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After this episode at Mayem, at another shorter event I had someone come right up behind me in a narrow section where there were no opportunities to overtake for a few yards at most and shout 'rider' at me and I cheerfully shouted 'so am I!' Back, and let him throught about 5 secs later at the earliest opportunity.
It did not go down well, perhaps he realised I was taking the P**s
There must be some very precious people out there - I've never had any issues with people wanting to get passed, they shout up, I move over when it's convenient for me, they say cheers...
Or perhaps you're all just really slow & everyone needs to get passed you ?
Elite riders who just shout RIDER are cocks. It shitty, rude and totally unhelpful.How the hell are we supposed to know which way to go? If you can't plan ahead and communicate what you want then you aren't as elite as you think you are.
I shout 'rider' if I'm approaching from a long way back as it warns the passee that I'm coming and allows them to choose which side to go to and then I go the other way - on a fast section I might be too far back to see which is the clear line. Judging by how many times I've been thanked for an early warning not everyone finds it offensive!
'On your left/right' works at much closer quarters or where the speed is lower.
I'd echo gee's point about continually overtaking, it's a nice problem to have obviously but at the end of 24hrs when you've been shouting 1-200 times per lap, you're bound to get one or two wrong!
Oh and a tip for the nighttime, if you're in a team of four doing ABCD, A wakes up C after handing over to B, B wakes up D after handing over to C, and so on. That way you're not just relying on an alarm.
The low point of my 2001 Mayhem was being overtaken during the night by a uni cyclist.
I generally say something like 'when you're ready'. Never hd any grief, rarely had problems passing.
when you're ready
could be misunderstood as sarcasm.
Only on an internet forum 🙂
The low point of my 2001 Mayhem was being overtaken during the night by a uni cyclist.
Walking backwards by chance?
When you're ready...
When it's safe...
When there's room...
etc
The thing I always find confusing at races are the the people who are desperate to overtake and then immediately slow down, causing you to have to go past them as they're holding you up. Very odd.
Dont let your team mate bring his/her mardy partner along. If they're not interested in mucking in and helping then it really is just sitting in a field for a long time.
Some repetition but my top tips
- Bring as much spare kit and parts as you can get your hands on. Better to not need it than the other way and changing into clean kit makes you feel much better.
- Bring way more food than you need but bring variety. You don't usually know for sure what you'll want to eat at a particular point but being able to choose is great. And don't just pack energy products - most people want real food at some point.
- A towelling dressing gown can be great to have when going to/from the showers
- one option for the night laps in a team of 4 is to split into two teams who alternate for two or three laps each. That means each pair of riders can have a much longer sleep than if you stick to a 1,2,3,4 pattern.
- Bring coffee. Good coffee. A stove top coffee maker works well on a camping gas fire and gives you a good jolt in the morning
- Don't camp light - this isn't some extreme survival camping expedition - take things that will allow a decent sleep - air matress, duvet, pillow, etc.
- Get a big tent/event shelter type thing if you possibly can - they're not expensive on ebay and there's nothing worse than a wet MM and being stuck in a small tent for almost the whole time
Bring supporters. Lots of vocal ones to cheer you, your mates and everyone else on, all through the day and night. Especially bring a daughter who will film you falling off in the middle of the course when grabbing a drink, as you're quite obvious dressed in a sumo suit and sweating like a ripe cheese in clingfilm, then send it to You've Been Framed and pocket the £250 whilst you suffer national humiliation 😳
My top tip is bring a caravan. Your own hot shower, no queue, your own toilet, and your own warm comfy bed with clean sheets and a duvet 🙂
Yeah but then you have to own a caravan and there's just no need for that 😉
One of the main reasons for getting one was looking through the windows of people's vans at Mayhem, full of warm dry conviviality, as I trudged back to my damp tent...
The low point of my 2001 Mayhem was being overtaken during the night by a uni cyclist.
I was overtaken by two uni-cyclists in 2012, possibly from the same team. And the Islabike team on a tiny child's bike. Q_Q
I've somehow managed to avoid racing Mayhem so far. It's my first one this year.
[goes and cries quietly in a corner after reading thread]
If doing Solo, think about your contact points. Swapping out gloves can relieve tired hands, Swapping shoes and socks can work wonders on sore feet, Swapping to a spare bike can revive tired leg muscles, if you don't have a full bike to swap to take a second pre marked seatpost (with saddle) to give your numb butt a change of scenery.
If doing teams make sure you have a good old fashioned clock hanging in your pits to help keep track of lap times so you can arrive in the pits on time.
For both teams and solo, food and drink is key, doing 24hr events plays havoc with your eating patterns. Best advise here is to take a large variety of food from custard creams through to sausages take as much of a variety as you can. Tyres are another good this to take plenty of as weather and riding conditions can change a lot in 24hrs. Above all else smile and enjoy it. 🙂
Clover - it's great. I don't do them now as TBH I got bored of it as it seemed a little deja vu but I loved the first three I did.
I see the Lap Map has been released and it looks very similar / same as last year which was mint.
Can't wait for it now (my tenth consecutive Mayhem).
See you all there !
Clover - don't expect "Mountains" or "Mayhem" (trading standards anyone??) but have a fun time nonetheless.
When you're ready...
When it's safe...
When there's room...
etc
All very well, but in the nicest possible way Gee is in a different league to Molgrips/me/most people, and 'when you're ready' often means minutes being lost!
Yeah but you still can't be an arsehole about it.
Couldn't agree more, and Gee did specifically say that he does his all not to be (and I agree that the fastest guys are always very polite). But I'm not always sure people realise the speed differential and how much of a difference it can make. "Just waiting" isn't necessarily viable.
Agree though, there's never an excuse to be rude.
In the early 2000's (still at Sandwell Park at least) and very early in the morning, 5am ish, I was passed by Nick Craig (him of the being very good and fast fame. He'd given me a heckle (polite) about being on my right. In my tired, slightly delirious state, I over-compensated and ploughed straight into a bush.
Mr Craig stopped, came back, apologised (it wasn't his fault, I was very tired) and pulled me out of the bush. A true gent, and how a pro-racer should be - despite being in contention for the win, still had time for the sleep deprived amateurs just hoping to finish!
Brilliant thread, glad I opened it... but not planning on doing this even any time soon !
On site with Pat! Its a bit wet but weather is set good for the coming week!
Good news about the coming weather. Alaskan Puppies coming along again and doing our 18th out of 18.
I agree calling rider is unhelpful. Not sure why people do that. It doesn't make sense.
I lose track of the amount of times I've helped people with issues - usually just chucking a gas or a tube at them.
All I'm saying is that if you get a call of on your left, please don't stick out your left arm and wave me through as your arm is then in the way.
Also, after many years of racing what I think is a gap is not always the same as what newbies perceive as a gap, so it takes a bit of getting used to.
As I've said, the only time I've experienced nobbery was from mid pack riders who presumably took great pride in blasting past a Lycra clad poser in full team kit going quite slowly. On his 31st lap.
Tang:
How wet is "a bit wet"?!
Think it'll dry out nicely in the week? Solo again - hopefully it's like last year!! '12 and '13 were horrible!!
No no... '12 was horrible, '13 was just a bit wet. It was fine.
Let's agree never to talk about Mayhem 2012 again and maybe we can pretend it never happened.
My apologies!
2012 was abysmal, 2013 was not quite as bad.....! But bad enough for my first solo attempt!
Hi everyone, new here.
Don't take a freeride/enduro bike with a 38T chainring/guide setup like I did in 2011. The heckles of "ride it!!" from the campsites aren't fun when you walk the climbs. And also don't pin it on the descents during a Saturday morning practice/recon lap and end up with a big haematoma on your hip.
Surely if you "pinned it" you'd be fine, what you mean is "don't try to pin it but crash"... 😉
Welcome.
[i]...and 'when you're ready' often means minutes being lost! [/i]
I use different calls for different situations, depending on the rider you're trying to overtake. You can tell someone's ability by how quickly you close the gap and how they're riding. "Hiya - when you're ready. Thanks!" is a nice call when you're overtaking someone who you reckon is experienced, but are going slower than you (eg soloists) or passing someone only a bit slower than you, as they will make a predictable move to allow a smooth pass ASAP. You give them an opportunity to control the pass that's efficient for both and low risk.
Overtaking a less experienced rider, I tend to be more direct - "Hiya-just coming up... passing on your left... Thanks!" You take control of the pass.
Sunburn territory today. Woods perfect. Forecast is good....
Sunburn territory today
Tis true. I rode locally today & then later whilst in the shower the skin fell off my balding head 😯
Not dusty, not muddy, i'd say that the drying mud offers a nice amount of bite for your tyres whilst not hindering progress. Off camber roots grippable but still slippable.
Forecast looking favourable, enjoy, i'll be somewhere in Wales.
Tang - cheers for the update!
Any chance of a daily course/condition update to the thread?
Good weather guaranteed - I'm not going.
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Too soon to put the wellies away?
I've already got the mud tyres on the spare wheels 😀