground stays hard enough for us, theyre saying its still holding a lot of water, so could get soft/muddy quickly.
Saturday temperature to reach a balmy 6 degrees. Showing chance for light rain early Sunday morning.
See you at Brahan for the registration 😀
I'm in Inverness, yesterday was baltic, black ice everywhere and would have been ideal. Today it has been quite a bit warmer, with temperatures hovering around freezing for most of the day, but now it's almost drizzling outside. Fingers crossed the temperature drops again over the next couple of days, even if just enough to dry the ground out a little.
Hows the conditions looking? How many folk from here to look out for in the results?
A pal of mine is doing it as a pair - he is so underestimating the event its funny.
Grey and drizzly in Inverness.
Suspect it’ll be damp but not soggy.
I was meant to be racing for the first time but a week of not-improving COVID like symptoms meant I did a tactical retreat yesterday. My pairs teammate is now going solo so hats off to him. It was heartbreaking driving south again yesterday as the scenery was stunning.
Maybe next year!
All the best for everyone involved
I went over there earlier to give the racers a noisy sendoff. Lovely morning, sunny (ish) and mild. There will no doubt be some thawed out frost heave round the course so I'd imagine conditions will be pretty grubby.
Forecast is to freeze overnight, if the skies are clear then I think ice could catch folk out in the early hours.
I need to sign up for next year, it's been too long.
Are there live results any where?
Cheers. Distant friend is 49th
Sean Conway (endurance nutter) is doing it but had to stop to run 14k for his 496 challenge (add 1km to run for each day in Jan) so he got up yesterday ran 13km then 72 miles of SP before his 14k today then back on bike! https://strava.app.link/B4JRReGNlGb
