A True Scottish Adventure - West Highland Way Ride Video
Stretching from just outside the hustle of Scotland’s largest city, Glasgow, to the iconic highland town of Fort William, the 95 mile (153km) West Highland Way is a world-famous, multi-day traverse loved by walkers from around the world.
What is less well known about the route, is that a hardy band of mountain bikers have been vying for record times along the way for the last 10 years. Riding “the way” in its entirety is a notable accomplishment - it boasts a meaty 10,351ft of climbing, and parts of the terrain involve carrying, rather than riding a bike.
This esoteric endeavor has been on Rab Wardell’s mind since he first walked the route in 2007 as a recently retired 22-year-old professional mountain biker.
Wardell, now 35, lives in Glasgow with his Olympic champion girlfriend Katie Archibald, and has a rich pedigree in cycling. He raced the Commonwealth Games in 2006, (where he ended up in a battle with Chris Froome) and has been a British Championships Medalist, Multiple Scottish Champion, Race The World USA Winner, Team Scotland and British Cycling Team representative.
Yet, the West Highland Way record was something he had both conquered and lost.
In 2011, Wardell undertook his first attempt, completing the route in a 12:15hr. In 2012, he bettered that by going sub 12hrs - a major personal milestone. A few years later this record time was broken by Steve McInnes from the Isle of Mull with an 11:30hr. Then in 2015, Scottish Endurance legend Keith Forsyth set a new fastest time of 10:27hr. Wardell began thinking about trying to win his record back in 2019, and had concluded that a sub 10-hour time would be his aim, besting Forsyth’s time.
Training through the pre-pandemic winter, aided by training technology from Wahoo including the KICKR Smart Trainer, Wardell was spurred on by Katie’s inspiring efforts leading into the now postponed Olympics. By June, despite having been hindered by Covid-19, he was racking up 270km road rides as part of a tailored training plan in preparation for going under the magical 10 hours. To everyone’s shock, Fort William rider Gary McDonald (5th in Three peaks 2019 - one place behind Lachlan Morton) then set a blistering 09:28hr across the route in early August.
With a new found pressure and objective, a date of September 18th was set for the attempt. Wardell, in collaboration with the content studio Cut Media (Credits include “The Ridge” and “Wee Day Out”), drafted in support from the smart training and navigation technology company Wahoo and California-based bike brand Santa Cruz, to help make documenting the record attempt a reality.
The visually stunning film will be released on December 3rd, 12pm GMT.
Despite setbacks, Wardell achieved his aim, setting a 09:14:32hr, and has openly encouraged others to attempt the record, all while experiencing such a soul-edifying route through his beloved homeland.
How long his record will remain intact is an open-ended question; even completing such an extreme human endeavor could be considered a victory no matter what - but for this hardy group vying for records, there will always be more on the line than simply finishing.