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!
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