Never been before, never even been to a big marathon/24 hour event so please suggest stuff to take that you wouldn't usually think of from the STW experience cauldron. I'm a bit of a camping newbie too so by all means include that

Cheers

baby wipes

Zip ties

Prophylactics.
Talc.
Tent.
Large generator.
Really nasty euro techno.
Megaphone.
Fireworks.

Against the usual advice, go shopping when you are hungry – you're more likely to pick the stuff you'll *want* to eat rather than you think you *should* eat.

Camping chair.

inflatable banana

trench foot cream

a sense of humour

A big bin bag for dirty clothes.
ALL your cycling kit.
ALL your bike spares and tools.
Fully charged and checked lights.
Spare bike (or spare wheels or spare tyres, preferably of the mud variety).
A helper.
A sense of humour.
Little LED camping lights/lantern/headtorch for rummaging around in the tent for that last pair of clean socks.

Ha ha baby wipes was my first thought too ! I would add:

Lots of bin bags
Spare wheels
Every light battery you own or can beg borrow or steal, charging lights is a phaff you don't need.
Easy to cook food e.g. tins of baked beans, packets of ravioli
COFFEE !!

And check about 100 times that you have all the tent poles and some gas canister for the camping stove. And a bucket with a lid.

If you can take a bed that sits about the ground e.g. a stretcher its way warmer and drier, I always throw the duvet in the van too.

Every scabby old towel that you own.

Ear plugs.

I was just about to post and ask the same question… 😉

All of the above plus:

A great wife/ partner to feed you
The biggest pot of Sudocrem you can carry! Trust me after 24hrs you'll know why…. 😉
Little tins of ravioli – great for breakfast
Cans of Coke – I craved these last year.

Stove
Bike lightand battery – charge up
White spd shoes
gas
torch and 3 batteries – get charged up
Shimano spd shoes
pans
Camera and spare batteries
Outdoor trainers
spork
MP3 player
water carrier
2 helmets
chair
Coat
tent
Hoody
mat
shorts
2 x sleeping bag
Body warmer
pillow
long trousers
tooth brush and paste
Socks
shower gel
Hat
tarpaulin
Undies
Head torch
spare aaa batteries
Bin bag for dirty clothes
Matches
Towel

My list so far plus bike kit/bike/tools/spares/food

Wellies, umbrella, non-riding waterproofs – Not being wishing for it to rain but if it does you'll be glad you have these

White board.
Washing up bowl etc.
iPod (though you're not allowed to ride with it this year)
Firebox
Mates.
Pretty much all the riding clothes you own.

why no ipod? 🙁

They were banned at Mayhem. Rationale is that if you have earphones in, you can't hear faster riders coming up behind you. One earphone works for me – music and peripheral hearing too. But there you go.

How about books ? Can I take a book to read out on course ??

Lots of socks.

Lots of normal undies and trousers you can slip on and off easily (not jeans unless they are baggy and you are skinny).

A good book is always a bonus. If you're soloing, something long and engrossing is ideal. I find collections of short stories good for team racing – paperback so you can always stash in a jersey pocket works well, that way you can always put them away for singletrack sections, then retrieve for field edge grinds etc.

What's with the 'lots of normal undies and trousers you can slip on and off easily'? Do you have a lot of 'accidents' between stints on the bike?

Proper cash money for buying food/coffee/emergency bike parts etc

Oh, spare mech hanger.

Oh, spare mech hanger.

After Mayhem 2007 that's the first thing packed, along with 4 x 25 li jerricans,filled on arrival*, bucket, and full cleaning / lubing kit.

Favourite comfort food, coffee and at least 3 x 5 litres drinking water.

Stick to food your used to and avoid the temptation to eat energy bars / drinks if your not used to them – a lad did in our team a couple of years ago, he spent a couple of hours early Sunday morning in bed or on the karsi. 😈

*Queues for water once racing begin grow really quickly.

This is my first 24 hour event….do people really take 2 bikes ?

I have a stumpy HT and a Zesty, was planning on riding the stumpy. 🙂

This is my first 24 hour event….do people really take 2 bikes ?

I have a stumpy HT and a Zesty, was planning on riding the stumpy.

Take both, do a citing lap on one, start the race on the other and change over if you prefer one over the other – bear in mind IIRC lights have to be fitted by 7pm.

My packing list, which gets altered before and after every event. 🙄

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

That's my personal list. For my spare Rohloff cables, most people would substitute a mech hanger.
If you're not using Egg Beaters, it would be safe to leave out the spare pedals.
"Food" covers everything I eat that's not racing specific, so includes bread/grease/marmalade, ready made pasta/rice meals, tinned fruit & custard etc.

Yes, I really take two bikes for multi lap events.
I've never needed it yet, but after putting a bulge in a tyre once at Cheddar, it was easier to wobble back to the pits and swap the wheel out of the spare bike than change a tyre.

I've done SITS / MM so understand, but it always amazes me how much stuff you take. Whereas a 2 weeks bike tour barely needs more than 40 litres in panniers (and that is camping as well!)

Three bikes here, FS/ HT and SS.

What are [peoples default tyres – mine will be a spesh storm control on the front and a spesh captain on the back initially, have another storm control for the rear should the need arise and an eskar for the front if it dries up slightly

Any of Aspens, Crossmarks, Medusas or Advantage. Medusas worked well last year and then Crossmarks.

I know what you mean, pieface, but it's not quite the same thing.
Take my bulging tyre for example. On a two week tour you might detour off to a nearby town and buy and fit another tyre. A couple of hours wasted out of two weeks is no big deal.
On a 12 hour solo race I just wanted to get back out on the track as quickly as possible.

There are all sorts of problems my race bike might develop in 24 hours where it would be easier just to swap on to my commute bike and carry on than stop and carry out repairs.

This is my first 24 hour event….do people really take 2 bikes?

I was pit-bitching for a friend a couple of years ago and conditions were so atrocious that he was swapping bikes every lap. It was taking him about 1:15 to do a lap and it'd take me about an hour to clean the bike, queuing for the jetwash etc and I'd have it ready for him next time he came around.

Spare bikes are essential if you're planning on doing well and even if you're not a mechanical can cost you a huge amount of time and faff to sort especially in the rain at 3am.

Caravan!

I'm a little worried no one has mentioned beer. I think my goals may differ slightly from other peoples.

Beer!!

I am taking one 'beer' as a celebration at the end of the event ! 😀

My goals are…

1. Turn up at the event.
2. Ride for 24 hours.
3. Dont finish last.

😀

A sense of humour when I heckle you near the horse jump hill!
Take beer, Loud Music and some Loose women!

My goal is to do more than 8 laps in a team of 4 and to raise £500 for the SHeffield Childrens Hospital. PLEASE PLEASE sponsor me:

Click here to sponsor me!!!!!

On my 15th lap I noticed something wobbling and clicking around the cranks or pedals.
I stopped to have a look and found my right hand pedal loose.
I didn't have an 8mm hex key with me and it didn't look like it was about to fall off completely, so I carried on.
I got back in at 23:49.
It turned out it was the threaded insert loose in the carbon crank.
No chance of repairing or replacing it on site in 11 minutes, so I got the spare bike out of the Land Rover, swapped the saddle bag over and went back out about 3 minutes before the 24 hours was up for a final lap.

Postierich, was that you with the megaphone?

MTQG – that is the definition of hard.

After my question about people hanging around near the end of their last lap, I was determined to follow both the spirit and the rules of the event.