Giant Mountain Mayhem 2008

Report & Images: Joolze Dymond

Results & Lots More Info: www.mayhemworld.co.uk

RIDER REPORTS

Mel's Mayhem - Mel Alexander tells the tale of her epic solo ride in the event.

Ruth's Mayhem - Ruth Mordaunt reports on the Altura Patterson Training team's Mayhem.

Sally's Mayhem - Mel's main rival Sally Bigham tells the tale of her Mayhem and how she came to mountain biking.

Phil's Mayhem - British Cycling's Phil Ingham looks back at his first attempt at the event.

EVENT REPORT

The Mayhem start is a great spectacle

The sun shone, we had fun, then it rained and we still had fun..except we didn't realise it was fun until the sun shone again and we finished the event. It was awesome in just so many ways. A great technical course that kept you on your toes (okay quite literally come 1 am in the morning), some record breaking (and gazebo destroying) gales - oh and some blisteringly hot sunshine to finish the event with a flourish.

Ah that definitely was Mayhem! Now in its 11th year and still going strong this incredible event regarded worldwide as THE 24 hr race is also the biggest gathering in the world of mountain bikers, a real Glastonbury of the off road kind! With plenty on offer for everyone as well as the obligatory 24 hr race which once more took place in the scenic setting of Eastnor Deer Park.

The fun kicked off on Friday where the world's biggest bike demo got under way with 30 bike manufacturers and distributors offering up bike exotic for people to test on real mud, or at this point dry dusty trails.

Then it was quickly on to the main event of the evening, a first for Mayhem, a stint of Drag racing, a lung bursting 100m sprint uphill, a knockout tournament with the prize being a suitably tasteless Trophy to go with some of the suitably tastelessly attired riders! This was drag racing at its best, the twist being the riders all turned up in a variety of drag, including top rider Ian Wilkinson who looked rather fetching in blonde pig tails and pink chiffon; while another top rider Paul Oldham certainly turned a few heads in his?.erm?.ensemble! Apparently there was some racing and someone won but we were so busy laughing we forgot!!

Bringing a new meaning to "drag racing", some of the top girls pose for Joolze's camera

Fast forward to Saturday morning and the day of the race dawned with a dull, drizzle filled sky, but it did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm as thousands strolled round the village: riders and spectators alike, stocking up on mud tyres (just in case) and maybe a few warm clothes? but this was just a passing weather front, which the locals told us would soon be gone.

As the clock inched forward to 2pm and the off, riders began arriving in the start area, positioning bikes ready to find them again after the traditional 'Le Mans' start: this is a quick run around a small loop to separate the riders out and what a spectacle it is, hundreds of brightly coloured lycra-clad people, sprinting, cavorting, hobbling, walking and in one case cantering - I definitely saw a pantomime horse in the mix - to get back to the bikes to start the race proper. Once more the RAF had a quick take off and flew back to line to grab their bike first closely followed by the streams of other competitors. This was it, the race was on and the fun had just begun!

Ahead lay a newly crafted 8.5 mile course, weaving its way up and down the valley, threading enticingly through the campsite then heading off up through wicked singletrack across soul sapping climbs overlooked by the majestic Eastnor castle. The trail held such delights as 'Vietnam', a wicked off camber root lined section closely followed by 'Death corner', an intriguing little hairpin before making it's way through trees just a handlebar wide, then dropping in Dymond's Ditch (fame at last, a ditch with my name on it!) down the old Kenda climb into the campsite, heading off just before hitting the finish straight to begin a climb that gave you a great view of the arena, if you stopped for the almost obligatory free can of Red Bull, before heading off for a quick 3 mile squiggle round the back of the course, until they eventually emerged, hopefully unscathed, to hand over to the next man, or woman, waiting eagerly in the change over section.

Classy shot of the night time riding

As the day progressed, the weather did indeed seem to ease and although there was no blue sky at least the fine drizzle cleared up, leaving the riders free to tear up the course hour after hour, each race category lead seemingly constantly changing hands, Those who weren't riding seemed glued to the screen that hosted the results to check positions. All was calm, all was going smoothly and then, soon after dark, all hell broke loose as at about 11.30pm the heavens opened and dumped a good dose of water on the course for at least 90 mins. The result? Hundreds of hardy and determined riders slipping and sliding as they slowly made their way through the carnage as the course quickly changed from smooth fast lines into a dark, rutted morass.

Mud, darkness and a technical course combined to make the night hours very tough

For many it was a lap too far and they quickly headed for their tents and called it a day leaving the rest to take on the challenge. The longest lap of the night was a cracking 5 hours, but needs a special mention as this plucky rider really sums up what Mayhem is really about.. true team spirit. Sarah Evans, riding for team Tyred Out set out on her lap and was caught in the deluge. Unfortunately, somewhere around the course she encountered a problem with her bike. She decided it would be quicker to leave her bike and set off on foot, but suddenly thought on her way back that if she finished without her bike her team would be DQ'd, so back she trudged and set off again?. 5 hours later she got back to the finish?

One of the most sought after commodities of the weekend had to be the Original Source shower gels that were being handed out; I hear they were being traded for top money over by the showers. Also the guys at Muc Off did a roaring trade with a huge queue, that would have made the January sales look like a tea party, of patient riders waiting to release their bikes from their concrete overcoats?

As daylight broke the clouds started to part and it seemed we were on for a better day, and it looked like the road riders, who turned up for the inaugural Mayhem Classic Sportive, would enjoy the best of the weekend free of mud and rain, as the mountain bikers trudged ever onwards. However the weather gods had one more trick up their sleeves. This time the rain was replaced with gale force winds, so now the riders not only had to contend with mud and tricky lines but also low-flying gazebos? many a rider were left hanging onto a tent post as their team mates scrambled into action to try and tether down the camp, many competitors however saw their gazebos go to the big campsite in the sky as the gusting winds flatten anything not secured.

By the end of the event, the course was fast and dry again and the mud was just a memory

Still it was sunny and warm and the course dried up a treat providing some of the fastest laps seen all race. While this was all going on, riders were still plugging away as, after all the race goes on, with plenty to play for.

In the case of the mixed Elite this was a juicy ?4,000 price purse, definitely worth blasting through the night. With 11 teams in the running it was going to be a battle to the end. The main difference this year was the complete demise of the Expert class to be replaced by this category, which contained 3 men, and 1 woman, who had to complete a minimum of 4 laps. Last year's winners of the similar category BMC/Extra UK, were keen to repeat that outcome, fielding a team containing Jamie Newall, Jody Crawforth, Matt Barrett and Mel Spath. But the real battle was always going to be between the big guns, Scott racing, containing - Nick Craig, Stu Bowers, Paul Oldham and Kate Potter up against the powerhouses of SIS /Trek, Ian Wilkinson, Dave Collins, Ian Bibby and Sue Clarke.

The Redbull climb was a real energy sapper

And what a battle it was?..Stu Bowers took the initiative and did the first lap including the run and was soon opening up a good gap, with Ian Wilkinson chasing hard. That's how the whole race went with Scott keeping the lead and SIS/Trek clawing back time but never quite getting on terms with the Scott boys. It probably didn't help that their 3rd male rider, Ian Bibby was actually in Italy when the race started and didn't get on site until a good 7 hours into the race itself! Each rider was evenly matched with the girls posting some pretty fast laps and definitely pulling their weight. After a grueling 24 hrs and a leg stinging 31 laps Scott took the honours with 18 mins to spare. BMC/Extra UK had to settle for 3rd but I'm sure they'll be back fighting for more next year!

Ian Bibby of SiS Trek and Stu Bowers of Scott - the two leading teams

In the Mixed category the battle was even closer with a broken chain and a dose of cramp the deciding factors as the race came down to the wire. With the lead changing hands constantly it was anyone's guess what the outcome would be. On the final 25th lap it was level pegging with the rider from Cycling Weekly/Norwood Paragon and the rider from Will We Won't We. Then disaster struck as the Will We's broke a chain just as the Paragon's suffered cramp?. The cramp mended first leaving the Paragons to go on and take the win just 7 mins ahead of the Will We's, it was a case of no they won't? Shy Tots with a healthy24 laps took 3rd.

There was a bit of controversy n the Men's Open has nobody realized that Mojo Orange were actually in this category, with a confusion over one rider's name seeing him catergorised as a woman? despite this, TORQ/Kona A team were consistent enough to ride smoothly through the mud to take the win, with the Mojo boys taking 2nd one lap clear of 3rd placed TORQ/Kona B team, who in turn narrowly squeezed out the Fat Birds team by just 5 mins.

In the Open Women's race the Saddle Skedaddle Skirts girls molly coddled by their helpers romped to a convincing win with 18 laps, 2 laps clear of 2nd placed BikeStyle team, while Team Dastardly took 3rd a further lap adrift.

Sports Men had the biggest field with an enormous 246 teams entered, but it was 3 teams who had a real battle who decided the hounors between them. The Woo Har Rammit team fended off some stiff assaults by KeswickBikes.co.uk and Pedal On 1 but despite one rider falling ill they kept their calm and pushed on taking the win with just about 13 mins in hand. KeswickBikes just held off Pedal on to take 2nd with all 3 teams racking up and impressive 27 laps.

In a smaller but none the less competitive Sports women's race it was the Keswick ladies who did one better than their male counterparts and took the win with a competitive 20 laps. The lovely named Pink Heifers took 2nd with 18 laps while She Cycles Chocaholics were delighted to take 3rd.

Probably one of the easiest teams to be a member of has to be the teams of ten. Introduced as part of the tenth anniversary last year, they proved so popular they were kept for this year. Last year's winners Numplumz, concentrated last year on decorating their tent and offering optics to passing riders and took the win. This year though Duke William pipped them to the post and they had to settle for 2nd, while the Adidas team snapping at their heels took 3rd with less than 2 minutes separating them

Legend Gary Foord and 24 Hour solo winner Sally Bigham

Finally the most coveted and definitely the hardest races of the weekend had to be the soloists. Year on year we see this section grow as riders looking for the ultimate challenge push themselves and their comfort zones in pursuit of that elusive win. Only the best survive, this toughest of the tough. 24 hrs with just you and the bike, persuading yourself to push those pedals round one more lap time and time again, battling not only other competitors but also your own demons. All that time alone, coupled with sleep deprivation and extreme physical action can play funny tricks on your mind. So this not only takes physical fitness but a mental strength that only experience and grim determination and stubbornness can provide.

Sally Bigham only started enduro riding by accident less than 2 years ago, with 2 SITS and one Mayhem under her belt, oh and a National Marathon Champions jersey, on the way, she has risen to the top in a very short time. Despite trying to talk herself out of the race for the first 8 hours Bigham persisted, coming into her own just has the conditions became their worst. Driven by a need to succeed and using the grim conditions to focus her pedaling she carried on. Close behind and giving her a really hard ride were rivals Mel Alexander and Fi Spotswood.

This was no easy walk over and as with any mountain bike race anything could happen! By 10 am Bigham had assured herself she just had one lap to complete before calling it a day and then came the news that Alexander was breathing down Bigham's neck which meant just one more lap now had to be just 2 more?.More mental wrangling and Bigham rose to the challenge taking a well earned win with 18 punishing laps, 153 long miles. Alexander continued to ride strongly coming home ahead of Spotswood to take 2nd.

Special mention has to be made of Sascha Wells who choose one of the toughest Mayhem's yet to take on the challenge of 24 hr soloing on a singlespeed. With only one six hour race to her name this brave lady determined to prove her critics wrong used the event to raise money for charity and despite achieving her goal went on to finish and raise well over ?500 in doing so!

The solo men's race was to be a war of attrition, with defending champion Anthony White determined to keep his winning ways. In his way to his second victory were whippersnappers James Lister and Matt Page, with another dark horse Ian Leitch also in the mix.

Lister was the man making the pace, setting off at blistering speed, 11 laps later and Lister's race was over with chest pains making him pull out. This left Matt Page to take up the gauntlet and he smoothly cruised past White to take the lead. White started to experience the dark thoughts that all soloists go through, but he pulled himself together and kept the pedals turning.

Soon Page was out too, leaving White in front and looking good for his second win. Behind and hoping to thwart that goal was international enduro rider Ian Leitch, but despite all his efforts he couldn't quite match the might of White who finally took the win with 20 solid laps, one clear of Leitch, whilst closing in fast was 3rd placed Richard Rothwell just over 7 mins behind.

In the sub-categories the oldies prize (Your team has to add to over 160 years to qualify..) was taken by the aptly named Pedal On Oldies, while the Trek 69er Collective took their second win in a row in the singlespeeding class. The low flying RAFCC team keeping in perfect formation took the honours in the services and the Man eating Squirrels of Lufbra (it's a student thing?) took the Uni prize, celebrating as is traditional with loads of beers, more than likely!

And so ended yet another Mayhem year, with blue skies and a warm sun beating down you couldn't quite believe it had been the same place just hours before. Thanks to all the competitors and supporters who turned up and make Mayhem what it is, a fabulous excuse to get all hot and dirty all weekend. Sadly organizing legend Pat Adams couldn't be part of the proceedings this year, but he's now on the mend and should be taking his place on the finish line next year, ready for the dirty dozen! Bring it on!

Post Event Rider Reaction

Nick Craig - Scott - Elite Mixed
That was a big, big battle. Stu started it he led from the gun and for the full 24hr we couldn't relax. They started coming back at us and we just though okay here we go, the money was dangling and Ian has that marathon jersey, they were just fired up and gave us some awesome racing. It was really good. It's different game when you have a girl on the team, we were dead lucky to get Kate, she was just unbelievable. That just sorted that part of the equation so well. She's awesome she just said she'd do whatever we wanted her to do, what more can you ask from a team mate. It's always good to win and for the race to finish in the sun after all that rain is how it should be. It was horrendous at some points but to be honest that what makes the event, people always say, 'I'm not doing that again' yet they still come back and up for it again next year. The only disappointing part of the whole weekend is Pat not being here, but hopefully he'll be back on his feet pretty soon and back on that start line to send us on our way and to shake our hand at the end.

Cycling Weekly/Norwood Paragon -Mixed
It was good fun, I was lucky in that I did my last lap before the rain came at night, at 10 past 11 and it pissed down at about 20 past 11 so I was very glad I didn't get again until it was nearly daylight. In general we just hung in there, broke bikes, broke people, people were refusing ride, I did a double lap, as my change over wasn't there. We were 30mins up, 5 mins down, then 30secs down on the last few laps and then I was with the guy in first place, the two of us neck and neck, I over took him, he caught me back, we were going along together, he jumped back on his bike after the rough stuff, he snapped his chain, I got cramp. Guess which one is quicker to fix! I really feel for them, it was so close. That was another top event. We enjoyed it and it was great to get the win and it was so much harder than Sleepless. We'll be back next year, but I think I'll bring a singlespeed with me just in case it rains again!

Sally Bigham - Solo woman winner
Another great weekend, especially now it's over - it wasn't at the time! I think I found the first 8 hours really hard, weirdly I just didn't want to do this, but as soon as the night came I sort of got into the swing of it. Then the rain came and it turned into a complete nightmare and I thought why am I doing this. Strangely the ground sorted itself out after the downpour and it got kinda nice to ride again, I enjoyed probably from 10 am to 12pm and I really didn't want to go out from that last lap. But Mel was pushing me. She did really well, she was so strong, if she hadn't gone out and ridden so well then I wouldn't have had to gone out and done another myself. Unfortunately she was very strong so I had to do one more. It's it so good to win though and probably this will be my last 24 hr, I think now I will concentrate just on marathons and see what I can do with that. I wouldn't rule out riding any 12 hrs mind, 24 hrs is, a bit crazy really! When I rode here last year I was on flat pedals and it was a different story, I've improved a lot since then and clipless pedals have brought me on a lot! It's a great event and I'll miss it, everyone is so supportive, so many people on the course have been shouting out and lots of the riders seem to know my name and it's really really encouraging, it makes you so happy that everyone wants you to do so well. I really have to thank my parents and my partner Dave who supported through my darkest hours and put up with me. Plus a big thanks, to Ride On for the bike and James at Ergon for the best grips and energy drink. Without everyone's support I couldn't have done this.

My Knees Hurt - Vets
We came, we saw we raced and we nearly won! It was a logistic genius on Jo's part to enter us in the vet's category and not the sport cat. 11 years ago we won 3rd spot in the sport race in the first ever race and it's been on Jo's mind ever since that we've not made it back on the podium since and we did it for Fraser as he's working. It was fantastic to get on the podium and a big surprise, we'd like to thanks Fraser and Steve Mead and Russell who have been our stand-ins since the beginning and of course Helen who has made sure we go out time and time again. We did say after 10 years we were not doing it again, we were just going to turn up and do some heckling instead, and the Tim said nah come on we're racing! And apparently we're going to do this now until we die!

Trek 69ers - Singlespeeders
Yeah the race went really well, but it was tough, the course was really hard this year. We were saying earlier that the course designers always get a hard time here, but we thought they'd done a good job it was great. The weather just adds to it, we still can't believe that people turn up here without mud tyres. We've done this before and so are pretty well equipped for all eventualities you need to be. The bikes were ace, singlespeeds are great in the mud, we saw so many rear mechs broken off, things like, these are just really good reliable bikes, they roll over all that gloop so well. Good to win, that's 2 years in a row now, so chuffed with that, we'll be back again next year, in fact we'll be back every year.

Saddle Skedaddle Skirts - Open Women
It was a game of two halves, wet/dry and a sort of a walky one and a sort of cycly one and next year if we can add a bit of a swim we can make it into a triathlon! Bring it on! It was great though, a fantastic team and thanks to our support crew Saddle Skedaddle who were feeding us, cleaning and mending our bikes all weekend, absolutely fantastic and we need them again next year. Apparently we'll be back next year to defend our title, we're very proud to have got on the podium.

Keswick Bikes.co.uk - Sports Women
This year it was really competitive out there. It was a real variety out there on the course a real challenge. We all enjoyed it though despite everything, the secret is consistency even at the worst times. We had a couple of falls and a couple of punctures, but considering everything went pretty well. I hope we'll be back next year to get stuck in once more.

Woo har Rammit - Sport men
It was a very competitive race, it was a close race right to the end, there was only a couple of minutes in it. I had 6 hours out and it was the rest of the team that did all the work, I was in the tent being pretty sick. I managed to recover at the end to do a last couple of laps I timed it perfectly and missed all the worst stuff. It was a really good race, Stefan did loads of jollying everyone along we were quite low at one point, but both Dave and Shad put in some really fast laps and we just really hung in till the end. This is a regular fixture for us, we all live locally and we get together to have a go.

Anthony White - Solo men's winner
Yeah my second win in a row I might just come and do the triple, I mean Nat Ross has won 2 years but no one has one 3, and I can still kick the butts of those youngsters. They've certainly tested me this year, last year I could ride away from everybody, I tried doing the same this year but James Lister came back at me he went really mental I just thought he'd burn himself out which I think happened in the end. Matt Page he came very smoothly past me I was struggling to hang onto his wheel again though they're not as experienced as me over 24 hrs and anything can happen and if you're not a raver you may not be able to stand the sleep deprivation! I'm totally a raver that's my secret! All night partying is part of my training. It was good to get my second win, though the conditions were pretty terrible and I was having some real dark moments, especially at the 12 hour mark I was not in first place I was really struggling getting past back markers in the technical stuff, I was falling into the ferns, when someone is ahead of you, you start thinking that they can't be possibly having the same problems as you. But they obviously were. It was really tough. I got past Matt at about 14 hours and he was looking very tired. Matt eventually gave up and went to sleep, but I was very conscious that Ian Letch was behind me and I kept getting time checks on the gap, I was very wary, as I've been caught very close to the end of mayhem before and I didn't want that to happen again. You get quite paranoid out there and of course it gets amplified as the race progresses. Just 2 weeks ago at the Bristol Bike Fest, I was within 1 mile of finishing and winning but ripped my mech off, so as I ran in I got caught and I lost by just 53 secs. Mechanicals can just happen when you lest expect them, especially when you're so tired. I just wish the weather could be friendlier to us, but I'm looking forward to getting some fish and chips now and a bit move raving!

Matt Hart - Team Torq Open Men
The team did well they were 2 laps ahead in the end and the 3rd placed Torq team it was very close. We thought we were first and second but there was a mix up with Mojo, so in the end we were 3rd but that was fine. The team was really driven to complete it, they all rode really well in the mud and I think that was the thing, sometimes it was tyre choice but more often than not it was just down to keeping the wheels moving. If you slowed down you were stranded, you couldn't do anything, but while the wheels are moving they're shedding mud. If you slow down to a certain speed they just accumulate mud and you stop. It was a great weekend, good to see so much black and orange on the podium, but only dampened by the fact that Pat was taken ill.