Taking my first podium in the 2024 Trans Alba race

A 1.600km battle with the mythical unicorn of Scotland.

4 days, 6 hours and 15 mins. With a 385km daily average, I finished the Trans Alba course of 1.610km and 22.000 metres of elevation gain in 2nd position.

“Relentless”captures the essence of this race. Long alpine passes, short punchy inclines, brutal headwinds, ferry crossings on tight timetables and unforgiving roads.

Or more metaphorically put, the Trans Alba is a battle with the mythical unicorn of Scotland - the national animal symbolising the country’s historic, chivalrous fight to remain unconquered.

Going into this race the priority was to finish and build confidence that I can consistently complete ultra endurance events. But as the race unfolded, it went from completing to competing at the top end.

Day 1, 378km: Sleeping early is the key

The ride kicked off with a neutralised start at 6:00am from Hollywood Palace, the Scottish Parliament. With my sister and her partner cycling down to the start, the race rolled along the coast for the first hour before igniting at the front.

Support goes a long way for morale in these races. South Lanarkshire is the small county where I grew up.

Graham Spiller, Calum Fisher and Jack Wright set the pace as we tackled the first gruelling hills towards the borders. And shortly before Innerleithen, in true Scottish fashion, biblical rain set in.

From here on in, there wasn’t much to report and I didn’t see another rider until 500km later in Tobermory. Such is the lonely nature of long distance racing, but I’d ridden a steady pace and moved into 3rd place.

After pushing through the rain, meeting some Dotwatchers and covering 378km in 15.5 hours riding, I stayed in a hotel around 11:00pm to dry off and reset myself with 3 hours sleep before the Carron Valley.

At this point, while I was sitting in 2nd place, I resisted the temptation to continue through the night and stuck to playing the long game with more sleep early on. A tactic which required some patience, but promised to pay off later in the race.

Day 2, 321km: A stressful day of ferry hopping

A 3:00am alarm signalled the start of the 2nd day. Sure enough, 3 riders had overtaken me during the night.

(Dotwatch replay as the front 3 push through the night)

While there was no panic from my side to catch the frontrunners, this next section of the course is brutal. If you ever visit Scotland, the Tak n Crow loop is a must.

After a lot of climbing and cold temperatures, I emerged out of the basin, grabbed some tuna sandwiches from a supermarket in Aberfolye and pressed on towards Glasgow.

From the north side of Glasgow, the section heading to Greenock epitomises the nature of the Trans Alba. While there is a flat coastal path to the first ferry for Dunoon, the route takes you over short, punchy climbs into the coastal city.

These efforts really zap the legs, but eventually I rolled into what would be the 1st of 4 ferry crossings.

Now the ferries merit their own mention in this race. They add a heap of stress due to the timings, but they’re cleverly designed to force riders to rest. The first ferry I made with an hour to spare - the Glaswegian staff even let me on for free as they were following the race live.

But the next section to Oban was a flat out 5 hour effort to catch the last boat of the day at 19:30pm. While this isn’t ideal pacing for an ultra race and with more sharp inclines into the back of Oban, sometimes you have to commit and risk higher energy expenditure to gain time.

I made the last ferry with 45 minutes to spare, chatted to the race media team at the port briefly and caught 10 minutes sleep on the boat to the Isle of Mull.

Ferry to Oban

The following ferry from Tobermory I knew I’d already missed, so I booked the youth hostel at the harbour 32km away and arrived at 22:30pm to find myself sharing a room with Jack, sitting in joint 3rd place.

Despite the drunk Glaswegian apologising for being so loud, I grabbed 6 hours sleep, a luxury for ultra racing.

Day 3: The final ferries & a monstrous alpine pass

Breakfast, fresh clothes and a healthy amount of sleep, the start of day 3 provided an optimistic outlook on the race. But with the first ferry at 7:20am and the next one from Mallaig at 12:30pm, the race was on to cover the 95km in quick time.

However, steep hills on single track roads, headwind and rain made for slow progress. With the lure of making an earlier ferry, I started holding 270 watts up the climbs and eventually caught up with Jack as we rolled into Mallaig with 15 minutes to spare.

This felt like a mini victory after 780km of racing. We’d made the ferry, saving 3 hours of waiting time, and even grabbed a hot breakfast.

After a short ferry crossing taking us to the Isle of Skye, me and Jack split up again - the last time we saw each other - as we battled a fierce headwind back to the mainland.

Fast approaching was Scotland’s most infamous alpine pass - the Bealach na Bà. At 9.1 kilometres long and the steepest section pitching over 20%, it’s a beast of a mountain that took me 48 minutes to summit.

Once over the top, it was a fast descent to Applecross before setting my eyes on reaching Gairloch to finish the day. This 100km section of the course running through Shieldaig is brutal. You can see after the large spike there’s around 20 sharp tooth-jagged hills that punish the legs.

At 11:30pm, I rolled into Gairloch and bedded down for the night on a campsite, finding myself sitting in joint second with Graham and Jack a few hours behind.

Day 4, 600km : The race heats up & I launch a silent attack through the night

Nearly 72 hours post the race start I woke up at 4:00am and soon discovered I was sitting in 4th place. Graham had left early and Jack had continued through the night to hunt down the leader.

(Jack and Graham making a move through the night to bridge the gap while I slept in Gairloch)

On the road by 5:00am, I’d bagged 3.5 hours sleep and despite slipping back 2 places, I felt silently confident I could push through the last night in one go. It’s a tactic I’ve deployed twice so far and it usually works well at the back end of races.

But it was a difficult start to the day. The long climbs were a mental drag and only 100km in, I had to stop in Ullapool for a garage refuel. The good news was that I was closing the gap to the frontrunners but they were still 1.5 hours ahead of me.

From here I pushed on to Scourie, the most North-Westerly point of the race and endured a dull drag along Loch Shin. Eventually I moved into 3rd place near Inverness and after stocking up on chicken wraps and Red Bulls at a McDonald’s, I was ready to push through the night and head for the finish in one go.

This next section from Grantown-on-Spey to Blairgowrie is arguably the hardest in the Trans Alba. Passing two ski stations and gaining 2.500 metres of elevation, it’s a killer, especially when you’re sleep deprived.

Tackling the hills in the middle of the night.

The night proved to be long. Despite moving into 2nd place, I was always 3 hours behind the leader and the climbing was challenging. By 4am near Braemar, my stomach was only processing water and I was close to falling sleep.

I pushed on towards Perth, had a one minute sleep outside a petrol station and emptied the tank to summit the final hills and reach the finish line 60 miles later at the Forth Road Bridge.

The form grows rapidly

Ultra cycling isn’t glamorous, pretty or luxurious but stripping yourself back to primitive instincts is an amazing and humbling experience.

To say I’m happy with this performance is an understatement. Perhaps I could have ridden more aggressively at the start and skipped the first night’s sleep to stay closer to the winner, but it’s a stepping stone in my journey to improve and achieve as much as possible in ultra cycling.

If you’re interested in entering the 2025 Trans Alba, keep an eye on their website and social media - I can’t recommend the race, the people and the organisers enough.

Plus if you know of any sponsorship opportunities, drop me a message.