Luke Smith

I wasn’t looking forward to Mountain Mayhem to be honest. Three years previously the team had pulled out (as did many others) because the conditions were so bad. So when the forecast predicted a weekend of rain, to say I wasn’t impressed was an understatement!

Thankfully, on arrival the team was really up-beat and this boosted my enthusiasm no end! Andy Barlow was talked into the run much to everyone else’s relief – although we did wind Jimmy (Taylor) up right until the last minute that he was first off (this in hindsight was maybe a little cruel!)

Andy got a blinding start and as they set off I began to get ready to take up the second lap. However as the race got underway the rain began to pour down so a quick change of tyres was required. Sadly, the quick change wasn’t that quick and Jimmy had to get ready to take over from Andy on lap two.

I then set off for my first lap on lap three. The rain had fallen hard during Jimmy’s lap and the course was already quite churned up. I was happy with the way I was riding and was actually looking forward to the event now it had got underway.

Riding my Whyte 19 throughout the event with skinny tyres was key to some consistent lap times despite the ever-changing weather conditions. The bike never clogged up with mud to a point where I was forced to stop, unlike some I could mention!

The guys all performed superbly throughout the event with everyone giving it their all. The support from Richard, Mark, Gary and my Dad (Alec) was non-stop throughout the night – cleaning bikes every 45mins could not a have been a fun job. At least we had the fun of riding our bikes as payback for staying up all night.

The night passed pretty quickly and before we knew it we were counting down our last laps. The final outing of the event for me was a bit of a killer – a combination of tiredness and a severely hard course made me suffer real badly one last time.

My work was done and as Andy set off on his last lap we were confident we would hold our position to eventually finish the event in a very creditable 6th place.

Thanks again to everyone’s support both leading up to the event and during it – much appreciated.

Andy Barlow

Mountain Mayhem was the biggest event I’ve ever been to. The race village was huge, equalled only by the amount of washing I had to do when I got home on Monday afternoon.

Once again, the Whyte 19 Race was my weapon of choice, and once again it never let me down. I was elected (coerced) by my team mates into doing the ‘Le Mans’ style run to the bike to kick off the event. To be honest though, I didn’t mind. And as it turned out, it worked pretty well.

We soon got in to a rhythm and kept each others’ spirits up, even in the early hours, by discussing philosophy and breaking wind. It was the first time I’d actually met anyone else on the Whyte team, and I was relieved to find out that they were a professional, committed, humble and – in some cases – even intelligent bunch of guys.

It was an honour to ride with such a dedicated and inspiring team. The support the other riders and myself got was nothing short of heroic. We had Rich hosing the bikes off after every lap: possibly the most relentless job of the weekend – a truly Sisyphean task.

Gary did a sterling job of lubing and keeping them going. Being a professional bicycle mechanic myself, it’s been over ten years since I let any one else maintain my bike. This might seem like a ‘mountain out of a mole hill’ for some, but to trust someone else to work on my bike is a big deal for me, and he did a fantastic job.

Mark kept the Whyte Bikes ‘Race Machine’ ticking over with regular time checks, updates, and trips to the cafe. And Luke’s Dad, Alec, helping out and keeping us sane.

As for the race itself for me: what can I say? Nine laps (with an average time of 47minutes), an hour and a half of sleep, four changes of shorts, three tops, six pairs of socks, about twelve litres of Isoactive energy drink, a mountain of pasta, an array of mixed fruit, twenty-five trips to the temporary loos and about ten inches of rainfall.

Thank you again to all involved. I’ve never smiled so much due to sleep deprivation in my life!