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I quite enjoyed it, I think...
My midnight ride was great fun, just pools of mud soup but mainly rideable. This mornings 8:30am ride was hell.
Thanks to the lady who gave me some energy bar towards the end, I'd completely bonked and could barely stand up!
Was yours the nice blue Golf R by the road? I had to be towed out by our neighbours with a Lada 4x4 thing, bloody useful, would've been screwed otherwise!
That was you! haha
I was walking past as you were doing that... Should've said mate, I'd have gone and got the Landy... I ended up towing a couple of people out too.
Wiggle royally screwed it up for a lot of riders by banning a lot of the other exhibitors from retailing so they could hoover it all up and then not actually taking anything useful to sell!
Wiggle royally screwed it up for a lot of riders by banning a lot of the other exhibitors from retailing so they could hoover it all up and then not actually taking anything useful to sell!
If that's the case, then a BIG +1 from me...
Climb On Bikes from Hereford used to be legendary for their Mayhem sales. Then of course there was always presence from Back On Track in Malvern (though apparently he can't get the staff right now he says! 😕 )
Mayhem bargains used to be a staple part of the weekend, take them away and the ridiculous entry fee seems less and less worth it! Though overtaking 9/10 people cos the weather was crap and I was staying upright was a different experience personally though 😀
So that explains why the arena area was practically dead 😕
..amd the mud didn't?
To be fair I heard a few comments about no stuff to buy.
So that explains why the arena area was practically dead
The sheer effort required to walk around it probably had more affect, plus people were spending ages unclogging their bikes between laps.
trade stands were too far from the camp side . they should have it in the middle so easy access from everybody .
really fancied some hot food after evening lap , but the thought of walking to the car to drop the bike off , grab some money and walk back was too much in the mud . it was great from Hope to provide jet wash , but surely mountain mayhem organisers should provide more . 3 jetwash for 2000+ riders was ridiculous .
but had a great week end .
i didn't even go in one trade stand it was too difficult to stand up!
Cyclocross tyres on my 29er FTMFW! Shame the rest of my team wrecked their bikes. It was hell on wheels.
No stuff to buy?
On-one had mud tyres, Superstar had brake pads & wiggle had commerative t-shirts. Fish & Chips, Curry & other food available.
Wading waist deep through clag put paid to any further investigation.
NOT impressed with Wiggle's contribution. Lack of pretty much anything. Used to be a good event for the family. Can tell there's a recession on....
no free good-enough-to-eat smelling shower gel definitely not-for-the-win
I had a nice curry from a very deserted food van area....
Who liked the Jump I built at the Bottow of the long climb on the offcamber on the second half of the course? I cant speak now from shouting "do a whip" "Do a Skid" or "your winning"
Epic mayhem,Agreed about the lack of shopping on offer.
Who liked the Jump I built at the Bottow of the long climb on the offcamber on the second half of the course? I cant speak now from shouting "do a whip" "Do a Skid" or "your winning"
Epic mayhem,Agreed about the lack of shopping on offer.
I pretty much rode past it when I first saw it so circled around the tree to have another go, I'm not entirely sure it was worth it mind as my jump was pathetic! All good fun though!
'do a skid', 'give it cheese' and 'rawwwwwr' are my chants of choice.
I think I single handedly ruined at least 5 peoples world cup hopes at fort bill by blowing their mind with poor spoken English.
Next year, each RIDER!!!!! Should be given a token for the bike wash and a token for the shower and RIDERS should get priority and get a token back once used. How many non riders were using the facilities from where there bikes got muddy riding the campsite?
3 jet washers for 3500 riders and waiting 2 hours to use them.
Plus showers not being signed of by the council until 12pm on the Saturday is a joke.
There has been some real cost cutting this year with less toilets and showers. Shame as it could of been so much better even with the mud issue.
There has been some real cost cutting this year with less toilets and showers. Shame as it could of been so much better even with the mud issue.
If there was cost cutting I suspect it's down to lack of entries / sponsorship, the whole scene is not as popular as it once was, plus we're in a recession.
I along with many others ended up washing there bikes in the pool..
I stupidly left my dirtworker at home much to my mates annoyance..
Who liked the Jump I built at the Bottow of the long climb on the offcamber on the second half of the course?
That was the one I did a running jump over holding my uni at ~9:30pm? Hope you enjoyed my efforts 😉
Even later on (2 on Sunday morning) not all the showers were working.
I got a nice warm one though. There were rumours they were cold earlier.
There was stuff to buy, i guess it depended what you were after!
We gave a load of t-shirts, caps, bags and clapping hands away though!
Great support from Hope and Sram though(never had to go into the Shimano tent, but I'd assume they were also excellent?!)
The showers were tepid just after midnight and cold by about 5am, but to be honest I didn't care - it was still better than trying to get all that mud off with a bucket full of water 😀
And they were red-hot again by the end of the race, so at least I felt vaguely human on the way home.
That was horrid and brilliant at the same time. Rigid ti 69er singlespeeds with mud tyres rock. My team mates are uniformly ace. Mud makes it harder to chat with random old friends. And that last lap was properly nasty. Still buzzing 🙂
Are there any official photos? Although having said that, might be hard to see the race numbers!!
Here's the nearest I've found so far to official photos
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/britishcyclingphotos/sets/72157630276570202/ ]britishcycling.org.uk photos, Mountain Mayhem 2012, Pictures by Ed Rollason.[/url]
I think those and more will be available to buy at
http://www.edrollasonphotography.co.uk/
(no connection, just trying to butter him up so he lets me hotlink a few 😉 )
That was epic!!! (not long woke up as I only got home after midnight) was solo on my singlespeed and managed 9 laps. Cheers to all the supporters you lifted my spirits and cheers to the ninja turtle who gave me Bacardi at about 8 in the morning lol.
solo on my singlespeed and managed 9 laps
Respect
So...
Which mud tyre ruled?
My Trailrakers had loads of grip, but at 2.1 were prone to clogging.
Some folks seemed to be relatively immune to the bike jamming mud
mud-x 2.0 wasn't too bad except for my 'really' claggy lap.
what a weekend though, struggled to enjoy it to be fair. set up we had was awesome though which made it barable, feel sorry for the people where it was their first time, i've done it 6/7 times now and its never been that bad, dry its a completely different event.
rkk01So...
Which mud tyre ruled?
My Trailrakers had loads of grip, but at 2.1 were prone to clogging.
Some folks seemed to be relatively immune to the bike jamming mud
Maxxis Beavers on my 29 were good to begin with but the early clay on the first half of the course just clogged them. Moved over to the Cyclocross tyres On-one were selling and vastly improved.
1.8 Mud-Xs FTW 🙂
I really enjoyed my lap (yes, singular) and thought it would be a shame to spoil that feeling by going out again, so drank instead 😉
Are there any official photos? Although having said that, might be hard to see the race numbers!!
I have 1600 here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brf/sets/72157630256241270/
You can download them from Flickr or drop me a mail for the original.
So...Which mud tyre ruled?
My Trailrakers had loads of grip, but at 2.1 were prone to clogging.
I took some 2.1" Trailrakers, but when everyone was coming back and saying that mud clearance was the most important factor, I fitted a rigid fork to my hardtail, a 1.8" Maxxis Medua on the back and borrowed a 2" Bonty Mud X for the front. The Medusa almost certainly didn't have as much grip as a Trailraker, but most importantly it didn't hang onto the mud.
Some folks seemed to be relatively immune to the bike jamming mud
I was [i]relatively[/i] immune to it compared to some people, but can confirm that after my last lap my bike that was sub 23lb at the start of the lap was more like 40lb at the end of it. Some people's bikes were more like 60-70lb though! The guy in the bike wash queue behind me was running 2.35" High Rollers on his hardtail, they had become 3"+ mud slicks and the bike was unrideable.
Rigid fork, frame with tons of mud clearance, and skinny tyres were what was required... I would have gladly gone Singlespeed too if I'd had the ability to (managed to find someone with a cog I could borrow, but not a tensioner).
what a weekend though, struggled to enjoy it to be fair.
Converesly, I really enjoyed myself. The only bits I didn't like were nothing to do with the bike riding. That course, which was the same course almost exactly as the 2011 course, is a bit boring in the dry (the 2010 course was a lot better in the dry), but in those conditions it made it a lot more interesting. The lack of traction on the climbs after a period of time became a great leveller (seeing sponsored riders walk the climbs makes you feel more human).
Anyway, number 1 top tip from now on for Mayhem (even if you don't use them cos its dry) is take a rigid fork and 1.8" (or narrower) tyres with you... Not having to stop to clear the bike of mud every 2 minutes was probably worth 20 minutes or so a lap I reckon.
Schwalbe 1.5" Mud Sharks are the best tyre for those conditions. No clogging and cut through the clag and grip ok.
My 2.25 racing Ralph was not great 😉 the Ron did OK in terms of grip on the front, just clogged up badly in the clay.
raced solo, did 5 laps, last one 2/3 walking as mech sheared off,
watching some of the better riders in the solo pits, you need:
2 bikes at least
petrol jet wash
pit crew
and huge amounts of skill to ride all the mud and stop your bike clogging, momentum is king, saw this when lap2 when Josh Ibbet lapped me,
I used 2.0 Mud x front and back and found them great with plenty of grip, I didnt get clogged up like other people either, I guess i was going tooo fast for the mud to stick to me or the bike 8) , it was good fun with my 1am nite lap been my highlight as the course was at its fastest.
I agree about other people have said about wiggle, the showers and the bikes washes.
But i will be back next year for my 5th time
Anyway, number 1 top tip from now on for Mayhem (even if you don't use them cos its dry) is take a rigid fork and 1.8" (or narrower) tyres with you... Not having to stop to clear the bike of mud every 2 minutes was probably worth 20 minutes or so a lap I reckon.
I've always taken 2 bikes to Mayhem, my normal MTB (usually a FS S-Works) and my fully rigid Ti with 1.5" mud tyres on it. On occasions where it's been dry to start with then wet (or vice versa) I've used both bikes, if it's been 100% dry then the rigid is just there as a spare. It's brilliant though, will cut through almost anything, tons of mud clearance, ultralight. Feel really sorry for the poor folks on FS bikes with every pivot clogged solid, every linkage holding an extra 5lb of mud.
If I was riding in those condition I'd pick a Rigid 29", Single Speed, Belt drive with 1.5" mud shark tyres.
The Black Shark Mud's were absolutely awesome. Great grip and no clogging. However, as one of the wiser members of my team pointed out, whenever conditions are such that Black Sharks are the tyre to have you shouldn't be riding at all but sat somewhere warm drinking beer. Which I though was a sound argument.
Schwalbe 1.5" Mud Sharks are the best tyre for those conditions. No clogging and cut through the clag and grip ok.
Im not completely sure there is a right tyre. The conditions change so much.
I had Bontrage 1.8 Mud X's on.
During the night the course was really wet and basically any tire was fine. But as it dried out as you needed a thinner tyre to cut though.
But then there was also the period just before it started to rain when the course was almost a bit dry in places it might have been better to have a fatish tyre to spread your weight and hope to stay above the mud.
I seem to have accidentally built a near perfect Mayhem mud bike - it's a ti copy - Setavento - of a Marin Rocky Ridge, run rigid with a 26" On One carbon rigid fork and a 29" front wheel, singlespeeded with an outboard eccentric bottom bracket. Weighs sub 21 lb without particularly light components, feels very slack so it stays super stable running through mud and lack of suspension makes it predictable over bumps. I ran a 1.8 Mud X on the back and a 2.0 Maxxis Beaver up front, which was pretty decent until the last super claggy lap when really narrow tyres would have been better. I didn't even bother taking my race bike, which turned out to be a very good call. 🙂
The winning Hope team were mainly using 2.0 Maxxis Beaver tyres if that helps?
While I remember, the other thing that rocked was the grip from my Mavic shoes. Brilliant and surefooted even on that off-camber stuff.