Riding bikes for fun
This weekend I had the chance to join in the fun that is the Single Speed World Championship. Without a doubt Parker, Drew and the rest of the many crew and volunteers put on one hell of an amazing event. Getting to Hoyne Brewery at ten am Saturday morning to be greeted by trays of free beer I knew this was going to be a weekend unlike any other.
Broken into groups to keep things "manageable" we were sent on a booze fuelled tour of Victoria to tackle the Feats of Strength. Five challenges designed to separate the winners from the losers and qualify for the championship race. Our first challenge was simple, up the stairs, through the pump track and back. The tone was set quickly as we realized actually riding the pump track was optional and the "rules" were really just suggestions. But as long as fun was had it was all fair game.
The next morning at Western Speedway you could tell fun was had the night before. Many of the volunteers and riders looked like they could have used another two days worth of sleep. But in spite of it they still managed to have an amazing course set up and ready to party. Tents were set up, grills were lit and beer was poured. A look around the site would almost make you think a race was going on. But there wasn't really any organized racing that I could see. Short cuts were offered as reward for taking a drink. Drinks were offered as reward for taking a drink. The course tape in a lot of sections was taken to be a suggestion only. Hand ups were varied and plentiful from waffles peanut butter covered pickles to the healthy Kale wrapped in bacon. If you were thirsty, hungry or not having fun you were definitely doing it wrong.
And that really is the theme of this event. Don't take it seriously and have fun. As we were riding I overheard Sam say that he couldn't remember the last time he rode a bike this slow and casually, and then remarked at how much fun he was having. Its a good thing to remember. We've all heard the joke that if there's more than two people out its a race. We've seen it/done it even on solo rides with strava and pushing ourselves to beat the other guy or get a new PB. Or when we've only got an hour to ride and we have to cram as many miles in as we can to make it count. When all is said and done we need to take time to remember why we started riding bikes in the first place. Because it's fun.
