Hey All,

As above.

Doing MM for the first time as part of a 4 person team riding retro 🙄 😆

I’m comfortable about the layout of the event etc but am struggling on sorting out a list of what I need to take …. 😕

Can you help me draw up a list?

Cheers,

MArk 😀

take all your biking clothes

spare brake pads

loads of food

and mud tyres of course!

mud tyres!

conti 1.5’s are my choice but i don’t think they make them anymore

Painkillers for back ache.

A deck chair.

Warm coat.

Go slow, slower than you think and then take 10% off that speed.

The one year I did the greatest number of laps in was when I was at my unfittest and under no illusions of being a speed demon – that year taught me a lot…..

I’m comfortable about the layout of the event etc but am struggling on sorting out a list of what I need to take ….

Every single piece of cycling and camping kit you own. Every spare part that could conceivably break or wear out. Spare bike if you have one. All your lights and batteries. If you can borrow more sets, do so.
Oh and a sense of humour. Make sure you pack that.

It also helps if you have a vague sense of layout when you pack. You may think it’s anal having shorts in one bag, tops in another, lights somewhere else but when you’re rummaging round in the back of a car at 3am in the rain, you’ll be glad you put them in order!

Every single piece of cycling and camping kit you own. Every spare part that could conceivably break or wear out. Spare bike if you have one. All your lights and batteries. If you can borrow more sets, do so.
Oh and a sense of humour. Make sure you pack that.

It also helps if you have a vague sense of layout when you pack. You may think it’s anal having shorts in one bag, tops in another, lights somewhere else but when you’re rummaging round in the back of a car at 3am in the rain, you’ll be glad you put them in order!

+1

If in doubt, take it.

This is my packing list for marathons and what I’ll be taking to Erlestoke this weekend..

Bike
Spare bike
Spare wheels
Spare chain
Spare pedals
Spare cables
Brake pads
Inner tubes
CO2 cartridges & adapter
Torq powder
Gels
Flapjacks
Ibuprofen tablets
Ibuprofen gel
Lights
Batteries
Spare light mounting strap.
Jacket
Gilet
Chain lube
GPS & HRM
Helmet
Gloves & spares
Shorts & spares
Jersey & spares
Socks & spares
Shoes & spares
Glasses & spares
Chain tool
Water
Water bottles
Cashew nuts
Fruit jellies
Malt loaf & grease
Sleeping bag
Mat
Fruit jellies
Malt loaf
Food
Cable ties
Track pump

Tequila, walking boots (weather depending)

flag n pole with flashing light on top

Cheers guys.

Glad I asked this ow and not the week of the event …….

Now where did I put that credit card!

ohhh and a pair of snowboarding trousers (TK Maxx), waterproof, warm and cosy for when your sans bike early hours and late at night! essential!

Beer
Beer
Beer
Beer
Beer
Beer
Beer
Beer

HTH

Go slow, slower than you think and then take 10% off that speed.

You’re kidding. In a team you should be flat out on every lap, you have several hours to recover. Soloing’s different, but in a team, va va vooom…

Also, take a white board. When you come in off a lap, write down the time you got back next to your name. That way the guy out next knows when the current rider actually set off and can work out when he/she needs to be at the changeover.

Think about how you’re going to cope with night laps. One option is to run double laps overnight, but it’s slower, what we usually do is split into two pairs and run ABAB then CDCD before going back to simple ABCD in the morning. Means you get a much long break and a chanve to get your head down for a couple of hours.

Chocolate trifle ftw.

Also, take a white board. When you come in off a lap, write down the time you got back next to your name. That way the guy out next knows when the current rider actually set off and can work out when he/she needs to be at the changeover

+1 stopwatch can also be of use – exchange and reset it at each handover. depends how serious you want to take it though!

Gary_C – Member

Beer Cider
Beer Cider
Beer Cider
Beer Cider
Beer Cider
Beer Cider
Beer Cider
Beer Cider

HTH

Fixed that for you 😉

Hmmm.

Sounds a bit serious all this talk of whiteboards & stopwatches!

Also, take a white board. When you come in off a lap, write down the time you got back next to your name. That way the guy out next knows when the current rider actually set off and can work out when he/she needs to be at the changeover

+1

We had this for SITS.. Means you don’t freeze your ass off for hours in the middle of the night waiting for your mate to get in..

Also, take a white board. When you come in off a lap, write down the time you got back next to your name. That way the guy out next knows when the current rider actually set off and can work out when he/she needs to be at the changeover.

Definitely. Missed changeovers cause a lot of grief.
Take a pencil and paper as backup for when the whiteboard gets too wet to write on 😀

Think about how you’re going to cope with night laps. One option is to run double laps overnight, but it’s slower, what we usually do is split into two pairs and run ABAB then CDCD before going back to simple ABCD in the morning. Means you get a much long break and a chanve to get your head down for a couple of hours.

That’s what we settled on after a bit of experimentation. Worked really well and all 4 of us in the team were very closely matched in terms of lap times so it made it easy to keep track of. Except that 3 out of the 4 of us were called James which confused our poor pit bitch. “Go and wake James” “Which one?”
😉

Make sure the team knows what the score is and has agreed to the same goal. If two of you are going for the win and two of you want to sit around and drink beer, there’ll be much complaining.

Sounds a bit serious all this talk of whiteboards & stopwatches!

Not really, it’s an easy thing to do and just means less confusion and frustration, standing around in the cold at 3am unnecessarily isn’t much fun.

That’s what we settled on after a bit of experimentation. Worked really well and all 4 of us in the team were very closely matched in terms of lap times so it made it easy to keep track of. Except that 3 out of the 4 of us were called James which confused our poor pit bitch. “Go and wake James” “Which one?

Ha, last year I raced with three guys all called ‘Dave’, we had to give them prefixes so we knew which was which. Remarkably it all worked, well, it did for me anyway, but I’m not called Dave…

So more advice, make sure all your team-mates have different names 😉

or just cal;l them all Dave and add a prefix

aDave – fast rider
bDave – fat rider
cDave – slow rider
dDave – puncture magnet
…
iDave – diet and fitness guru

So more advice, make sure all your team-mates have different names

And ideally like the same food. If one is a veggie and the other three want a big meaty pasta, it means cooking 2 lots of food = extra hassle.

The whiteboard thing is just sensible. Every year at MM I’ve seen someone running round the start/finish area shouting then some panic stricken rider explaining why he was late. Biggest cause of friction amongst teams. Keeping track of times means riders aren’t standing round freezing while waiting for their teammate or turning up late to changeover.

Beyond bikes and kit you just need one thing. The catering team. Let them sort the rest 🙂

Ha, last year I raced with three guys all called ‘Dave’, we had to give them prefixes so we knew which was which. Remarkably it all worked, well, it did for me anyway, but I’m not called Dave…

Last year’s Mayhem team was:

James
James
James
Jane
and me

To avoid confusion I adopted James as my name for the weekend.

Take a change over coat . Next up wears coat to pit area, swaps with incoming rider who gets a nice warm dry coat to put on .
Bonty Mud X 1.8 or 2.0
Earplugs . Last time i did MM some Twunts next to us had a genny to powert a TV ad show MX dvds . I got in at 0400 , 0405 bbbbbbrrrrrrrrr on with genny .
Maybe 1 ‘Mud’ Bike ,SS with a 32 : 18 and 1.5 mud sharks , at least it should keep working

Aaah, just cos you’ve got a whiteboard doesn’t mean someone’s not going to fall asleep and not be at the changeover in time.

But whiteboard is a good idea. And every bit of bike kit you have ordered in a basket, with a big washing bag for all that stinky, manky kit you’re gonna leave in the car after getting home. Personal best for leaving stinky kit in the car was one week. Holy cow, did that thing smell after a week. Thought the car was going to explode!

Toilet roll,sandals for the showers & torch to check the shower,to make sure no bugger has shat in it….I still have to check public showers before I go in since that night back in 2006……….

Don’t do what I did last year and forget food…

Whiteboard is a good shout too, as well as giving a rough idea of timings for getting to changeovers, it helps to break down the remaining time into likely numbers of laps.

I’m gutted I can’t do it this year, was great last year.

second the whiteboard, though they can be a bit small, so instead for teh last few years we bought a piece of the white backed hardboard from B&Q, drew the grid on with permanent markers first, then used whiteboard pens from WHSmiths to add lap times.

Best bit of kit from last year – Rugby Sub Suit, as worn by substitutes on the touch line. Like a quilted boiler suit, waterproof, big enough to wear over you camlepak, and removeable in 10 seconds when you see your buddy coming in from his lap at changeover. Comfy enough and warm enough to sleep in too!
see subsuits cheap

Whiteboard is a good shout, with a clock, all you need is:

Last rider in at:
Rider out:
ETA:
Next rider:

Previous lap times aren’t that relevant, so it only needs to be an A3 whiteboard or sommat.

Wouldn’t bother with a stopwatch, not really sure what else that can show you.

Painkillers for back ache!

Good call..

I would opt for the whiteboard/stopwatch, nothing more stressful when you’ve bust out your best lap to get to the change over to find no one there and you get back to camp to find them tucking into a foot long hotdog!!
If you can get hold of a keen mate to act like camp slave, and do jobs like cook BBQ, turn up at change over with a warm coat, Power wash the bikes off do running repairs… We had one last year and I wouldnt go again without him, Top bloke ))) Its easy promiss all the Beer/cider he can drink oh and free food all weekend )) Job done