Highland Trail 550 Race Kit List.

Below is the stuff that I took with me on the Highland Trail race, with some of the reasoning behind my choices.

If you are looking for an ultralite set up, there is better information elsewhere.

It is not a money is no object set up. For the most part I used stuff I already had. I've not weighed everything individually, but my gear in bags weighed ~4kg less food.

Bike - Iro Mia 69er. This bike was a last minute replacement as the forks for my other bike were being serviced. It started off life as a singlespeed. I converted it to 1 x 9 running 34T on the front 11-36 on the back. Unless you are a very strong rider take a geared bike. I had a 29 inch wheel out front and a 26 on the back. Weight, not heavy, not superlight either.

The saddle that broke had hollow rails.

Luggage. Alpkit 13L dry bag on the bars with sleeping bag (in a 8L bag) and tent. Wildcat Seatpack with a Alpkit 8L Drybag for spare clothes and meds. Framebag made by me. 2 Alpkit Stem Cell bags for food and rubbish.

Spare luggage strap. Unused.

Tent - Force Ten Helium. I've tried bivvis and don't like them. Midges and possible rubbish weather made a tent the only option for me. There are lighter tents.

Sleeping Bag. 800 fill down GoLite. Not the lightest, but I sleep cold. I do not operate after a poor nights sleep.

3/4 Bozeman sleeping mat. I put my riding stuff in a drybag as a pillow.

Cotton cycling Cap.

Rapha SS full zip jersey.

Castelli Nano Flex arm warmers.

Biopace Shorts

Adidas Leg warmers.

3 pairs of Merino socks (one for evening wear).

Castelli Gilet - Semi waterproof.

Waterproof shorts (cut down from some overtrousers) you do not want a wet bum.

Montane Waterproof -  light but not that waterproof in driving rain, coupled with the gilet I stayed dry though.

Giro Junction Shoes - This is not the place for rigid disco slippers.

Rapha Silk Scarf - For panache.

Montane Primaloft smock

Mountain Equipment mid weight fleece

Aldi compression leggings.

Thin fleece hat.

Midge head net.

1 750ml bottle - Water was everywhere - No purification.

No stove - The theory being you can get a hot meal most days. If I did this again though I'd reconsider. It was a nuisance eg on day 2 trying to coincide with cafe opening hours.

Chamois Cream

Ibuprofen Tablets and gel.

Diarrohea tablets.

Compeed.

Strapping tape.

Suncream - Not used.

Toothpaste and brush.

2 Dakota GPS (one spare)

12AA lithium batteries. I was going to use a dynamo setup, but had not trialled it sufficiently. The batteries were also lighter.

Spot Satellite Tracker + a spare set of batteries.

Road atlas overview map - 5 sheets of A4 - No detailed paper maps.

Multitool

2 Tyre Levers

2 spare tubes a 26 and a 29.

Topeak Pump

Some spare chain and quick links.

Chain Oil.

Puncture Repair kit.

Tenacious Tape.

Mini Leatherman.

Zip Ties.

Waterproof Lumix camera - The picture quality, as a photographer is fairly poor, but I wanted something I could keep in my jersey pocket that didn't need cosetting.

Food  - lots of - Pies, cheese, sweets, nuts etc. Two gels as they were in my cupboard, but no other fancy stuff.

Waterproof phone case which doubled as my money stash.

I should have taken some strong thread and a needle, and a tick remover.

I was happy overall with the equipment I took.