Good luck to all those taking part and camping over the weekend you will need it!!!!! 😀

Along with wellies, waders and a Tractor!

Got Wellies

No Waders

Got a Land Rover for the weekend, no Tractor though.

Bought some Wellies.

Taking the 4×4 Vitara so I can get home afterwards 😀

Will be cooking bacon butties trackside ala Steve Peat.

superdale, will your bacon butties be for sale? where trackside will you be…exactly?

SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO! 😀

The advice from our team boys already there “bring some wellies you’ll need them”. It’s going to muddy especially with the forecast for Saturday evening. Also we’ve bagged a pitch near the road to maximise our chances of getting out. 255 section tyres and rwd, I’ll need all the help I can get.

forecast is better now, sunny intervals and breezy, should dry out nicely
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2644707

God I hope so. I really can’t be bothered. Plus my team mate’s stuck in traffic, so we’re not gonna be there until midnight or so! When I imagine we’ll get stuck in the mud!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2644707

have you looked at the weather detail from 5pm onwards on Saturday? the headline might be dry, the detail suggests otherwise.

Many places dry and bright with some sunny spells, though windy, just a few isolated showers through the day. Clouding over later with some patchy rain arriving into the evening.

cup half full/empty kinda situation i guess

It’s the wettest lead up to Mayhem I can remember I think a week of no-one riding the course and constant sunshine 20+degrees with some wind might help a few sunny intervals over the weekend NO CHANCE 😀 Having a year off this year!!

[

I was looking at the graphic and not the text.

I just got back (I live 10 miles away). Wellies are essential. So is a sense of humour. Some photos here if you’re feeling strong: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alexleigh/sets/72157630239878880/

Saturday looks okay. My plan is to ride until it gets sh!tty again then retire to the Feathers in Ledbury 😉 I just got rid of my 4×4 and it was reasonably exciting getting in and out of the field. If you do have a 4×4 bring a rope, you’ll make a killing !

Kind of glad I’m not riding this year.
But I will be along to photograph all the suffering 8)

From 2200hrs on Sat Eve it looks grim! Shall I come down from Yorkshire with my 4X4 to tow peeps out at a fiver a go, might be worth it lol! 😀

I have heard from friends its grim there and they getting on there bikes until they need to!

@ Alex

Like the Photos, OUCH now that is going to be very Grim and it ain’t even started yet! 😥

Bad weather causes chaos in the rest of the country while bunch of mountain bike carry on if every thing is normal 8)

@ pants, I’m glad I live 10 miles away so I can come home tonight. And – looking at the forecast – possibly tomorrow night as well! My brief thoughts on the whole horror can be found here: http://pickled-hedgehog.com/?p=2688

I bet despite all the mud the atmosphere is amazing. That said I’m kind of glad my mate decided to book this weekend for his wedding!

Worcestershire bathed in sunshine this morning, hope it lasts

The conditions in this picture of Alex’s look quite good to me.

MM2012 – The precursor of horror! by Alex Leigh, on Flickr

Those that are excited about it will still have a great time. Those that are ‘just going there because that’s what they do’ might not have such a hoot.

Brake pads a plenty.
Chain and or speed links
Mech hanger
Buckets and sponges, the jet washers will be too busy.
Lube.
A fiddle stick to pick ‘stuff’ out of the bikes workings 😐
Oh and spare gloves, wearing soggy chamois leather gets a bit dull after a few hours.

This is possibly the first time I am happy not to be going to a race I want to be at due to PhD work. Good luck to all!

Hope it’s all going well?

gregmay are you me?

just drafted my final results chapter, discussion section to go.

then we’re rocking!

was meant to be at MM but pulled out due to illness and too much PhD

Some random photos taken Saturday 12 noonish:

12 ???

Holy cow…

the only hope for riding as the hours pass is if it pisses down, and i mean biblical levels of rain. It might mean getting off the site is a nightmare but it might mean the bikes stay clean enough to be rideable.

ok, maybe one ish! It was the first lap. The fast boys did lap 1 in 1hr 7 mins then their second laps was just under 1hr. Quite incredible considering the conditions.

1hr 7? In that?

Sooooo glad I’m not there ths yr..(ish… 😉 )

Thanks for the photos. I wonder what it’s like now…

Bloody Hell and the main rain is on route EEEK!

Those Yellow and Amber mean LOTs of it !!!!! Poor sods!!! 😈

Just started to drizzle as I left at 5ish. Will upload 15 Gb of rider photos to Flickr over night.

Plasticine mud at it’s best today. I had to stop 10 times (TEN!) just to get my wheels to turn.

I can now definitely tell you what tyres NOT to run for MM 😆

Thank goodness I have been lent some more appropriate tyres for tomorrow.

All in all though, quite possibly some of the most fun I have had on a bike. The descents were mostly awesome….foot out, like riding in snow. Brilliant! And as always the crowd (albeit smaller than I have seen it before) are really supportive and cheering/heckling people through the camp.

Just glad I like close enough to come home, clean the bike and sleep in a comfy bed before doing it again tomorrow!