Saab Salomon Mountain Mayhem 2006
Words & pics Joolze Dymond
Whilst many eyes were on the football World Cup, a merry band of nearly 2,000 mountain bikers crept away from their TVs and headed for the hills, for the UK's premier mountain bike enduro race, the Saab Salomon Mountain Mayhem. Now in it's 9th year, the event just goes from strength to strength with all categories of riders welcome; singlespeeders, unicyclists, novices etc and with the expo village growing, there were plenty of attractions for those just wishing to spectate and even a Mini Mayhem for the kids to ride whilst Mum and Dad were getting on with the big one. This year, after listening to the feed back from riders from the previous year, the course was tweaked to provide 24hrs of fun, amusement and blistering hot riding, over 7.8 miles of dry dusty trails.
This weekend is the highlight of the year for many riders, a chance to catch up with distant friends, a chance to heckle and/or encourage fellow riders, the atmosphere is always fantastic; Now if only we could have the same sort of camaraderie at the football eh?
During the run-up to the event, many web forums were alight with various topics, discussing everything from which tyres, which tent, to how the weather was panning out. By the Thursday, the masses started to arrive and the once quiet fields where soon awash with a transient tent-village that sprung from nowhere and just grew and grew. Any worries about waking to a washed out course or a mud bath were quickly quelled, as competitors awoke to a fine morning, promising a dry, dusty, fast course.
With Shimano promising to give away a new XTR group set to a random person spotted in their give away t-shirt, the action was frenzied as riders duly signed up, before ambling around the expo village to test ride bikes, view some new products or snap up a bargain or two, before the race got underway.
By 1.45pm, those riders who had drawn the short straw, started to line up alongside the soloists to complete the opening run. With hundreds of bikes lined up waiting for their owners to find and mount them ready to start the race proper, the opening lap is always a mad scramble, remembering where you left it whilst vying for position to give your team the best possible start. On the stroke of 2pm they were off, a mad gallop with a few people taking a tumble before even getting to their bikes. For one unlucky competitor, as soon as he had reached his bike and started to ride, his rear tyre exploded, leaving him to repair his flat whilst all around him charged on.
This year, the course exited the arena a slightly different way, instead of a huge climb more or less straight away, riders were faced with a longer but less severe climb, culminating in a tight bend before encountering the first section of fast singletrack. Riders then regained the view of the campsite, weaving down the hill, before criss-crossing their way around the campsite, then heading for the long and dreaded Kenda climb - a good 2 miles of slog, with fantastic scenery, if you had the inclination, with Eastnor castle snuggled below looking on.
A sharp, steep descent to the right pushed riders around the monument before flinging them into another quick singletrack, before eventually hitting the campsite once more to start the lap again.
Talking about hitting the campsite, one enthusiastic rider did this quite literally, on the end of his first lap he over-cooked his final decent and ended up slap bang in the middle of some poor unsuspecting spectator's picnic table. Fortunately no damage was done to both rider and table and the race continued with them both in serviceable condition.
The changes to the course made it incredibly fast with elite riders knocking out consistent 30min laps. All of it rideable with no nasty surprises, first thoughts were that it was a bit tame, but as the race dragged on, praise was soon heaped on the new layout by most.
The popularity of the solo event was evident with 125 riders signed up to do battle, with 8 of those women, some of whom were riding their first 24hr solo. As well as the honours of SSMM 24 hr title, there was also another competition running alongside, for members of the newly formed 24-hour club. This event, with the blessing of SSMM organiser Pat Adams, was also the club championship, so competition was fierce.
Men's Solo
In the men's event the lead changed hands constantly. George Budd and James Lister went out fast leading the race for a first part. Their exuberant pace soon began to tell, with Lister suffering by lap 24, ending his race with a creditable 26 laps. Meanwhile seasoned rider Anthony White had taken the mantle from George Budd and was now leading with Paul Murrin in hot pursuit. Near the closing stages there was merely 15 mins separating the top 5 riders in this tough event. Despite all his efforts, White conceded to Murrin, who with seconds to spare, went out on his final lap to ensure victory, over a disappointed White, who consoled himself with the knowledge that he had won the 24hour club championship. Budd, happy to have finished his first ever 24hr race took a well earned 3rd. Special mention to Carl Hutchings, who not only managed a creditable 9t spot in the solo race but also did so on a singlespeed.
Womens Solo
The women's solo race was dominated by Jenn Hopkins, a class act who also rode the event on her customary singlespeed, clocking up an incredible 25 laps, whilst smiling and encourage other riders on her way round to winning the event. . Tracey Miles, on her first attempt of the 24hr, took second with 22 laps and bagged the 24 hour Club Championship too, whilst Nadine Spearing, also a new comer to 24 hr racing and sporting a few bruises from the previous weeks racing, took 3rd. Lorraine Staley also gets a mention for finishing 4th in her first 24hr event just minutes behind Nadine and also had the added complication of keeping her blood sugar levels steady as she's diabetic. Well done all the girls!
Elite Team
Defending Elite champions Scott UK had their work cut out as Giant fielded a team comprising of 3 world cup riders, Oli Beckinsale, Stefan Sahm & Al Thijs, with Ben Dale being the lucky rider chosen to complete the team line up. The lap times were fierce as the Giant boys, Beckinsale & Sahm managed to knock out a couple of impressive sub 29 min laps. Despite this, the Scott boys were giving it their best and kept the marauding Giants in their sights. However a disastrous double puncture for team mate Stuart Bowers on one of the night laps combined with a change of race tactics by the Giant boys, saw Giant extend their lead, looking at one point to be on the verge of lapping the Scott team. Undeterred, the Scott boys kicked again and started to close the gap. However, by the end of the race the damage had been done; Giant were victorious with a staggering 46 laps, with Scott just 1 lap down in second. Magura took a hard 3rd, after a disastrous first lap for Carl Sturgeon, whose handlebars came loose and was stranded for a while begging assistance from passing riders. In the end a kindly unicyclist had the right tool for the job and Sturgeon was off and the race for Magura was well and truly on. Despite this setback they managed an impressive 43 laps, just ahead of newly formed Felt Racing.
The youngest Elite team in the race, Kinesis UK, with 3 riders straight from Juniors to Elite, managed a creditable 41 laps to place them 8th under the leadership of their team manager and fellow team mate Chris Truett.
Kona UK, comprising, Zak Toogood, Will Bergfelt, John Veness & Abi Greenaway defended their title as champions in the Expert mixed class by taking their second consecutive win in this category, amassing 43 laps, 2 laps clear of 2nd placed Maverick, with Pedal On A taking 3rd a further 1 lap behind.
Mixed
In the Mixed category hardly anything separated the top 3, with the Impsport Factory team just nudged ahead of Climb on Bikes to take first spot, whilst Keswick Bikes KMB took 3rd a mere 45secs adrift of Climb on Bikes.
Sports Men
Sports men was won once more by Fat tread bikes, this year however masquerading under the Titus label. MTB Wales put up a good fight but in the end succumbed to the might of the Scots. Mebalsa Ritchey took 3rd, just snatching it from singlespeed team Numplumz Fenboy 4, whose race might have altogether different if a double-puncture plus an exploding tool bag had not been experienced. Numplumz Oldboys just lost out to Pedalon.co.uk B by just 34 secs, despite an awesome battle involving punctures, broken saddles, disintegrating chainrings and losing a man to sickness. Not a bad day's work then.
Sports Women
MTB Wales Fancier Ride took the win in the Sport Women's class with a good 2 lap advantage over Torq Bar, with Pedal On Ladies making it a third podium position for the team, coming in at 3rd place.
University, Forces and blokes with Ironing Boards
The fastest University team, taking a break out of their hard drinking and partying to attend the event, went once more to Loughborough Uni, whilst the Army put all their discipline and training to good use to wipe up in the Services section.
Paul Roberts, once more decided to air his dirty laundry in public, by completing 16 laps in the solo event with an ironing board & iron strapped to his back, which he duly unloaded at the finish line and completed his laundry run for the second year.
An massive 'well done' to all those who took part in arguably one of the most enjoyable events of the year. The teamsmanship and camaraderie of all that ride is a pleasure to see.
To those that were injured, not that there were many, a speedy recovery to you all, especially to BC commissaire Graham Faulkner who took a nasty tumble in the night. Despite a couple of injuries, the race went without incident. With over 8,000 people in attendance, a mixture of racers and spectators, this has to the best supported cycling event in the UK. It was good to see so many people coming along just to see what it was about and hopefully thinking about having a go. It was even better to see Mini mayhem in action as loads of kids queued up ready to have a go under the expert guidance of the coaches at Cycle Active. Who knows, in a couple of years many of these youngsters might be riding the real thing. A special shout to the youngster who rode it on a unicycle. Good effort. Oh and also many thanks to the guys at Hill & Valley coffee who very kindly supplied the photographer with a copious amount of coffee all weekend, to keep her going. Cheers guys.
With every Mayhem eagerly anticipated, the race selling out in a matter of days when the entry forms are made available at the end of February, the success of this event is phenomenal, which is due mainly to Pat Adams, his precision team of guys and girls that don't sleep for days, ensuring the event runs smoothly. To the fantastic marshals who willingly give up a warm bed to make sure the ride goes well and finally, all the fantastic sponsors and supporters of the event, without whom it wouldn't be half as much fun.
If want to pop your 24hour cherry, then Saab Salomon Mountain Mayhem is THE prestigious place to do it. See you next year for the 10th anniversary, you know it's just gonna get bigger!
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