The Bikes!

Alex McCormack

Thomas Boury

Christophe Dijkmans

Nick Dokman

Sylvain Arhancet

 Ski Sharp

Peter James

Georgia Drew

Simon Rosmolen

Alex Hudgell

Rich Rothwell

Mark Whittaker

Daniel Gona

Michiel Seevinck

Jonneke Sterk

Mark Schmid

William Waggeveld

Philippa Battye

Neil Phillips

Thijs Kroon

Meg Pugh

Jean Philippe Vidal

For its 5th edition, Camille gathered 21 participants who started the Further Perseverance race on Friday, the 25th of August at 5.30am local time. 
4 days later, we saw the final arrival with the 8th rider completing this year course. 

Certainly, the bigger player for all was the weather that riders had to face. Climbing up to the Refuge on Thursday in high 30's and returning there in low temperatures around 5 degrees celcius. In the lower part of the route, they were followed by some relentless rain in France, Spain and Andorra. 
There has been a very rare sight of snow fall at the altitude, a novelty added to the race history by the Mother Nature. 

Prior to the race, we were all wondering whether an earlier start and slightly adjusted night curfew times on 3 sectors, will give us a faster race this time given that same sectors from 2022 edition were proposed by Camille. 
Alex finished around 15 hours earlier that last year's winner Richard however the conditions in which he tackle the same final hike-a bike from Andorra were simply impossible to compare and comprehend, being end of August summertime. 
We saw 6 riders going past the end of sector 6B by the time of first night curfew with no one reaching such position last year. 

Following on from the pre-race dinner, Camille presented his idea that the winning route will become fixed one for anyone who would like to tackle this under fastest known time (FKT) rules. From here, it means that it will include a return Andorran traverse, but other questions were raised and discussed among riders and we shall simply be patient to see what will be decided by Camille. 

Looking ahead, the Pyrenean event has been flagged by Camille with some potential changes to its format. Will we see a new set of sectors to free route, will the lentgh of the event be challenged by him? 
Being up in the Refuge at the start and finish of the event, it was pretty certain that this is perfect location for Further Perseverance as heard and exchanged with all riders, friends and famillies. 

![IMG 2483](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/1eQsJHpE5UrI7Vnnt7VI9s/88f38ff86711767e2a9fdff2fd77c61a/IMG_2483.jpeg)

![IMG 2475](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/3KBU6xkqZOiMYvW91pad2x/300367fde40a47a3f3e6a90bc7b64589/IMG_2475.jpeg)

Perseverance. Final notes. 

After Pete and Ski arrival on Monday early AM, we were left with the dots of Georgia and Alex H still active on the tracking website. They did manage to get into a shelter space before continuing the sector 9B with what was left of it from 6.30am. 
The weather conditions were not any better to what other ahead of them had to face and they really braved it again in the cold temperatures and the rain surrounded by some snowy peaks at the top of sector 9B. 
After the longest descent among all the sectors they took a good moment to regroup, refuel and recharge. That was back in Salardú in Spain. 
They both went apart with Alex H scratching and Georgia tracing back via sector 8 direction the refuge.
That day and from that moment, many of us were glued to the tracking website cheering on the only female left on the road and frequent refreshes of the tracking website were on order on our mobile devices throughout the day. 
I managed to actually catch Georgia on her descent into Foix by Monday midnight and took a couple of pictures. She was in a delirious but happy state of riding, still going strong on her bike and really aiming to make it to the refuge in order to complete the route. Battling with some substantial sleep depravation, she rode further direction Tarascon-sur-Ariège, Les Cabannes and the refuge of Rulhe. 
A couple of riders and few race supporters did welcome Georgia at 2185m of altitude when she reached her final destination on Tuesday morning after 4 days, 4 hours, 19 minutes and 32 seconds (translating this to to 9.49am local time).
Her effort was well recognised by Camille and due to the extreme weather Georgia's time was recorded and she was the first woman. 
When questioned upon her arrival, she said that not finishing wasn't an option because ... why not? 
Initially, Georgia made an enquiry with Camille for her spot at Further East in England (mid September) however Camille invited her to come over to Ariège instead. Clearly Georgia's familiarity with the mountains was her strong advantage during the entire event. 

What a beautiful story to round-up all 2023 arrivals at Further Perserverance for you! 

This year delivered some spectacular riding at Further and we would like to again mention a huge well done to Alex, Thomas, Christophe, Nick, Sylvain, Pete, Ski and Georgia to arrive back to the refuge and everyone else that was there at the start last Friday at 5.30am! 


Final arrival at the Refuge. Georgia.

The refuge was settling for a night sleep after a lazy afternoon of chats, board games and napping for some. There was a heartfull dinner shared by everyone staying that night and we were preparing to receive next three arrivals in the course of further few hours before the new day. 
Sylvain was on his return via Andorra whilst Pete and Ski showed some additional creativity with their traverse from Spain to France via Port de Salau. Camille send there riders participating in the 3rd edition of the race in 2021. As mentioned by Pete upon his arrival the tricky and technical track down to the villages of Salau and Couflens was a flowing stream that both riders had to negotiate among well present rocks until the bottom of this epic descent. 
The rain was not willing to give some rest to the three fighting to reach the refuge. 

We saw first Sylvain arriving around 1am that night absolutely cold and looking for a warm shower. The kind team at the refuge left us with coins to allow the returning riders to warm up their bodies with hot water - one of the best rewards after this cold and wet day and night they braved until the finish. 
Reporting on his Andorran route, Sylvain had to negotiate between cars and road barriers when descending from Port Cabus due to a weekend with UCI Downhill World Championship taking place in the Principality over that weekend. He then called out a heavy wind on his final hike-a-bike approach where at some point holding his bike above his head was no longer possible. To keep balance, he had to put the bike down and push it beside him.
Again, the rocks and builders in front of the refuge were mentioned with his final kilometres to complete the ride. 
Sylvain lives in Pau closer to the valleys taking cyclists onto the tarmac paved famous high Pyrenean cols and did choose Further as his local race. 

We saw Sylvain setting off into a provided room and then the second waiting game started. In the main room of the refuge, there were four of us with Camille and Matt and Ryan from the film crew and in a space of further couple of hours, we saw each other trying all possible resting positions between chairs, benches and table available to us. 

A couple of headlight were located on the final part of the approach and with a relief we continued to peak out awaiting Pete and Ski silhouette with their bike to become bigger and get closer and closer to the building of the refuge. They arrived near 4am soaked through and showing some serious signed of cold temperature penetrating their tired bodies. We wrapped them well in blankets and they were welcomed with some heated dinner and tea. There journey was simply full of character and perseverance on display. Pete has completed Camille's race for the fourth consecutive year. We are eager to see if his pal Ski would catch the adventure bug and will be back next year. When the sector 9B night curfew finished at 6.30am on Sunday, they soon crossed paths with a Park Ranger who advised about a very low temperature expected towards the top of the sector and we heard Ski mentioning a mere two degrees Celsius as experienced by all three. The rain did stop before their traverse at the top and it also stopped on their approach to Port de Salou later in the afternoon. The final climb on their route was really challenging and as they hiked up the refuge they both reported their body temperature suddenly decreasing with altitude. Pete arrived as the only participant using a space blanket between his bibs and a couple of layers on top of it to keep him warmer. 
Both, Pete and Ski were awarded by Camille with a joint 6th place!

Shortly after everyone at the refuge was in their beds, the three riders could finally savour the dry and warm environment after having interacted with all the outside elements that the Pyrenean mountains have thrown at them during the race. 


2nd night arrivals 

The plan was to wake up and capture Thomas as he was going through Tarascon-sur-Ariège on his way back the refuge. The alarm was set for 3am but I somehow woke up to check on the tracking website before 2am and spotted his dot already past Foix, less around 10km from our hotel. 
I really felt that I only managed to progress into that nice deep sleep and suddenly I had to wake up the film crew to prepare the shooting and our final move to the refuge. 

The villages and towns are public light free between 1am and 6am within the Ariège Natural Park so we spotted Thomas a couple of km down the road with his front lamp beam on. He passed us in omnipresent silence, he seemed glued with his position to the bars and the saddle. He had additional 12 km of flat tarmac roads to Les Cabannes from where the Aston valley does lead to the dam, the carpark and the Refuge of Rulhe. When he cycled through Tarascon the rain did intensify with sudden much heavier falls. 

![IMG 7563](//videos.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/3vtDoBdn0WhMHMqgFAGsxy/6d814dd5ef32206a22ece4d7d239d032/IMG_7563.mov)

Having seen the tracker once more before jumping back to the car, we recorded that Alex and Christophe were progressing through Andorra towards the final hike-a-bike. We were not certain which traverse would prove faster but our final journey did not have any alternative at that point. 
We passed Thomas who was out of his saddle on the climb already above Aston and we rode up to the car park with the plan to wait and follow him in the lower part of his hike-a-bike. 

The rain was relentless and a thunderstorm installed itself above the car park. The Lightning was getting stronger and stronger and we drecided to adjust our intentions. We left the car with a pouring rain accompanying us to a hut more less half way up to the refuge. With no sign of Thomas getting close behind us, we continued our hike. In front us, we spotted a head lamp going down from the direction of Andorra. It was either Alex or Christophe, we were out of mobile signal since we drove into the Aston valley. The temperature was getting lower and lower as we were gaining further altitude. The trail was a constantly flowing stream with more and more snow visible on each side of it. The forecast shared by Calou, the refuge guardian was certainly not one of his joke. 

The refuge had some lights on as we could see through the windows, Camille was up early that morning anticipating first arrivals still under the night sky.

We did reached the refuge to be told that Alex McCormick came first and we missed him by 10 minutes or so!
Unbelievable finish by Alex who did leave Christophe behind from Port de Fortagente at the French-Andorran border. 

![IMG 2453](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6zhkoWZJhVfy57X8pSNL5v/1c0536a851878a5691a3883df71575fc/IMG_2453.jpeg)

Alex saw our three headlamps thinking that one of them was Thomas' and that gave him a final push to the finish literally mixing some running and crouching in the final meters he had to conquer. 2 days 15 minutes to complete the loop! As heard from Alex himself:
"I have never been scared that way - I decided to run as quick as I could."
On his final hike back to the refuge, both Alex and Christoph were caught with a travelling thunderstorm from Andorra. Alex told us that he had to stop and shelter under his bike few times and reported some cm of snow between the big builders that he had to traverse in front of the refuge. This was a return route that was taken by all but one finisher during last year edition, without snowy addition!

Thomas came in second around 70 minutes later. He "emptied his tank" - one of his motivational agreement he made with himself for this race. 

![IMG 2457](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/3OLjLKF6QFVRGKaFB6GD2i/4ad0bb8d8127fb748b723c75d16d164c/IMG_2457.jpeg)

Upon arrival to the car park, he had to shelter in a cabanne as the thunderstorm was in its full swing and his arrival time did include around 45 minutes of an enforced stop by the Mother Nature. We saw a mix of emotions expressed by Thomas with a moment of disappointment, anger, relief and somewhere deep inside him with happiness to finish with a prospect of dry clothes and warmer indoor space. 

3rd to arrive, 8 minutes after Thomas, was Christophe who walked in with the bike strapped to his back. 

![IMG 2466](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/3SplQjypbrxRamtf2vfin5/3685e90a4b05909e9f0f6e18aa7305f7/IMG_2466.jpeg)

The challenging traverse in front of the refuge was not his favourite one mentioning that the hike-a-bike sectors proposed by Camille are simply like no other bike race he has participated in. This is a separate topic to gather other riders thoughts and experiences, I certainly think so!  

Following Christophe, we had Nick to return to the refuge who did take a similar return route into France as Thomas. 

![IMG 2473](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/408qxFe9U9iUQkjuwmYohq/0643b0edf6f0ac59268609e44bae17a5/IMG_2473.jpeg)

His dedication visible in the broad daylight was showing the hardship of the route plus a constant fight with rain and cold since he completed the sector 9B last night. With his second run at Further Perseverance route, he improved his stop time and came stronger to this year event. Last year, he finished on Monday evening, this time, it was Sunday past midday.

A number of riders that left the route also hiked up to the refuge and the place continues to be filled with stories of everyone's experience. 

At the time of writing this at the refuge on Sunday, Pete, Ski and Sylvain have cleared the final sector in the morning and they were heading back to refuge. 
Should they carry on without much of stop time they will be back in the early morning hours on Monday. 
Georgia and Alex H reached Les with the start of sector 9B and we are eager to understand their next move. 


First arrivals to the Refuge!

We had three groups at the start of the day between the start of sector 6A and end of sector 7. The leading pack had some clean rest in arranged accommodation, whilst three riders spent their night curfew out on sector 6B. The participants of last evening pizza party stayed around Massat to recuperate. 

The morning action was rapid and energising on sector 7 that was fully covered in the mist and rain. The media crew saw Thomas, Christophe, Alex and Nick flying past before reaching the towards Aulus-les-Bains. This was all  shortly after 8am. 

Port Saleix was absolutely invisible from our position as I was only able to show the direction in which we would have seen it on a better day.
Whilst we were patiently awaiting the descent by Pete, Ski and Simon, the heaven gave us the best gift with the clouds being separated to the both side of the col. The end to the sector seven was just in front of us. it all happened similar to out arrival to the CP the previous morning. This was the best moment according to the film crew as I asked them about today,s impressions during our evening meal. 

The rest of the day, we witnessed the existing three groups sticking together the way they were ticking off climbs with Portet d'Aspet, Col de Menthé and sector 8, direction to Les in Spain. 

Our on the ground contacts also checked in with  Jonneke and Mark Schmid as they were making a steady progress towards sector 6B. 

At the time of writing tonight, we have 4 riders that completed both sectors 9 with Thomas and Nick heading back via Arran valley into France and Alex and Christophe returning via Andorra. 

We then have Pete, Ski on sector 9B and Sylvain still on sector 9A. All three will be resting during the night curfew at the altitude. 
Further behind, Rich and Simon decided to stay in Les and start sector 9A at 6.30am tomorrow. 
The tracking website is showing some movement with Mark W, Georgia whilst Daniel and Alex H have stopped in Saint Girons.

The big question for the night ahead is whether Thomas could make his longer in distance traverse via French Piemonte faster that the two riders who opted for Andorra?

There is a small welcome committee already at the refuge. Our last exchange over phone did mention strong winds and stormy weather for the nocturnal hours ahead.

We are heading with the film crew to the refuge early AM to capture an exciting first arrivals of this very much eventful race this year. There will be no signal nor mobile reception until Monday evening for me but please continue refreshing the tracking website for the real-time developments on the course.

![IMG 2361](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/3Sz76ykac8p65Le7l2MEAD/06916e52aa44d3ff2b0e6b8791e6437e/IMG_2361.jpeg)

![IMG 2364](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/2zitE4GQtF4BHxjQb6ff4S/b84f59bebaced122ef8f89cf544e6fa8/IMG_2364.jpeg)

![IMG 2389](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/43tatA9IvGsl1nUVuMXmJ9/74ac31386dde7e3743a32cf318be39b9/IMG_2389.jpeg)

![IMG 2428](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/1RvkDhmlEaC3eKaB9RhfMo/4a4c212b1f123993ec69526d37121c53/IMG_2428.jpeg)


Sectors 6B and 7 in the morning and two different return routes from end of sector 9B

The right bike for Further Perseverance doesn't exist. An event that includes the hiking path of the Val d’Aran to the fast tarmac of the French Pyreneen foothills makes for the agonising task of choosing an appropriate steed. Striking the right balance between weight and necessary equipment is near impossible as riders will undoubtedly have their bikes on their backs high in the mountains at times and be flying along the paved roads of the lowlands at others. One thing’s for sure, only one rider thinks the Brompton is a good idea…

This year’s edition has thrown another challenge at the riders as the forecasted storms have started rolling in, and the Pyrenees can be a formidable place to be during a storm. While riders may be equipped for the storms, it remains to be seen if they’ll ride through them or wait it out. Godspeed to all our riders.

Below is a selection of photos of the rider's chosen bikes and equipment. Scroll on to see the variety from gravel bikes with 650b wheels to full suspension MTBs.

![Phil battye bike further pyrenees](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/SsJIIhZ0Mi6XRGXKFr9Et/384f47ebc415e05d1724a51e270e2c2e/IMG_2194.jpeg)

*Philippa Battye's bike. This will be her third time at Further Pyrenees and she has snubbed her hardtail for this bike which has done her well at the two previous finishes.*

![Mark Whittaker further pyrenees bike](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/x1EokzEWc1jqxEFqa3P8G/ea5748e39123c90f4fbbad4256cd0f2d/20230824_103459.jpg)

*Mark Whittaker's bike. He also returned with the same steed he attempted his 2022 ride on.*

![Mark Schmidt Brompton further pyrenees](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/28DtMQXmn5vpxfaXLuIZan/e4c739943161fbfa7059c009b32fc460/20230824_101014.jpg)

*Mark Schmidt returns with his chosen steed. An unusual choice but horses for courses...*

![Thijs Kroon further pyrenees setup](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/dzdSCg34xcbFwME8KrYse/e680b53d527a01fa41ce580e42c46ede/IMG_9590.jpeg)

*Thijs Kroon's very sleek setup*

![IMG 2193](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/71hoe7v4JcZuGtWnN1RmVW/d1194b88a5ae739cd59adfcb1b6ea554/IMG_2193.jpeg)

![IMG 2188](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6prABRzNhup2ZpYlj8CRUA/b3d55d7ec7ea17a6d2104725382bbf1f/IMG_2188.jpeg)

- Beccy Waters. Back to Michal for the on-the-ground commentary!

By the dinner time, we were witnessing a very exciting attempts involving riding on sector 6B. 

As we were approaching the night curfew, we had Alex McCormack passing Vicdessos 2 hours before it’s start and we really thought that he was going for the sector 7 with that time left. He did stop in an auberge in Auzat though, something that we could validate after zooming into his tracker position on the followmychallenge website. Most likely Alex was after some refulelling as that was the potentially one of the two open food places around there and he did not want to risk bivying out on the sector. 
It is true that earlier in the day, the weather had settled in for its wet, claggy version in the valleys that the participants travelled ahead. The temperature dropped down under 20 degrees Celsius already after riders went over CP by midday the first day. 

At the same time on the sector 6B, we had Thomas, Christophe and Nick who will be joining Alex at the start of sector 7 early Saturday morning to race the secod day direction Les in Spain. 

![IMG 7518](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/41vtZ22aBYBSk9JazuM94R/4166414e49c3a4529f8094bf1e68d206/IMG_7518.jpeg)

Back in Massat, the film crew joined a Pizza party with Phillipa, Michiel, Georgia and Mark who really earned their last orders of the day! 
We heard from Philippa that whilst she did not stop at McDonald’s in Tarascon this year, she did get lost in the bleak ascents on the ridges - first on her way up the CP and then whilst proceeding on sector 4. Such a different game in both places compared to last year for her this tome around. She went for the Catalan pizza swapping it with the local one on the menu that she previously had on her two visits last summer. 
Michiel shared with us his multiple trips to Ariège with his family for a number of years but this time he came with his bicycle to see it from a saddle perspective. He did stop mentally racing against the fellow riders on his way up to CP and he has now been solely pursuing a race with himself. 
Georgia was so far super happy with all descents she rode as they accounted for her biggest fun moment so far into the route she planned. That and the CP at Mont Fourcat! We are sure that Camille will be glad to hear that! 
Mark told us that he forgot how time consuming are the initial start and first two sectors including the mandatory CP. From his last year setup he brought a better pair of shoes for the hike-a-bikes leaving his carbon sole ones at home. Good choice and we approve this however no shoes could be comfortable for all the walking required on day 1. 
All 4 sorted themselves with some form of resting spots and will be seeing each other at the start of sector 6B when the night curfew ends. 

It is also worth mentioning some entertainment provided provided at the pizzeria by a local duo of musicians called Les Daddys! That was some great fun had by us all sitting outside a fully booked establishment that evening!  
![IMG 2348](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/2WjHYWliQ4wOb91xOi2tJN/1e1280b8bf62e692a26a83dff2d39a2b/IMG_2348.jpeg)

![IMG 2355](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/2Jyh3opSaaCAWVG93DgG8o/841ebe18ba2b3d5177ef9af81a850d03/IMG_2355.jpeg)

![IMG 7482](//videos.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6UWaZDTtX9ZVzpFhC6AXod/c230bb1944cf9b59f3f9de381c1f7dac/IMG_7482.mov)

To round up the evening developments by the time of night curfew start, we had Sinon, Pete and Sylvain bivying out on the sector 6B with no forward movement allowed until 6.30am and we saw Ski and Rich finding their sound spots after exiting the sector on time before 9.30pm. Both should be making their way towards next sector - will we see them joining the leading 4 at 6.30am to start another day of racing?
Still active on the course, we have located Daniel in Massat and Alex H in Tarascon-sur-Ariège. We are looking forward to see what they are up to on their day 2.

First day, we had 4 scratches from the race. Adding to Neil, we saw Thijs, William and Meg exiting this year route. We thank them all for their best they left on this challenging course. 

Night curfews at sectors 6B and 7. Pizza party in Massat.

We first caught up the riders on Mont Fourcat. The CP of Further Perseverance.

At that time we received an update about Neil Phillips saddle issue and we were awaiting impatiently the first arrivals at the top. 

We witnessed a spectacular cloud inversion after a pretty wet and nearly 2h hike up from the highest car park. 

First showed up Alex McCormack with a big smile on display into the cameras of the film crew. We were impressed that he was not out of his breath after this first major hike-a-bike. Alex was followed by a very much focus faced Thomas Boury. We then saw Neil Phillips and Christophe Dijkmans - first with a "bare" seat post (per picture below) and Christophe who did not appreciating the hike-a-bike. After a brief moment they dived down into a long descent from the peak. The fifth arrival saw Nick Dokman with a much stronger time up that point when compared with his last year run. 

On our way down from the CP we saw Rich, Ski, Pete, Simon and Sylvain. 

We also learnt that Neil Phillips had an accident and decided to scratch from this year. We confirmed with Camille that he was ok and made our way to the bottom of sector 3 in time to capture Phillipa Battye exiting it and continuing into Arnave and Tarascon-sur-Ariège. 

![IMG 2302](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/9e5KJZThNpfG6aazzAM1W/61931b28b7086e2eede15f354986aa04/IMG_2302.jpeg)

![IMG 2306](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/GKzK6SyXeKuvNl0uTArwY/7eb95dc5fefa9f05daeff2bb67559cb1/IMG_2306.jpeg)

![IMG 2326](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/01jFgQ1SRFGCSTGxDBMaqg/c50fb7d1622d56cf9580bcd6ee3d9573/IMG_2326.jpeg)

![IMG 2319](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/4O3XB1DAlYb7DRGMxQC3tH/ea457aea47c1cac67285bf1513fdcfbc/IMG_2319.jpeg)

![IMG 2332](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/574qnc7wbB3NnYMDkiAPWv/a0f0ad51fe68ac17dfafc973dd50fc70/IMG_2332.jpeg)

![IMG 2339](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/3q3gM8tXCYk13BzFkHtyMn/410b9b0153af5bddef2d3fcda6923de7/IMG_2339.jpeg)

The building of the refuge started echoing multiple alarms setting off at 4.30am in all rooms occupied by the participants. 
This has been the very first time that Camille did change the departure time to 5.30am - past 4 editions did have 9am start.

As we spoke with Camille, based on the same sectors as last year, he wanted to see who would manage to get past sectors 6B and 7 at the time when Friday night curfew starts at 9.30pm. That also meant that the riders went out on the route with their headlamps guiding them through the trails on the side of the refuge. It was like a procession when they all started pushing the bikes into their 550km + routes.

Outside the refuge, Camille was brewing some coffee for the support crew whilst the riders did enjoy the breakfast prepared by Calou the night before. Thank you for this!
There was no yawning on riders faces and their eyes were ready to absorb the day ahead. Within 30 minutes prior to their start, everyone was going through their planned rituals of final packing and checking that all prior chores were properly performed. 

5.30am
Riders departure under the sky still full of stars. 
They were fast climbing the first col near the refuge and then did disappear behind the ridge line. They all silently started their 1st day heading direction to the CP at Mont Fourcat.

21 riders with following returns from prior editions: 
Pete James 4th time (!)
Philippa Battye 3rd time (!)
Rich Rothwell, Nick Dokman, Mark Whittaker, Neil Phillips, Simon Rosmolen, Mark Schmid and Meg Pugh 2nd time.

![IMG 2215](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/0Vgmj0qlvZu7CFTFVGDJY/2ce21d9f804fac1ed6f760247444ac5f/IMG_2215.jpeg)

![IMG 2217](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/1txAWpRXdNVBEDFWtJBWtm/46810e28da1a31beca97cf91874c12a5/IMG_2217.jpeg)

![IMG 2221](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/E719LRYSaNYsS2hOBgNUQ/224563f99cf21210982c083e529d5a73/IMG_2221.jpeg)

![IMG 2228](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/1l5BLn79HUuD3IGVm9utoT/a4baccc33334227f6c579da883dc680b/IMG_2228.jpeg)

![IMG 2212](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6ex7qZOudALpclZ5bzf1Qe/aa72073700396184812ddb77e85506bb/IMG_2212.jpeg)

![IMG 2252](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/5hWtQtWkpf2agtKIqdJxpI/3bb772b16553da963155e3dc49b34c56/IMG_2252.jpeg)

![IMG 2279](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/5LGvqRQJw5fGd1I5uZSuCZ/1bf8e7458d4c47f2a475121e9c9e5839/IMG_2279.jpeg)


Start at 5.30am. Refuge du Ruhle. 

![IMG 2181](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/3Hq8Ug9czF7WxQvvYbBIRK/b5014574e1580c5a8b5efe3c4f168301/IMG_2181.jpeg)

![IMG 2183](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/4CPDUIpevaqy14Hm7DecyE/59860cb93ab098d20485a0277fdc3f67/IMG_2183.jpeg)

![IMG 2185](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/4K233tZmqGdfCdSgHuNZuc/cf586b65355cea214e47d53ebaafdacd/IMG_2185.jpeg)

![IMG 2200](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6pWrxCW1jiqG8BTgPgOAAW/e49caf5d552fc57e415360989dabfa6a/IMG_2200.jpeg)

![IMG 2201](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/7841pJtu09GwSBmf9dQ4Am/9c89c1cafef3fb6a2f53d6eaffd08aff/IMG_2201.jpeg)

![IMG 2199](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/7pmvV7bM8QyXtTlveUlUsy/170580ee85dbcb1d35321ae19c55ba00/IMG_2199.jpeg)

![IMG 2203](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/3DGeg8tDA5qFelcn89AQdn/9eada77e625e76cdd5f497862af54d01/IMG_2203.jpeg)

![IMG 2204](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/25BDIqEJbZv8qMKZN1Xk9I/2c867edb3e65acfc92ee8ed0f5214fa1/IMG_2204.jpeg)

![IMG 2196](//images.ctfassets.net/6hyijb95boju/6m7tTz07EayOhSyEEL5bxS/43f64b9bd7a628665454a3d2bcb45a6d/IMG_2196.jpeg)

At the refuge. Photos

Michal Serafin

Further Perseverance 2023 Tracking + Commentary: A free-route ultra with numerous checkpoints throughout the Pyrenees. This tough race challenges the fiercest of competitors with chunky gravel, hike-a-bike and different rules for each year. Follow along for some exciting twists and turns.

Further Perseverance 2023 Tracking

A free-route ultra with numerous parcours and curfews throughout the Pyrénées. This tough race challenges the fiercest of competitors with chunky gravel, hike-a-bike and storms forecast. Follow along for some exciting twists and turns.

DotWatcher.cc

Further Perseverance 2023

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