Mountain biking is generally acknowledged to have originated in the late 60's, although it's hard to believe that people weren't tempted to take bikes off road for many years before that. But whatever its origins it became a popular sport in it's own right in the 70's with people taking heavily modified cruiser bikes into the Californian hills and racing them down firetrails. As the sport developed the bike companies wised up and started to produce off-road specific bikes. Many of those companies also produced & sponsored road bikes so it didn't take long until the complicated politics of road racing seeped into mountain biking.
Singlespeeding has always been a bit more counter-cultural than regular mountain biking. People would race singlespeeds in regular bike races but a singlespeed race scene also slowly grew. This wasn't tied in to any particular manufacturers or governed by any existing race bodies and so it developed it's own identity. There's a lot more fun in singlespeed racing - more beer & more laughter, although the competition at the pointy end can be just as fierce.
Every year a singlespeed world cup is held somewhere in the world. Unlike regular world cups anyone can enter without seeding races or qualifying points. All you need is a singlespeed bike & a sense of humour. This year the race is being held in Rotorua in New Zealand's North Island, and since it's so close it seemed rude not to go along and give it a shot. There are about 20 of us from Brisbane flying over in three weeks time and staying in the same set of apartments for a week - most are just coming over for the local riding & the craic, but there are about 5 of us competing in the worlds. It's going to be a pretty gruelling race, but there are apparently shortcuts available if you're prepared to scull a beer so I'm planning to play to my strengths. The winner of the race is awarded a commemorative tattoo, but I don't think my skin is in any danger. All I want to do is finish!
Check out more details at http://www.sswc10nz.com/
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