Finally pulled my finger out and sorted my pics
What a difference a week makes – sometimes change forced upon you can be to your advantage
With Si Paton choosing the exact same weekend as Mayhem to run his Malvern Classics at Eastnor it made sense that date for Mayhem needed to be moved and what a difference five days made. The Malverns got cancelled due to the bowl it sits in becoming a mud bath with all the potential of repeating the events of 2012 (Last time Mountain Mayhem was there) where it quickly descended into conditions that resembled Flanders in 1917
Below pic care of Augustus Martin.
One week of sunshine with only small periods of light showery rain and no hills to channel the run off into the camp area we were on dry solid ground with sun shine on our backs rather than rain coats - and a glorious cloud free red sky Friday evening gave a hint at what was to come
Despite arriving at 9am I was greeted by the advanced RB welcoming party – which was just as well as low profile sports tyres don’t like pulling a 1,550 kg tin snail up a grass hill, especially when the car has a laden with the RB marquee. Needless to say after much banter and equal amounts of prevarication – mixed with BS and endless insults and XC rally round the campsite I ended up parked on a downward slope to ensure a safe exit on Sunday
With No intruder to call Home Andy was keen to have somewhere to call home and get out of the sun, so the Marquee was first to be un packed – however Longun just wanted the much awaited Team shirts
Due to its size it soon became apparent this marquee was going to be like an Amish Barn building affair and require way more support… in the meantime the tallest guy (he of the fabled seat posts) and pitched with minimal effort his usual 1.5m pup tent
Closely followed by the Mark (Mk One) the world champ of packing and coercing two car loads into a small hatchback
Sam (Stodgy) super nice guy arrived and was uber keen to look and try out the bikes folk had brought, in fact so keen THM felt like he’s been mugged – I’ve no idea what Andy & Steve (MyTeenageSelf) were thinking, but as you can see Andy had already been driven to drink by 10am
With the arrival of a few more early birds – Barn building commenced under the supervision of Gerard and I have to say with one chief and compliant Indians it went up in super quick time
By 11am the campsite was filling up in the flat field (where sensible people camp) and all of them got to enjoy the wonderful vista of a broken down motorhome blocking one of the main entry/exit points at the top of the hill.
As soon as the barn / R.B Base station went up our very own resident DJ moved in with his mobile Fruit and Nut Disco©™ Discoteche complete with Gerards commemorative stickers
As in previous years Andy brought the obligatory washing machine drum – complete this time with half the drive mechanism that good old Danson soon set about removing
Friday afternoon pre-race ride out
Longun leading out Mike Muz and MyTeenageSelf
Mike Murray (Muz)
Sam (Stodgy)
Steve (MyTeenageSelf)
Chris (RetroYetiRigid)
G-Force Gerry
Clive (Kingbling) giving it attitude on the old Kona
Ted C
The official Mayhem Cameraman found a honeypot of antique bikes to capture – that duly appeared on their website and social media platforms
Sinnetts unmistakable Alpinestar.
Sunset Friday Night
And as the sunset – some settled in for a quiet night, others had only just started
Sam (Stodgy) jumping on Splatterpaints tip find Marin which he promptly stacked slamming on the brakes just prior to the woods which are out of sight in this pic
THM got out his mobile Christmas tree
And then Bullshit descended by the bucket load
by 2am after too much to eat and even more to drink things did quieten down a bit
Saturday Morning
THM dining like a True English gent whilst on campaign – complete with tweed,
Bacon, Eggs and HP sauce !
Others preferred a liquid breakfast – care of Mr Carling, however whilst sitting in a deckchair and cracking open a fresh can the fabric gave way on Andy …..I’ll let the pic’s tell the story taken shortly after Andy had covered himself in Carling that didn’t go down his gob half chocking him.
With the mercury rising Andy soon set up camp amongst his minions
The likely lads about to head to the start – SLM racing complete with a lid looking like a shark fin
Muz finishing his first (opening) lap – complete with the Le Mans run
Al-Onestare
Post race – My Dusty Endorphin
MyTeenageSelf on the Lotus©
Clive (Kingbling) awaiting his next victim to heckle / insult / cajole as they passed by the row of knackered old bikes abandoned trackside
Sometimes the natives got upset !
An athlete coming home on a Claude Butler
And encouragement was always in good supply
With so many victims and much mirth – some ate trackside, and when Andy supplied steak this size who needs vegetables ?
With the setting sun, Gruff stepped up to get the fledgling fire really going with a trusty can of GT85, probably not the wisest thing when your camped in a field of dry grass and with plenty of Hay about the place.
Eventually Gruff managed to put the fire out !
Another night another full on blaze complete with Steve in jodhpurs
THM walking his mobile Christmas tree back home !
Like a scene from 1939 but instead of a piece of paper in his hand this Chamberlin held aloft a crank
Despite several warnings from LGF regarding his personal dislike of all things Kirk - this is how I left my beloved Kirk before going to bed.
And this is what greeted my Sunday morning
Mind you the base for the fire bit fared little better
Sunday afternoon and with the Marquee down – Steve decided to have “a hand full of fruit” well according to family Fortunes USA - crisps are fruit
However what I really want to know is what father takes their daughter to a place where semi naked men do unmentionable things to a flag pole… what was xxxNick1975 thinking – what was his daughter thinking?
Clive set social media alight with his period get up and encouragement
And as a result the post race comments about the Retro encampment all shared a common theme – we helped give the event an atmosphere