At least it’s proper wet. Remember Sleepless a few years back, just minutes in and peoples wheels stopped turning.
That’s like the first ever mayhem at Eastnor, you didn’t ride into the mud…..the mud came to you.

lol, look at that bloke who turned up in a mud costume, with his brown bike. 🙂

*edit – I’ve just copyrighted that idea for a dry dusty event**

**if i ever do one! 😀

suits u sir by rOcKeTdOgUk, on Flickr

I wish I was there for the racing. But it’s going to be horrendous getting out of there later!
I had he option of taking part is year, but as I have an Iron distance tiathlon next weekend I had to say no! :o(

from santa cruz UK

Who the bloody hell is that? Does anyone know??

I was trying to MTFU for my sunday road ride. That lot have shamed me into it.

Respect to the lot of them.

^^ that’s one of the USE/Exposure team. So glad I went home after 2 laps. Just about got out of the arena field at 8pm yesterday, doesn’t look like much will be moving out of there today after yet more rain…

Great pics but it’s just a bit of mud and iirc at least a quarter of the year my trails are at least as bad, its not that deep or claggy it’s just mud. I’d rather be riding in it than trying to camp there that’s for sure

Have to admit i did the first lap for our team yesterday but then gave up now sat at home big up to the other who have gone for a second lap each this morn

DSC_2044 by brf, on Flickr

Have to admit i did the first lap for our team yesterday but then gave up now sat at home big up to the other who have gone for a second lap each this morn

Not being funny but why do people do that? It’s only a not of mud after all? Fair enough if you’ve broken your bike, or injured yourself but if you’re part of a team surely letting the rest of them down doesn’t go down well?

These things cost a lot of money to enter as well. Amazing how soft some people are.

Just got a text from a mate (who is a fit and very skilled rider) and he says thier team is still going, but conditions are truly awful and they have managed to do half the number of laps they would usual do and he is absolutely broken!

I was trying to get a team together for this year…so glad I didnt manage it!

Not being funny but why do people do that? It’s only a not of mud after all? Fair enough if you’ve broken your bike, or injured yourself but if you’re part of a team surely letting the rest of them down doesn’t go down well?

These things cost a lot of money to enter as well. Amazing how soft some people are.

Have you been and done an event there in conditions like that? If not, I would be wary of calling people soft.
I have, although not this year. Having experienced rain overnight one year that was not as bad as it has been this time, my lap time went from 1hr to 2hr 20mins and I can honestly say it was one of the hardest things I have ever done on a bike, and I have had plenty of experience of events including the Passeporte du Soleil- those 2hrs 20mins were more draining and energy sapping than four days in the Alps- this was a mental issue as well as physical.

I have mates there this year with more skill and experience than I who have said it is the hardest lap they have ever done on any event

Just heard from a mate who is there that the leading team has (only) done 16 laps! Think Team Islabike have done 9 or something, mostly carrying their bikes. It brightened up just long enough this morning for him to pack his tent and now is raining again.

Still kinda miss it but we’ve been up at 04.45 to take the kids to see the Olympic torch relay at the Imperial War Museum!

Princejohn
When your bike has been trashed on the first lap and none of the tradestands were carrying the spares i needed for my drivetrain and you are a team that go for the craic noone is letting anyone down. We had fun i didnt enjoy it and didnt fancy another lap who cares yes it was expensive for one lap but just put it down to experience will be back next year for more of the same first non finish in 7 years is not bad going really. How are you getting on in the conditions?

Not being funny but why do people do that? It’s only a not of mud after all? Fair enough if you’ve broken your bike, or injured yourself but if you’re part of a team surely letting the rest of them down doesn’t go down well?

These things cost a lot of money to enter as well. Amazing how soft some people are.

And how much does a new drivetrain cost, new brakes, etc. There will always come a point when people call it quits, if your racing to win, or having a laugh that point might be very different. A lap in mud might be fun but after 18hrs cold and tired, with the grit rubbing your skin raw, fun tends to disappear.

Then your facing the prospect of getting off site, i know i go either quiet or very tetchy when tired, just not a nice thought to have in the back of your mind.

There is actually a point when it makes sense to go home and hope you can get out before everyone else churns the ground up.

from santa cruz UK
Who the bloody hell is that? Does anyone know??

Richie Rothwell?? Looks like him, but don’t know if that’s his team

Princejohn When your bike has been trashed on the first lap and none of the tradestands were carrying the spares i needed for my drivetrain and you are a team that go for the craic noone is letting anyone down. We had fun i didnt enjoy it and didnt fancy another lap who cares yes it was expensive for one lap but just put it down to experience will be back next year for more of the same first non finish in 7 years is not bad going really. How are you getting on in the conditions?

Haven’t done mayhem for a few years,have done 24/12 the last 2 years & was supposed to be doing it this year but an injury has scuppered my plans. I have done mayhem in the mud & its definitely a challenge, it always fascinates me how much conditions change between laps. It’s definitely sucky when your bike breaks & you have to retire.I know there has been times at these events where sometimes I wish my bike would break
So that I have an excuse to retire.

Sorry if it came across like I was having a go that wasn’t my intention, but I have seen people packing up earlyand just running home and I’ve never genuinely understood that.

but I have seen people packing up earlyand just running home and I’ve never genuinely understood that.

If you have had enough, why not go home, get clean, have some food and a decent kip? makes sense to me. You can then have a look at the bike in the warmth of your house and figure out what needs replacing.

Sorry if it came across like I was having a go that wasn’t my intention, but I have seen people packing up earlyand just running home and I’ve never genuinely understood that

I was at a 24/12 when it started to rain about 3 hours in, people were finishing their lap and going home

it turned out to be short lived rain and a dry race

To all those suggesting people are soft for stopping, it is truly horrendous out there – at least it was when I finished my lap at about 11 last night. I only did one lap (and now sitting in the warm at home with the kids), but then I was only ever planning on doing one lap as a last minute replacement – I got roped in yesterday morning as the unicyclists were a man down – and none of the rest of my team will do more than 2 I think, as they stopped for the night and my 2:30 lap was faster than our average! Anyway I reckon that on the second half of the course (going up the main climb onwards) I actually overtook more people than overtook me by walking/running the vast majority of it, as I simply couldn’t ride most of it on a uni – far too slippery to be able to balance. Some long stretches where everybody was on foot, and even on the downs where people were riding bikes I was generally keeping up (in some cases overtaking) by running. I did keep trying to ride, but at one point on a downhill I got about 20m of riding in before coming off and sliding another 20m down the hill on my bottom.

…and it didn’t cost me anything to do (apart from a few litres of fuel) as the person who dropped out had already paid, and I don’t have any drivetrain to trash (though at the end of my lap the mud was thin and washing off, so probably not that hard on kit).

Keep the stories and pics coming folks – really making me regret not making it this year even though all I ever do is shop and shout encouragement.

Fair play to all those taking part – the smiles say it all!

Massive congratulations to everyone who took part. Great pictures and I take my hat off to you all.

When can we expect the photos / videos of people completely chin-strapped / crying into their knees / face down in the mud / flying over the bars?

I’m afraid there was no photo of me sliding down the hill on my bum (it would have been more fun if I’d kept hold of the uni rather than having to walk back up the hill to retrieve it).

If you have had enough, why not go home, get clean, have some food and a decent kip? makes sense to me.

Nah – if you get to the start line of this sort of event and you have a brain in your head you know what the weather has been doing to the ground conditions on the lead up to the event and what is going to happen in the preceding 24hrs. You prepare accordingly both mentally and practically and dig in to the end. Worst case is you all stop riding and get stuck into the beer supply for an all night session and a lovely fry up in the morning with people you presumably have something in common with or why else would you have formed a team in the first place. If you are a solo its a great opportunity to make some friends! If you are at the pointy end you are made of sterner stuff and whilst its blummin hard making progress it’s the same for everyone so pace and times will be similarly effected. It’s what stories in your dotage are made of.

Before it rained:

NB Anyone who quit early, get’s my vote – I’d have stayed if I was in contention for the podium, otherwise I’d have packed and gone home – not my idea of fun.

DSC_2482 by brf, on Flickr

DSC_2480 by brf, on Flickr

DSC_1654 by brf, on Flickr

DSC_1718 by brf, on Flickr

DSC_1681 by brf, on Flickr

DSC_1668 by brf, on Flickr

you could get off your bike and it wouldn’t even fall over:

DSC_1691 by brf, on Flickr

if you get to the start line of this sort of event and you have a brain in your head you know what the weather has been doing to the ground conditions on the lead up to the event and what is going to happen in the preceding 24hrs.

But you don’t know what the next 24hrs are going to bring, you can prepare so much, but i guess this comes down to why are you there, to drink or ride a bike, and sorry i want to ride a bike. If it gets so crap that the repair bill is going to be silly, that the fun has long since gone. I don’t find removing grit from every orifice for days afterwards pleasant, finding out that the washing machine is trashed, etc.

I guess i have just been riding a while and have lost any interest in riding in mud, i just see repair bills these days. Yes riding in mud is part of the package in the UK, i just try to minimise it, i.e. pick trails i know are capable of taking traffic and not turning into bogs. And yes i know Mayhem is a race course so the rules differ to your average bimble, but my attitude to mud doesn’t.

Have the islabikes team done the whole thing on the little kiddies bike? That would be hella impressive.

But you don’t know what the next 24hrs are going to bring

really?

Oh I hate mud more than the next man – I road on road this morning to avoid it! But my point is- this is Mountain Mayhem with a history of mudtastic riding – and it’s been raining recently – and the forecast was fair to middling at best. You knew the moment you got in the car to go there what it was going to be like. You would have to be a moron not to anticipate what was coming. So you either commit and get on with it with an attitude of making the most of the weekend away or you stay at home and watch the grand prix and whatever tickles your fancy. If you don’t like mud this is not the event to enter as from memory at least 2 in every 3 years seems to be like this.

Rubbish. It’s never been like this. I’ve been to the last 4 which have muddy bits but never the whole course as bad as this.

really?

really, i just seem to think people deny the reality. I won’t do Mayhem because Eastnor even going back to when they ran the nationals there has always been questionable in wet weather.

only 4 – beginner 😉 I’ll have to dig out some of my photos from back in the day, and that was with about half the bikes going around to churn it up. Muddy all the way around is not a new phenomena.

But, have you seen the weather reports around the country in the last week or two? Only a badly executed frontal lobotomy should leave you devoid of the common sense to be able to anticipate the outcome seen this year. I’m not contesting the fact that this might be the worst ever, just that anyone who said out to go should have known that was going to be the case and only bothered if prepared to live with that and “embrace” the gloop!

Rubbish. It’s never been like this. I’ve been to the last 4 which have muddy bits but never the whole course as bad as this.

Really? – a couple of pics from 2007…

MM07 Snapped Mech

MM07 Mud

Have the islabikes team done the whole thing on the little kiddies bike? That would be hella impressive.

The first guy rode most of the first lap, the 2nd guy wasn’t so keen:

DSC_0942 by brf, on Flickr

DSC_1904 by brf, on Flickr

Really? – a couple of pics from 2007…

I raced 2007 (and podiumed) and this was way, way, way worse. Was very glad I was just taking photos…

Chipps,did you miss it due to that mad flooding in Todmorden? I saw a clip on the news last night and it was a bit full-on with rivers flowing through streets.

What that (the kiddie bike) needs is a comedy long seat post

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsYIiY2wnyU[/video]

Laughter in the rain??