The run at Mayhem is pretty daunting, they run quick in England as the team race is stacked with World Cup XC riders - it was flat out for five minutes with about 700 other riders - cripes. Then we were off. My strategy has always been to start slow in 24's and pull people back - but I have been starting to crank up the early speed a bit of late... after 15 minutes we were nailing the singletrack in a train and there right in the depths some riders had set up decks and were pounding out Eye of the Tiger.. After a lap I found myself just 4 minutes down on the lead held by Anthony White, fresh back from training at Everset Base Camp! I got into a rhythm but with rain showers wished I'd selected mud tyres. The bike started to clag and I did not want to stop and change over. Seeing the other lead solos with spare bikes gleaming and with the right tyres on every lap was kinda annoying but I kept at it, brushing the bike down every lap and talcing the downstairs! Through the afternoon I was holding the leaders and then into the night a new eating strategy evolved - protein bar in mashed up cereal milk shake, cups of pasta to grab on the go and beans and bacon - delicious. By 1 am the DJ's in the woods were pounding out all kinds of beats and looked more ruined than the riders and I was going really consistantly having worked my way into fourth and was eyeing the podium. It was between me and Charge Bikes rider Sam Humphrey who'd bagged 5th at the XC Worlds as a junior, this was real news to be up there at that level and we were head to head through lap 14. Yet then just after a rainy dawn at 5am my head decided to walk away. Hazy, fuzzy, a lack of co-ordination and a desperate need for my girlfriend and beer saw a rare packing with 8-9 hours to go. I dropped to 21st out of 150 by the end of the race after 8 hours sat out and was cheesed. But I learnt I can go faster at the start and maintain, I just need to hold back a little and get myself a spare bike...

The Ti deluxe was mint and I am totally unscathed after 15 hours.. Marije and Matt were great considering they're not bikers and now I have to go and take on a class field at the Bontrager 24 in two and half weeks and try and take the win.. have to try and stay off the beer in the meantime ... Ian