Ashley Cordingley

HT550 2026 by the numbers 3 days 23 hours 33 mins 575miles (931.2km) 4-4 1/2 hours of sleep 1 flat 2 sets of pads ( lasted to the end! ) 1 starnut ( yep the starnut pulled out) 0 crashes 😎 4 toe nails. All the sheep and deer 🦌 1 otter 1 pinemartin 1 badger 1 nac mac feegle 1 long chase by the fairy bog mother . Avg Heart Rate 129 bpm Max Heart Rate 187 bpm Elevation Gain 17,532 m Max Elevation 777 m Avg Temperature 7°C Min Temperature -5°C Max Temperature 23°C 32,138 Cal burnt On the rolling buffet : 12 sachets of styrkr 90 carb mix 12 styrkr gels 15 bountys 8 snickers 4 pizza slices 8 cans of monster mango 🥭 2 co-op meal deals 4 sausage rolls 3 flap jacks 8 rocky bars 3 packets of crisps 2 steak pies 2 drumbeg sandwiches 3 chocolate @huel 2ltrs of bog water and highland grit .

Second place at this year’s Highland Trail still hasn’t fully sunk in. A bit torn about it with Graham’s @mostly_by_bike mechanical because he was absolutely flying, and I know how brutal it feels to have a race end like that. But equally I know how much work went into this one. I pushed hard from the start instead of settling in and it paid off. 3 days, 23 hours, 33 minutes on a longer and brutally hard edition of the route. Under four days it still feels pretty special. Mostly fuelled by @styrkr.uk carb mix. I had to adjust my fuelling strategy to match the conditions and effort, moving to a more pre-planned approach to keep things moving in the cold. There’s never really a clean run at something like this. It’s just a sequence of problems, decisions, and adapting as you go, all with fairly instant feedback. The weather felt tougher in a different way this year. Less rain than last year, but much colder overall, and that constant chill just wears you down. I got trench foot early on, feet absolutely destroyed from shoes that were too small, every step of the hike-a-bike felt like someone standing on my toes, so I had to make the time back while pedalling instead. (I normally make time up in the hike-a-bike, so this was tough) Still one of the most beautiful races going. I think the conditions are part of what makes the Highland Trail so special. It really tests you. Massive respect to everyone still out there battling away. Good to see you all and thanks for making it such a special race. Thanks to everyone following along and dot watching. Thanks to folks at @albion.cycling and @restrap #ht550 #exposurelights #albioncycling #restrap #Bikepacking @fairlightcycles @exposure.lights @melonoptics Thanks @racetool for the photo

This is the second year lining up at the Highland Trail 550. It’s funny, no matter how many ultras I turn up to, I never really feel like I belong there. Maybe that’s normal. But also it feels like just going for a ride with pals, as there are many nice people in the UK ultra sceen. This year the run-in feels smoother. There’s a lot less going on, but that just gives you more time to over think things. I’m in good form ( well as good as you can be with a full-time job) and the bike’s looking good too. Here’s a rundown of some of the nice stuff I’m taking with me this year. I’m really lucky to have support from some really nice people this year, @restrap and @albion.cycling There’s also a lot of very good people around me in the community supporting me, and that means a lot. Good luck to everyone and can't wait for all the in race chats.

We are very excited to present the only Scottish screening of Mountains and Trees at Gartmore Village Hall on May 31st as part of our Grand Old Dukes (G.O.D) race Weekend. The film by @finley.newmark & produced by Albion Cycling & Pertex explores beyond the infamous Mountain races devised by @nelsontrees - Atlas Mountains, The Silk Road and Hellenic. We’ll be joined afterwards for a Q&A with ultra cyclists Kerry MacPhee, Ashley Cordingley and Zoe McIntosh, hosted by Ollie Hawkley and Beth Legg. Please join us for what promises to be an ‘ultra’ inspiring evening of insights & incredible footage from Kyrgyzstan to Morocco. Zoe’s Humble soup will be serving up a warm cuppa with pizza available to take up to the hall from our event village at Cobleland not far from Gartmore Village Hall. This inspiring film is part of a whole weekend of cycling events surrounding the Grand Old Dukes, the toughest gravel cycling challenge in the UK. We can’t wait for you to join us. Ticket link in our bio.

My first bikepacking race, the Tour Divide 2024. A bit of a baptism of fire. Its that time of year again, not long now until it all kicks off again. All the bags were homemade. I cobbled things together from what I had, making it work rather than making it perfect. Electronics all lived in the top tube bag. Frame bag carried water, tubes and tent bits. Front pouch was clothing. Everything else went on the rack: tent, mat, first aid, spares, sleeping bag, all packed as tight and light as I could manage. Minimal by design, not accident. It still wasn’t enough in places. Snapped a crank. Replaced a rear wheel on the way. Learned quickly that minimal doesn’t mean invincible. But that race taught me more than any training block ever could. How I move through long days. How I solve problems when there is no backup. How far I can actually go when things start to break down. I get asked a lot about kit from that trip. Happy to share it, but the bigger lesson was never in the gear. It was in finding out what holds together when everything else starts to fail. And getting to Antelope Wells, tired, a bit broken, but still moving forward, it felt less like a race and more like a pilgrimage.

It’s an older post, but it checks out. Two weeks back up north, linking it all together. Went to recce the new Highland Trail section, finally rode the Postman’s Path, then looped deep into Fisherfield before coming back out on the reroute replacing the Tollie path. Just class being out in the sun, catching a rare run of good weather and seeing the place at its best. @restrap @albion.cycling @vittoriauk_tyres @kerrymacphee

Racing in a pair. Sounds easy, right? In some ways it is, especially on something like the @dalesdivide . A million gates, rough weather, the usual faff. It helps having someone there to split jobs, fix things, grab food, and keep things moving when it all stacks up. But even at a similar pace, you quickly see you make time in different places. Different strengths, different rhythms. You end up moving at what works for both of you, not the fastest either could go alone. You’re rarely riding at your max, but it does give you moments to ease off. We treated it as a very intentional training block off the back of Atlas. Riding hard, but controlled. I was pretty unwell for a lot of it, especially from hours 12–36 (don’t buy 10p energy gels). Storm Dave brought 60–70 mph winds and relentless rain. Proper grim. We had a few mechanicals, took shelter at the Restrap Ramen Hut when it peaked, then got moving again when it eased but into a snow storm. We ended up winning the pairs and finishing in the top 10. Not the main goal, but a good outcome. Great to share the finish with the very talented rider @bryn_appleton . More importantly, it’s the first step in our Triple Crown plan. Learned a lot about how we ride together, and honestly just a privilege to spend that much time with such a strong rider. Massive thanks to @albion.cycling for keeping me warm and dry, and to @restrap for the noodles, the warm welcome, and the bags. Forgot my phone, so no photos ( so thanks @dotwatcher.cc , @kerrymacphee and @amandawish.art for the images ). Huge respect to everyone who finished. That was rough out there and not for everyone

The last section of the Highland Trail 550 is brilliant. It is also where I'm normally completely cooked. So how do you get better at it? Practice, practice practice. Fresh me thinks it’s rideable. Race me thinks I’m useless. Reality me discovers some of it just isn’t rideable, which is oddly freeing. Recce done. Lessons banked. Great day out zero emissions Day out on the ember electric bus. #HT550 #HighlandTrail550 @restrap

Five days after the Atlas Mountain Race and this is the part we do not talk about. The finish line is always abrupt. Sometimes noisy, sometimes silence, sometimes a pier in the dark. Either way the goal that has structured months of thought, training, fear, and hope stops instantly. For days the body runs on adrenaline, cortisol, dopamine. Sleep is thin. Fuel is borrowed. The nervous system is pinned open. Then the stimulus disappears and the chemistry falls away faster than the body can adapt. What follows can feel like a deep low. Flatness. Anxiety. A strange grief. Not because of how the race went, but because it is over. This is not failure. It is physiology. Homeostasis catching up. The first time it happens it can be frightening. Even when you expect it, it is still hard to sit with. A week of feeling off is normal. Two weeks is not unusual. There is another way to see it. This is enforced slowing. The body insisting on stillness. A brief window where there is nothing to chase. Eat well. Sleep without urgency. Sit with friends. Let the nervous system settle. Let identity stretch beyond the next checkpoint. Ultra cycling celebrates suffering and resilience. It speaks less about the comedown. We should name it, flag it, and normalise it. Not to dramatise it, but to make it navigable. If we are in this phase, we are not broken. We are recovering. @atlasmountainrace @albion.cycling @dotwatcher.cc @restrap @fairlightcycles

Straight from the gun it was fast and furious. Twelve hours of climbing. Torrential rain, then cold. Ice on the road. Descents through snow. I did not feel warm for a long time. The desert came early and felt familiar. Broken roads, silence, proper riding. Nights were hard but honest. Wind on the plateau hit like a hammer. It stopped you. Knocked you sideways. Decided who moved and who did not. The road sections hurt more than expected. I lost time there and clawed it back on the climbs and descents. That balance still needs work. Day three was the high. On almost no sleep I felt brilliant. Buzzing. Flowing. Colonial roads, fast descents, places gained. Everything clicking. That feeling is why I do this. Then the race pushed back. Knee pain. A pedal failing, then gone. Riding on a spindle. A bodged toe strap. Sitting on the roadside crying. Help from a stranger. Back on the bike, but not the same. A 5dh pedal to limp home on. By then the damage was done. Hard-won places slipped away. Momentum gone. I was no longer racing. Just surviving. Tea near a summit felt like unexpected salvation. Endless straight roads into headwinds that felt like purgatory. The finish line came like a warm embrace, the golden walls of the seaside town welcoming me in. @atlasmountainrace @restrap @albion.cycling @dotwatcher.cc

On route to the #atlasmountainrace