The Singlespeed World Championship 2010 / Rotorua New Zealand was unbelievable. I had the time of my life. I traveled solo but I meet many awesome dudes / dudettes. The Singlespeed World Championship participants / groupies are the best group of humans to assemble in a common place. Everyone was smiling, everyone was cool, everyone had a common goal – to have an incredible experience.
And…. a race with 1000 single speeders feels like a small local race with a boatload of your best friends. If you think I’m joking, go to SSWC11 in Ireland. You’ll find out for yourself. Many of dudes / dudettes will be SSWC veterans, many will be rookies, but they will all have the same great attitude.
And…. a race with 1000 single speeders feels like a small local race with a boatload of your best friends. If you think I’m joking, go to SSWC11 in Ireland. You’ll find out for yourself. Many of dudes / dudettes will be SSWC veterans, many will be rookies, but they will all have the same great attitude.
Well, I won’t bore you with a long race report. I have a few comments and a few pictures and a lot of video footage. Check it all out.
A Few Thoughts:
The start was absolutely chaotic. But it was a very cool, unique way of corralling the heard and inducing mass chaos and disorder.
The beer shortcuts were awesome. The short cuts were really short cuts. Well done! In my opinion, it’s a good idea to penalize those dudes / dudettes that don’t really understand that the best beer in the world is…. free beer. And free beer on the race course is the ultimate! Anyway, the free beer was awesome, it quenched my thirst and provided the necessary fuel.
The voluntary crew was awesome. The spectators were awesome. I was thinking that spectating may be as much fun as racing. Ok, that’s going too far.
An Example of ‘Friendly’ Competition at SSWC10:
Mr D. (as we will call him) was talking to a Foxy Mama during an early climb in the race, “Hey, tell me a joke”
Foxy Mama’s reply: “I don’t have a joke, but I’ve got this” The Foxy Mama shoots the moon to Mr D.
Mr D. replies: “Honey, that’s no joke.”
The Quote of the Race:
A spectator or beer babe was checking out Trudy’s smut badge and said “Now that’s a money shot!” Smut badge?
The Lessons:
- Beer at the start. 1 beer if you had breakfast, 2 beers if you’re running on empty
- Get out of the starting gate at the front of the pack, by any means necessary. You’re screwed if you’re hanging at the back of the pack at the Singlespeed World Championships.
- Hard & Fast is almost always better than Easy & Slow. Except for the 1st split at the Rockdrop descent. I would know, I did a study.
- Don’t be fixated on the Foxy Mama in front of you – you’ll run off the track and could plow into a tree.
- After 5 beers (2 before the race, 3 during the race at the beer shortcuts) it get’s kind of (just kind of) hard to haul ass through the trees and stay on track during the fast downhill sections.
- McDonald’s at 2:30AM can be classified as the prerace breakfast. Assuming Lesson #1 above is followed. But the 2:30AM breakfast forces the rider into the 2 beer option of Lesson 1.
The Video:
Below are 3 videos that you, the B.P.R. Fan, may like or may not. Doesn’t matter. It cracks me up. And, if you didn’t notice, I speed up the action a bit. Why? Because…. I can!
A Short Teaser – With Some KoRn and Some Action
SSWC10 – The Race, A Teaser from Judd Rohwer on Vimeo.
SSWC10: The Race – Short & Sweet
A Longer Version – With More KoRn and More Action
SSWC10 – The Race from Judd Rohwer on Vimeo.
SSWC10: The Race – Some of It
The Corral – Go to 3 Min for a Shot of Dejay Dirty Dancing with ‘The Babe’
SSWC10 – The Start Before The Race from Judd Rohwer on Vimeo.
SSWC10: The Corral
The Race Info / Data:
Below are 3 videos that you, the B.P.R. Fan, may like or may not. Doesn’t matter. It cracks me up. And, if you didn’t notice, I speed up the action a bit. Why? Because…. I can!
A Short Teaser – With Some KoRn and Some Action
SSWC10 – The Race, A Teaser from Judd Rohwer on Vimeo.
SSWC10: The Race – Short & Sweet
A Longer Version – With More KoRn and More Action
SSWC10 – The Race from Judd Rohwer on Vimeo.
SSWC10: The Race – Some of It
The Corral – Go to 3 Min for a Shot of Dejay Dirty Dancing with ‘The Babe’
SSWC10 – The Start Before The Race from Judd Rohwer on Vimeo.
SSWC10: The Corral
The Race Info / Data:
SSWC10: Whakarewarewa Forest / Rotorua New Zealand
The Course: Looking East
The Course: Looking NE
The Data, Dude!
Best Costume:
Dejay’s Thong
Worst Costume:
Rich in his cocktail dress. He just flat out enjoyed wearing that sexy outfit.
Most Foxy of all Foxy Mamas?
Impossible to decide. But I like the foxy mama racing undercover as the devil.
The Black Sheep at SSWC10
The Judd & The Dudes from New Zealand. Dan & Jasper, Nice Plaid!
More Pics?
Click on This Link, Dude!
Final Remarks:
SSWC10 was an unbelievable race. The entire 11 day experience (including the Whaka 100) is something I will never forget. I can’t wait for SSWC11 in Ireland. (Ok, I can wait. I probably need a couple of months to recover from SSWC10.) I hope a large fraction of my new friends make the journey to the land of Guinness.
BACK OF THE PACK RACING 
see you there big man!
Ozmot
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