Race Preview

They're off!

Day 1: Morning Update

Neil Phillips wins FURTHER EAST

"Grippy" - Day 2: Evening Update

As the sun rises on Friday morning, 23 brave souls will take on the inaugural edition of Further East; a brainchild of both Camille McMillan and Josh Ibbett. If the inaugural race of Camille's Pyrenean Further is anything to go by, then we're in for a treat following this new and exciting race. An undiscovered and overlooked region, East Anglia is the antithesis to the Pyrénées and an unlikely region for a sister race. Where the Pyrénées is full of high altitude blows, the East is comparatively pan-flat but will prove more attritional with fewer opportunities for rest.

# Low key and low elevation

Further East is definitively low key. It's a race that disallows supporters or fanfare and prohibits private transport to the start line. Its rules are simple: carry everything you need for 642km of mixed-terrain riding through England's East. The start list has only just been released and it's packed. More below.

# The Route

<iframe src="https://ridewithgps.com/embeds?type=route&id=37448143&metricUnits=true&sampleGraph=true&privacyCode=mO5sex3p4O7lGqq8" style="width: 1px; min-width: 100%; height: 700px; border: none;" scrolling="no"></iframe>

The 5am rollout from the race HQ at Camps End will allow all riders to make it through Cambridge (29km) before rush hour on Friday morning. The route continues north and snakes around Grafham Water, a popular holiday spot in the Fens but there's no time for vacationing for our riders. The riders will then head south and take a meandering route west of Northampton before heading due north towards Rutland water, home to the Rutland-Melton Cicle Classic; the only mixed-terrain race on the British Cycling National Road Series. 

At 365km, riders will then take on the Fens, which was Camille's original name for this race. The Fens are fertile and flat lands skirting round the east coast, recognisable by The Dykes (the long and straight water drainage ditch-like systems). The elevation profile's flat section belies this stretch's difficulty; if the winds are up as riders head towards the coast then this 100km could be long and slow. If it's dry and the organisers' 36hr finish time estimate for the winner is correct, the front runners will be here around midnight. If it's wet, then the off-road sections can become quite the slog and the organisers expect only a handful to finish within the 67 hours cutoff.

At the seaside town of Hunstanton riders head south and start their return journey, but it's not without its obstacles. The Peddars Way takes the riders out of Hunstanton. At the 560km mark, riders head into Thetford forest where there are some sweet singletrack trails that come at the cost of being sandy. A section of the route that wouldn't be so hard if it wasn't for the fatigue riders will be carrying.

Without the highs of the Pyrénées, you could be forgiven for assuming this race to be the little sister of Camille's original Further. And, you'd be wrong. What East England lacks in elevation, it makes up for in its winds and attritional nature. Without the climbing, there's no descending and therefore no time for rest. What doesn't go up, can't come down.

# The Riders

The start list has only just been released and our jaws dropped at how much talent there is in only 29 riders. It's been hard to pick a shortlist, but here are our favourites:
1. __Laurens ten Dam__ is a former professional World Tour road cyclist of 16 years who has now turned his hand to gravel racing. Placing 1st on GC at the Migration Gravel Race earlier this summer and second at UNBOUND 200, he's fast but unproven on such a long distance.

2. [__Chris Pitblado__](https://dotwatcher.cc/profile/Chris%20Pitblado) may be a name that's new to many, but those who followed the Highland Trail 550 and the past two editions of the Pan Celtic will recognise this Scot's name as one who rarely places outside the top five. He also finished 5th at the 2020 Strathpuffer, and if anyone needed proof of how hard he is, here are [some pictures and his account](https://www.albioncycling.com/2020/01/17-hours-of-darkness/) from the Scottish winter 24hr MTB race.

3. __Simon Richardson__ is a name many will recognise from GCN and co-host of many bikepacking videos with Josh Ibbett. Although it's his first bikepacking race, his vast experience racing MTB and on the road during his six seasons of professional racing make him a candidate to contend the pointy end of the race.

4. Unfortunately for __[Josh Ibbett](https://dotwatcher.cc/profile/Josh%20Ibbett)__, he goes in to the race as the clear favourite. The home advantage has never been disputed, but the advantage of the route designer is the ultimate trump card. His experience is far too long to list here, so it's best to let his [results](https://dotwatcher.cc/profile/Josh%20Ibbett) do the talking.

5. A rider whose 2021 season has been a wildfire of breakthrough rides is [__Marin de Saint Exupéry__](https://dotwatcher.cc/profile/Marin%20de%20Saint-Exup%C3%A9ry); he followed up his win and course record at the HOPE 1000 in June with a storming win at Further Truth last month in the Pyrénées, beating James Hayden, the 2020 winner.

6. Don't call it a comeback, but... [__Neil Phillips__](https://dotwatcher.cc/profile/Neil%20Phillips) is a rider who's slipped away from bikepacking racing in the past few years after his 1st and 2nd place finishes at the Transcontinental Races in 2015 and 2016, respectively. He's maintained his speed with his focus on road, crit and track racing for [Tekkerz](https://www.instagram.com/tekkerzcc/), a UK-based alternative team.

Other ones to watch include [Rich Rothwell](https://dotwatcher.cc/profile/Rich%20Rothwell), another HT550 racer, a tough Northerner and Josh's coach; [Neil Lauder](https://dotwatcher.cc/profile/Neil%20Lauder) is a two time Pan Celtic veteran and winner of the Great British Escapades, but has claimed to not being as fit as usual this season.

In the women's field, there are two notable women who have excelled in the past two editions of GBDURO and are contenders for the overall:

1. [Gail Brown](https://dotwatcher.cc/profile/Gail%20Brown) took a third place overall in the self-sufficient race last year and also rode the route with Josh and Markus Stitz only a few weeks ago.

2. [Philippa Battye](https://dotwatcher.cc/profile/Philippa%20Battye) comes off her 5th place overall at this year's GBDURO having gone one better than her 6th place in the inaugural edition in 2019. Philippa is no stranger to Camille's events and placed 6th at the 2019 inaugural Further in the Pyrénées.

The women's field is completed by the following two riders:

4. Saoirse Pottie is a new name to us and one we're excited to follow. She's unproven in bikepacking races, but we love nothing more than to see a rookie excel in their maiden race.

5. Claire Frecknall is another veteran of Camille's races and lines up for her second ultra race, having scratched Further Pyrénées in 2019.

Edit: Neil Lauder, Laurens ten Dam and Marin de Saint Exupéry will not start. Laurens due to an injury and Marin due to travel difficulty coming from Europe.

In the early hours of this morning, all 23 riders made it out of HQ and through Cambridge before the morning rush hour. The 5am start means riders will make the most of the daylight today, although Saoirse claims to have left 10 minutes late due to some last minute faffing, and has lost a small amount of time since as her rear pack has been slipping. Hopefully, she's able to find a solution quickly, before this minor irritation becomes a full-blown annoyance.

After only 4.5 hours of riding, the front runners have ticked off over 100km and set a blistering pace. There's nothing to be said of the rankings this early into the race. Remember, the race is not won in the first 100km! Don't be fooled by the positioning of some of the race favourites, Josh Ibbett sitting in 11th place is indicative of his experienced pacing stratedy, not his slowness! Although, he may have fallen victim to a puncture, as David Sherrington has.

[Joel McAllister](https://www.instagram.com/joel.j.mcallister/) is currently in the middle of a challenge he set himself to ride 36,500km in 365km days and EAST will give him a massive bump to his average mileage, hopefully earning him a few days rest next week.

The weather looks to be fairly kind to the riders, although the dreaded wind could serve to be decisive. The front runners have made it through the short section of headwind but and will reap the benefits of the tailwind as the others behind them slow.

![Screenshot 20210917 083954](//images.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/3EQ4T09m9gi2cW9FI960I7/4962d5bae57266916fb8039bc38562dd/Screenshot_20210917_083954.jpg)

Here are some shots of the terrain the riders have faced.

![242151420 355682852958861 2754873493759893145 n](//images.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/2ID6AxXUWYgD6lIqjsQxXu/cea677805fe85e27bac68ce98a85220b/242151420_355682852958861_2754873493759893145_n.jpg)

![242195845 3075467189401723 5958336030515443084 n](//images.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/3fHDaTORNU9H7DiQI0Stye/8cd73ae950605855701903c7c9d0a2da/242195845_3075467189401723_5958336030515443084_n.jpg)

📸 Neil Phillips

![242073161 1253176995109069 1547057468001706981 n](//images.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/1edCNPec00gNW3ffvM6D3h/805907667754f6162d980f395a8dea26/242073161_1253176995109069_1547057468001706981_n.jpg)

📸 Nick Tatt

![image2](//images.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/4huMPMex7RVlzvxZY3vlwI/82a4d92cc062f900cfb3b5ed598ce3da/image2.jpeg)
![image0](//images.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/3xzq3m2uoefQOEZYMVc3zs/796990aeec16d9a9f0c29f242dd49979/image0.jpeg)

*Photos of Neil Phillips sent in by a dotwatcher in the wild: Ian Coxon, at Brampton Valley Way.*

After 11 hours of racing, Neil Phillips has established a 32km (1H 30M) lead over Simon Richardson and Rich Rothwell who are currently riding near each other. In fourth place is Josh Ibbett, who has steadily and surely made his way through the pack in a display of an expert's pacing strategy, but how long will it take him to make up the 1H 40M Neil has over him?

Rounding out the top five and 42km behind Neil is Philippa Battye. Philippa rode the initial 632km stage of GBDURO in the top 5 and came into CP1 in 3rd place overall and 1st woman, but she slipped to 5th overall by the finish at John O'Groats. Given her efforts in the first stage, we suspect this distance and terrain will suit this deisel engine perfectly.

We are expecting Gail Brown to make up some time during the race, she's a zero-faff racer and a strong rider, and as the race progresses the potential for making up time grows and her TCR and GBDURO experience will show.

The only pair in the race will be Ingebord Dybdal and Ian To will be riding the route as a time trial but on the tandem pictured below. We think they're mental, as does Camille. More power to them!

![241997521 584340232687686 1870596691332511659 n](//images.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/7iVbrXpH53ONPwr5unheth/df4a4c2947a24c2450df7ab00ccbbd43/241997521_584340232687686_1870596691332511659_n.jpg)

Day 1: Afternoon update

*Photos by [Markus Stitz](https://www.instagram.com/reizkultur/)*

As the daylight fades Neil Phillips has established a solid lead. He'll be tackling on of the most challenging sections of the route in the dark. After Spalding the Further East route follows a number of long dykes, which never seem to end. Riding this section in the dark might be an advantage, and the wind seems very favourable, with only a slight breeze from the south east.

![Further East - Markus Stitz](//images.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/4zIvh8YHrg6Y3rzkBWA6u2/1e484183077c9ef2b6a8cab243ff066b/DJI_0905.JPG)!

![Further East - Near Spalding](//images.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/3favc12Mvhkz76C7nDgFl9/759e3c3d4078fe230ca89148cb048474/DJI_0922.JPG)

After Sutton Bridge the terrain gets much easier again, this is a potential resupply point with shops and takeaways. King's Lynn is the next bigger town, cycling through here at night should be entertaining. When Josh, Gail and I tested the route a few weeks back, we ended up in a fun fair. The route rolls further along, mainly on roads through Sandringham, one of the Queen's retreats.

![IMG 7296](//images.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/1NeZMpgvmZSRv6PhnVHmHP/b9cc2f7998d266a0354168b851293497/IMG_7296.JPG)

Knowing the route well Josh Ibbett, who now sits in second place, will know how to pace himself and where to find resupply. Rich Rothwell and Si Richardson are very close to each other, with Philippa Battye as the fastest woman and Joel McAllister not far behind. 

![IMG 7301](//images.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/4WT8L06XQ3H0I0Xl1j5931/dcdc8e97f534c2801f03c48a1619afe8/IMG_7301.JPG)

Chris Pitblado is chasing from 9th position at the moment. Another one to watch is Gail Brown, as she know the route as well. 

Hunstanton marks the 470km mark, let's see if Neil let's the seagulls steal his chips? 

Day 1: Evening update

*Photos by [Markus Stitz](https://www.instagram.com/reizkultur/)*

Neil Phillips is well on track to win the first edition of FURTHER EAST. He is back in Cambrigdeshire now, with easy kilometres to the finish line. It was in question last night when one spoke broke, but it doesn't seem to have hampered his race winning efforts. The battle for second is still open between route creator Josh Ibbett and Rich Rothwell. Both are good friends, so this will be an interesting one to watch. Josh's average moving speed has been below Rich's speed, so with possibly no stops left until the finish line, this could be the deciding factor. Both are just about to hit Thetford Forest, which has kilometres of singletrack, and surely will put a big smile on their faces. Rich and Josh are mountain bikers at heart, and this is the forest in which Josh trained for years, so he will know each turn.

![DJI 0933](//images.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/3iZYNLm6G0CXf7GO4KpCDL/e68d6e523d3e4d763037f277dd51f41f/DJI_0933.JPG)

![IMG 7357](//images.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/4SqiaqHe3ZdMmZPqSmE9op/836d4939345a228765285e1145f7c6f5/IMG_7357.JPG)

GCN presenter Si Richardson and Philippa Battye are next, with Si's moving speed about 2km/h faster, but their average route speed roughly the same. This suggests Si has stopped more often. His [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/p/CT7h4NVsA0s/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link) backs that up.

Gail Brown, the second fastest woman in the field at 9th, has jumped a few places overnight. Her average moving speed is almost the same as the route speed, which suggests that she has not really stopped. Chris Pitblado, one of the favourites for the win, has made a lot of ground after an early mechanical, currently lying at 7th, but well behind to challenge the leaders.

![IMG 7398](//images.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/5MqEIYnpNRUb6hJBDu7sbg/c509e60c6f15474a7233d0a345a37174/IMG_7398.JPG)


We have a winner. Neil Phillips is first home, winning the inaugural Further East in 1d 3h 48m. Riding the 638km in an average route speed of 22.84km/h. Impressive! Josh Ibbett now has a comfortable lead for second and is approximately 3H 30M behind Neil's pace, but it will be interesting to see who will be taking third/fourth and fifth place. The tight contenders for fourth are Philippa and Si, but both of their trackers have intermittent updates, so be sure to check the Last Report time when comparing the two.

[https://www.instagram.com/p/CT9J1d0sFmf/](https://www.instagram.com/p/CT9J1d0sFmf/)

Luckily for us, Neil has already uploaded his ride to [Strava](https://www.strava.com/activities/5977996283/overview) for us to do some digging. The tracker data rarely shows the correct stopping time, but a GPS unit is much more accurate. From Neil's Strava file we can see fairly accurately that over the 27H 48M his Wahoo recorded, he stopped for almost exactly 2 hours, and even managed to bag a few KOMs en route!

![Screenshot 20210918 132031](//images.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/5BPPY2dTqdQrTSuR6orM33/ef05114503d52cf51fd31b239c7b2a46/Screenshot_20210918_132031.jpg)

Further back in the field there were a few scratches with Joel McAllister, Jamie Boughton, Greg Koumoundouros, Nick Tatt, Jo Burt & Claire Frecknall.

A point made to us by guest commentator Markus Stitz was how unrelenting the course is. Without the big climbs, there are no long descents and no time for rest. This route zaps the legs of even the fittest and gives no respite for those carrying any niggles, as riders have to be on the pedals all day. We know Joel scratched due to a knee injury, and it's likely the unforgiving nature of the route had much to do with this.

This leaves 16 riders left in the race, including the only pair, on a tandem.

![242226423 591908101816995 9197703075917868337 n](//images.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/vHRJna4B6fWclo4LqVS2n/4eff912f4bff0042d236c0627f07b0f6/242226423_591908101816995_9197703075917868337_n.jpg)

<https://www.instagram.com/p/CT9jEgyM8hw/>

Josh came into HQ in a provisional time of 31H 37M.

Behind Josh, the podium looked to be sown up with Rich Rothwell coming in behind him but it looks like a routing error when the return leg of the route met the outward leg has cost him third place on the podium, and he concedes to Simon Richardson. We hate to see it!

How much #further? 

Almost another lap for Rich. 

![20210918 134447](//videos.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/6j2vnDouStAZ2cmoDtxW98/55bc43b4e5ddbea35587d8f9e88a4868/20210918_134447.mp4)

Josh Ibbett takes second

Over the past 7 hours since our last report, eight riders have come in and there's been drama in the top 6. We reported in our earlier post that Rich Rothwell had conceded third place to Si Richardson due to a routing error. However, it took him two hours to correct his error and return to the inward section of the route, which ultimately placed him 6th rider home. Looking at the replay on Follow My Challenge, it appears he may have deviated from the route. We'll know more soon, hopefully. Rich finished in 6th overall and will likely be kicking himself! We hate to see it!

With Simon in third, fourth place went to first woman Phil Battye (34H 47M) having ridden what we can tell from the analytics was a well paced effort, although not quite as immaculately as Josh's. All photos we've seen of Phil include her with a grin from ear to ear, so we can only imagine she enjoyed herself!

Second woman was Gail Brown (36H 44M), who took 9th overall and coming in 2 hours behind Phil. While Gail appears to have stopped more regularly than Phil, each time was never for more than 15 minutes which corresponds with a point Markus Stitz made about her excellent resupply efficiency when he, Gail and Josh rode the route earlier in the month.

An interesting takeaway from scouring the analytics is just how long Si stopped for during the night. He took what was easily the longest rest any of the top 10; his dot diverged from Josh's at 4am when Si stopped for 2H 20M but clawed back 50M over the remaining 160km to come in only 1H 30M behind Josh. Si also managed to claw back three spots in the rankings after he woke, although this includes Rich's navigational faux-pas.

![FURTHER EAST rider data](//images.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/5ZPLWpp6gJ2ZGi9BzeHFqK/ca7192599cf6a11a03a71c6a581279fe/download__1_.png)

From the Analytics graph we can clearly see the 24hr McDonalds in Bourne at 358km had a great turnout of riders throughout the night. A staple of ultra riders the world over.

As we come out of the second night's riding, we saw five riders come in during the dark: Josh, Kurt, Pete, Martin and Stephen. Pete's tracker has stopped short of HQ but we believe he has completed the course.

Ian and Ingeborg were making steady progress on their tandem and looked to have stopped at 11:30pm for approx 8H 30M near Spalding (380km) at the start of the flatlands of the Dykes in the Fens. However, they scratched this morning and now appear to be heading back in the direction of HQ at the speed of a vehicle. Or, they're motoring back for a shower!

Another rider whose tracker has gone off-route is Saoirse Pottie. She put on her Instagram that she'd bumped into some drunk people on the sandy singletrack in Thetford forest (570km) and headed off-route to find phone signal. Her tracker pinged in Thetford town and then in a residential area in Cambridge at 01:30am and she's not moved since.

![242405429 403236334534426 3669271151351466625 n](//images.contentful.com/6hyijb95boju/38Ydp7Eu4IHQLcT3LGQwsg/9700c493ce190d1353b3986ec49ed88f/242405429_403236334534426_3669271151351466625_n.jpg)

If Saoirse does scratch, then there's no rider left out on the course and the first edition of FURTHER EAST will be over. We await to see her decision.

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