The Highland Fling

This is the year’s most popular 100km race with the 1500-odd entries filled in an astonishing seven hours and another 2000 or so eager riders having missed out on their chance. Lucky for me, I secured an entry and eagerly awaited the day to put it to good use. Sunday the 8th of November came around and I woke at about 10 to 6 for some breaky and the short half hour drive to the race.

The race attracted a strong field and lining up on the start line I got a definite sense that the pace was going to be on from the moment the start gun fired. Nerves were high and, before too long, the race was on!

The race is broken into three ‘stages’ with a transition point in between which allows you five minutes to get between two check points (about two minutes’ riding apart) and gives you a chance to have a quick stop, fill up your bottles and grab some food etc. This rather complex (from an organisational perspective) system is put in place because there is a train line which riders must cross and, in the unlikely event of a train coming by, the system ensures that it won’t have an effect on the race results.

So the first ‘stage’ took us about 1hr and 20mins. We started in a huge pack of riders but once the pace lifted, the group quickly whittled down to about thirteen at the front. The first stage featured some singletrack, a number of short climbs and some deep creek crossings. The terrain wasn’t particularly taxing but I was aware of saving energy for later in the race so tried to stay in little gears and keep eating and drinking. It was a solid pace though and I was certainly feeling the pinch at certain points!

We arrived at the first transition point, loaded up on bottles and headed out for the 2nd stage, the longest of the three. With countless long and steep climbs, it’s touted as the ‘race defining’ stage. Usually the person that exits this stage in the lead, wins the race.

The stage started with some smooth fireroad before hitting up some fireroad descents and then some short singletrack and then the much-talked-about section; The Wall. This is a short but very steep climb that then leads into a long section of singletrack. While the climb itself isn’t super challenging, it’s important to hold a good position at the top of the climb to hit the singletrack in the top group of riders.

A few kilometres before this section, Matt Fleming launched an attack and was soon joined by Hamish Elliot. So, leading into The Wall, there were two riders off the front of the group. I hit the base of the wall at the front of our group and managed to get into the singletrack in 5th position which I was happy with. The singletrack proved harder than I expected though (probably because I was still in energy debt from climbing up The Wall) and by the end of the section I was feeling like I was digging very deep, far deeper than I would have hoped for.

I quickly realised that I was struggling to maintain contact with the now-dwindling front bunch and after a few more kilometres, and some steep climbs, I had lost contact. It was a strange feeling – half an hour previously I’d been feeling great and now, riding on my own and watching the group ride off ahead, I was on the verge of blowing up. I was a little disappointed but tried to stay positive.

I eased up on the pedals a bit, had a drink and something to eat, and tried to convince myself that I might be able to ride back into a good position if I just stayed focused. It was a tough few kilometres though, I felt like I was creeping along and my morale was very low.

After a few more climbs I came to another long section of singletrack and I noticed Josh Carlson, another member of the splintering front group, up ahead. Spurred on, I found some more energy and caught up to him. We rode together for a few kilometres until he pulled aside and gave me the lead, “I’m flogged mate, you seem to have a bit more in the tank than me.” Feeling like I had nothing in the tank, I tried to look strong as I rode past and muttered something about how hard the race was.

I got a bit of a gap on Josh over the next few sections and then we hit the long, steep fireroad sections which, I later found, shattered what was left of the front group. I tried to hold a good tempo here but it was super-hard mentally riding so slowly! Josh maintained a similar distance behind me and I wondered whether it would be better to wait for him so we might be able to work together. I decided to ride at a solid pace and, if he came across to me, we’d be able to work together.

A few more torturously slow ascents later I noticed Andy Blair, another rider from the front group, just ahead. Thinking we were near the end of the hills, and wanting some companionship on the flat terrain, I put it in to catch him. He seemed pretty spent so I set the pace on the front but, unfortunately for both of us, the hills were far from over. Just when I was seriously ready to lie on the track and cry into my dirty gloves, the terrain eased and we were into the last sections of ‘stage 2’.

Andy still seemed pretty flogged so I sat on the front for most of this section, but it was great to have some companionship out there!

I finally made it to the finish of this stage and, just as we arrived, I saw another two riders from thenow-shattered front group – Brent Millar and Marc Williams – just ahead. “Great”, I thought. “Some people to work with on the final ‘stage’!”

We re-fuelled, grabbed some lube for our chains and headed out for the final, gruelling ‘stage’. I was told it was mostly flat and was feeling a bit better by this point so I forced the pace on one of the early climbs and Millar and I got away from the rest. Thinking there couldn’t be too many more climbs left, I put it in as we swapped off turns and headed to the finish. Problem was, there were more climbs, and lots of them. The two of us worked together well but there were a few points where I was at my absolute limit. I threw down another PowerGel and drank more but I was at the point now where not much could help me – I was nearly completely spent.

I was told that once you get to the ‘Your Call’ section (a fork in the trail where you can take the short and steep option, or long and gradual option) you are only 5km from home. So once I saw the sign I was damn happy. We had to get up the steep climb first but it proved rideable despite my exhaustion. Millar and I worked together over the last section and Millar rolled in for 6th, me 7th. Seeing the finish banner was a pretty rewarding feeling and made all that hardship seem like it was almost fun.

The Highland Fling was an experience. From fun, to exhaustion, to desperation, to elation; I experienced it all in the four and a half hours of racing. It was a great day and I’m looking forward to heading back.

Thanks to Giant for my awesome carbon hardtail. Also thanks to Adidas Eyewear, PowerBar, Crank Brothers, JetBlack Products, Ritchey and Squirt Lube. Time for some rest before the next one!