Highland Trail 550 Race The End.

First job of the day was to sort the broken saddle rail. I did this by moving the saddle forwards and clamping it in a different place
The stress of a bike that may or may not have got me there faded as I neared Fort William. I knew then, that I could walk to Tyndrum and make the 8 days finishers time.

There was a good view of the Ben Nevis race route. The weather was never like that when I had raced it.

I had a leisurely days riding, and stopped a couple of times to cool my feet in a stream.It was like being on holiday.

There was still the odd opportunity to practice carrying ones bike though.

At Kinlochleven I filled my bottle, and rode what I could up the gravel towards Devil's Staircase.

Long before the rocky bit my rear tyre punctured again.

My sidewall repair had failed.

All I needed now was a get home solution. Compeed and more tenacious tape. Win.

Oh yes, yet another puncture with less than 10 miles to go.

Happily it coincided with my passing the Inveroran Hotel. A pint of Stella and a seat in the beer garden were just what I needed to assist me while I fixed it.

I left the pub with a fixed tyre, and a head that felt like I had drunk 8 pints of stella.

No more dramas though other than taking a wrong turn. I had done that a few times on the last day.

I rolled into Tyndrum at 20:18, 7 days 11 hours and 18 minutes after leaving there.

Myself and my bike had made it. 583.9 miles (with detours) and 53,275 feet of ascent.

Out of 36 starters, I was the 10th person back. Only 2 others would finish. The other 24  riders had pulled out.

Alan Parkinson was waiting at the finish to welcome me back. What a star!

Time for some more beer!