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SSWC 2009 Durango – Results and everything!

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Around 1000 singlespeeders descended on Durango this weekend for the 12th Singlespeed World Championships. There were pro racers (including the likes of Ned Overend, Travis Brown and ex-pro Greg Herbold – all local boys), fancy dress racers, earnest racerboys and slack good time riders. The course was around 25 miles and had more climbing than is good for you at 6,500ft – but it also had some super fun, technical descents that everyone seemed to enjoy.

We’ve not seen the official results (though the SSWC website has some patently made up ones up at the moment, but here’s what we reckon some of them are based on asking the locals. We’ll post the proper results when we get hold of them.

Men’s race:
1st Ross Schnell
2nd Matt Shriver
3rd Carl Decker
4th Ned Overend
5. Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski

(Travis Brown was leading the race at the halfway point, but crashed and was forced to retire.)

Women

1. Heather Irminger
2. Shonny Van Landingham
3. Kelli Emmet

The official SSWC 2009 site is here: http://sswc09.wordpress.com/

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Singlespeed fans gather at the Irish Embassy bar for an impromptu ‘run what you brung’ handbuilt bike show. Around 30 bikes and hundreds of riders crammed into the tiny bar.

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All sorts of disparate bike makers were showing their bikes. Obviously, all were singlespeeds.

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Local boy Greg Herbold was racing this old school Miyata Unified Rear Triangle bike – how about that Tioga Disc Wheel? A veteran of many races from the early ’90s.

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Beer – yes, beer is a bit of a unifying theme at any SSWC event.

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The town of Durango, Colorado is used to welcoming tourists and aren’t phased at all by having 1000 singlespeeders take over the town.

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DJ Birch – a veteran of many SSWCs outside Durango Cyclery, the unofficial, official Race HQ.

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Everyone from bike shops, bars and this book shop have made an effort to make the riders feel welcome.

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Travis Brown, relaxing on Thursday with one of his many custom Trek singlespeeds in the foreground.

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Custom race tape - swanky

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Dr Jon, probably the most experienced SSWC racer ever after his ninth race.

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Mexican wrestling masks were popular with the Soulcraft boys

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Fancy dress costumes came in all sizes. This was one of the smaller sizes, but there was also Elvis, two Santas, a sexy cop, Spiderman and a few who just raced in their underwear

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There was a lot of beer available at the end of the race from Dales Brewery in Boulder.

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The course had all sorts of challenges, from off camber gravel to big rocky drops with huge exposure.

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Mmm... bacon. A couple of guys had set up on top of one of the climbs and had cooked pans full of bacon, which they handed out to grateful racers.

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There was a three mile ridgeline traverse with big drops, but great fun, technical singletrack for the brave.

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A couple of the pushing sections went on for 20 minutes. Hard work at 6,500ft

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We don't know, either.

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How often do UK towns completely shut their main street for 1000 racers to parade through town. Not often (and they're usually Welsh if they do)

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Nearly half the racers were in fancy dress. Some may have regretted it in the heat of sun.

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It's always good to see a bike pile. We need more of them in the world.

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Chipps Chippendale

Singletrackworld's Editor At Large

With 22 years as Editor of Singletrack World Magazine, Chipps is the longest-running mountain bike magazine editor in the world. He started in the bike trade in 1990 and became a full time mountain bike journalist at the start of 1994. Over the last 30 years as a bike writer and photographer, he has seen mountain bike culture flourish, strengthen and diversify and bike technology go from rigid steel frames to fully suspended carbon fibre (and sometimes back to rigid steel as well.)

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