Washed Away: Kerry MacPhee on HT550 2025 and Finding Joy in Going Fast
What do you do when your bike gets swept down a flooded Scottish river, you're soaked to the bone, and miles from the nearest village? Well... you'll have to listen to find out!
Kerry is a blazing-fast Scottish ultra racer with deep roots in mountain biking. After racing the Highland Trail 550 for the first time in 2024, finishing just under three hours off the women’s record, she came back in 2025 with her eyes set on it. What followed was an absolutely nail-biting race between her and eventual women's winner Emma Bateup (our last guest), with both women pushing the pace through torrential rain, flash floods, and highland bog.
In this conversation, Kerry breaks down what really happened out there: from stormy river crossings to the moment her bike got pulled away by the current, and the long, cold walk that followed. We talk about how she's built an off-road racing life while juggling three jobs, her past as an elite mountain biker and triathlete, and how she's navigating what it means to race fast, chase joy, and tell stories that bring others along for the ride.
Topics include:
Highland Trail 550Racing with joy vs. racing to win, and why it’s not either/orFueling, body image, and strength in endurance sportSharing the dots and building community through storytellingWorking three jobs while riding at the top level of bikepackingIf you're keen to give Albion cycling clothing a go, use DETOURS15 at checkout for 15% off your order.
Follow Kerry's adventures on Instagram: @kerrymacphee
Follow Mel on Instagram: @melwwebb
Follow Detours on Instagram: @detourscycling
Follow Albion on Instagram: @albion.cycling
Use code DETOURS15 to get 15% off your next order from Albion
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Detours: Bikepacking, Ultra-Cycling and Adventures by Bike
Hosted by ultra endurance and adventure cyclist Mel Webb, Detours brings you stories from inside the world of bikepacking and ultra cycling, featuring racers, community members, race directors and more. This show is about celebrating the journey, and the detours along the way, as much as the destination. We're especially passionate about providing space for folks that identify as women to share their stories and hope to inspire more people to ride bikes.Presented by Albion CyclingHave a topic you'd like us to cover? A guest you think we should interview? We'd love to hear from you! Please shoot us an email at [email protected] you love the show and want us to keep making it, consider becoming a supporter at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/detourspodcast
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