SSWC 2009 - the tattoos and the basketball decider

MTB legend Elke Brutsaert was barely recognisable in her roller-girl outfit on roller skates as a basketball cheerleader. Here she is with local celebs Drew Bourey from Boure Clothing and TV stuntman Brandon Donahue

The colouring gallery. Entries to SSWC 2009 were decided on a colouring competition. Here are some of the thousand entries.

Heather Irminger and Ross Schnell parade their tattoos on the event stage.

The mandatory winners' tattoo

Must... not... cry...

Props to the tattooist for inking the winners in a bar with a huge crowd watching.

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DJ Birch, who played on behalf of Italy, shows who he was really backing after the match. The NZ team (which contained no New Zealanders) beat the Italian team (with no Italians) by ten points or so.

After-match euphoria from Dam-O and DJ

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Despite the basketball match being a friendly decider for next year's venue, the playing was hard and fast.

Custom basketball tops customised by Kate Skranka

Greg Herbold, far left, did some of the commentary.

Local cycling champs, HB and Ned - who came fourth in a full Hawaiian outfit

A crowd of a thousand racers and partygoers watched the match.

Everyone in town got behind the event.

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Chipps Chippendale

Singletrackworld's Editor At Large

With 23 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.)