The Highland Trail is a self-supported mountain bike route 560 miles in length with over 16000m of climbing. It was inspired by events in the US like the Tour Divide and particularly the Colorado Trail Race (CTR). Initially put together as a simple training ride in preparation for the CTR, it became apparent that the great trails, beautiful scenery, remote wilderness, and notorious fickle Scottish weather, offered a world class route for a self-supported challenge right here in UK. The majority of the route is on excellent trails, but includes some very technical sections, and everyone should expect some hike-a-bike, even the best climbers and technical descenders will find terrain beyond their ability.
The rules are simple:
- Complete the entire route, under your own power- no drafting
- Be completely self-supported throughout the ride - absolutely no support crews, absolutely no gear sharing
- Only use commercial services that are available to all challengers - no private resupply, no private lodging
- If you have to leave the route, you must rejoin it at the exactly same spot
- No caches of any kind
- No pre-arranged support, which means before you begin your ride - e.g. booking a B&B, arranging to meet a vehicle
- No travel by any motorised means during your ride - by all means do so if necessary, but understand if you do your attempt is over
- Gear - nothing required, nothing prohibited
This year Adventure Syndicate member Lee Craigie will begin the challenge on May 28th at 9.00am from Tyndrum on a Shand Bahookie. She hopes to take under a week to complete the 560 gruelling miles on trails she knows well from having lived in the Scottish Highlands for many years. Like all the other riders in this event, Lee will carry a SPOT Tracker and her progress can be followed live via Trackleaders