Highland Trail 550 Race Report: Kerry MacPhee and Alex Mccormack Win

The HT550 is the original Uk bike pacing race. It takes place every May and consists of a 550mile course around the best mtb trails of the Scottish Highlands. It's often characterised by bad weather conditions and brutal hike-a-bikes.
In this video I report on the 2024 edition of the race
You can see the route on ridewithgps here:
ridewithgps.co...
The HT550 website can be found here:
highlandtrail5...
A big thank you to the brands that support me:
Mason Cycles - masoncycles.cc
Hunt Bike wheels - www.huntbikewh...
Albion Cycling - www.albioncycl...
Tailfin Bikepacking equipment - www.tailfin.cc...
Enduro bearings - cycling.enduro...
If you like my videos and would like to help me produce more, please consider buying me a 'virtual coffee' at the link below, thanks!

Thanks for the recap! Someone should pay you to make reports on more bikepacking races :D

[@joshibbett]

Thats the aim!

[@MrWatsuG]

​@@joshibbett What you can improve on is the ehm and uhms, try to kick that habit. And maybe a higher mounted camera and monitor would be more flattering, now we mostly see your forehead. The analysis is excellent!

[@kevinw1129]

We had the privilege to bump into Alex, Sofiane and some of the other lead finishers in the Real Food Cafe in Tyndrum on the Wednesday after they’d finished the race. We’d just been doing our own bike packing trip in the area. Really nice modest guys who were happy to share their experiences and show us their bike set ups. Fantastic to meet these guys.

[@JM-too]

Thanks for the recap! Anyone who even tries this race deserves massive kudos. I first discovered it when backpacking and staying in a different Fisherfield bothy (Carnmore) several years ago. Just after midnight or so, some guy arrived on a singlespeed bike. He slept for about 4 hours then left early next morning. Despite the torrential rain overnight he was cursing himself for sleeping too long and being overtaken dropping from 3rd to 4th. I still can’t get my head around that level of commitment to suffering!

[@P.Ttrying]

Great insights and recap🏆
I feel stuffed and bonked just watching 😅
Goodstuffs 👍

[@gordonshaw1975]

Nice one Josh! That was really insightful.

[@SanKapil-vn8wf]

Could anyone do it under 3 days?

[@joshibbett]

I think it’s probably possible, but conditions would have to be perfect and nothing go wrong