tonto
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mayhem - a survivors reportJust a few lines about this weekends mountain mayhem 24 hour event.
I managed to get to the site early on Friday and secure a nice camping position at the side of the track just before the end of the 8 and a bit mile circuit. in the afternoon Vicky and Andy arrived and after the usual faffing we went on a practise lap.
The course was really good in our opinion, some nice singletrack through woods, which was quite slippery after the recent rain, especially where roots were exposed. Most of the climbs where fairly gentle and undemanding except for the Kenda climb, a monotonous grind from the bottom to the top of the course on damp/soggy grass.
The previous weeks rain meant that some of the of camber tracks were a real challenge to keep both wheels in line, which led to Andy having a couple of stacks, the second one braking a gear lever on his almost new Spesh.
Now if you are going to break your bike, the practise lap at Mountain mayhem is probably the BEST place to do it. Every bike part manufacturer and supplier has a stand there, each with their own mechanics and technical wizards. It wasn't long before Andy had his gear lever replaced with a free upgrade and also blagged a free set of tyres that were changed for him by the mechanics to make him "35% faster".
I think we each recouped our entry fees in free stuff, brake pads, co2 kits, t-shirts ( two or three each), water bottles etc.
We spent Friday evening having a few beers (free at the Shram pasta party) and nervously looking at the rain clouds that kept threatening but only producing sporadic drizzle.
Next morning Dave arrived after travelling from London by train and Team Four Amigos was complete. We where supposed to be a team of five, but injury and Glastonbury tickets had depleted us.
Although the weather had been quite kind there was the mandatory heavy shower an hour before the start, but not enough to dampen the spirits of the 2000+ competitors.
Vicky had volunteered to be first out and do the le Mans style run, something which she later admitted was not much fun and will not be her priority for SITS. The race began according to plan, each of us doing single laps in turn until the sunset and then switching to two laps to allow a longer break to get some sleep.
The course was holding up well and the encouragement/heckling of the resting competitors, spectators and marshalls really added to the atmosphere. There was a DJ playing in the middle of a twisty singletrack section and a healthy crowd at a water crossing with a steep entrance, cheering anyone who misjudged it and took a tumble. All in all, things were going great and we were really enjoying ourselves.
However it was at about 2am that I was awoken by the sound of rainfall. At first I did not think it was too heavy, just a light drizzle. Then I realised I had earplugs in and removing one revealed that there was a major deluge going on!
The course got really heavy after that, think Epping at its worst. We saw literally hundreds of people pushing their bike past our tents with broken rear mechs, or wheels so clogged with mud that they could not even turn- and we where on a slightly downhill section!
We pressed on until about 10am and then took a group descision to call it a day. We could of carried on but there did not seem any point in tainting the good laps we had enjoyed with the purgatory which further laps offered.
Although it was dissapointing not to do the full 24 hours, we all had a great time and I can't wait to do the next 24 hour event. Which is just as well because it is 19 days away! 
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