photo by Chris Ramaglia ([@apilgrimsprogress](https://www.instagram.com/apilgrimsprogress/))

Things are quiet out there on the east Anglian roads. Riders have returned to HQ, packed up their tents and returned from whence they came. Rebecca Sykes made it back an hour or so after the cut-off, kudos to the laterne rouge; who rode with perseverance and true determination. 

I've really enjoyed commentating on this lost weekend and I hope you all have had an entertaining read and a chuckle.

__Cheers, Greg__

*corrections corner: there was actually a mass start this year not a staggered start as mentioned.*

Equinox Fin - Further 2025

photo by Mike Owen ([@mikeowen8935](https://www.instagram.com/mikeowen8935/))

The riders came trundling in all throughout the night. Race organiser Camille must be in a zombie like state by this point, similar in spirit to the riders themselves.

9th place overall and 3rd place female finisher, Justyna Jarczok came in just after 9pm last night.. I am always impressed by fast riders that can also take pictures during an event. Here is a pic she took of a notorious stretch of field that you have to hike over(I'm getting flashbacks).

![mudfield](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/67t8Hh6zR4ygg6SuS0mIEf/01d055f346939d4508ccb010e4d7dc6f/mudfield.jpg)
photo: Justyna Jarczok ([@justine_bike](https://www.instagram.com/justine_bike/))

Only 3 or 4 riders stopped for a prolonged period of time last night.
So many riders this year powered through, with such little stopping time,, sleep is the word on most of the riders lips,,

Rebecca Sykes has 112km to go and Stan Bekker is hovering around 100km. 
Cut-off is looming(3pm) but keep on truckin'! 

It has been quite at HQ for a couple hours but it looks as if the next swathe of riders are making there way in. Time to put the kettle on....and perhaps start hazily dreaming back on being huddled around the camp fire a few days ago - all smiles and pain free...

![camp](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/2E9aXS8VPpCseiR6PoqMy/14317eab8cde23192138b19ab902a4a2/campfire.jpg) photo: Samuel Mcclean ([@The_suffolk_snail](https://www.instagram.com/The_suffolk_snail/))


Enter Sandman - day 3 - Further Equinox

photo Stan Bekker ([@stanbekker](https://www.instagram.com/stanbekker/))

Spare a moment for Stan Bekker. He has had one flat after another. He is down to patching his last inner tube in yet another dark and brooding forest. As the last of the front pack roll into Camp's End, just as the fluttering patches of late evening light fade into the horizon; they no doubt grab a beer around the fire, of course tired and achy; they may rest their bones. Out in the wild the main pack is still turning the pedals and still figuring out whether to turn in for the night.

Let's keep looking at the dots and watch what they do....

Eva Grange and Stanley Mcnulty have come in at the same time(37 hrs 52 mins) finishing in 5th and 6th place respectively.

Sam Messingham(7th) has 6km to go.

fun note: Michal Serafin is the winner of the unofficial singlespeed -FURTHER Dash race... put that in your archives people.

Right jumping on a plane now. all the best , Greg

Enter the Night II - Further Equinox

photo [@frthr.co](https://www.instagram.com/frthr.co/)

Cara Dixon has landed in at a blistering pace; covered in a light smattering of rain she has finished Further Equinox as the top female finisher with a time of 32 hrs 52 mins. Congratulations. 

3rd place Samuele Tonello has also come in. His time 31 hrs 21 mins.
Congratulations.

![stats](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/2HhulZiC5hwlGDPYDnIBS8/453b2e4103966c11b20ab85ea294aa55/carafinish.jpg) photo Cara Dixon ([@_caradixon](https://www.instagram.com/_caradixon/))

__Here is the race report from those out on the road__

5th place Stanley Mcnulty and 6th place Eva Grange are nipping at each others heels and have around 56km left.

(7th) Sam Messingham is 20km behind and tailing him by 6km is Mat Morgan(8th)

Justyna Jarczok(9th) has now made it onto the the smooth tarmac and is heading west back to base camp. The one caveat is there are now some rolling hills to contend with. Although the knowledge that she is nearly done will carry her the rest of the way.

Tenth place rider Alex Adams has been dropped from the loose pack of front riders and is now riding in close proximity to 11th place Mark Burgess.

Dropping down the table, we have Patrick Herron in 30th position. With two hours or so of daylight left and 220km to go what is going to be his plan? This question will be starting to cross many of the riders minds out there. 

The first DASH riders have come in:
1st. Jack Shuttleworth 
2nd. Jack Frigaard

James Wyatt, a favourite of mine from the Norfolk360, who had a kind of ghostrider vibe in that event; adorned in pale whites with a mop of light grey/white hair has unfortunately scratched..

Right I've got to dash to the airport to grab a plane. Final evening report dropping from the departure lounge.


First Female - Further Equinox

photo by Mike Owen ([@mikeowen8935](https://www.instagram.com/mikeowen8935/))

__Drop your tea and biscuits__

Alex Mccormack has flown round the route in 29 hrs 19 mins. As we say in the business,, wowza. Congratulations. What an effort.

And this just in Samuel Mcclean has now also finished . His time, 30 hrs 47 mins.

Samuele Tonello has 8km to go........

This has been your bite sized snack update.

Elevenses - Winner - Further Equinox


Good Morning Watchers,
This is the image that some riders might have witnessed as they cruised into Southwold this morning. Too early for fish and chips, but not too early to appreciate the sun rising on the aquatic horizon...

You might have noticed some new names appear on the map. These are the tracked -Dash- riders. Not everybody has trackers so I will try and get some more intel on what's occurring.

*Here is a few to look out for:* Jack Friggard, Grant Mankee, Jack Shuttleworth, Billy Douglas-Hamilton, Philip Lake and Matthew Knight

__At the pointy part of the stick__

 Alex Mccormack is 25km from the finish. The question is, will he beat the FKT of 31hours and some change(I'll be more precise later on).
Samuel Mcclean has 60km to go and the next question is will he beat the record too? In third is Samuele Tonello(who looks to be building up steam), he is 15km behind Samuel, will he catch him up?

Something I missed from last night, was the evening battle for the 3rd spot between Cara Dixon and Samuele Tonello who just passed her as they rode out of Peddars Way. This leaves Cara Dixon in fourth place with 105km to go. After that the split is big; Eva Grange and Stanley Mcnulty are both around the 175km mark.

17km down the road are the last four spots in the top 10:
Sam Messingham, Mat Morgan and Justyna Jarczok and Alex Adams; who are all 4-7km apart from each other.

![peddars](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/5YOG3vuFadkH1l4S6zv0JV/c509d2aec89a25514cd6d12dcd19850c/justine.jpeg) 
*'hitting Peddars Way at night'*
photo Justyna Jarczok ([@justine_bike](https://www.instagram.com/justine_bike/))

King's Lynn and Hunstanton seemed to be the place quite a few riders that were not creatures of the night stopped to have some respite.

We have had two more riders scratch during the night. Max Riese, plagued with punctures and tyre issues called it a day or perhaps night might be more appropriate. He also had a crash on his way back to HQ. Not in the best of moods we wish him good vibes and hope the crash wasn't too serious. He was a real contender this year, so a shame to see him not complete his ride.

David Alexander Howson is also a DNF, not sure why at the moment but will find out.

Rob Mcritchie hasn't moved for awhile, will check in on his status.

This is a shout out to Chris Ramaglia and Wayne Henderson, who scratched last year. They are still going strong. Hit them up on the socials and give them some loving messages.

Right, I feel like by the time I post this Alex will have finished. 

*The weather today:* right now 8c and misty, the sun will break out later and bring things up to 15c.

Catch you in a bit, Greg


9am Wake-up Call - Further Equinox

photo by [@frthr.co](https://www.instagram.com/frthr.co/)

Hold the press people. Are your lids sleepy? Well wake up for a second...

Alex Mccormack is actually in the lead right now. Some tracker issues have reared the proverbial ugly head. So from running through the replay mode on *followmychallenge*, it looks like things went wrong around 200km in. At the 360km, just before Swaffham he has had battery swap and by the looks of it a gallon of Lucozade(see pic above).

Samuel Mcclean and Alex have been duking it out in the twisty single track of Thetford forest in the dark! Mavericks. Would be cool to hear how that all went down from the boys at a later date.

The other riders at the top of the board are either tackling Peddars way or on their way out of it.

Five or so riders look like they have stopped for the night in the King's Lynn area. 

It is now decision time for the rest of the gang. Have they packed light because they are feeling ruthless, are they packing a bivy and looking for a spot or have they booked somewhere?

Nine hours till sunrise, let's see if the start of a new day will shed some light on the situation..

If it looks like things are cooling down for the evening then think again. The Dash riders will be setting off at midnight tonight. Following the Icknield way they will join up with the other riders just outside of Thetford. You might have noticed a bunch of off-track riders, that would be the dashers.. straight into the dark for these nocturnal heroes. Bon voyage.

And finally, I think fifth place, Cara Dixon has expressed my conceptual understanding of this ride perfectly.

![Nuclear](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6i4qjVwIag1ay1XENUpLNK/786d9caa18d28ea3464e3a2af0ec68aa/cara.jpg) image by Cara Dixon / [@_caradixon](https://www.instagram.com/_caradixon/)

Night Rider - Further Equinox

Just a quick little post for you all to have a read over as you tuck into your dinner. First off, all the photos in this post are promvided by Sue and Les who captured the main contingent of riders as they passed through Biggleswade common at the 70km mark. A big thank you for getting in touch and sending me these candid snaps. 

At the front Samuel Mcclean(@302km) is maintaining his lead at consistent 18 or kilometers over the now second place Max Riese. Following after him the lead chasers are spreading out and each have an average 5km over the rider behind them. 

![rider2](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/39YO6XuzdDwkQMJU1tslYx/ace84efe8d4040f01af88348fc3dd5c0/Screen_Shot_2025-09-26_at_15.21.36.png)

The main body of riders are about to hit the banks of the river Welland. Here they will ride up a few meters and then ride along the super uncomfortable grass covered hard earth, which will sap their legs but hopefully not their spirits.

![pic3](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/40cYtVKgBFSpa5qFQ7z3px/4a9a7b19c219d37dcd9841f52a6bbe23/Screen_Shot_2025-09-26_at_15.22.03.png)

Sundown is in just under an hour now. Last year people made it to the Premier Inn at King's Lynn for a sleep, but at the rate people are going, they might not even stop there this year....

![pic4](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/5EZMXrmHUz3Sgzdrr95nio/7e8a7d293cae687209e34fa319bc1cec/Screen_Shot_2025-09-26_at_15.20.53.png)

That is it for now. I'll be doing another post a bit later into the evening. Thanks again to Sue and Les for the pics, that's what collective dotwatching is all about. As always anybody can email me at gregnay@graphiccoffee.com with pics and stories. Cheers


Friday Night Dinner - Further Equinox

photo(Samuel Mcclean) 

Good afternoon dotwatchers, we are nearly eight hours into Further Equinox and Samuel Mcclean(that's him smiling in the picture) is 213km deep into his effort. He is steamrolling his way ahead of the others.

20km behind is Cara Dixon. Max Riese and Eva Grange are hot on her heels in 3rd and 4th, after having just swung around the bucolic Rutland Waters; a nice respite from the bridleways and roads. Samuele Tonello and	Stanley Mcnult are just arcing their way round the northern edge of the lake. As a side note Max no doubt lost his position due to having already had two punctures.

![Flats](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/7xqKYEW6YoTGaxMHpM8cht/79ad5c0f82d1b45b3cf3bfde1654a6c2/bekker.jpg)photo(Max Riese) [@kleinerriese](https://www.instagram.com/kleinerriese/) 

In the rest of the field, the usual issues are popping up, Stan Bekker is also on his second flat of the day. Yury Kovenskiy had some idling time of around 3 hours, but is now making his way through the ranks.

An update on our rider who scratched. Unfortunately Andy Proffitt went into a ditch and broke his nose. Wishing him a speedy recovery

The weather according to followmychallenge is broken clouds, I'm hoping I don't sound like a broken record by the end of this. Another update will be dropping in a couple of hours. Greg

Friday afternoon Sprint

And they have set-off, the sun has now risen and the riders have have left FURTHER HQ.

Right out of the gates some of the top contenders were all at the front of the pack. This is in no particular order but these were the top 5 at around the 40km:Alex Mccormack, Cara Dixon, Max Riese, Samuel Mcclean and Eva Grange.

As of right now (55km), Alex Mccormack and Max Riese have broke away from the lead group and are pacing each other, in each others sight and on the peddles.

Samuel Mcclean is a little further back.. perhaps settling in to a pace that will suit the full distance...

The rest of the pack are trundling along doing their thing. It's still early days and we shall see how this all unfolds.

There looks to be one non-starter.

The weather is cloudy, with a gentle breeze from the east.

Another update will be dropping this afternoon. Bye for now.

The dawn cries - and Further Equinox begins 

Greg Nay

Eva Grange

Charles Stewart

Inspired by the London Cycle Club time trials of the interwar years, riders will depart at one-minute intervals from dawn.

Further Equinox East 2025 Tracking and Commentary

Inspired by the London Cycle Club time trials of the interwar years, riders will depart at one-minute intervals from dawn. Leaving the city behind they will embark on an off-road adventure through the untamed landscapes of East Anglia.

DotWatcher.cc

Further Equinox East 2025

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