Yeah, that’s a segue; we’re talking about two experienced mates doing this sort of thing together!
Tandem could be a way to do this.
That way, no-one falls behind or feels like they are being held back?
I think, in a roundabout way, i was agreeing with you. 2 weeks being grumpy with a good mate should be pretty easy.
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Was Jorgan’s wife even offering to do it with you?
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Too many options of response here. Not being in person severely limits them.
I’ll stay quiet.
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Chivalry sounds very overated 
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I’d get left for dead on so many levels. I’d only have to worry how bored she got waiting 
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Aha thanks all… I’ve really enjoyed reading through the thread & comments I’d missed whilst busy riding / surviving. Not sure I can follow up on all the questions either but I’ll be a bit more available now 
Angus gave the briefing at the start & I remember him explicitly saying “try not to take anything off dotwatchers”. I guess he was thinking of food/drink which would be an advantage unless they were going to be there to make it available to every rider passing… which probably isn’t the case if you’re handing out bikes.
In 2019 one of the riders had a major crank failure somewhere in the highlands, he spent time getting to a local garage to help bodge a fix to get him to the finish… and all the time that took. Angus could have done that… ?.. he had plenty of time anyway !.. or ziptied the cassette to the spokes and prayed.
Hotels also controversial and unclear in the rules.
Other than that the generally annoying situation I’ve had before where you think you’re doing okay and about where you thought you’d be at any point in time… .and then every bugger behind you drops out so you go from being happily mid pack to last in a 24hr period … grrr.
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I think Lachlan Morton stayed in a B&B one night? I guess AY’s problem happened in the middle of nowhere, and the closest bike place would (big) maybe, have been Wick or Thurso? There’s almost fook-all once you’re a few miles north of Inverness, until you get to those two towns.
The wording is that the use of “commercial accomodation” is “strongly discouraged”… talking to one of the organisers if it’s a case of scratch or find a hotel they would rather you get a hotel & be able to continue… if all the people that took the hotel option would have scratched, where would i have come ?
Hotel/B&B isn’t always a net gain/advantage, if you’re a fast rider and have the time to waste finding, booking, getting to/from a hotel and getting a shower & ++sleep then fair enough, yes, you’re better than me, crack on.
If you were ill prepared for the rain or ran out of charge in your DI2 and would have had to scratch then… I might feel a bit aggreived about that.
Dunno if Angus paid for his wheels or not, when one of the organisers is also riding and winning it seems a bit strange… and (as much discussed at the finish) that’s not exactly an unheard of failure with that freehub & wheel builder.
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If I had the ability, I’d defo look to try and finish each stage as early as possible and recuperate at a CP (maybe under a solid roof on a bed if I could find one). Rather than try en-route, which would be a strategy doomed to fail.
Sure… but i dont think I’ve ever ridden 600km straight even on road in ideal conditions.
And there is a disappointing lack of bus stops and church porches out in the wilderness.
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I don’t go the Gram, are there any pics of your kit set-up and bivi kit you could share here? I’m always interested in such things.
I’ll send you a telegram in due course.
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Are you not ever worried about being moved on, like being homeless?
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Not especially… in general you pitch up after dark when no one is about and get up to be packed and gone before first light.
Typically out of sight or suitably remote but yeah you do rely on the fact that most people aren’t stupid enough to out & about at that time !
In general you really don’t look like a homeless person with all the kit & £££££ of bike attached and alot of people would be only to happy to help !
My sleep went something like…
- A church porch in a small village (circa 2hrs stop) - down jacket & hat only
- Some woods off the side Ponsticill reservoir - bit earlier than i wanted, post crash! bivvy/mat/bag… 3-4hrs
- CP1 (campsite, wet… fully bivvy+tarp)
- In the woods at Llandegla, mostly dry under the trees bivvy/mat/bag… 3-4hrs
- Nice dry farm outbuilding somewhere near Burnley before heading up onto the moors again (worried about exposure & rideability of next section) ~3hrs
- CP2 (village hall)
- Rode through the next night… raining & not decent place to stop
- Post breakfast nap in Falkirk tesco trolley park & dry feet out ~10min
- Duone church doorway ~10min
- Woods near Loch Rannoch ~3-4hrs, raining so full tarp set up… so massively confused about where i was and what i was doing when i woke up,
- Few more 5min naps on the way to Corrieyairack (one of which when i woke, the alarm had been going for 4minutes!)
- CP3 (village hall)
- Estate outbuilding ~30mins somewhere outside Rosehall
- A couple more 5-10mins on the way up the climb & one at the top
- 5mins on the way down at sunrise as was getting seriously sketchy
- 5mins in off road section after Forsinard
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I’m very impressed you can remember all that 
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The sleep deprivation sounds horrific
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Oh wait there was an extra 5mins near altnaharra (sp?) while i let my socks dry out and re-lubed my chain (again).
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Did you ever run out of food or come close? Looked like there were some long stretches between anywhere to pick up supplies. Conversely, did you stumble upon any bonus food places which you weren’t expecting?
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