Taken while on an 8 hour training ride at the Forest of Dean

An example of the terrible conditions

Arriving the day before I was really pleased to see the track looking nice and dry which would make it a lot easier over the race. However over night and the following morning the rain poured. The next day the track had changed significantly and it was looking very muddy many places. Having not had a good nights sleep due to the wind and rain battering my tent, I was not feeling great about the event as sleep was definitely something I needed as much of as possible. At midday Saturday the race began with a running lap first to separate the pack so we weren't too bunched up. I had decided to take the run easily as I was happy to sit behind some slower riders for the first few laps so I didn't push myself too hard early on and try and race any of the faster team riders. For the first few laps conditions were dreadful, the mud was getting very deep and sticky, clinging to wheels and blocking frames so at times it was impossible to even push the bike without first clearing the mud. 4 laps in and the track didn't seem to be drying out so I decided to take my first break (4pm). After a quick bit of food I decided to change to my skinny mud tyres to try and stop the frame blocking with mud, it was something I'd been putting off for a while just because of the time it would waste. Once back on track though things improved a lot. The track had dried slightly but the new tyres were a revelation. No clogging issues what so ever, and more grip too. My laps were getting faster and I was feeling much better after the break. I continued well through until 10pm where I had to break to put lights on my bike as the darkness was looming. Back out then in the dark till a break at 1.30am on Sunday morning. Having some hot food made everything seem much better. Headed out again and after completing one lap wasn't feeling too good, legs were shaky and I was feeling dizzy. I decided to try and ride it off and give it another lap. This was a big mistake though, a quarter of the way into the lap my body just crashed. I had to get off the bike and sit down. I was hot, then I was cold but sweating at the same time, I was dizzy, I felt sick, I wanted to pass out. I sat there for 20 minutes before getting up and deciding to try and walk with the bike for a bit. The lack of sleep had got to me, my body wanted to shut down. I walked until about halfway on that lap then got back onto the bike. I just peddled slowly feeling awful, I knew once this lap was done I would need to sleep, something I really wanted to avoid coming into the race. I made it to my tent and passed out for an hour and a half. Waking up I was feeling better. I put on some clean kit, had food and water and soon headed out again. Feeling good an knowing I was into the final quarter of the race. The final few laps were the best of the lot, the forecast rain didn't materialise, the track had dried further although was still sticky. I was feeling fresh. The final laps were my fastest of the race, I was flying round, I overtook a lot of people in those last few laps, then finally made it to the finish. Crossing the line I had a sense of relief that it was over and I had done it, I'd completed Mountain Mayhem 2013 solo and unsupported. Never again...

Setting off at 3.50am from Bath I made it up to the Severn Bridge by around 6.30 then into Cardiff for 10am. This part of the journey was relatively easy and navigation was no problem as I'd ridden it all before. At this point I was feeling really positive about the ride as I had made good progress. From Cardiff I then followed the cycle path up to Pontiprydd then headed west. From here on it was much harder to be sure I was on the right route as signs were few and far between. At one point just outside Bridgend there were no signs what so ever for the route I wanted to take so I had to head into Bridgend. This was the worst part of the ride because I had no idea which way I needed to go, and no one seemed to be able to help me. Overall I wasted over an hour lost here and it was very demoralising as I knew I still had a long way to go. However after I was back on track the landmarks turned up quickly and the ride improved a lot. Past Swansea, Llanelli, Pembrey then into Carmarthen for the final leg of the journey back to Haverfordwest. I made it to Haverfordwest at approximately quarter to midnight. It had taken almost 20 hours and had ridden around 200 miles in a day.

20-4-13: Set off from Bath at 7am to ride to Cardiff and back, intended route was 130 miles in total as you have to cycle over the old Severn Bridge. I had beautiful weather for the journey and getting into Wales went really well, I was on the bridge by 10am. However after that the journey seemed to take forever to get to Newport, I didn't get there until about 1pm and then managed to get lost trying to get to Cardiff. Eventually made it to Cardiff at 2.30pm and stopped for a lunch break until 4pm. Heading back to Bath was a lot better as I knew the way. It still took me 6 hours to get back to Bath and riding from Bristol it was very dark. Overall I was really pleased to of made it despite the setbacks, in the end it was about 150miles in total and I was riding for 15 hours, the longest day I've ever had on a bike. When I finished the ride I needed to have a break and some food, but I think after an hours break I would've been able to continue riding again.

Good luck from me and Becci at GreenParkBikeStation - its going to be tough!! Have fun though and its a great cause.

Hi Phillip, This is quite a challenge for you to undertake in memory of Hannah, every penny raised adds to our chances of beating this disease. Ann and I look forward to supporting you on your ride. We don't know how you knew Hannah, were you in the same school? Anyway, good luck with the fundraising, you should feel good about yourself. Roy ps My son Tom was cycling in Brechfa last week, he MBs in the Bristol area also.

15th April: First ride back after being ill was to Chew Valley lake. Didn't realise how much of a drop in fitness I had suffered. Struggled with the hills on the way home so will have to do some more hill training. Overall the ride went well, was nice to have some warmer weather (actually above 0). Overall rode just over 30 miles in around 2 hours.

3rd April: Completed the 5 hill challenge in Bath. Rode the 5 hills up to the university consequtivley. This involved riding up Widecombe, down Brassknocker, up the Steps of Woe, down Bathwick, up North Road, down the Steps of Woe, up Brassknocker, down Widecombe, up Bathwick and down North road.

28th March: Completed a 10 hour ride at Brechfa near Camarthen. Rode the Derwen trail twice (9.4km), and the Gorlech and Raven combined twice (75km). In total I rode about 60 miles with 4200 vertical metres of climbing. It snowed for most of the day with temperatures below 0.

28th March: Completed a 10 hour ride at Brechfa near Camarthen. Rode the Derwen trail twice (9.4km), and the Gorlech and Raven combined twice (75km). In total I rode about 60 miles with 4200 vertical metres of climbing. It snowed for most of the day with temperatures below 0.

20th March: Completed an 8 hour training ride at the Forest of Dean in freezing conditions. Rode all of the trails several times and ended up riding for around 60 miles. Cutting down on breaks is a target because after stopping for lunch, I found it really difficult to start riding again as it was so cold.

13th March: Completed an 6 hour traing ride around Ashton Court in Bristol. I rode 10 laps of the course which is 42 miles off road.