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Ok just on the very vague chance the organisers come in here...?
I would like to see in no particular order:
* More bike washes. Last year was taking the pee abit, and caused friction at water taps in the camping areas, and turned the stream in to a bike washing area which isnt really on.
* More showers. There were less than previous years...and they didnt work till late Saturday. (ok I know that bit was out of their control)
* Independant shops allowed to sell stuff.
* Quiet camping areas ie no generators allowed
* A downhill finish. An uphill finish doesnt enspire you to want to go out again..
Dont get me wrong, in many ways its a superbly organised event, but there is always room for improvement 🙂
A Party/event on the friday night would be cool, music/band etc...
The night before the Etape they have a Pasta Party, very good idea!
What amazes me every year at MM is the lack of sellers who want to sell to the captive audience. I know recently that Wiggle have the exclusive "right" to sell. But even they don't bring stock to sell.
The attitude of the distributors too. Not remotely interested. There is one particular brand who were so rude last year I shall not grace their website or offer them money for their product again. They can do one.
More bike washes. Last year was taking the pee
😯 That can't have been good for paintwork!
More sun.
Chicken lines that are slower than the gnarr line.
More gorillas in the woods at night.
Bring back the neked rider on the final lap.
Covered transition area like there used to be. I could cope with everything else last year but standing in the cold and peeing rain at 2am waiting for my teammate was no fun at all.
Covered transition essential. Lots of available water is very important.
Aside for that all the stuff mentioned above.
Bicycle powered sound system
these guys are based in the next valley from the site.
I agree with a downhill finish - the last 2 years have been depressing on that front where previous years before that you would swoop down into the arena forgetting the pain and end on a high.
I got the impression that the course is sorted, so fingers crossed.
Bike washing will always be impossible when there are so many people needing/wanting to clean their bikes.
Given the likelihood of rain, the handover area should be covered. In the middle of the night in wind/rain it's not great to have no cover.
Equally if it's hot you need shade.
The arena layout should make sure that riders have to go past all the stands to get to the handover area - last year did this but previous years must have been maddening for those stands where no-one rode past.
busty ladies announcing your lap number with large bits of card?
The arena is at the highest point of the course at Gatcombe - Not so much a deliberate ply to make things hard but because it's the only place it could be. That said the run in to the arena is pretty flat. There's certainly not a climb to the finish.
Some mountains and some mayhem would be good.
Some mountains and some mayhem would be good.
The course would certainly be quiet. Empty even.
oooh where to start!
-as already said, when only 4 bike washes are brought and only 2 work its a major pain in the ass.
-more showers. or even better have showers specifically for riders who have just powered through the shittiest weather ever, spent an hour queuing to wash their bike then an hour queuing to use the showers cause some bell-end chav family/families who are camping for free think its appropriate to shower their 21 kids at the same time
-stop people taping off massive 'premium areas' for their two 2-man tents
- have a generator specific area right on the outskirts of the camping zone
- stop more idiot groups who think its ok to attach their hosepipe the the water outlet thats meant to service more than the 10 of them.
- maybe the organisers could tell the truth a bit. ie. not blatantly lie about weather proofing the course a bit last year
- covered area from the crappy weather handover.
- keep the toilets stocked of handwash/bog roll etc.
just a few points vented out
A 2 minute timer on the jet wash station would be good to reduce the queue. Too many people have to get every last bit of dirt off their tyres before riding away on the muddy fire road.
More bike stuff on the Friday evening. Less running and dog events, I don't think they ever really added to the event. The massive Dirt Demo event was great a few years ago.
Music in the woods is always good at night.
Accurate and up to date results during the event.
The course would certainly be quiet. Empty even.
How so?
How so?
There are no suitable mountain venues in the UK within reach of possible entrants.
More bike washes. Last year was taking the pee abit, and caused friction at water taps in the camping areas, and turned the stream in to a bike washing area which isnt really on.
I've never raced or crewed where we didn't have a mobi-style washer.
More showers. There were less than previous years...and they didnt work till late Saturday. (ok I know that bit was out of their control)
It's a bike race in a field. I generally rely on wetwipes/embracing the grot/use the bike washer (brrrr).
Considering the size of the event, regardless of the entry fee, providing these kinds of facilities at all for that many people really is something. As above, I assume they'll go wrong or have silly queues and so go prepared.
Better / more bike washes
Better / more retail stands
Covered change over area
More jumps of doom & certain doom
There are no suitable mountain venues in the UK within reach of possible entrants.
There's plenty in the northern half of the UK.
There's plenty in the northern half of the UK.
And the overwhelming majority of the UK population lives in the South.
And the overwhelming majority of the UK population lives in the South.
Their loss 😉
A covered heated area would be very nice. Patio heater style, although I suspect I wouldn't want to leave it.
Bar / Disco on both nights. A friday night beer festival would be good.
Most people drink the night before, why not make it a bit more interactive?
Mud, it needs more mud.
Bar / Disco on both nights. A friday night beer festival would be good.Most people drink the night before, why not make it a bit more interactive?
Bring your own.
They stopped having bars at MTB events back in the days of the Malverns when it basically evolved from a bike festival into a drinking festival with bikes and then got gatecrashed by the local yoof who got hammered and then stabbed a guy to death.
You want to drink that's fine - take your own. Offer to share your beer/BBQ with neighbours. That's interacting.
Covered transition: This is really important....If it IS wet, there's a strong likelihood that your mate is going to take another 20 minutes to get round in the mud and you really don't want to be stood there in your racing togs in the rain waiting.
Hmmm...I'm hearing rumours that there's no trackside camping?!?
- I would have thought continued support (whether from non-riders or other members of the teams) is pretty dependent on spectators being comfortable, ie: they will mostly be in the camping area under their gazebos in front of a nice warm brazier on a lounger, not perched at the side of the track on a shooting stick in the dark...
Hmmm...I'm hearing rumours that there's no trackside camping?!?
Entirely possible. The parking fields are the other side of the road from the arena for the horse events. Some of the camping won't be trackside for sure.
I'm 24 solo with no support crew so am pretty reliant on having my kit trackside. Any ideas what might be on offer?
Riding through the campsite is part of the fun, shame if we don't.
As Paulio I too rely on the trackside camping as I have no support. This should be interesting!
There is a couple of massive flat fields at the top(straight off the road) which surely should be camping? Cant all be 'arena'?
Covered transition, weatherproof course (Bristol, Swinley etc...). No damn pushing. No more blatant lying about the state of the arena/course/making alterations to weatherproof it in order to get entries.
GB
There is a couple of massive flat fields at the top(straight off the road) which surely should be camping? Cant all be 'arena'?
The mayhem campsite is huge. You won't get it all on the Avening side of the road I'd have thought. Solo camping will obviously be in the arena though.
I liked it best when everyone got a free can of red bull!
I might be soloing and if I do I wont have any dedicated support, just relying on my pals in between their laps!I contacted the organisers as I had a question about solo trackside camping and have been told that there are no trackside camping areas and just the solo tent for soloists. This is just a bit annoying, as I wanted to be based/have my supplies with my friends trackside rather than have to use the solo tent and never seeing my mates till the end. If I do this, I would spend lots of time going to and from the campsite, so its not really an option leaving me with no alternative but to use the solo tent, which i guess is going to be quite crowded if there isnt any solo camping trackside!
Shame if they split the camping from the course/arena with a busy(ish) road.
Looks like that's what's happening... Not good. Still, at least they're being honest. Hopefully they'll extend this to course condition reports, as opposed to the blatant lies about of last year.
I,ve yet to find anyone doing the event!
The more i read these posts the more beer i think i`ll be drinking instead of riding and pushing ! 😀
No trackside camping isn't too much of a problem for team riders, there has never been that much trackside camping anyway, and what was there was all fenced off by Thursday morning. I can see it being an issue for solo riders, if I was unsupported I am not sure I would want to leave a spare bike, lights etc unmanned in the solo tent.
get the fire brigade to do the bike wash
Yup not feeling the love for this 🙁 methinks the "race" is off for me and it will just be ride and chip off to my tent for bits. I don't fancy leaving my lights, spares, gels etc loitering for anyone to help themselves to. I'm sure I remember talking to some poor sod that had some of his bits nicked from the solo tent last year. Sounds small, but if you're hungry and tired it ain't fun.
I,ve yet to find anyone doing the event!
Really Rich....... .
Get rid of the bike wash - Whats is the point? your bike will be filthy by the time you get back to your tent. I cant think of any more depressing way to spend my chilling time between laps than standing in that queue.
I have this awful feeling from watching that video that the new location is just as likely to turn into a mud bath of epic proportions. I really, really hope I'm wrong. The lie last year about them having tried to weather proof it was ridiculous. I expect they were trying to boost morale as the grim expectation of what was likely to ensue was dawning on the gathered participants.
They should get one of those Russian rain-dispersing machines for the weekend.
Shame if they split the camping from the course/arena with a busy(ish) road.
There is no trackside camping, but its not the otherside of a busy road. There is a ROW issue that prevents the course going through the campsite.
Get rid of the bike wash - Whats is the point?
not a question of it getting a dirty bike clean, more to do with getting it rideable again
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I'm hoping all the big girls blouses stay at home & stop moaning about everything..................If it rains, it's gonna be wet & very muddy,get over it........
+1
I had a whale of a time in the filth last year 😀
How much space do you get in the solo tent - are small tables for food and spare bikes allowed in there? If not then that's an improvement I'd like to see!
Ban people who pretend to enjoy riding through a swamp.
Its not big, its not clever and it winds me up
Ride it yes.... but grudgingly please.
It won't be a mud bath like last year, sorry! 😉
Course preview report:
[url] http://www.acyclingteam.co.uk/mountain-mayhem-course-preview/ [/url]
Sounds good!
The more i read these posts the more beer i think i`ll be drinking instead of riding and pushing !
+1
there's only one way to approach it imho
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@ rocketdog .... Love the back .... very well said 🙂
Definitely need a cover over the changeover area. How far away is the camping from the course? It really helps riding through the campsite in the early hours and getting cheered on by people that have had too much to drink etc. 24hr disco in the woods would be good like a few years ago at Eastnor, especially if by a little tricky feature that meant a cheer from the disco crew if you cleared it, possibly a jump of doom there.
More showers would be good. The showers nearest to us were out of order for a long time, and after muddy wet ridjng I really struggled to get warm despite getting into my sleeping bag with a duvet on top! A hot shower would have been good.
- taken from mtbmatts linkA few sections were freshly cut, 2 in particular I was informed would be worked on heavily with hardcore added before the event.
This smacks of a mayhem blatant lie - the likely scenario is the organisers will pray for sun because there is zero cost attached to that. With the obvious cost-cutting/profit-increasing attitude of last years mayhem I struggle to believe they'll be outlaying some cost that is potentially not required if the weather is good a week before the event.
Separate (and still available for free pikey family holidays I assume?) campsite to the arena is a thieves dream. Good thinking during the venue selection process!
A good addition would be prizes for the top 3 people riding dinglespeed 69ers!
How is it going to work for solos with no trackside camping and no solo camping?
I would think the top solists have a pit crew, spare bike/s, big selection of food, cooker for a hot meal etc. Do those have to live back at the campsite or do they all cram into a solos marquee?
For the soloist without a pit crew it sounds like they either risk leaving all their stuff unattended or face a trip back to the camping field any time they want anything...
I did Mayhem for the first time in 2011 and to be honest Myself and the "team" took it and ourselves way to seriously for amateur 24hr racers. We performed entirely as anticipated. Appallingly.
Should I do it again, I shall adopt RD'S tee shirt back motto to the nth degree.
This smacks of a mayhem blatant lie - the likely scenario is the organisers will pray for sun because there is zero cost attached to that. With the obvious cost-cutting/profit-increasing attitude of last years mayhem I struggle to believe they'll be outlaying some cost that is potentially not required if the weather is good a week before the event.
I dunno if you've done any other outdoors event recently but this totally is nt the case. The cost for MM is very reasonable, so many Triathlons/Tuff Guys type things now adays and the costs are astronomical.
I would have been keen to pay more for MM in the past if I new the course was going to be improved though.
A covered transition would be nice.
Trade stands with components for sale would be nice too (although I won't expect that so I'll bring spares).
This smacks of a mayhem blatant lie - the likely scenario is the organisers will pray for sun because there is zero cost attached to that. With the obvious cost-cutting/profit-increasing attitude of last years mayhem I struggle to believe they'll be outlaying some cost that is potentially not required if the weather is good a week before the event.I dunno if you've done any other outdoors event recently but this totally is nt the case. The cost for MM is very reasonable, so many Triathlons/Tuff Guys type things now adays and the costs are astronomical.
I would have been keen to pay more for MM in the past if I new the course was going to be improved though.
You're missing the point. I'm not disputing the entry price. However, it does creep up every year and the quality of event is decreasing.
We'll have to see if the organisers do weatherproof the mentioned sections in mtbmatts review link - but if you attended last years mayhem - they actually announced over the tannoy in the arena that they'd weatherproofed the course (and maybe on the website?). In reality it was the identical course to 2011 and resulted in a clay-mud-fest. Even the RAF team were running some of the course with their bikes on their shoulders
Poor tyre choice. I managed to ride the lot. 😀 It would have been faster to run around with a pair of handlebars though.
Velodromes are weather proof. It would be a bit dull though.
Seeing as I'm next door and have some free time and no racing/pit duties, I'm going to be helping get the course ready.
Well from Matt's report i'm looking forward to it 😀
I agree the course was ridiculous last year. I luckily had brought some MudX 1.8 and managed to ride alot of it but it was nt fun.
I agree they never should of suggested they'd attempted to weather proof the course, as short of building a trail centre they would never had done it.
But I also think its unfair to suggest that the event organisers have a "profit-increasing attitude". In comparison to many events there are reasonable.
so, now the date has passed - do we think the organisers weatherproofed the muddy bits of the course that required it as they said they would???
I think it was ok, mtbers who moan about mud being on an off road course seems wrong, if you want to race without a chance of mud you are doing the wrong sport
I was riding 2.4s and they only clogged once on one lap and were cleared in 30 seconds. I didn't fit my skinny mud tyres.
So... as a wet weather track it was very ridable (assuming you could cope with how steep the hills were).
I think a lot of the issues raised were dealt with well eg more showers, more loos etc.
The course will hopefully develop over the years.
GB
I didn't see anywhere on the course that was 'unrideable' due to mud. I pushed up all the slippery hills because they were a combination of too steep and/or too slippy (incl. rocks and roots) for me and I was actually faster walking anyway. Everywhere else that was muddy (up, flat or down) I rode as fast as I could. I did 6 laps, ranging from 46mins to 51mins and didn't think that 'mud' was an issue at all.