Mountain Mayhem 2008 (UK 24hr race)

[rob.northcott]

Well, what a weekend! I set off Friday afternoon in rain, but by the time I got to Eastnor it was bright and sunny and the ground was dry. Ian had bagged us a prime camping spot so I set up my tent and we headed off to Ian's house a few miles away for food and booze (big thanks to Ian and his wife for that) and to check the Lobster progress.

That night it rained, but was only heavy for a couple of hours. The morning was grey and a bit drizzly, but not too bad. We sorted out the team changes and Anna (with Rich "Loosemoose") and Liam (with Laura) arrived during the morning. A quick scout around for freebies bagged some buffs and mint shower gel and a frizbee, and the weather was looking better - overcast but brighter.

I was nominated to do the first lap, starting with a run (cheers guys). The usual queue at the start of the first lap was far worse than usual due to the first few miles of the course being extremely narrow and a bit more technically difficult than normal - including lots of extremely off-camber sections and some steps. The middle section of the lap was wider and faster and the field at last spread out. The second half was much more enjoyable, with some nice twisty singletrack through the woods.

Ian went next, followed by Anna (who put in a fantastic effort considering her lack of off-road experience - I'm sure she'll elaborate on her lap later), then Liam. The first half of the course was becoming increasingly muddy and churned up, with more rain falling just to make things worse. Large parts of the track were completely unrideable, even by the most expert bikers. On my night lap (starting about 10:30pm) it started raining heavily again and even the easier parts of the course were getting utterly waterlogged and slippery. Things were getting a bit silly. My next lap in the early morning was the worst of the lot - most of the track was in an utter mess. I think some teams had given up by then, because there was hardly anybody about - so at least it was possible to have some fun slithering down the hills without the risk of being mown down!

But it did stop raining and the track slowly began to dry out. When Liam handed over to me for the last lap he told me it had changed considerably and now most of it was rideable. I had a really good last lap, and it was indeed mostly rideable apart from the really off-camber part which had completely disintegrated into a clay slide. I crossed the line just after the 24 hours was up (after a few minutes of lurking) in warm sunshine having had a really good ride - what a shame the race couldn't have been a day later! At least the tents were dry to pack up.

We finished with a respectable 10 laps - certainly not last. We will officially be disqualified because a mixed team of four doesn't fit into any of the classes, but hopefully they'll still publish our results on Singletrack.

So, thanks to my team-mates for for keeping up the unicycle Mountain Mayhem tradition this year, well done to Liam for doing the fastest lap (we think) and an extra big thank-you to Anna for stepping in at the last minute and really putting everything into it.

My camera was playing up, so I only ended up with one picture - of Anna's back at the start of her lap. There were a couple more I found on the web here and here. Hopefully somebody else got a few more.

Rob

[annaats]

Thanks for the link Rob, I like that one of me! (Rare!) We obviously started typing our replies at similar times, but I didn't go into too much depth, I should have written something sooner as alot of the thoughts I had about it have drifted away now!

I have to say a huge thank you to Roger for sending me is wonderful carbon fiber unicycle, with the option of a 29 or 26 wheel! Unfortunately the 29 didnt have enough clearance to be useful through the amount of mud that was there (and there was alot!), but the 26 made the ride so much better than it would have been on my 24, and I really enjoyed using this unicycle (I want one!!).

Other highlights included an invasion of ducks on our campsite, free buffs, a nice shiny medal, and at least 80% of riders commenting as they overtook. I also managed (somehow) to achieve my aim - I overtook a bike!!

Btw Liam - how's your phone? I think each of us had a nice fall, but trust you to land on your phone!

Here are some photos (sorry I didnt get any of Liam riding, it was either straight after my lap, too fast, or at night, or while we we're wrestling gazebos to the ground!):

THE TEAM!


Halfway there!


Not quite sure why I'm pointing...

[rob.northcott]

Some more Mayhem goodies:
Liam (and spectacular bike faceplant!)

And the results are up! They still listed us under our original class of Sport Men. We came 226th out of 248 in that category - so we beat 22 bike teams And some of the ones listed above us looked to have stopped before the 24 hours, so officially they don't count (although we should keep quiet because we're an illegal mixed team of four and we didn't all do two laps...)
Overall, we were 500th out of 624 (but that's including solos).

Rob

[rob.northcott]

Just realised Anna found the results ages ago... somehow I completely missed her first post

Rob

[ian.stockwell]

Thanks for the right-up Rob and for organising things, I think you've summed up the overall event well.
Thanks as well to Anna for stepping in at the last moment and Liam I wish I could ride like that with no training.
(If I was just 25 years younger and 10kgs lighter and having longer legs would help as well and........)

The week end started for me on Thursday after work, only living 15 minutes away, it seemed sensible to go and bag a decent camping spot then, so armed with tent I set off for Eastnor after dinner.
After arriving I soon realised that I had nothing to corral an area for us with, and that just erecting my tent would not be enough.
Anyway I selected an area, next to a hard track for car access after the forecast rain, giving easy access to both the up and down sides of the track through the campsite, near the loos (but far enough away to avoid the smell) and reasonably close to the event village and the showers.
Next to my spot was a bloke with one large tent and his car who had claimed about half an acre to himself, I figured that if he had come prepared to mark out that much space he would have some spare marker tape, and so it turned out.
Then erect tent, mark out area, and go home to sleep and to work on Friday, felt a little strange!!!!

Friday, return after work to defend the camp and wait for Rob, also erect gazebo. Mmmmm, looking a bit less greedy now with two tents, a gazebo and two cars.

My first lap - walked up the hill, but good fun on top and although some of the down was too steep, grip was good under foot so it was not a problem. As has been mentioned the second part of the lap was better for Uni's and was good fun.
Prat fall moment - taking a can of Red Bull from the guys in the tent saying something like "it's easy for me as I've got both hands free" and then UPDing about 10m later

Second lap - Dark, loads of mud, the downhill single track was unwalkable, several times I stood on a slope with both feet firmly planted and skiied down the mud. On a grassy cross camber slope on the way back to the campsite I came off, landed on my back but the splash sent mud all over my face and glasses.
That was enough for me then, I declared after that one, but well done to Liam and Rob, they continued plugging away to the end. I was nearly tempted to go out myself again towards the end, nearly.

On to next year and a nice d........

Better not, I got the blame for the rain this year after saying the weather would be good.

[keg]

Originally Posted by rob.northcott

We came 226th out of 248 in that category - so we beat 22 bike teams And some of the ones listed above us looked to have stopped before the 24 hours, so officially they don't count (although we should keep quiet because we're an illegal mixed team of four and we didn't all do two laps...)
Overall, we were 500th out of 624 (but that's including solos).

Rob

Singletrack magazine has listed you as 174th, based on the other teams DNF http://results.singletrackworld.com/category.php?id=297

Even when it doesn't clash with Glastonbury Mayhem still seems to time the rain most years.

[rob.northcott]

Thanks Keith - I couldn't find the results on Singletrack... perhaps they've only just been put up. That's a bit of a promotion - or on the other hand it makes us only one from bottom of the finishers :/

Did we really beat the official Endura team?! I hope they're suitably embarassed if it's true

Rob

[rob.northcott]

Some pictures by the bloke who got me to pose at the finish after my night lap. Doesn't look like he got any more unicycle pics, and the ones of me didn't come out too well (they're on page 4), but there are some nice general pictures there, and some superb dusk/dawn views.

Rob

[sarah.miller]

You beat all the DNFs. you could have taken that option as well but didn't. Its why a Uni tema have never come last in Mayhem.

[rob.northcott]

Joolze Dymond took a few of us as well:
Liam
Me on the "new Kenda climb" up to the Red Bull tent
And again
Ian at night in the mud

Rob

[annaats]

That photo of Liam's really good, also like the way Rob is showing no effort or tiredness at the top of a long hill after around 4 miles tough riding... You're definately the right person to do Sleepless in the Saddle solo! That mud and Ian... it really wasn't nice and I only had to deal with it in the daylight!

Here are my photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/annaats
unfortunately none of the course itself really, would love to have photos of some of those horrendous sections!

[Into the blue]

Gotta love the guy with the ironing board.

Well done everyone for a great race.

[1-wheeled-grape]

It looked fun... muddy but fun, and it's cool because I recognise the place too!

The bloke with the ironing board made me laugh!

[rob.northcott]

That ironing board bloke was a nutter - made us look quite normal. He was riding solo as well - I rode along with him for a fair amount of my last lap and he was still pretty coherent. I asked him how he managed to ride the tight forest sections without getting the board caught - "I don't"

There was a bloke who rode the whole thing in a dress as well - we're not the only loonies at Mayhem.

Rob

[Into the blue]

Originally Posted by rob.northcott

There was a bloke who rode the whole thing in a dress as well - we're not the only loonies at Mayhem.

I had no idea Kit was there.