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Further #1 - on Film

A bike race across the Pyrénées, August 2019

By Greg Annandale

September 22^nd, 2019

“There were times when I wondered whether Further had designed the course as an elaborate and cruel experiment in performance art... but ultimately it was the most beautiful, challenging, and happy experience I’ve ever had on a bike”

- Emma Pooley (#1 at Further #1)

Further: 23rd - 26th August 2019, the inaugural edition of a bike race set in the Pyrénées. 500+km and 12,000+m of climbing / hiking / bike carrying, over pretty brutal terrain and mountain passes.

Camille, the race creator (who was described as having "très bon goût" when I explained the concept and route to two local hikers I met on the top of Port d'Aula), had asked me to pick a theme to shoot during the long-weekend of racing. Probably unsurprisingly I chose "landscapes".

The nature of the race made it particularly difficult to cover its entirety (with high-mountain border-crossings only accessible on foot requiring 4+ hour loops by car to navigate around), here are the images captured on medium format film of a few choice spots along the way...

See the digital images.

The Start

The start, at the beautiful Zero Neuf in Gaudiès.

The Pyrénées await.

Final bike checks.

A running start to the bikes parked up a short distance away - designed to help split up the field from the very beginning.

Gorges de la Frau

Ingeborg Oie, Alice Lemkes and Josh Ibbett entering secteur 3.

Col du Port

A beautiful spot for a bivi and to watch sunset and sunrise.

Port de Lers

Tim O'Rourke cresting the Port de Lers.

Port du Rat

The dam below Port du Rat (the border between France and Andorra).

Tim O'Rourke climbing the dam (bottom right).

Mathieu Davy and Ed Wolstenholme climb through the forest below the dam.

Emma Pooley (just visible bottom left!) starts the long rocky climb up the Port du Rat (2540m).

Charles Christiansen on his way towards Port du Rat.

Ed Wolstenholme takes a particularly rocky section on foot.

Charles Christiansen and Philippa Battye ascending the lower slopes of Port du Rat.

Port d'Aula

Port d'Aula, the border between Spain and France at 2260m. A 2 to 3 hour hike-a-bike, mostly following nothing more than vague cattle paths.

Emma Osenton (also just visible centre left in the 2nd image) tantalisingly close to the plateau just below the summit.

The path approaching the summit.

Daniel Peat and Maurice van Roosmalen descend into France having crested Port d'Aula.

Descending into Spain for the long drive back to the finish.

Where?

The "secteurs" are shown below, along with each rider's finishing point (8 out of 27 riders / pairs finished the entire course). Riders were free to connect up each secteur as they wished.

For more information, see the Further website and the race tracker at Follow My Challenge.

Thanks to Camille McMillan, to all of the riders and the supporters who made the journey over, and to the sponsors: Café du Cycliste, Mason Cycles and Hunt Bike Wheels.