Mountain Mayhem 2008

Race Report by Ruth Mordaunt

Leading up to Mountain Mayhem, many riders told me about the experiences and personal challenges they faced during this “mother of all mountain bike events” from previous years, and what I should expect too. The general feeling was that as long as it stayed dry it would be fun, fast and furious, and should it rain then it was going to be hard work - not just physically but mentally too. Unfortunately, the sun-dance did not pay off, when I saw the weather forecast for the weekend; black rain clouds covering most of Hereford area for Saturday and Sunday, I knew then that it was going to be tough weekend. However, I was pleased to be riding as part of a strong team with a wealth of experience in 24hr racing.

The Altura Patterson Training team’s strategy was to head up a true mixed team with two men and two women, and to ride equal laps. So rather than gunning for a podium spot, which was unlikely due to the setup of all the other elite teams, we were going for consistent strong lap times. For me, well, it was to survive the 24 hours!

The race started with a short le-mans style run before the riders collected their bikes in the pit area to ride the first lap. Simon pulled the short straw and was voted for this opening role. He did not disappoint, and with a super fast run he left the arena in the top five to ride his first lap. The race had begun, and I had to wait nervously until it was my turn to bash out a fast lap.

Thankfully, the weather remained fairly dry for the first 10 hours or so and despite the course getting cut up by the sheer number of riders, our team reeled off consistent lap times. However, as per the forecast, it started to rain heavily in the early hours of the morning during my third lap, and the fun kicked in! The course became unrideable in certain sections of single track, and in places hard to even stand upright as I slid down the muddy banks! All I could see was riders lurching their bikes and themselves into bracken just to stay upright and get some grip under foot. It was brilliant; it’s the middle of the night, it’s cold and wet and I’m sliding down muddy banks on my backside....this was what Mountain Mayhem is all about! I must point out that the reason I had so much fun out there was I knew that as soon as I finished my lap I could jump into a hot shower and then into a warm van with a hot cup of tea, unlike the soloists who had to dig really deep to keep going through these harsh conditions.

The next few laps through the rest of the night were ridden alternately by Simon and Jenn. Unfortunately for them, the heavy rain continued, which made riding hard work as the course deteriorated even more, reflected by hour+ lap times. When the sunrise appeared, the wind started to pick up, drying the course out. This meant that when it switched back to Andy’s turn he started pulling out fast lap times again. This completely threw me, as I expected Andy’s lap times to be similar to the previous laps ridden at night. Consequently I missed the transition in the pit area, and suffice it to say Andy was not impressed, seeing me with my feet up when he came back to find me. His motivational coaching spiel as he stormed across the arena obviously worked, as no-one ever saw me move so fast, and I pulled out a pretty quick lap!

Approaching the end of Mountain Mayhem, and waiting in the pits for my final lap, I was amazed at how good and strong I felt, even though I’d had little sleep. This was down to good recovery between laps and eating well, but also one huge burden was removed from the team and this was the arduous task of cleaning thick sticky mud off bikes after each lap. James (my partner), who took up this role with no fuss did an amazing job. Carting heavy water across the field to the camp to clean each Endorfin bike to a high standard continuously throughout the 24hrs saved us valuable time and effort, which was better used to rest and recover. On behalf of the team a big thank you goes out to James. It would have been a lot harder, colder, wetter, with more arguments and lots of irritability if we’d had to clean our own bikes each time (maybe that’s why James did it!).

The last lap for me was quite a contrast with 12 hours previous. This time the sun was shining, the course had returned to dry and hard, and it was only a couple of hours to go before I could say I’d survived my first 24hour race. The final lap for me was fun and fast as I raced against elite rider Maddy Horton (29ers team). The gauntlet was thrown down with a bit of friendly tough-talk in the changeover area, and so a race within a race began. Throughout the course Maddy pulled away on the steady climbs and I would catch her through the technical single track. Although we were close during the mid-section of the lap, Maddy finally pulled away and crossed the line first. Next time Maddy!

I handed over to Simon for his final lap, then headed over the fresh produce stand to fulfil Jenn’s diva demand for fresh strawberries at the finish line (no champagne though, next time for sure!). Jenn rode the final lap, and we’d done it! Our first team 24hour race successfully completed, finishing 5th out of 11 mixed elite teams with 27 laps. However, in my opinion we came first for:

1. The true mixed elite team (with two men and two women doing equal laps)
2. The best bike cleaner – thank you James!
3. The coolest bikes – Endorfin VP-4 and Speed SL
4. The brightest lighting system (Lupine Wilma on our helmets and Betty on our bars)
5. The most stylish and professional race kit (thank you Altura)
6. The strongest coffee!

More pics from Mayhem 2008

This time courtesy of Rob Crayton

http://www.robcrayton.co.uk/

Our team did a fantastic job, finishing 5th in our category with 27 laps. Of the 11 elite teams, ours was the only team to field two women, and we rode equal laps for everyone. Simon and I each completed 7, with Andy and Ruth further down the rotation each completing 6 laps. Our fastest lap was clocked by Si with a storming 43:29, and the slowest was me (Jenn), on the 3am shift clocking 1:25:48.

Well done to all those teams who stuck it out to the end, and well done to all those mixed teams who got into the spirit of Mayhem and raced equal laps for men and women. To those teams at the top of the order who didn't, well, what a shame to see some of the best talent in the country sitting on the sidelines for so much of the race.

Isn't it time we all said "hey, this is stupid, let's all just race equal laps". Then we all agree, and then we all have a fair race. Does anybody disagree? Maybe next year...

Special thanks go to:

Si for doing the run, the fastest lap, the hardest laps, the extra lap.

Andy and Ruth for smiling (sort of) all the way through their first ever Mayhem.

James (Ruth's partner) for cleaning up our filthy Endorfins and keeping the tea line open.

Lupine Lighting Systems - we ran a Wilma on helmets and Betty on bars, and never noticed the dark.

Altura for providing us with enough kit for a fresh set every lap. That's a lot of kit.

Endorfin, PowerBar and all our other sponsors, who kept us up to the task.

Ruth will be posting her race report in the next few days.

Mayhem 2008

It's finally over, and in typical style it rained and the course turned to muddy quagmire in the early hours of the morning. The sun is out again now and we got a couple of fast dry laps in the end.

Our team finished 5th in the elite mixed category, the only elite team to field two women in the lineup. Scott won our category with SiS Trek in second. Sally Bigham won the women's solo and Anthony White won the men's. Full results are still to be announced but in the meantime here are some pics.

It's Mayhem!

The biggest mountain biking event of the UK calendar is finally upon us. Mayhem is the Glastonbury of cycling, with all the mud and puddles that that implies. Right now it's a beautiful evening and tomorrow will be the longest day. Hopefully it won't rain too much, but it will still be the longest day in more ways than one for the thousands out on bikes, all day and all night.

We're racing in a team this year, leaving the solo event to some keen new faces. Andy is racing for the first time, after years of supporting me in the solo, and for Ruth this is her first ever Mayhem.

For Si and me it will be a blast from the past, as we rode together at Mayhem for the first time back in 2001 in a team of mates, before elite XC, before solo.

It's the one event I would never miss. It's mucky and beautiful.

If you're not here, well, you should be.

Altura Trail Launch at Whinlatter Forest

After a weekend of solid racing, we were all looking forward to spending a couple of extra days up at Whinlatter Forest, near Keswick, for the launch of the new Altura trail, and the official opening of the Cyclewise bike shop. The guys from Altura were there with the new clothing range, making the most of the opportunity to shoot for their next catalogue in this fantastic mountain biking hotspot. Below is a small selection of pics from the Monday, showing some of the steep dusty berms and fast forest singletrack.

All pics by Andy McCandlish

Jenn on the singletrack in the opening section of the trail.

View from the top.

Jenn on one of the steep berms, wearing the new Altura women's baggies and casual Ts.

Ruth (left) and Jenn put the new Altura performance range through its paces.

Jenn chasing Ruth through the dusty berms.

Jenn in the forest section towards the end of the trail.

Andy shows off the new Asymetrics performance jersey and lightweight baggies.

Pics Courtesy Rob Crayton
www.robcrayton.co.uk

More Enduro Pics

Jenn and Ruth in action at the Whyte Enduro in Grizedale.

Whyte Enduro Series Round 3

Grizedale, The Lake District
Sunday 15th June 2008
Race Report by Jenn O'Connor

The marathon was always going to be a tough race, with big climbs and harsh, rocky descents. I signed up for the 100km event, and lined up against elite racers Mel Spath and Maddie Horton. Mel is a tough contender, and held my wheel for most of the first of 8, 12.5km laps. I felt strong and kept a steady pace on the climbs, focusing on keeping clean lines through the rough singletrack. Punctures were the order of the day for pretty much everyone and I was not exempt. A sharp rock cut through my front tyre on the top of the course, halfway through my third lap. My tyres always have a generous dose of Stans in them, and the white liquid burst into action, sealing the wound. The cut was too severe however, and continued to split open, haemoraging Stans over everything. It did hold the tyre pressure up enough for me to get down the hill and back to the tech area, where I was able to swap the wheel out and continue without further drama. Horray for Stans!

I had a lead of about 5 minutes at that stage, and continued to churn out steady laps, finishing in just under 6 hours. Mel was 10 minutes back, the only other woman to complete the full 8 laps within the time cutoff. Of the 50 or so men doing the 100km event, only 11 made it through. Suffice it to say it was a tough race! Maddie Horton rounded out the women's podium with 7 laps.

Will Bergfelt had a storming race and was in a league of his own, winning the men's 100km event with a good 10 minutes to spare, despite a puncture stop.

Ruth successfully defended her 75km winning run, the only woman to complete the full 6 laps in her event.

The team will now head up the road to Whinlatter Forest near Keswick for the launch of the new forest centre trails with title sponsors Altura. Check out Trackside in the next couple of days for first pics of the new trails.

For full result please visit www.timelaps.co.uk

Pics:
1. The 100km women's podium (from left) Maddie Horton, Jenn O'Connor and Mel Spath.
2. Jenn leads from the front.
3. Jenn happy to finish in one piece after 6 hours of racing.

NPS XC Round 3

Grizedale, Lake District
14 June 2008
Race Report by Jenn O'Connor

The Altura Patterson Training team had a good day in great conditions today. Showers on the start line dampened down the track, but not the spirits of the competitors. The women's elite field was strong as ever with 14 starters including full time pro Kate Potter after an early season on the World Cup circuit. Kate set the pace off the start but it was Sue Clarke, who is local to Grizedale and helped design the course, who made the first move. Unfortunately for Sue she punctured on the first section of singletrack, and National Champ Jenny Copnall took the lead. The second technical climb was where Potter made her move, and never looked back. I stayed with her for most of the first lap, but lost time on a fire road climb. Jenny Copnall stayed with me for the first two laps until I managed to make a gap and pull away. Potter took the win, with myself second and Jenny C third. I'm really pleased to be racing strongly again and coming back into form after a disappointing early season hampered by migraines.

In the men's elite race Gareth Montgomery took the win from newly crowned Marathon Champ Ian Wilkinson, with Adrian Lansley taking the final podium spot.

In the masters women's race Ruth took an early lead, but punctured on the first lap. She fixed the puncture with a Seal n Flate, but was then playing catchup, and took a tumble cuttting her leg. She managed to claw back most of the lost places to finish third, maintaining her lead in the series. A heroic effort from Ruth.

In the masters men's race Graham Warby took the win from Matt Barrett, and Luke Moseley in third. Coach Andy Patterson finished 16th, making up the lost places from the long climbs with some aggressive descending. Andy chose the new Panaracer 2.3 Rampages for this harsh rocky course, while I opted for the Razer MX 2.3s. Great choices both.

Tomorrow is the marathon, and Ruth will be defending her lead in the 75km category, while I will be testing my form in the 100km event.

Pic is the elite women's podium.

XC Results

Elite Women
1. Kate Potter (Cotic Bontrager)
2. Jenn O'Connor (Altura Patterson Training)
3. Jenny Copnall (Subaru Gary Fisher)

Elite Men
1. Gareth Montgomery (Colnago Ergon)
2. Ian Wilkinson (SIS Trek)
3. Adrian Lansley (Pedal On)

Masters Women
1. Graham Warby
2. Matt Barrett (Lutterworth CC)
3. Luke Moseley (Climb On Bikes Sludge Racing)

Masters Men
1. Nina Davies
2. Caroline Goward
3. Ruth Mordaunt (Altura Patterson Training)