Mountain Mayhem 2013

homers_double

It'll be fine.

miss notax

Course it'll be fine now I've gone and packed my Orange 5 (good in mud) in the car instead of the lighter Juliana (not good in mud)....

See you all there - i'm the short one on the ridiculous tiny blue 5 8)

toasty

Good call on the Five Enjoyed it a lot more than the hardtail (took both). Certainly wasn't just about grinding away up endless hills like they normally are.

miss notax

Yes, I was very pleased I was on the 5!

I really enjoyed it! The laps varied from very muddy to fairly dry-ish and fast - my night lap was probably my favourite simply because it was so bizarre! Skidding down that first descent was also interesting, one of those 'this is either going to look really cool or hurt a lot' moments

We managed 24 laps in total in a mixed team of 5 - 27th out of 87 (apparently!)/ Happy with that 8)

njee20

I hated it! Horrendous course with nothing to look forward to! Endless climbing, followed by muddy double track!

However, my prediction came true, I only did 6 laps and left the other 3 guys to do 9 each, bagging us 2nd in Open Men, with prizes presented by Princess Anne, very odd!

PresumingEd

I though this years course was fantastic. It had a lot of variety with some decent downhills, fast singletracks and testing (but rideable) climbs. This was my third Mayhem and it was easily the best, a thought not diminished by narrowly missing out on third in category

njee20

Weird, must have been a different course, I don't remember any decent descents other than the very first one, and other than the lake I can't remember any other singletrack sections either!

The vast majority couldn't ride the climbs either, I'd expect that to put a lot of people off frankly.

homers_double

Props for the result but stop sounding so elitist, it doesn't suit MTBers.

njee20

How on earth am I being elitist!? If I was a better rider I'd have enjoyed it more, all of my laps were average at best!

Most people couldn't ride the climbs, that's an absolute fact, there were streams of riders pushing up all the climbs each time I did them. Where's the fun in that!? I doubt 5% managed the grassy one, and the rocky one after the Red Bull section, if that. If people aren't put off by being totally unable to ride climbs then I take it back, but I know I don't enjoy it.

There were very few sections of singletrack, although I don't specifically have a problem with that, as it's difficult given the volume of riders. That said, losing all your height on straight fireroads isn't that much fun!

It was a great event, really well organised, the campsite was fantastic, but the course was utterly dire IMO.

miss notax

Hmmm, I take your point about the climbs actually njee20 - but I think the conditions were probably the reason why more people were walking up them rather than the course itself.... On a dry day neither of the climbs you mentioned would be a problem, but add in the rain / slippery rocks / tired legs etc as I was one of the many pushing up them! And i'm usually really strong at climbing :shock:

ETA - Obviously one could argue that a 'dry weather course' was never going to be a good plan in the UK, but hey ho!

homers_double

I suppose "elitist" is pushing it a bit far.

It sounded like you were sprinting up the climbs whilst everyone else pushed, my fault. Sorry.

I've had the same on a SITS climb, short steep little bugger into some trees. I rode it the first time then needed a rest at the top. Pushed it the second time whilst taking a breather along the way and that probably worked out faster than grinding up it.

njee20

Oh dear god no! I was walking up at least one every lap, not a single clean lap.

Totally incomparable to anything I've seen at SITS (and I recall the bit you mean from SITS a couple of years ago) - sections of >40% according to the Garmin.

mxdave

I loved the whole event. I managed the Kenda Coffin on the Friday in the dry - but walked it (slid down it??) during the actual race. Managed to get over halfway up all the climbs in the dry, but admit to walking most of them once the course got wet. My first full Mayhem (one lap wonder at Eastnor last year) and I found the course challenging. Not been riding long, so found the varied sections a good mix. That night lap was the scariest thing I have ever done (first time riding in the dark). Defo back for next year, and want to get our team of four into the top 50 - which will mean sub 1-hour laps all round!

Jaymoid

Hey njee20, what happened to "it'll be fine!"

I enjoyed it, although the course was hard (and I forgot my big bag of tyres) and I had to do one of the muddiest laps (the second one) resulting in my rear mech not working the the last half the lap leaving me only with my granny gear. After that my laps were easier, but I really didn't want another one like my first.

I couldn't do most of the climbs when it got slippy, the only tyres I had were some ones given to me a while ago, Tioga Factory XCs which were good in the mud, but slipped on everything else including roots, rocks and grass - I would have given anything to have my super tacky Maxxis minions with me - d'oh! Live and learn.

Here's me and my bike after the first lap:


We came 45th out of 83 in the open mixed and did 21 laps. I rode fairly conservatively although came a cropper a few times when I ran out of skill, especially early in the morning. Overall I am proud of our team efforts, and not bad for a first attempt and for most of us that have been riding less than a year.

For us the course was hard (well some found it easier) but I think as first timers it was more about the challenge, atmosphere and camaraderie. Good times.

njee20

It was fine, the course was just rubbish ;-)

The event itself was great I thought!

Jaymoid

njee20 wrote:

It was fine, the course was just rubbish ;-)

The event itself was great I thought!

I would agree, there were enjoyable bits of the course, but it would have been nicer if more of it was ride-able, if you had trouble with the climbs - imagine what it's like for a n00b!

I was amazed how fast the good guys zoom past you though (well probably not you), really made me realise that there is massive scope for improvement in my riding. My best lap was 1:04, our best guy got a 56 min lap, so when you see the good guys zooming past, and their lap times - it really puts a perspective on how fast they really are. Something you don't get a picture of had I not ridden the course.

p.s. well done on your result! Good skillz

GringoJimi

Rode the course on Friday and thought I'd arrived at the Adidas Thunderun.
Dull. Uninspiring. Unrewarding...

Kenda downhilly bit was the only singletrack I remember. The rest was a blur of doubletrack interspersed with muddy sections before the next piece of doubletrack.

The final climb past the stinky dung heap and back into the arena was my favourite part purely because it meant it was nearly over and I could get back to my tent, drink rum and abuse my team mates. :twisted:

As a team, we all agreed to spend the money on another event next year if MM is at Gatcombe again.

On a positive note, the event organisation was spot on. Showers were hot and the toilets never once resembled a medieval cesspit.

tomstickland

I thought the event was a bit subdued but still worth being at.
The route was alright. The first descent was the most amusing and it was a nice fast bit before that. The climbs were generally alright. I like steep ramps. There were two climbs that I walked from the 2nd lap on: the garlic walk (slight short cut near the start on the second climb where everyone had cut left up through the garlic) and the slippery cobbles after the red bull descent.

More of my thoughts: http://www.mbswindon.co.uk/race-report-mountain-mayhem-2013/

tv

njee20 wrote:

It was fine, the course was just rubbish ;-)

The event itself was great I thought!

COuldn't agree more! Would've been great if weather was dry, but on such a big event you can't design a course hoping that the weather will hold out!

650b

I don't wish to cause any upset, but I can't say that I enjoyed the course and I'm quite concerned for the future of the event after the weekend's experience. My feelings are that most of the climbs were beyond the vast majority of competitors, one in particular I thought was bizarre to include. The rest of the course offered a small percentage of technical riding with the rest being frankly uninteresting. The riders I spoke to felt the same. The rocky surface under the mud became treacherous after heavy rain, and it was fortunate that the weather forecast improved. On a positive note, the organisation was as always good and the facilities were excellent. Unless the course is radically improved I won't being doing it again.

GT_Dave

We competed as a team of 4 (The Yorkshire Gunners) on our newly purchased Regimental bikes (Ragley M74's) Unfortunately 9 gears really weren’t ideal as we certainly didn’t have the legs for those climbs!

My only criticism is that we thought looking at previous years pics it would be more of a fun event and that there would be more novices, instead we felt massively outclassed and constantly intimidated by far superior riders on amazing bikes forcing their way past on the singletrack and pushing us off to the sides of the wider muddier sections.

All in all though we really enjoyed it, I managed 4 laps in total and was absolutely hanging out, I had a chat with one lad on the climb up the big grassy hill who was on his 17th, made me feel a bit ashamed!

We will definitely do it next year though but we will actually train and practice riding at night and maybe not drink so much the nigh before!

(Awesome facilities! clean toilets and warm showers and the bike wash was excellent!)

JasonRwmb

We finished 2nd in the team of 10 race. I actually enjoyed it, maybe because I only got to do 3 laps. The 24hr race I did I was soloing, so a bit of a change.

On an easy pre-ride my heart rate reached 180bpm, on a couple of the climbs. At the time I thought that lots would be pushing up them, and that was in the dry.

My first lap started just before 2pm, when the course was pretty bad, I managed a massive stack on the 1st descent when I discovered that my front tyre didn't actually have much grip. I got around that lap in 55minutes, having pushed several of the climbs due to lack of traction, I only came off twice more on that lap. On my other two laps the course had dried out a fair bit, so I managed to ride without crashing, which was nice. My lap in the dark was good apart from hanging around in the wind and rain at the transition area. By my lap in the morning I managed to ride the almost the whole course (apart from the short greasy climb) and got around in 44mins.

Originally I was disappointed in the course. However looking back I think the wide trails made overtaking easy, there were only two places where I had to hold back before overtaking (by the lake, and a bit of the Red Bull Run), some more fun bits would have been good, and I think the hills were too steep. Maybe one would be fine, but three in a row seemed way too much for most people.

I am sure with a bit of work they can improve on the course. I just hope it doesn't end up like Eastnor where they promise a great course each year and then just run the previous year's course back to front.

tomstickland

I'd say that Twentyfour12 and Erlestoke both offer better routes. I enjoyed Mayhem though, mainly because I didn't feel knackered all of the time and did a best lap of 52minutes. There's more to come. I'm off to 2412 in a month's time.

njee20

Hmmm, I take your point about the climbs actually njee20 - but I think the conditions were probably the reason why more people were walking up them rather than the course itself.... On a dry day neither of the climbs you mentioned would be a problem , but add in the rain / slippery rocks / tired legs etc as I was one of the many pushing up them! And i'm usually really strong at climbing

I'm not so sure that the grass climb would have been any better - it was pretty much dry by about 11, it was just insanely steep, and the bumps didn't really help, I doubt that more than 25% of people would have been riding that whole lap, even in the bone dry. Agree the stoney one after the RB section would have been better though.

I'd say that Twentyfour12 and Erlestoke both offer better routes

Definitely, but they're also far smaller events, Mayhem is almost a victim of it's own success. Having places to overtake is definitely good, but I'm sure there are ways to make an interesting course that have at least a few interesting bits. With any luck we'll be allowed back there and to do some more interesting trails, I still worry that the topography is the limiting factor though.

Jaymoid

I managed to put together a video edit from filming in between laps, sleeping, eating, bike cleaning, etc... I've called it: "3 Minutes of Mayhem"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VB-88m7V5r0

I've also entered this to the Mountain Mayhem video edit competition, so if you like it - feel free to place a vote in the comp here: https://www.facebook.com/MountainMayhem ... 1377196787 - cheers and Enjoy!

miss notax

Cool video - I like it