Single Speed World Championship - race report

I have completed one of the most unique race ever since I am racing when I crossed the finished line of the 2011 Single Speed World Championship in Ballyhoura. But let's begin from the start! The centre of the race was in a little town called Kilfinane where all the registration and the campsite was organized for the riders. I travelled from Dublin and arrived just in time after the 220 km drive.

The parking was quiet tricky since the town was flooded by cyclist from all over the world. Finally I managed to get a spot and after a quick registration I was ready to have lunch and get prepared for the race that started in the early afternoon. 

The content of my goodie bag

The bike is ready to go

Waiting for the breifing

After all the preparation finally we were ready to go: more than 570 riders from 26 different countries! Fantastic number, isn't it? The peloton was in the middle of the town centre and we were leaving the town with Garda escort.

Flags everywhere: Kilfinane was very welcoming

The buzz was amazing: seemed like everybody from the local community was on the street just to have a look at the massive group of mountain bikers passing by. They waved at us and we got lovely and friendly cheering everywhere. It was great! :)

I was at the front while we left the town, had a lovely chat with last year winner from New Zealand along the way.

After the short journey between the town and the Trail Centre the peloton has arrived to the famous venue: Ballyhoura. The start was at the carpark where the atmosphere was superb already. We had to cycle up towards on the fire road and put the bikes up side down. Then walk back to the start line and get ready for the ~200 m run to get to our bikes. 

START! It was an absolute mayhem to reach the bikes: but to make things even more exciting the organizers moved the bikes so most of them weren't at the same place where the owners left them. Luckily my bike wasn't touched so I run straight up to the top of the fire road, picked up the bike and off I went. The race has started.

Course map of the SSWC in Ballyhoura

to see the full details on the course, click here.

We had to complete 2 laps with the total distance of 35 km. We didn't get rain during the race but from the day before the trails were quiet muddy and slippery. Most of the climbs were on fire road so the gradient wasn't too killer.

Pushing hard on the fire road (photo by Ballyhoura)

All the trails were lovely and quick with lots of switch backs and tight turns. Loads of rocks and some roots at some place made the race hard but extremely enjoyable for me. The northshore section was excellent, however it was super muddy so many riders had difficulties to cross them safely. Some of the downhill bits were extremely slippery and very fast paced. I loved it! :) 

In action on the fast descent (photo by Ballyhoura)

Rolling along on the track (photo by Ballyhoura)

On the twisty trails

For my biggest surprise the crowd was huge (compare to regular mountain bike races) all around the race course. Even in the most remote locations I heard people cheering the riders, taking photos and all that stuff. It was great to see so many people came out to see the race. Lovely! :)

After I crossed the finish line

After 2 hours and 9 minutes I crossed the finish line! Durig the race we climbed 1218 m in total wich is tough enough on a single speed bike I think. It was such good feeling to complete the race. I felt very good on the bike all the way and I was very happy to be able to compete against people from al around the globe. 

I was tired but very happy after the race

" And the most fashionable overshocks award goes to: Andras Gercsenyi ! " - this was my only fancy dress accessory :)

So, this is it! The SSWC 2011 is over but it was a fantastic race indeed. The course was excellent, I really enjoyed to race there. The event was very well organized and the buzz was huge. I never seen such a big crown on any mountain bike event so far and the atmosphere was on top level! :) I met so many very nice people (guys & girls from Scotland, USA, New Zealand, England, Canada, Israel) and had a great time on the bike together. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming! Some of the familiar faces were representing the Irish mtb field as well, it was great to recogize some of the Team WORC, Biking.ie and IMBRC lads. Well done everyone! :)

The only small thing that caused me slight dissapointment is the fact the organizers did not record any race number at the finish, therefore ther isn't any final result for anybody who did not finish in the top 3. Yes, many people don't take the event very seriously, but I think some others do. I have prepared to compete and lined up on the start line with 100% commitment... It would have been nice to see some sort of order and result list to know how I did finish after the race. They told me this is normally the way but I just wasn't aware of that, so this left a little bad taste in my mouth...  

But on the other hand I'm very happy I was part of something very special indeed and since the locations are all over the world (last year was in New Zealand, next year is in South Africa), I really appreciate the fact I was able to race this year since the race was just on my doorstep. This was possibly "a once in a lifetime opportunity" to enter a race like this and it was great to use this opportunity.

SSWC rocks!!! :)