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!!! :)

SSWC 2011 - The entry list getting serious

The list of the entered riders is getting longer and longer every day and it is pretty serious at this stage. There is already hundreds of riders who will compete this year Single Speed World Championships. 

Competitors will come to Ballyhoura from all over the world (USA, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, Denmark, UK, Israel, and there is an endless line of countries still to mention) to line up at the start line.

To see the full entry list just click here.

There is only couple of weeks left until I get to race such a unique off-road event and at this point I started to feel the buzz that surrounds the 2011 SSWC. I know it's gonna be cool, really looking forward to it! :)

Single Speed World Champs 2011 - Entered yesterday

In this year I have couple of goals that I want to accomplish. Races that I never done before, even if they are more unusual for me. Some of them are already done but others yet to come. Here is the next one of them on my list: the Single Speed World Championship (SSWC).

This event is very unique indeed. Luckily this year Ireland will be hosting the event that is famous world wide so it will be very easy to travel to the race. The location is the country`s biggest and longest purpose built MTB trail centre, Ballyhoura. (for more info on the trail centre click here ). The event will be on the 27th of August (full details are here ).

After couple of weeks planning I signed up for this years race to compete and see how can I manage an XC race on a single speed mountain bike. I will be certainly very limited but not totally strange for me: I am big fan of the single speed set up! :) I use fixed gear bike for getting around town for many years now and I do love it. So it is time to try the same idea on mucky trails and see how it goes! :)

I have couple of XC races before the SSWC but after those races I will get my race bike coverted to single speed. Once it is done I will try to get use to it up in the mountains. At this point I still haven`t decided what gear ratio I will give it a go with, but possibly 2:1 (32T - 16T) will be the optimal set up. But I will get into the technical details some other time! :)

This event is something I really looking forward to, can`t wait to start the preparation and get to the start line in August. :)