5:49am and I arrived at the main gate! A long wait ensued, as one of the organisers who was waiting to open the gate to allow a tanker onto site, told me the gate would NOT be opening until precisely 9:00, under any circumstances. (Come 9:00 I would be the FIRST member of public to drive through that gate!)
Kettle on... No teaspoon, no problem. Tyre lever to the rescue!
Field inspection. 6:30am. Getting my bearings so I knew where to point the Flyin'Fiesta once the gate opened!
As previously mentioned, with help from Gravy Monster (James) and his roll of hazard tape, I was able to cordon off an area to claim as 'ours' then set about getting the car unloaded and Camp Regan set up...
Once the troops arrived and the Retro Camp was established, it was off to sign on and get the race number! 63 was my former house number, so a nice link!
Feetabix(Darren)'s young guide-dog-in-training and camp buddy/pet, Milo!
Once Nick had parked the SpudSnailCan and unloaded some of his beauts, the sun came out and so did my retro Oakly corduroy cap and Oakley Sub Zeros, nicely matching the sticker on the Ultimate disc wheel covers
Longun's half-a-Kona Fire Mountain. My bike of the weekend, although technically it's a quad I suppose
I need one of these stools in my life!
A pair of Scott Endorphins. A rare sight! Green one belonging to Mikey Muz, yellow one to Spud.
Getting my camping cuisine on. A soft boiled egg and cheese sarnie for lunch!
RetroYetiRigid flashing the flesh! Worthy of a pic! Cool Yetiman tattoo, again giving me ideas for some Retrobike-related ink!
Probably the last time Dylan The Dragon would be seen not splattered with Mayhem mud!
Nobby's hat, with still-bloodied horns!
Darren Feetabix doing the caveman duties getting the BBQ fired up with Ted (BerthaPog) supervision and Gruff consulting for backup...
Saturday morning porridge after my early night! Race day!
A trip to the facilities. Cleanest Portaloo in the world ever.
A mooch to the arena to check out the facilities. Bike washing and living area was really neat!
Big bobble head garms. I couldn't resist!
Vince Cox: course designer, Mayhem commentator/P.A. and all-round nice guy.
Sonam from Bhutan, the Son Of The Dragon. Didn't ride Mayhem due to an injury sustained the weekend before. A shame, as I'm sure he could've put several laps on given that he's the current and three-time champion of the toughest mountainbike race in the world, the 268km Tour Of The Dragon
The [Anal] Intruder's conveniently-located exterior mobile charging station
The non-business side of the Anal Intruder
Jericho a.k.a. "Chef" and Andy. Top hosts, caterers and entertainment providers!
The Intruder's galley, with a nice stack of steaks acclimatising pre-grill
Feeding zone
Andy's collection, with an amazing Adroit with Di2. Love it.
Pre-race lunch. My own cooking this time.
Race time fast approaching, time to get suited and booted! My Welsh Dragon socks. Call me Tim Davies (minus any of the talent
)
Not sure this post-lap pic shows how I felt at that point - if you can't tell, I was feeling pretty facked!
After a shower in this super clean, hot water cubicle, which even had a mirror to get the hairdo looking just right...
...it was time for post-race refuelling courtesy of Andy and Jericho. Some beautiful rice with a veg and onion gravy and chicken than was so juicy and sublime, it fell off the bone when you looked at it! AMAZING!!
And there was a choice of cake for dessert too!
Andy brought a washing machine drum to build the traditional Retrobike camp fire, which promptly fumed everyone out within a 50yard radius
Banter and tales around the fire with a bottle of Fukcing Hell is what the Saturday night Retro camp is all about!
Spud's multicoloured, colour-changing LED light pole lit up the night beautifully
As did Andy's Attitude. To see the colours in person of this thing I. The night was a privilege. Impossible to capture on any photograph, it is a thing to behold. It actually fluoresces!
The following morning's entertainment was provided by Mark's modern Cannondale Lefty fork lockout button, which THM and I thoroughly enjoyed fingering
A video clip of the aforementioned super tactile machined billet of aluminium in action!
Whilst collecting my medal (plus a couple for Spud and one other), some randomer insisted on a selfie with me. He said his name is Steve Day, and he's a world champion single speed MTBer who won the solo category at Mayhem completing an amazing 29 laps in 24hours. Absolutely incredible. If anyone knows him, point him toward this thread as he forgot to give me his number so I can't send him the selfie he wanted with me
And off I went, destination: home. A weekend filled with awesome memories and amazing experiences. Had to don a disguise when driving off site and the medal stayed put until I got home
Can't wait for next year!
