Winter Highland Trail 550

Hi! I'm Annie, and this December I'll be attempting to ride the Highland Trail 550 bikepacking route. The HT550 is a 550-mile mountain bike route around the Scottish Highlands that starts in Tyndrum and takes riders all the way up to the north coast and back, through remote glens and over high passes – there has never been a winter completion of the route... yet! At this time of year there will be around 17 hours of darkness each night, lots of river crossings to navigate and hopefully some snow, as well as some of the best scenery Scotland has to offer. There will definitely be rain. Lots of rain. I'll be riding self-supported, carrying all my camping gear with me and with no outside assistance, although I can buy food along the route I expect to be out for between 7 and 10 nights, weather depending.

I hope that my ride might inspire you to get out for an adventure of your own at a time of year when we tend to be less active and hide indoors. I'm also hoping you might make a donation to Bike for Good, a Glasgow-based charity who do amazing work to help make cycling (and its many benefits) accessible for all. Just £35 can cover the cost of introducing someone to cycling for the first time – for all you cyclists out there, how much value have bikes and biking brought to your life..?