Mountain Mayhem 24 hour race MTB race report & photos

[sylv]

The Saab Salomon 24 hour race was held on June 25-26 in Eastnor Deer Castle Park, in the Malverns.

Simon and I were part of the Bromley Bike / Yeti team, the two other members were another Simon, from up north, who never races but is scarily fast, and Colin who manages the Yeti racing team for Europe, and who is also very fast, both in Cross-Country and Downhill racing. Yeti had another team made up of Martyn, only 18 but faster than any of us, Dan about as fast as him, Luke and anothrer rider who unfortunately stopped after only two laps.

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Our pit-crew, bike mechanic included

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The first of many testing climbs


I went out first which meant I had to do the half-mile run prior to getting on the bike. Standing just two feet behind Tinker Juarez, a cross-country legend from the late eighties / early nineties, and who now has successefuly converted to endurance racing, was very impressive. I wanted to be quick in the run to avoid the traffic jams once on the bike, but hadn't expected it to be so fast, and so long. From about half way into the run I started slowing down, with lots of people overtaking me. Onto the bike at last, maybe in 80th position, I was still out of breath, and would only recover a normal heartrate something like half an hour into the race.

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The start run (I'm on the right, trying to keep my feet dry), photo bikemagic.com

That first lap was altogether the worst thing I have done on a bike, ever. I didn't know the course and it had been severely altered by the storms of the previous day, which meant it was a permanent struggle to stay on the bike, the heavy mud on the singletrack sections making it more akin to piloting your bike, and hoping you wouldn't end up in a tree. I couldn't even get into my small chainring. Lots of people were still overtaking me, I was trying to find my breath. The course, 10.5 miles long, had over 500ft of elevation, and this included some treacherous climbs, a a couple of fast descents. One the first one, about two thirds into the lap, I got a pinch flat puncture, which is not what I needed. Struggling with my muddy tire I changed the tube, and reached for the free CO2 cartridge we got with our entry. I had never used one before (prefering to take a pump with me), but the guy gave us a demo and it looked straightforward, so I didn't take my pump.

I did something wrong and ended up emptying the air not in the tube, but outside of it. So my only choice was now to run for the rest of the course. Again, just what I needed. There were still fast people passing by, so I had to move out of the way when they were approaching. I didn't know how much more to run I had, but there were another couple nasty climbs. I was close to tears, raging against myself for not taking the pump, and worrying that Simon, the next man to go, would have to wait a long time for me.

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Me running and struggling, photo by mrkipling

In the end the run was 2.2 miles, and by the end I was completely exhausted. I think I was also feeling the effects of a heavy drinking night on the Wednesday, and just collapsed into my tent and slept for two hours.


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It's not a serious race for everyone, here Mr Extreme Ironing


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Tinker Juarez, the legend, racing solo


The follow-up, when I have time to write it ...

[sylv]

Soooooo...

This first lap took me over 1h33, whereas the first Elites clocked in under 58 minutes. Simon went out next and I resisted telling him how awful it was out there.

Thankfully we had Howard the mechanic at Bromleybike taking care of our bikes after each lap, we had a compressor and hose and the bikes were back to squeaky clean after having been clogged with a few pounds of mud.

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Howard our valued mechanic

Simon came in in 1h15 and passed the relay baton to Simon2, who decided to do two laps in a row - the first one was merely to get warmed up. Given the muddy conditions, his time of 1h11 and 1h14 were pretty impressive.

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Simon2 just decided to do two laps in a row

Next was Colin, who did well also in 1h11.

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Col rushing out for a lap

Even with the sleep I was still feeling pretty weary, not looking forward to going out again. It was now after 8pm and after some food and drink I put on some dry kit and went out for my second lap.

The condition of the course had already changed a bit: with the passage of thousands of riders the wet mud has been partially cleared out ... to leave place to sticky mud. So it was easier to stay on the bike, but harder to move forward. I started feeling a bit better and came back in 1h08.

Simon went out for his second lap with his lights, as the night would be falling at around 9.30pm. Everyone did some decent lap times during the night, while the course was gradually drying out. It was still a struggle to get out of my warm sleeping bag in the middle of the night, to go out riding in the fresh night.

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The pits at night


I got another puncture on my third lap, at exactly the same place, but this time I had my pump and only lost a handful of minutes, lapping in 1h23 and finishing around 4am ... straight into the tent.

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We were kept entertained by the London Philarmonic Orchestra, performing just meters from our camp

Simon went out again and witnessed the sun rising short before 4am, which he described as a big relief. A couple hours after it was my turn to go out again, even without the taking care of our bikes it didn't seem like such a long time to rest before laps. I was feeling good though, but was running out of dry kit. It was now 8am and the first rays of warm sunshine were piercing through the clouds, such a good feeling, it also meant the course was drying even more. One of the worst climbs, a mud clog used to test 4*4 gearboxes, was almost rideable in its entirety, whereas you had to walk most of it in previous laps.

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Simon - scrambled eggs and sausages for breakfast

More later ...

[sylv]

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The changeover area at night

My fourth laptime was just under 1h09. After this I enjoyed some breakfast in the sunshine, and lying on a chair just doing nothing for a while. Simon came back in 1h19, then Colin in 1h14, and Simon2 with a time of 1h03'46, so far the best time of our team. With the track now practically dry, and the warmth beginning to be felt, I was feeling good and keen to get a good time for what was going to be my last lap. The course was so much more enjoyable than at the start of the race, it was litterally night and day. The three big climbs could now be ridden steadily in the smallest gear, the forest singletrack was much more manageable, and the downhills enjoyable at speed. The final mile or so was almost all downhill and a good blast at last, with lots of spectators and photographers at the best vantage points, like the bombhole just before the finish.

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Martyn taking big air at the Bombhole (photo Simon Barnes)


I clocked in 1h03'34, and handed the baton to Simon, who despite having previously said he didn't feel like doing another lap, went out and came back just under 1h08. This was fast enough to allow Col to ride an ultimate lap, Simon having passed the finish line shortly before the 2pm cut-off line. As it is the rule, Col could have taken it easy on his last lap, as there were no time restrictions by then, but he went on to produce his fastest lap in just over 1h05.

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Simon enjoys the free Red Bull after his last lap


By then all of us had started packing up our tents, gear and bikes, and were enjoying the sunshine. I had been to the finish line to see all the "lurkers" cross the line, all the people who didn't want themselves or someone of their team to go out for another lap, and who were waiting for the 2pm cut-off time to cross the line.

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The lurkers at 2pm Sunday


Mr Extreme ironing was there, as well as Tinker who, despite having suffered a bad mechanical with a slashed tire, finished 35 minutes ahead of his nearest competitor with 17 laps completed. There was also Jenn O'Connor in the female solos, in a class of her own she completed 16 laps, and a few hundred other riders. The winners in the Elite category were Scott UK with 26 laps (and an absolute best lap time of 50'25 by Nick Craig!), followed closely by Evans with 25 laps.

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Jenn O'connor

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Tinker and Mr Extreme Ironing


We didn't wait for the awards and shot off as soon as we'd finished packing off. Our team completed 20 laps, 5 each. This represents only 53 miles of riding per person, but after those 24 muddy hours with little sleep it certainly felt like much more. We finished 22nd in the Sports category (out of more than 250 teams), and the Yeti team did better in 15th, with the same number of laps but in 35 minutes less (without my two mechanicals we could've been neck to neck!). We also had a solo rider Richard, who completed 7 laps .

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Richard our solo rider looking a bit tired

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Kwaaaak!

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Oli Beckinsale from the winning Scott team

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The finishing riders shake hands with Pat Adams, the organiser

[Elliot M]

well done sylv!

[sid_day]

It was 500m of climbing per lap!
We did 2500m of climbing each.

[sylv]

D'oh yes! That's not as bad as a report I read somewhere, which stated 7,500m per lap!

I just noticed on the pics of Tinker that:

a) He's still using old Look pedals (I'd read he did, but a few years back and he apparently still does)

b) He's wearing trainers at the end of his last lap!