Mountain Mayhem

Rain had been threatening on the journey over and then all morning on the Saturday, but somehow the sun shone more and more as the weekend went on. Mayhem was a massive site this year and I hadn’t expected to be given the chance to ride, so when Phil emailed me offering my colleague Jonny and I a place on the grid we quickly accepted.

Mayhem has been going for years and is a real favourite. In simple terms the race runs like the LeMans 24 hour car race. Solo riders and teams compete to maximise their lap count. It gets interesting at the end when, if you want and can, you can go out for one more lap if you get in before 24 hours is up. This can win or lose the race and can easily push you up by around five places.

I usually race solo and this year, Phil was taking on his first mayhem solo. He worked hard to be in the top ten, despite some problems, going into the night. Unfortunately the night is hard and he lost some ground. The major thing is that when the dawn came up he put everything behind him and clawed back a really good result.

Whilst we were cheering Phil on we were putting the laps in too. Jonny had been voted to do the run at the start, and had then put in a great lap to hand over to me. There were still a lot of riders around, so I weaved my way through them to a nice sub hour lap. Brendon, from Birmingham, soldiered on through jersey issues and a crash, to a respectable lap. Then Graeme, from HQ, secured lap four.

We had then elected to move onto two laps each, instead of one, and Jonny put in two crackers before the darkness came down. My next was quick, but the chilly night air made me cramp badly on my second. I lost some time, but kept my head up to hand over to Brendon and get some pasta in me. Brendon put in a couple of good laps, just lacking the confidence in his front tyre, but again he made a great effort. Graeme wasn’t happy with the prospect of his night laps, but stepped up and then handed over to Jonny who was champing at the bit. Unfortunately for Jonny, he’d just missed the dawn, something he’s looking forward to next time I think. Again he put in two fine laps and then gave me the chance for a fast one.  After a quick changeover Brendon went out for one last one, with Graeme following up with his last lap.

Then we had to work out our strategy for the end. Jonny put a fast lap in and we decided that if I felt good I’d push to get to the line in time for one last effort. I managed another sub one hour lap and so easily pushed on for one more. It was the seven year anniversary for me racing at Mayhem and my 50th race so bringing our team home felt amazing. We had awkward moments and learnt a lot, but mostly just had a bloody good time – which is what team 24 hour racing is all about. Mayhem has such a great atmosphere and I couldn’t think of anywhere I’d rather celebrate such a milestone.

A massive well done to our team, and to Phil, the fifth member of it. I can’t wait for Bontrager and I know Jonny will be back next year! My thanks go out to Phil, Pat, Lucozade, Cotswold Outdoor, TheEightBicycleCompany and Jonny, Brendon and Graeme.

Enjoi