SSWC 06 announced

teamdicky · #1 01-06-2006, 01:10 PM

From the Surly blog.

For those of you paying attention to where Single Speed World Championships is going to be held next year, here is some information. It was decided at SSWC2005 that the last person still riding in the derby was allowed to choose where it would be the following year. Skip Bernet and myself were the last riding in 2 of 3 rounds, so we got to choose. Although this was an honor and it seemed like a smashing idea at first, it turned out to be a tough position to be in. For any future SSWC event planners, I wouldn’t recommend having this rule this again. What I would recommend is that more of you sacrifice body and bike at SSWC2006 to make the worlds largest bike derby. Now that will be smashing.

We asked for proposals from everybody and anybody around the world that was serious about hosting SSWC2006 and had the trails, manpower and creativity to make it happen. For the record, we got 16 such proposals. Most of them were serious, a couple of them worthless, and 6 of them were good enough to make this a very difficult decision. The research most of these people did to find out if their town was ready for this was incredible and I commend all of them for stepping up and committing themselves.

This decision was made with all of you in mind and it was not taken lightly. We asked the 6 best potential hosts some stupid open ended questions like, “what would Jacquie Phelan do?” and “when drinking beer from a glass cowboy boot, toe up or toe down?” just to get an idea of who these people were. We also asked more serious questions like “how car-free can this event be?” and to “describe your ideal mountain bike course”.

I won’t divulge all their answers to these questions, but I want you all to know when drinking beer from a glass cowboy boot, you need to drink with the toe down. Otherwise you get an air bubble caught in bottom of the glass and it’ll splash beer in your face when you tilt the glass upright. All but one of you got this wrong, I’m ashamed. What does this have to do with SSWC? Who cares, I’m asking the questions and was just curious.

What happened to New Zealand? The folks from New Zealand basically told me they weren’t organized for the event and to be careful with our decision. It’s really a shame, because we all wanted to go there.

But is it really a shame when you have single speeders in Stockholm, Sweden? Singlespeeders that boast excellent trails, sound fairly organized (like it or not), understand we all just want to show up and ride, and have the manpower to make this thing rock? How cool would that be?

These folks have been behind Sweden SS champs in 2003 and 2004. They’ve “masterminded” an event called Tour de Retard, which was a 100km fixed/SS stage race to celebrate the old Tour de France days. They’re also involved in the local freeride scene and ran an e-zine for about 4 years. They’re well connected within the local bike industry, the local urban life and have trails within riding distance from most of the hotels/hostels/campsites in town.
These folks understand the importance of beer, heckling and donuts along the course. They also understand the importance of this being a truly international event, making fair registration for equal representation from all countries. They left us with no doubt that this will rock.

Stockholm is the capital of Sweden and it’s a very bike friendly city. There are bike lanes established throughout the city and it’s easy to get around. We’ve been assured that if you’re a singletrack hound, you will not be disappointed with the local dirt trails.

So that’s it, some fine folks from Stockholm, Sweden are hosting SSWC2006 and you can start planning for it now. Since this is their event to host, it is completely up to them to decide dates, the course, beer sponsors, “other” events, website, registration, beer sponsors, where to stay, how the champions will be decided, beer sponsors, etc. Once we know more about their plans, we’ll post them here. Holy shit is this going to be fun.

wooglin · #2 01-06-2006, 01:22 PM

Well done. Had I known you were the arbiter of SSWC06 I'd have asked for an autograph last time I saw you.

Cyclenaut · #3 01-06-2006, 01:25 PM

That is awesome!

Prepare to get your Swede on! Any idea of a date?

Raymo853 · #4 01-06-2006, 02:07 PM

I am so happy. Finally I get to go to the Spy Bar in Stolkholm. I've know about it for years after its website won a bunch of awards. The bar looks super cool, but a little pretentious, but so am I so what the f.
http://www.thespybar.com/start.asp

punching_bag · #5 01-06-2006, 02:31 PM

Although, if you're chugging a beer from a glass cowboy boot, say, during a beer derby/mile on the local middle school track or during a boat race or for shits and giggles to see who has the larger penis, you need the tow up for optimal flow. Tow down, beer gets trapped and you're forced to go past verticle in order to get the remaining beer out which will cause beer to splash/pour on your face. Just a thought. And although I won't be able to attend SSWC in '06 I'll at least be able to enjoy pictures.

Dave_A · #6 01-06-2006, 02:37 PM

Superb, went to Stockholm last year and immediately put it on my places to ride list, now I've got the perfect excuse to go

hophead · #7 01-06-2006, 02:37 PM

I think I would start with the toe down and then rotate the boot as the beer was consumed. Or maybe just drink from the side of the boot.

Kelvin · #8 01-06-2006, 03:29 PM

Well I've just sorted my accomodation, just need the date to hunt down a cheap flight...

hairygrump · #9 01-06-2006, 04:44 PM

I always did drink from the side, myself. Lots of people are happy to tell you you're wrong when you do that.

Anyway, kudos to Nick and Sov. I trust those guys to pick a real winner. Sweden is far away, so I'm pretty sure I won't be there, but I'm happy to hear that's where it'll be.

DirtRagArt · #10 01-06-2006, 05:04 PM

Well, time to start saving for airfare...

sowg · #11 01-06-2006, 08:47 PM

Airfares to Stockholm from Philly $600 and dropping! Put a "fare watch" on over at Orbitz and wait for an e-mail with a cheapo fare, score your tickets, and start training body, mind, and liver.

Lane · #12 01-07-2006, 12:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cyclenaut

That is awesome!

Prepare to get your Swede on! Any idea of a date?

I dated a Swede once, she was quite tall. Never had a date in Sweden though. This could be fun.

Postierich · #13 01-07-2006, 05:56 AM

Dont worry about the price of your airfare its the price of the beer that worries me!

fuz · #14 01-07-2006, 12:56 PM

anyone from southeastern wi, north eastern il wanna get a group together to go? not too many of my biker friends are willing to fork over the cash for a SS event(damned gearheads), especially one over seas

punching_bag · #15 01-07-2006, 06:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hairygrump

I always did drink from the side, myself. Lots of people are happy to tell you you're wrong when you do that.

I'd say talented. Or you have a giant mouth. If I drink from the side of the boot, I just wear my beer. I think we can say that different occasions call for different styles. After all, there is (almost) no wrong way to drink a beer.