The Restrap riders of Highland Trail 2025

It's the time of the year again and after an unprecedented dry spell across all of the UK, it looks like there will finally be a break in the back-to-back high pressure, blue sky days just in time for the start of the most prestigious race in the British calendar. It wouldn't be the Highland Trail without at least some inclement weather on the horizon. 

For those of you unfamiliar with the race, the Highland Trail is the brainchild of Alan Goldsmith and has been running since 2013 (originally in a shorter 440 format). The 550 mile route takes in the beauty and rugged remoteness of the Scottish Highlands in a large figure of 8. Starting and finishing at Tyndrum riders will be out for at least three days and most will expect to be on the course for nearer five. 

The nature of the route – and its sparsely spaced towns and villages – means that refuelling tactics play a large part in riders' planning and many will be carrying more food than they might ordinarily choose to. Normally access to water isn't an issue in Scotland, but given the recent dry spell, a few upland streams might be looking a bit dusty at the moment. 

Highland Trail doesn't have a traditional entry fee, but – if accepted for the group start – riders need to donate a minimum of ten trees in the Highland Trail grove to secure their place. https://treesforlife.org.uk/groves/490177/

Restrap has three supported riders toeing the line on Friday; Kerry Macphee, Donnie Campbell and Rich Rothwell. Our Product Design & Development Manager, Danny, will also be lining up. Let's take a wee look at their set ups!

Kerry MacPhee

Somewhat unbelievably, HT550 2024 was Kerry's first ever bikepacking race. She won it by some margin and came within hours of the women's Fastest Known Time (FKT). While she may have been new to bikepacking, Kerry has a strong background in XC mountain bike racing at a world level. Since the HT550, she's also gone on to win The Land Between in 2024 and Dales Divide this year. She'll be favourite to win here, but there's a strong female field that are sure to be snapping at her heels.

Full disclosure; for all of her race nous, Kerry can be a teeny weeny bit chaotic and last minute when it comes to some of the practical preparation for races. You know that she'll be there on the start line ready to go, but it's unlikely that she'll be ready much earlier. 

So, for the time being, here is a photo of Kerry's bike from last year. This year's set up will be very similar, but with a new framebag and a few other updates. 

Donnie Campbell

Like Kerry, Donnie is another native Scot - originally from the Isle of Skye, he now lives in the Highlands, so has the perfect training ground. Donnie is also relatively new to bikepacking racing, but has a long history of ultra trail running. He also won GBDURO in 2023, so clearly comfortable putting in some epic efforts on two wheels instead of two feet. And with all the hike-a-bike in the Highland Trail, he's definitely a dark horse for a high placing. 

Donnie's Cervelo ZFS-5 is a 120mm travel full suspension bike. It should let him carry speed over some of the rough sections of the route as well as giving some much needed comfort over the days of riding. He's running a custom framebag to maximise storage capacity inside the frame. By using just a tool pouch on his saddle, Donnie will still be able to get full value from his dropper seat post and keeping with a minimalist theme, he's just using a canister bag up front for layers. Most of his ride food will be in his Race Top Tube Bag (in long flavour).

Finally, he'll also be using a prototype roll top version of our hydration vest for fluids, more snacks and extra carrying capacity. 

Rich Rothwell

Rich is our stalwart. He first completed the Highland Trail back in 2017 and has started the race seven times. He's had multiple completions as well as a few mishaps along the way. Either way, there aren't many people who know the route as well as him. He won't mind us saying he isn't the youngest rider out there any more, but he reckon's he is as well prepared as ever for 2025. 

Here's Rich's Giant Anthem and according to him, "It's the best set up I've ever had for HT. I just wish I was ten years younger and faster!". Rich has taken a very similar approach to Donny, again using a custom framebag to make the most of the space in his full suspension frame. Rich has elected for our Race Top Tube Bag (Short) to leave space for our hike-a-bike harness. He'll also be using a prototype rolltop hydration vest for a little more carrying capacity. 

Danny Lane

Danny is a super strong rider and another returnee to the Highland Trail, but various issues have conspired against him in the past, so his priority is getting his first completion under his belt. In his day job, he manages the product design and development process. That means we are pretty sure that he'll be the only person racing that can say that he not only designed his own bags, but designed a fair proportion of those on the start line. 

Danny's Windover bike is decked out in tried and tested Race Range products, including the new Race Bar Bag for flat bars. As with all of our new holster bar bags, this uses our GripTight patch to help secure the dry bag in place in the holster. It will come into its own on the technical, rough descents. 

Best. of luck to the Restrap supported riders, other friends who are racing and everyone else on the start line this Saturday. We'll look forward to Dotwatching their progress!