Ultracycling

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-36301060?SThisFB

Highland Trail this weekend...
http://trackleaders.com/highland16

http://www.highlandtrail.net/

https://twitter.com/HT_550

@hippy You can take a bicycle on eurostar.

They back turned on that silly new policy.

I forget, which policy? They kept changing the rules, the idiots.

Last time I used it you needed to book in advance and drop the bike off at some shipping place and they couldn't guarantee it would meet you at the end, only that it would be there within 24hrs, which is a bit fucked if you want to arrive in Paris and ride away.

You do still need to book in advance through the "Eurodespatch" people, but for £30 you can book it on to the train you'll be on and leave it fully assembled.

Yeah, that's what I did for PBP, but like I said, they don't guarantee it will be on the same train as you. A bunch of us arrived in Paris and then had to wait a couple of hours for the following train to arrive with our bikes. If you really want your bike to be there for you, you should drop it off earlier than your departure.

I've never had issues with mine. I think you need to drop it off 2h before departure at latest.
But you can book it onto your train, as above. Often they'll send it on earlier train if space.

We had issues with the first train which was why the bikes traveled separately. But if you absolutely HAVE to leave with your bikes from the destination station then I would drop the bike off the day before.

This is what they wrote to me (I was also complaining about an aircon breakdown on the return journey which they told as to make a claim for):

"Thank you for your email.

I'm sorry to hear that your bike wasn't transferred onto the same train as you during your outbound journey, I can appreciate that this would have been very frustrating when you arrived into Gare du Nord.

However, when registering bikes and other larger luggage item, we advise that we will send your items on the first available train, as long as there's space. We guarantee that it’ll be ready to collect at your Eurostar destination station within 24 hours of registering it. As such, I'm afraid that I am unable to issue a refund.

For more information, please see: http://www.eurostar.com/uk-en/travel-info/travel-planning/luggage/luggage-services#.U6Qn0ZRdV8E"

Yeah. Arse covering arses.

Are you saying these make my bum look big?

I was trying to be subtle.

Highland Trail this weekend...

Those pictures look pretty epic!
How long does it take? 550 miles of that terrain must take a few days. Anyone know anyone riding?

Phil Simcock holds the current record (and those for several other off-road ITTs...) of 4 days 1 hours 43min - there's a 3part report on the Team JMC blog or Bikepackers magazine.

Know a couple of people riding, start list should be up in the next day or two...

Yeah, I'm chatting to a bloke racing, Javier.

"Racing the Highland trail race this Saturday and and planning to finish on Thursday. Same as last year, a bit nervous and very excited. Weather now looks very warm, prepared to meet midges!"

Gutted I'm not riding the HTR :( Leg is still fucked. Riding a bit, but getting sore after 3-4 hours and still some blood pooling in my foot.

Dr's again I think...

Javier finished last year, riding singlespeed I think...

Yeah, he's a singlespeeder.

Start list for the Highland Trail now on Trackleaders. Conditions looking good at the moment, reports of dry trails and low rivers.

Good to see 6 women lining up to start this year. Will be watching the tandem (my LBS owners!) with interest!

Pictures on the site look beautiful. Hope the weather stays nice.

Marketa 'Peggy' Marvanova rode Tour Divide last year, she's hardcore, beat me by 1 day, but we rode together a few times over the course of the race. She's one to watch.

French Divide now has a website with info... http://www.frenchdivide.com/en/

Zut alors

The picture with the skeleton helped to illustrate the challenge of the event...

Cool!!

Javier doing well... http://trackleaders.com/highland16