The First Frontier 300 – Were you there?

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The weekend of 11th June saw the first grand depart of the inaugural Frontier 300, a supported coast to coast allroad event which encompasses one (short) hike-a-bike section, ten different forests and twenty gravel sectors woven together with stunning minor roads into a 300km journey from west to east through the Scottish Old Border Marches. The finish is celebrated together with riders and supporters alike as a “brunch on the beach”.

The official event recap film has been released, and it is built around the narrative of Salsa Cycles sponsored rider Steve Bate MBE, a gold winning UK Paralympian with a hunger for adventure despite slowly losing his vision. It dives into the merits of point to point adventures, a fairly unique proposition in the world of organised events. Frontier 300 was conceived by Focal Events, most famous for organising the Dirty Reiver, and the UK leg of Grinduro. It was developed in association with Lyon Cycle – UK distributor for Salsa Cycles, Ortlieb, Teravail, 7mesh, Arundel among others. 

“It was incredibly moving to see so many riders line up at the sands of the Irish Coast after what has been a challenging couple of years for event organisers and a subsequent two-year delay in getting the event on the road. Despite this, feedback from riders has been overwhelmingly positive, both in terms of route, support and the challenge itself.”

Neil Atkinson, Focal Events

“When we added Salsa Cycles to our portfolio we were hungry for an event with a strong nod towards the brand’s “Adventure By Bike” motto. We see Frontier 300 as either a Dirty Reiver XL for riders wanting to push themselves further, or as a stepping stone for people wanting to test the water for bigger and bolder independent time trials with the safety net a well organised event like this provides. Yet equally, it’s a great way for riders to journey through this stunning landscape and get to know the area better. We are excited to see where this event will go in future.”

Nils Amelinckx, Lyon Cycle
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Hannah Dobson

Managing Editor

I came to Singletrack having decided there must be more to life than meetings. I like all bikes, but especially unusual ones. More than bikes, I like what bikes do. I think that they link people and places; that cycling creates a connection between us and our environment; bikes create communities; deliver freedom; bring joy; and improve fitness. They're environmentally friendly and create friendly environments. I try to write about all these things in the hope that others might discover the joy of bikes too.

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  • The First Frontier 300 – Were you there?
  • ThruntonThrasher
    Full Member

    This was a great event mainly because the route from coast to coast was so good. It was very scenic with a real wilderness feel in the middle part. The support was just right and it felt a lot like the first Dirty Reiver.

    I’d like to thank all those people who worked at the feed stations for making tea, coffee and soup, offering encouragement and telling white lies about what was coming next. Probably not for everyone because 16 hours in the saddle is a long time but I will enter again next year.

    Oblongbob
    Full Member

    I was. What a great event it was. Thanks to all the team behind it!

    chrismac
    Full Member

    No. I went mountain biking instead

    Oblongbob
    Full Member

    You’re definitely on the wrong forum – we don’t do that sort of thing here.

    robertajobb
    Full Member

    Best not tell you I was at a triathlon instead 🙄

    JonEdwards
    Free Member

    Yup – we were there.

    The route – a work of evil genius. So many false crests! So many enticing looking descents only to turn uphill into the wind again! So many wrinkles hidden in a Komoot elevation profile! So many tantalizing glimpses of the sea with miles still to go in the wrong direction!

    Good logistics, great staffing en-route. Coffee at FS2 was amazeballs, as was the soup at FS3. Very glad we had a solid tailwind most of the way. Glad I’ve done it, really not sure I’d want to do it again…

    IHN
    Full Member

    I wasn’t aware of it, but interested to hear experiences as I’m vaguely tempted for next year…

    jodafett
    Free Member

    I signed up to this when it was first scheduled which feels about 10 years ago now! This was my “post cancer” challenge and I loved every minute of it (well, most of them!). Lots of moments will stay with me forever, like flipping a coin in Newcastleton to see if I should continue or not as I was done! I lost (or is that won?) the toss and had to continue but I’m so glad I did! The guys on the cargo bike high-fiving everyone on the hideous climb out of Langholm. And the last 100k that was made a lot easier by a group I latched onto. A group of which I have remained in touch with and will probably meet up in future for more bike related shenanigans! All in all it was a fantastic event which I will sign up to again. For anybody thinking of doing this in the future it’s actually easier than you think (but not that easy!). Thanks to all the organisers and volunteers, I had a blast!!

    didnthurt
    Full Member

    Congratulations you all who completed this, looks a tough challenge. 👍

    jonm81
    Full Member

    Yeah, it was a great ride. I even made it in to the video passing the Buddhist temple place.

    I wish there were more long events like this in the UK.

    fatmax
    Full Member

    Aiming to do it next year 👍🏻

    jimdubleyou
    Full Member

    It did look good, but clashed with a CTC tour I was in on.

    Glad it was all well received as fancy a bash next year

    Oblongbob
    Full Member

    Would definitely recommend it. Logistically a bit trickier with the point to point route rather than a loop, but worth it for this event as it’s really nice to go on a journey like that. Luckily I got dropped off and met family at the end.

    I made the vid too, fleetingly. At 2.21, dramatically cycling round a corner. I’m famous!

    karnali
    Free Member

    Yes great event as has been said above, knee packed in towards end, very tough route but a great day out

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