Singletrack/MTB
Gravel/All-road
Dirt-road Touring
Fat-bike
Earlier this week, Emma Bateup of New Zealand became the first woman and seventh overall to finish the 2025 Highland Trail 550 in Scotland, completing the gruelling route in 4 days, 4 hours, and 27 minutes. Learn more about her impressive ride here…
Riding photos by Crispin Hoult
Before the 2025 Highland Trail 550 grand depart took off from Tyndrum, Scotland, last week, organizer Allan Goldsmith emailed a screenshot of the weather forecast, explaining that rain and cooler temperatures were expected to arrive the day of the grand depart. This came after one of Scotland’s driest and sunniest springs on record.
The quintessential Scottish weather delivered, wreaking havoc on the 58 riders attempting to finish the challenging 553-mile (890-kilometer) route. With no media teams or photographers out on the course, I found myself glued to Instagram stories and the dark corners of Facebook seeking updates from the race that following dots on Trackleaders couldn’t provide.
As of this morning, 23 riders have completed the 2025 HT550, with another 21 riders having scratched from the race. Normally, there’s a whole suite of potential reasons to back down, but it’s safe to say the weather had something to do with everyone’s struggles on the route. More rain meant sleek ultralight rigs were that much more risky, waterproof layers were mandatory, river crossings became more challenging, and at times, riders were forced to push their bikes through thick mud to keep moving forward.
Despite all this, 25-year-old Emma Bateup of New Zealand pressed on and finished this year’s HT550 as the first woman and seventh overall rider. Emma wrapped up her ride in 4 days, 4 hours, and 27 minutes, only about 10 hours behind Dicky Hibbert, who finished in first place overall. Melina Boening was the second woman to finish, completing the race two days behind Emma, and Liz Carrington of Colorado is expected to take third place later today.
Emma has had some impressive results recently, including the fourth overall and first woman to finish the 2025 Great Southern Brevet, a 1,100-kilometer self-supported bikepacking adventure around the central South Island of New Zealand, second at the Karapoti Classic in New Zealand, and last year she was the third woman to finish the 2024 Colorado Trail Race. Congrats, Emma!
Check out the 2025 HT550 Tracker page to follow along on the live tracking map, watch for ongoing race updates, and tune in for more event coverage. Find it here.
Further Reading
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