Moments in time at Further Elements 2025

The weather in Scotland is always a bit of a gamble at any time of year. The weather in Scotland half way through November is less of a gamble and more of a certainty that it will be challenging in one way or another. Rain, snow and wind are all possible/probable. 

It was part of the reason Further organiser, Camille, chose to move the event back in the calendar. It's not called Elements for nothing. In some ways, the weather was probably as friendly as it could have been; blue skies, sunshine, with icing sugar snow on the tops giving way to the bronzes and browns of autumn. The views don't necessarily tell all the stories though. Roads became icy at night, some riders were battered by hailstorms and furious headwinds, while others took an unplanned dip on the many river crossings. 

Restrap had a big contingent of riders this year, each of whom put in an amazing effort - with varying outcomes. 

Big congratulations to Ollie Glen (2nd), Rich Rothwell (3rd), Stan McNulty and Eva Grange (joint 4th - Eva was first female) and Kerry MacPhee (6th). All pushed eventual winner, Max Riese hard; a well deserved victory after.a crash put paid to his race in Further Equinox a couple of months ago. 

Commiserations to Quentin Lille (Further Perseverance winner) who was carrying some health issues that forced him to scratch and Sam Kerr, who similarly was coming down with a virus and scratched on day 1. 

Here's our photo diary of the weekend. Pictures are by Dan Monaghan (Cadence Images) and our own Tom before he moved on to noodle duty for riders on the finish line. It's become a Restrap signature. Scroll to the bottom to see some quotes from our supported riders. 

"What a wonderful way to wrap up our very first year racing in this wild and wonderful scene. Such a fun and sociable ride filled with amazng people in an amazing place. Not a single low-light was had!"  Stan and Eva.

"Elements is such a beast. 520k on and off road, in the Scottish Highlands, with 7000m climbing in November. What could possibly go wrong? Turns out, nothing. Just." Rich Rothwell.

"Soo coooold, 15 hours of darkness, but holy smokes was Scotland spectacular. The first snow of the year arrived in fine form, the rain abated, the rivers through Glen Lyon sufficiently swollen to swallow some riders up, but after so much road riding, I felt at home in the glens and off-road." Kerry Macphee

"A pal said race scratching is like eating a McDonalds. Feels amazing at the time, but you will feel totally awful and empty later [...] As a jammy aside - Crianlarich Station migh be the worlds best scratch site. A perfect wee cosy room with a heater - so I got my sleeping kit out and passed out as it was a few hours to my train." Sam Kerr