29 December 2010 - 7:47SSWC2011 – Ireland

After attending my first Single Speed event in Arizona in early 2009, I was hooked. Worlds was in Durango later that year, and Mandy and I did what it took to make the trip out there. Durango is a relatively easy place to get to, far easier and less expensive than, say, New Zealand. I registered for SSWCNZ in the of chance that I could make it happen, but sadly it was not to be. Thanks to the modern miracle of internets and Facebooks, I was able to get a small glimpse of the shenanigans that ensued on the other side of the world.

90% of the whole Worlds experience is the party, and only 10% is the race itself. Once the race is won, it is time for The Decider. This is when the right to host the next Worlds is decided though a series of trials and tribulations. In Durango, semi finals was karaoke, and a basketball  game decided the ultimate winner. Fun to watch. In NZ, the ultimate Decider (I think) was a horizontal bungee jumping, where a person was attached to a bungee, and then had to crawl along the ground to see how far they could get. I think there might have been beer involved.

Wouldn’t you know it, the Irish won this time.

This is quite exciting, as not only is a trans-Atlantic trip “relatively” easy, the venue will also coincide with my 40th birthday. I have a hard time believing that I will be that old, but that’s what it says on my driver’s license. Anyway, the event will be held in Ballyhoura, which incidentally, is not very far at all from the McAuliffe castle, home of my ancestors.

I have been to Ireland once before, I was about 15. Sadly, the only thing I remember about it, was being horribly seasick in a tiny boat battling heavy seas on a trip out to the Arran Islands from Galway Bay. My family has done a few trips to the “homeland”, but I have not been back since. I never imagined that I would get the opportunity to go back, let alone bring my bike. Let alone going with a bunch of my crazy bike riding friends. Let alone having a birthday.

Oh man, this could get real ugly. I have only one word to describe it:

SHENANIGANS