The Heb B2B Barra To Butt - The Alternative To The Heb Challenge

Joe Faulkner / 22.07.2010

<i>The B2B Heb was a self-supported journey from the island of Barra to The Butt of Lewis, and was set up by Joe Faulkner as a ‘mates race’ with no marshals or time keepers after the cancellation of the Hebridean Challenge. The aim was simply for the participants to have a fun time and judging by Joe’s account below … they did!</i>

HeB2B, the 'unofficial' Heb planned in the spirit of Tilman on the back of an envelope (two cereal boxes actually) was a great success. Twenty odd (!) people biked and ran from one end of the Hebrides to the other, ascending all or most of the highest peaks on each island. Many also biked the classic MTB loops of Harris, and added their own little adventures, such as swimming Loch Langabhat in the middle of Lewis. Simple Adventure. Not a marshal or timekeeper in sight - it worked.

The weather was stormy, especially at the start of the week with the Oban-Barra ferry disrupted so that some could not get there for the 'Prologue'; a gentle spin around Barra with the ascents of the highest points on Barra and Vatersay. It was windy but dry with fair views, but the rain and wind came in force on Tuesday as we blasted north over The Uists and Benbecula. Quite rightly some 'optional' summits were missed out by some, in a long day of road biking and hill running. Personally, I really enjoyed a ten hour day with a tail wind pushing me north at 15-20mph, with the time split 50/50% on biking/hill running.

The kayakers had been out on Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday as the wind built to storm force. Another wild camp on the Machair of Berneray was followed by a drier but still winding day for the crossing of the Sound of Harris, and few more hills, and the south Harris loop. Skoon Art Cafe featured very well as a popular 'optional summit.'

Wednesday was the day we had Blue Peter's Helen Skelton join us for a Bike/run/paddle day. Helen did very well on a hired hybrid bike as we cycled the hill over to Tarbet and upto Clisham car park. An ascent of Clisham followed (2000+ feet of bog, rock and scree) and again I was impressed with her fitness and spirit. Unfortunately, filming does absorb a lot of time so we weren't able to 'run' all the way through the Lewis wilderness if we were to get the paddling leg done on Loch Roag Beag.

The wind was still very strong although from the south, but a tail wind can be tricky in a sea kayak and they had to round the headland onto the beach. I knew from the look on the faces and the general buzz on the beach that it had been a tough paddle. Many thanks are due to Tom as 'lead paddler' for making this happen, and to Alex and Colin, also. Helen's day had been filmed as part of the Country Tracks programme and it will be interesting to see how it is appears on the TV.