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Me, Vortex and a few others off here are doing Mayhem again this year and the weather forecast looks, well, bad. Its been muddy a few times while i've been there but its always started out and finished with sundshine but it doesn't look like this is going to be the case this year 🙁
Is there any tips that people would put to us? And don't say "yeah, don't go!" 🙄
skinny tyres, dirtworker, lots of clothes, big bag of want.
made even better if they cut the grass just before the start grass cuttings and thick clay are an interesting mess
Make sure you have a warm coat and sleeping bag. You chill down incredibly fast after a high-effort wet lap.
Take bikes home on the roofrack - less mess in the car!
Big coffee making capacity.
One team attitude - ie competitive or happy to fold or indeed happy to sleep the night.
Rigid forks
Mud tures
1 gear
If it's really muddy, good walking shoes are a real bonus. 😉
Thin mud tyres, dirtworker and every spare you can muster.
And most importantly, a good sense of humour because at 2am slogging around in the unique blend of Mayhem mud you'll bloody well need one...
Don't worry, every time I do MM the weather is good, every time I don't, it's a mudfest
oh hang on - just remembered, I'm not doing it this year 🙂
1.5" tyres, a jetwash and a really good big beer tent/event shelter type thing. And a patio heater...
25 litre jerricans filled with water to avoid the queues at the taps when it starts raining.
1.5" tyres
Yep, put the spare wheels with the 1.5 tyres in the car at the weekend. The first thing I packed!
I think we're going to be pretty well prepared. We have a few dirt workers and as some have said I think having ALL your clothes there will be key.
I think the attitude comment is going to be the most important, we need to recognise thats its bad and just accept it. Hmmm now how do I do that? 🙄
25 litre jerricans filled with water to avoid the queues at the taps when it starts raining.
The lake is handy when there are queues for the jetwash. Or shower.
I think the attitude comment is going to be the most important, we need to recognise thats its bad and just accept it. Hmmm now how do I do that?
By enjoying the discomfort of those around you 😆
Singlespeed.
Ridden a very wet and muddy Eastnor too many times to do it again this year! Most of those the only people still with bike wheels and pedals turning were the singlespeed guys. They're bikes have less bits with nooks and cranies to get mud stuck in so they don't clog as fast.
Thin tyres and preferably ones with very wide spaced knobs so that they have half a chance to shed the mud.
Oh and a set of mud guards are essential - but only if you can get ones with huge clearance (the ones that attach to the seatpost at the back are good) as otherwise they just help clog the wheels.
One rider espeically stands out in my memory of past MMs in the rain... a singlespeeder with a lefty fork up front! No cloging on his bike and he just churned away and kept riding all event long!
One last thing... don't bother packing any hope, you abandon it anyway after a lap or two! ;o)
One last thing... don't bother packing any hope, you abandon it anyway after a lap or two! ;o)
Brilliant 😆
Is the weather due to be that bad, checked MET office yesterday and it looked fine on Saturday?
checked the weather channel and the bbc and they both say rain from friday night through to sunday 🙁
Is the weather due to be that bad, checked MET office yesterday and it looked fine on Saturday?
The site needs about a week to dry out - it's going to be hosing down all day on Thursday and still raining on Friday. Even if it stops raining on Saturday it'll still be very muddy and fairly unpleasant.
Wondering where I can get a singlespeed for next weekend.
Is the weather due to be that bad, checked MET office yesterday and it looked fine on Saturday?Is the weather due to be that bad, checked MET office yesterday and it looked fine on Saturday?
From the met office today:
[i]
Generally unsettled on Friday and Saturday this week with [b]rain or showers affecting all parts[/b]. [b]Some heavy, thundery rain is likely on both days[/b], the greatest risk of this in the west of the UK on Friday then more generally on Saturday. [b]Some sunny periods between showery outbreaks.[/b] It will be windy at times in most areas, with a risk of [b]gales towards the southwest.[/b][/i]
The forecast was similar this time last year though. So hope isn't lost quite yet.
I'll hand your hand when it get too much for you neil 😆
I'll hand your hand when it get too much for you neil
What the hell does this mean? ha ha
What the hell does this mean? ha ha
when you get upset cos of the weather 😀 😀
It will be muddiest when it is darkest and coldest, so about 2-3am, aviod doing these laps unless you have a very good sense of humor and don't mind going for a really muddy 8 mile walk in less than sensible shoes while dragging a 50lb 'bike' with wheels that don't turn.
In 2003(?) I was out last and my first lap was about 2:00am 😆
According to metcheck, the weather looks 'ok'. Some rain but some sun too. I don't think it'll be too bad.
Of course it's the other traditional mud-fest event in Malvern this week to, The 3 Counties show, great!!!!
I really don't think you can make a shout on the weather until at least Wed PM and then it's still a bit unreliable most times
anyway, if it is a mudfest - just get a nice hot shower before it gets dark and retire to your tent for a few beers
keep sticking your head out until you fancy riding again
anyway, if it is a mudfest - just get a nice hot shower before it gets dark and retire to your tent for a few beers
keep sticking your head out until you fancy riding again
Yes do that. Everyone do that... and we'll win!!! 😈
Carry a plastic tent peg in back pocket.Use the pointy end to digand scrape mud away from frame and tyres.
Watch out for the grassy descent back towards the road - i slid down the full length of it on my @r$£ a few years back(in the hours of darkness ),it would have been much more fun if I hadn't been watching my Sanderson bounce down with me. Cut my leg somewhere and didn't realise I was bleeding so much until after another lap, the rain was washing away the blood and the cold and wet had numbed my legs.
Still the cold 'shower' (read;pouring water carrier over self) was nice, and tucking into the sleeping bag for a couple of hours was snug - especially as I listened to the wind picking up force as I dosed off. Got up an hour or so later and everything apart from my bike had gone.
The Gazebo had blown away, the club kitchen had been salvaged and packed away and everyone was sat in their car.
Great fun.
Have a single speed as backup if you've got a spare bike. The mud is legendary for making gears inoperable so one gear is better than none.
take a hip flask for the night laps.
and pedal harder.
yep, rigid singlespeed (no fork brace) with 18:32 gearing and 1.9 Trailrakers just keeps on trucking though the clag. Yo Badger, that lefty guy might have been me in oo...2006. 'Cept it was a USE Sub. Sure it was Mayhem and not SITS?
Singlespeed.Ridden a very wet and muddy Eastnor too many times to do it again this year! Most of those the only people still with bike wheels and pedals turning were the singlespeed guys. They're bikes have less bits with nooks and cranies to get mud stuck in so they don't clog as fast.
What a load of rubbish,I've done 4 MM's all geared & two on a full suss.You'll need gears if you wanna keep moving in the mud......Thin tyres are a given though & Mud X's work well...
It did rain *quite a lot* here yesterday. Here being 10 miles from Eastnor. Malverns' will be dry by tomorrow, but sadly the same is unlikely to be true for the MM course.
Agree about the forecast, it's all looking out of the window and guessing until 48 hours before.
I'm sure a few locals will have a look at the course later this week - tad cheeky - and report back.
As above really.
- Proper mud tyres (Trailrakers or Mud X IMO)
- lots of spare kit (putting on wet kit when you're already tired and aren't quite so keen to get out and do a lap is miserable)
- warm kit as you'll get cold if wet
- a big tent/marquee - I felt so sorry for the miserable people stuck in their two man tents all weekend because it's hosing down. With a big marquee/etc you can comfortably sit/chat/cook/etc in the dry.
You can get them for under £100 - so a good investment if there's four+ of you.
This sort of thing: http://www.very.co.uk/3-x-6m-gazebo-with-side-panels/831897241.prd?aff=google&affsrc=froogle&cm_mmc=fp_google-_-offers-_-home+and+garden-_-KA5061J+3+x+6m+Gazebo+with+Side+Panels
(or from Argos if you can't get it in time otherwise: http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/6508850.htm?CMPID=GS001&_$ja=tsid:11527%7Ccc:%7Cprd:6508850%7Ccat:garden+and+diy+%2F+garden+furniture+%2F+gazebos+and+garden+awnings+%2F )
As to gears or not, I've never found it a significant problem - a bit of chainsuck but nothing terminal and certainly not enough to make me hamstring myself by using my SS.
The mud was only bad on the first year. It's been OK since, even with gears.
somthing that hasnt been mentioned (from what ive read) is Silicone spray
stops the mud sticking to your bike, before the off wash and dry bike, take off wheels and cover brakes then give the whole bike a good coating of the spray put it all back together and the mud wont stick to your bike saving pounds in weight on a lap
...but stopping your brakes working 🙂
I've used silicone spray and IMO it's not worth bothering unless the mud isn't that bad. Heavy mud will still clog, especially when it's got grass mixed into it.