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SSWC SA 2012


divernick

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looked like quite a few of the 'new' bikes hadn't been properly tested. funny thing was that it always seemed to be 2 okes trying to put a chain back on.

 

and in other tech news, will oval rings be the new SS chainring of choice?

"I have bike shops in our province and asked our head mechanic to sort out my gearing as I had no experience. We went with a 34x20. It meant I could ride further up the climbs than most, and my Rotor ring helped with spinning on the flats," said Stander. "I got to do one ride on the bike before the race."
i think i know the answer to that one, burry said that they had some chain issues on the test ride the day before.

http://iamspecialized.com/xc-mtb/news-article/stander-wins-singlespeed-world-championships

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SSWC 2012 – a hazy review

 

04 Oct 2012, written by Rory0 Comments

What a weekend. I decided to wait a couple days before writing this post to allow the vague memories to slowly filter back. I will try piece them together to hopefully give you an idea of went down. To put things into perspective, whilst driving from King Shaka airport to Winterton I received a shopping list from mates who had already arrived. There was no food, soft drinks or bike parts, only Cane and Brandy. Good start.

We arrived in Winterton after a beautiful 3 hr drive through KZN countryside to feel slightly left out for not having a beer in our hands. First stop bar, second stop registration, third stop tents. Feeling settled, we headed through to the main tent where the festivities were about to begin. The first round of activities to decide the 2013 host nation were hilarious and kept us all highly entertained, with Italy, Netherlands, USA and Zimbabwe being the main players. After far too many drinks (and daisy juice) I made my way to my tent which had been completely flattened by some lovely tent diving mates. I tried to fix it, but in my state i decided it was just easier to pass out. A while later, my tent was dived on again, this time with me in it, not ideal. It had also started raining by now, and my ailing tent provided no protection from the downpour. All my stuff was drenched, bleak.

http://www.crank.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/IMG_2806-480x320.jpg

Friday saw some big storms roll through Winterton forcing the organisers to close the route for practice. We did however managed a little spin through town to loosed the legs before another Big Party. The Red Bull crew arrived with their gig rig and after more host nation selection shenanigans, they busted out some great tunes early into Saturday morning.

Race day dawned with great weather and my tent was in one piece. I had a good feeling about the day ahead. The race village was a sight, with all the riders donning their crazy outfits. I was really impressed with the effort that everyone went through.

http://www.crank.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/IMG_2808-480x320.jpg

Stevo in camo

A 11am start meant that there was plenty of time to get rid of the hangover and get to the start 25km away at the beautify Emseni camp. The start procedure was mad, we had to run to our bikes, try find them because they had all been moved around, before getting ushered into a holding area where we rode loops around a field until a gate randomly opened to start the race. I got a good start, but the taste of cane and creamsoda was ever present, and then my chain came off, and then again, race over. I cruised along having a blast at the three beer stops along the way, having two beers instead of one. I needed to keep things fair for the riders around me, my down down skills are top notch.

http://www.crank.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/IMG_2815-480x320.jpg

There was some super tight racing upfront with South Africa’s Burry Stander winning by a ball hair from an American racing snake, his name eludes me. It was a South African clean sweep with Amy Mac winning the ladies race, coming home in the top 15 overall. Both proudly claimed their winning tattoo’s.

http://www.crank.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/IMG_2888-480x320.jpg

Burry

http://www.crank.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/IMG_2899-480x320.jpg

Amy Mac

The route was sublime with sweeping singletrack covering 85% of the two loops. I had an idea of the trails after riding Joberg2C earlier this year but it blew my mind again. It really was some of the best riding I have done.

The afterparty is still too blurry to report on, it was massive, really good fun and something I cannot put my body through again for a while. Oh, and Italy won the rights to host next year by winning a tug-o-rope, awesome.

Big up to the organisers, what a weekend. Looking forward to Italy..

PLEASE FORGIVE ME IF NOTHING MAKES SENSE, I AM STILL REELING.

Here are some tattoo shots:

http://www.crank.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/IMG_2923-480x320.jpg

http://www.crank.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/IMG_2924-480x320.jpg

 

http://www.crank.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/IMG_2937-480x320.jpg

http://www.crank.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/IMG_2935-480x320.jpg

Some random cool shots:

 

http://www.crank.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/IMG_2799-480x320.jpg

 

mages Courtesy Dale Hunt and James Walsh

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Edit, the reason for the post

Farmer Gary's route description,

 

https://vimeo.com/51549722

That Giant looked pretty good to me thumbup1.gif

Thanks Dangle

I assumed (mofo of all foobars of course!) that you were referring to these:

 

http://www.google.fr...MJwODhUJBwwdiiw

 

Oh and that you were bad at spelling...

A foobar indeed, the Anatolian would be a working dog for me though, I'm a sheep farmer you see.

Edited by deanbean
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  • 9 years later...
20 minutes ago, TYGA said:

Thanks for that awesome blast from the past! 

Five SS bikes ago now. 

Unfortunately our circumstances have changed and we have moved over to a MTB tandem - no ways I am converting this to a SS

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11 hours ago, Shebeen said:

according to my google this was exactly ten years ago.

 

to refresh your memories

 

 

So many good memories to celebrate from that. Must find the photo gallery.

Burry, forever remembered.

Usher’s pops who passed away in the last year. He’s forgotten more than what most of still need to learn.

Amy Beth whose happily married and racing up a storm. 

Nic White who has semigrated to the Cape his family. Doing tours and coaching alongside Di his wife. Both sons riding.

Pepi the tattoo artist, a power rider in his own right. Macedonia 🇲🇰 national champ. Closed up his tattoo studio in Parkhurst, went solo and recently moved to Paris with his wife.

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  • 1 year later...

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