Phew here’s lots going on at Mayhem this year, not only for you racing types but there should also be something for everyone, whether it be a Mini Mayhem for junior, tent decorating for the Lawrence Llewlyn Bowen of the team, browsing through the multitude of on site retailers/ exhibitors, supping of tea and eating of cake, drag racing, road riding oh and there’s that little matter of a 24 hr race, starting at 2pm on the Saturday going on too isn’t there? No wonder Mayhem has quickly established itself in the National calendar as the mountain bikers equivalent to Glastonbury, except hopefully this year without the mud!

We’ve just had a trawl through various bits and bobs and thought it would be an idea to let you know some of things that will be on offer all weekend!

Starting Friday 20th June going right through to Sunday 22nd, as the race is going on around you, you’ll be able to come along to the world’s biggest bike demo run by our headline sponsor Giant and take for a spin some right fancy machinery. If you ever wanted to know how a Scott Spark rode or needed to check out a Spot, this is the time and the place to get hot and dirty with some of the UK’s best brands. Below is just some of the brands that will be there. You don’t have to pre-book a slot, just turn up and if the bike of your dreams is there ride on some really off road terrain.... Enjoy!

GIANT, SCOTT, MARIN, WHYTE, NORCO, GT, MONGOOSE, CHARGE, COTIC, KINESIS, YETI, SANTA CRUZ, IBIS, TOMAC, SWOBO, SPOT, IF, VOODOO, TREK, SPECIALIZED, ROCKY MOUNTAIN, COVE, GENESIS, COMMENCAL, INTENSE, SARACEN,  BIONICON, MAVERICK,  NINER, CANNONDALE,  IRON HORSE, BMC,  FUJI BIKES

All bikes are subject to availability.

Since 1989, NiteRider have been committed to producing the best bike lighting available. The market leader in the USA, they constantly light the way forward in design and innovation. We are proud that they are our main lighting sponsor for Mountain Mayhem 2008.

As well as providing charging for competitors they will also have a few lights for sale and to rent for the duration of the event. On top of all this they will have their expert NiteRider guru Julie Browne (fresh back from NiteRider land in the States) to help answer any questions and carry out any emergency repairs that you may have.

Rider tips

we’ve all done it, you set off on a night ride then realise 20 minutes down the trail when you are plunged into darkness that you forgot to charge your lights. Make sure this doesn’t happen to you in the race, please remember to charge your lights before you come. Also, test that they are working in the run up to the event and before every lap. Walking half a lap in darkness is not fun. Finally, carry a backup light, even the lights off your town hack bike, anything is definitely better than nothing, candles of course could be a bit tricky if it’s raining...

Charging station

NiteRider will be providing charging for both NiteRider light customers and other light brands. The charging station will be manned during the night so you just need to turn up with your battery and charger.

Range of lights

NiteRider will be displaying the 2009 range for the first time.  Their range of lights spans all levels from the beginner to 24 hour event racer:

Flight

Perfect for the weight conscious rider needing an HID light with variable power settings.

Trinewt & Trinewt Wireless

LED head unit with similar light output to an HID light but with burn times up to 7 hours. Perfect for long winter rides or racing.

Minewt X 2 Dual

2 LED heads running from 1 battery allows a custom beam pattern to light up the terrain in front of you and the terrain you’ll shortly fall off in.

Minewt x 2

Single LED head version of the dual Minewt giving burn times of up to 71/2 hours.

       

Rental/backup

There will be a limited number of light sets available to rent for the event.  Repairs will be undertaken of Niterider lights if needs be during the event.

Specials

There will also be the chance to  pick up for a reasonable price, a limited number of reconditioned and discontinued light sets at the event.

Finally a word from the 2007 Solo 24-Hour World Champion, Mountain Bike Hall of Fame Inductee and NiteRider sponsored rider Tinker Juarez:

“Thank you NiteRider for lighting up the night. I couldn’t have won it without your.”                

    

See, lights good enough to help Tinker win, maybe they could do the same for you. Good luck & speed racers

One of our latest sponsors to come onboard - NEILSON HOLIDAYS, has fully embraced the Mayhem spirit and wants to spread a bit of summer fun through out the campsite. With this in mind, they want to see how creative our riders and supporters can really be...

Up for grabs is a cool £1,000 worth of holiday vouchers (don’t worry you’ll be able to split them between you) . What do you have to do to earn a chance of grabbing a handful of vouchers? Well they’d like you to get into the holiday spirit too, by decorating your camp.

Get those fairy lights shining, sort out some matching curtains to go with your lycra... it’s up to you how you decorate, whether it’s a pink theme or a earthy, mother nature feel, that’s all up to you! So get your thinking caps on. Representatives of Neilson Holidays will be tripping the light fantastic during Mayhem weekend, looking for the one campsite that stands out... it could be yours!

No this isn’t about flavoured vodka drinks, or even the resident castle ghost who sometimes likes to wander around the estate at night ( keep an eye out for him in Spooky Woods...). This is about all the things that make Mayhem such a fantastic event, the camaraderie, the fun, success over adversity that sort of thing. We see it every year at Mayhem in some form or another, the rider who punctures out on the course and other riders will stop and help, the rider who has a mechanical mid section and has to walk the remainder of the lap and does so with a smile, keen to get back so as to not let their team mates down, the solo rider maybe who keeps pushing on against all the odds.....

The Spirit of Mayhem should be:

about getting stuck in

grinning come what may

Revelling in the challenge

1. about spitting in the face of adversity
   

2. Enjoying the event to the full
   

So now we’d like to award a person/a team who most sums up the whole Mayhem experience and your vote will count! Future Publishing staffers will be keeping an eye out for possible nominees, for this special award. At the end of Mayhem we’ll have a short list of contenders and then it’ll be up to you to chose...using your vocals chords.... Then the winner will be presented with a Spirit of Mayhem Award plus a free subscription to one of Future publishing’s cycling titles, What Mountain Bike or MBUK.

Get your cameras at the ready, get your creative juices flowing and you may find yourself not only squeaky clean for a whole year but be able to video stuff too...

Sounds too good a chance to miss?

Well our latest supporting sponsor to come on board really wants to see what all the fuss is about with our fantastic event and how best to show them? Well we reckon, in a really creative picture summing up what Mayhem is all about. Whether it’s that shot of your team mates at 3 am looking a bit tired and dishevelled but grinning ear to ear, or your bike covered in a huge layer of mud. We want you to show us what Mayhem means to you in picture form. Photos must be of this year’s Mayhem experience.

For the winner, expect a load of Original Source goodies, enough to help scrape off all that mud from behind your ears for the next year plus a cracking helmet cam, a stonking Oregon Scientific AT18 Action camera to be precise, plus 4, 2gb cards to go with it which means you can record all your epic journeys for everyone to enjoy! Email your pics after the event to:

ORIGINAL PHOTO COMP

Just send us jpeg files 400x 600 pixels/72 DPI at most, with your name/email address and contact phone number and don’t forget a catchy caption for your photo!. We’ll have a little gallery of all the entrants and Original Source will choose who they think has captured Mayhem for them and we of course will let you know who that lucky winner is! Oh and the closing date to get those entries in is the 4th July ‘08

Go on you know you’re curious of just how well you’re riding...

Due to popular demand, Kenda will once again be returning to Mountain Mayhem with their Inner Tube Amnesty, ready to rescue all those unfortunate competitors who manage to get themselves a puncture or two.

The free Kenda inner tube replacement scheme will be open to all Mountain mayhem competitors with punctures that have occurred in the race only.

This is limited to a maximum of 2 replacement inner tubes per person.

Kenda will also be proudly presenting their Premium Signature tyre series at Mayhem. This will enable you to see designs from legends such as John Tomac, Hans Rey, Tinker Juarez and Eric Carter.

So don’t forget to visit the Kenda team at Mountain Mayhem to get your bike back on track and you back in the race and while you’re there you’ll undoubtedly pick up some great ideas about what tyres to use at Mayhem and beyond!

This year we’ve thought long and hard about sorting out some choice foodie companies that we think will float your boat. First up of course will be WILF’s providing all those carbtastic calories to keep you going night and day. WILF’s will be awake all night providing those essential hot and cold, food and drink options.

Also for all those fine coffee lovers, MEAN BEAN COFFEE will be on site, delivering all manner of caffeine derived delights. Oh and if you’re a Mayhem World Club Card member, flash your card and expect a warming 10% discount.

New for 2008 is the THAI KITCHEN, offering up a tasty menu of freshly cooked and delicious Thai food...ummmmm. They pride themselves on all their ingredients being ethically sourced as well as being GM free. All of the cooking and most of the preparation is done on site, in the kitchen, right in front of the customers. For a healthy and authentic flavour they only use fresh herbs and spices and never any artificial colourings, flavourings or preservatives.

Also new for this year will be GROOVY SMOOTHIES. They believe in the simple pleasures in life: sunshine, funky music, and the pure and natural goodness of real fruit, so they should fit in really well will all things Mayhem! All their smoothies are made only from fruit, ice and a splash of water (to help it up the straw!), with tasty additions such as fresh mint, real chocolate, ginger, honey and muesli; and our lassis from fruit, ice, and natural yoghurt. They are at this moment beavering away in the kitchen working on a special Mayhem Smoothie designed to tantalise your taste buds whilst delivering you just hit the spot type sensation, revitalising and re energising you along the way!                                                                                

Last but not least we’ll also have the pleasure of the lovely LUCY LOVELOCKS a small family run business who will be providing all weekend, quality fresh fruit, vegetable, salads and other produce all sourced from local farms. They will have a wonderful assortment of fresh local strawberries, juicy vine tomatoes, tender fresh lettuce, raspberries, apples, pears and blueberries(subject of course to availability). There will also be some more exotic fruits, such as bananas, grapes and sliced melons, as they are very popular as a healthy snack, these will be either fair trade and/or organic. Oh and if you fancy a full English breakfast in the morning Lucy Lovelocks will have a bountiful selection of fresh free-range eggs, local juices, fresh baked breads, and Phipps the butchers’ award winning sausages and 3 time award winning hand made pork pies - all at very competitive prices. Plus they are offering a fantastic next day delivery service on any essentials you may have run out of or forgotten, this includes milk, cheese, tea, coffee sugar and basic sundries. What a great service!

Mountain Mayhem the event was born in a muddy field back in 1998. Now over 10 years later we have seen this incredible event which reshaped the whole of the UK mountain bike scene evolve and grow. This year now we see the introduction of the Mayhem Classic, a 100 km sportive, happening on the same weekend. This’ll  bring even more followers of the two wheeled way (oh and not forgetting those that follow the one wheeled path...) into Mayhem World!

Now we’re pleased to announce that Mountain Mayhem is not just for a weekend, it can be for life! With the introduction of Mayhem World, our 24/7 - 365, website offering you news, views, tips and advice on all things Mayhem. We’ll be formally launching Mayhem World at Mountain Mayhem, where you can come along and join our merry band of Mayhem enthusiasts. Don’t worry it’s all free!

It costs nothing to join, but can save you heaps in essential must have goodies over the year, plus, as a club member you can also enter our monthly competitions, with some brilliant prizes in the offing. Also as an on going promotion, Mayhem World will carefully hand pick partners who offer you as a member great discounts on holidays, skills, parts and accessories etc. that will help you get the most out of your chosen experience.

If you’ve already signed up Mayhem World cards will be available to pick up at Mountain Mayhem. If you want to join check out the link above for more details.

If you fancy a bit of last minute training how about taking part in the inaugural SRAM ‘DRAG RACING’ event:

WHERE:

On the Mayhem start line.

WHEN:

Friday evening the 20th June.

WHAT:

A special 200 yard sprint, complete with traffic light start and electronic timing, winner takes it all, knock out event! Men against men, women against women, with ‘special’ prizes for those that enter into the spirit of the ‘Drag’ event.

HOW:

It’s a quid to enter with all proceeds going to the winner! If you fancy your chances or would just like the excuse to dress up drop us a line to enter: YEAH BABY BRING IT ON!

WHY:

Why not! Mayhem’s all about having fun and if you can turn up and have a go at winning a suitably tasteless Indianapolis style trophy  just for sprinting like a loon for 200 yards suitably attired for fun and frolics then heck, come and have a go!

If that doesn’t take your fancy and you have some time to spare why not take advantage of the Giant Demo fleet, available for a spin Friday/Saturday and Sunday, check back for more details, that’ll be posted here soon.

Plus for the youngsters out there, and we mean those under 12, there’s  Mini Mayhem, where you can learn some new skills and do your own special lap against the clock. For the many supporters  there’ll be a comprehensive Mayhem Village to explore, with plenty of bargains to be had and new bling bits to lust after. If you’re still feeling energetic how about a bit of paint balling or climbing? Lots more activities to come..

Last but not least, how about dragging some of your roadie mates along to see what Mayhem is all about?  On Sunday if you fancy a quick road blast between your laps, you and your roadie friends can take part in the brand new Mayhem Sportive. Check the link above for more details...

Phew it’s certainly an action packed weekend, with something for everyone.

Despite trying to keep the campsite and arena a safe, happy and secure place, even we can’t vouch for absolutely everyone who’s gonna be at Mayhem this year. So if you fancy having a browse around the Mayhem Village or just fancy a kip but don’t want the hassle of packing away your bike, why not use our convenient Bike Park instead? You never know you may be going home with a holiday because you like to keep your pride and joy safe!

Basically lock specialists Kryptonite have teamed up with Holiday guru’s Ticket2Ride and they have a cunning plan. Every time you use the Bike Park, they will issue you with a specially numbered ticket, now that number is automatically put into a prize draw and at the end of the weekend a number will be selected at random, which means one lucky winner will receive a fabulous holiday out in Whistler, a mountain bikers Mecca. Remember you can leave your bike with them as many times as you like and you’ll get a new ticket each time....

I’m sure if you ask nicely they’ll hose you down too... not so sure about the lube though.

We’re pleased to tell you that our friends RED BULL will be at Mayhem again this year, in the usual spot, on the top of the climb over looking the arena, where you’ll most probably be glad to see them.

They’ll be there handing out tons of RED BULL. Why not stop for a chat, a bit of a chill and get some wings for the rest of your lap!

Caffeine has been consistently used to improve power outputs and cycling performance and since The World Anti Doping Agency removed caffeine off the banned list in 2004, caffeine has been widely used to assist in both training and competition. Numerous competitors have adopted Red Bull for it's regulated consistent dose of 80mg of caffeine per can. Equally competitors can be confident that only pharmaceutical grade of caffeine is used, making it more effective than complex caffeine products such as tea, coffee and some tablet based forms. The distinctive can is perfect to take training and out to events, and will help you replicate the performance enhancing routine of many of our successful sports men and women worldwide.

“Focus and concentration are vital components of getting the most out of my training sessions in the gym or Velodrome and before a race they are even more important. Red Bull helps me achieve this, which is why I religiously have a can 30 minutes before I need to perform. It helps me sharpen my focus and prepare for the task ahead.”

Chris Hoy – Great Britain Cyclist & Olympic Gold Medallist  (and we know secretly he wants to do Mayhem one year…)

Well thanks to RED BULL for that party political broadcast, now lets just get on with the party!

Mayhem wouldn’t be Mayhem, firstly without all the enthusiasm from the thousands of riders who have made it one of the biggest and the best loved mountain bike events in the world. But also we wouldn’t be able to deliver such a brilliant experience without all the support from our sponsors. This year the Mayhem Village will be buzzing with loads more exhibitors, keen to show you the latest bling bikes for your bike, or yourself. Have a browse and pick up a bargain or two. Take a ride on the huge demo fleet and get the kids stuck into Mini Mayhem. There’ll be lots to see and do, oh and if you have a spare few minutes perhaps you’ll remember to ride a few laps of the race too!

Check out who’ll be at Mayhem this year and get your wish list sorted early!

VILLAGE

Young Mayhem riders will be able to pit their newly acquired skills against the clock, after a short skills based sessions with coaching input from British Cycling Go-Ride coaches. The skills test will tests skills such as riding slowly, riding under a limbo pole, bottle pick up and put down, slalom, mini ramp etc.

Don’t worry if your first go isn’t as fast as you want it to be! There will be lots of opportunity to have repeat goes. The main aims for Mini Mayhem is to have fun, be safe and be accessible for all.

 

GO-RIDE SESSION TIMES:

 

Saturday 21st June                       10am-1pm  &  2.30pm -5pm

 

Sunday 22nd June                        10am - 1pm

STOP PRESS - £500 worth of holiday vouchers up for grabs!

Any child taking part in Mini Mayhem could have the chance to win £500 worth of holiday vouchers, thanks to the very nice people at Neilson Holidays.

There’s no pressure, just get junior over to have a bit of fun and he/she may be the lucky recipient of a spot prize. Can’t say better than that really, thank you Neilson!

When Mountain Mayhem was created, a festival evolved over the years that was probably beyond the organisers expectations. A festival that now, has such a following that the event is synonymous with the words mountain biking. The energy and excitement that Mayhem has come to represent, turns this event into more than just a race, it’s an experience. One which now the mountain bikers feel ready to share with the road community and so the Mayhem Classic sportive is born...

Starting from the entrance to Mountain Mayhem, the 100 km sportive ride will take in the best of the surrounding countryside, at any pace you want, remember it’s not a race, just a get together of like minded souls who enjoy exploring new and challenging routes.

Over the route you will climb a total of 5,649 ft but the good news is you’ll be descending a total of 5,798 ft...

For more information about the course and entry forms check out the sportive link above.

Something else for you to get stuck into when you’re wandering around Mayhem is a whole series of fun stuff courtesy of the Army. Whether it’s climbing the heights on their terrific ( and of course safe) tower, or trying out an obstacle course or even splash a bit of paint around in a mini paint ball fun you’ll find it all at Mayhem.

We know that for most of you, you’re doing this as a challenge or even a bit of fun with your mates. But some of you out there are keen to go faster and further than ever before in a bid to step up on the Mayhem podium. Now we like to reward all our competitors, which is why we provide such a great environment to race and chill out and catch up with friends, but of course we have to somehow ‘reward’ those that have gone that extra mile or two. Thanks to all our supporters we can assure all our podium spots some cracking prizes.

Below is a list of supporters who we know will be providing some lovely booty...

There’s a cash prize purse of £11,950 awarded as follows:-

 

Pro/Expert Mixed   1st - £4000  2nd - £2500  3rd - £750

Solo Men                1st - £1200  2nd - £700    3rd - £450

Solo Women           1st - £1200  2nd - £700    3rd - £450

 

Magura

NiteRider -  Some fabulous light sets for 2 lucky winners

Crank Bros -  Loads of pedals, including Eggbeaters, 5050xx and Candy 4ti ...

Met Helmets

Sram

USE seat posts

Dirtworker -  providing Dirtworkers popular DWS models to 7 lucky competitors that reach the podium.

Buffs

Fizik Saddles

Salamon footwear - Providing 10 lucky winners pairs of their Pro 3D XCR shoes

Kenda tyres

Kahuna watches (m/f)

Propel Distribution/ Wingnut Gear

Muc Off

Fat Face - Clothing vouchers