It seems like a lifetime ago that Rick and Davy from NIMBA (also known under many other pseudonyms!) gave me a call to meet up and see if I'd help out with some guiding at SSEC 2014. Needless to say I was flattered to be asked and delighted to get involved. I was still in a state of disbelief about a major Europe-wide MTB event being hosted in Castlewellan, just 4 miles from my house. Little did I know at the time about what the lads had to go through to secure the event or about how heavily it would influence my future biking.
My shift to being a dedicated singlespeeder (most of the time) has been documented in previous blogs. I've gradually realised the joy of the simplicity, light weight and pure aesthetics of singlespeed bikes and beyond that I've thoroughly embraced the flowy riding style they promote. Easy on the brakes, heavy on the pumping and huge on smiles as you accelerate faster than you thought was possible on an MTB.
A bit of research into the history of SSEC led me to the realisation that for some folk it goes much deeper. Singlespeed is almost a religion to many with a huge range of eclectic bikes and their riders all interlinked by their disposal of the derailleur. As the event approached I began to piece together what to expect from the weekend, part bike race, part Glastonbury, total anarchy! I must admit I felt a slight sense of apprehension as well as confusion. Do I treat it the way I treat my running with hard training, perfect diet and total focus or do I just hit the beers and ride for fun, soaking in and completely embracing the atmosphere? In the end I did a mix of both and in the process had one of the most fun experiences of my life!
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| In Castlewellan! |
My first involvement was leading the guided ride on Friday. A small matter of taking around 150 bikers around the trails and back roads of County Down in Davy's attempt to show them a bit of the 'real Ireland'. It should've been easy but a combination of factors made it a bit more stressful than anticipated. Huge disparities in ability, people desperate to sprint an epic journey out of their legs and some poor folk who'd been thrust from their 30 degree homelands to a blustery 15 degree hillside who therefore froze every time we stopped meant that keeping the group in the same postcode area proved quite challenging! Obviously we'll not mention Rick's map reading at this point! I had the fear of leaving some very confused foreigners trying to get directions from even more confused local farmers weighing on me but ultimately it all came good and we all got back safely.
Blood, Sweat and Beers
Davy handed me a bottle of the finest Clotworthy Dobbin and I marvelled at the array of tents, decorated caravans and campervans sprawled over the campsite, but more than that I marvelled at the sheer range of booze on display! It seems that plenty of people were there largely to kick the crap out of their livers and fair play to them. As the weekend unfurled rumours circulated about all sorts of potions and concoctions being consumed and the Slovenian contingent were usually mentioned in the same breath. For my part I was very sensible, I'm no drinker and having two young kids and a love of not being hungover served me well. I love to sample some real ales but more like a connoiseur and less like a meths swilling tramp so the odd bottle here and there was more than enough. An added bonus of this was that I woke on Saturday morning feeling fresh and ready to do battle!
Blood, Sweat and Gear(s)
The main event itself was a four lap, 20 mile sprint around an incredible mix of man made and semi-natural singletrack punctuated by a soul destroying fire road climb. The lads had done an amazing job with the course and the Castlewellan ground had responded positively, soaking up the heavy rain from Friday night leaving the course dry and fast. I genuinely didn't know what to expect. Half of me thought I'd be the only one not dressed up as a transvestite leprechaun but then given the legs I'd seen on display on the Friday ride out I also knew there were some very serious riders present. How serious can an event be when it begins with members of the public being invited to hide all the competitors bikes?! The answer is, actually pretty damn serious, but at the same time totally lighthearted. I've never seen so many smiles on the start line, lapped so many people who were so gracious and yet at the same time seen people pushing themselves to their limits. It was a race for non-racers, at the business end it had the pace of an NPS race but still retained the atmosphere of the back end of a local Sportive! For me it was summed up by the dude who passed me and moved into 3rd place giving me a drink and then insisting I go ahead into the next singletrack as I was faster on the tech. I repaid him by putting a hand on his back and giving him the biggest push I could to allow him to speed off up the next fire road climb. I finished 4th in the end apparently but even then I'm not entirely sure as it's a race with no timing chips. For me it was the perfect event, I rode myself into the ground but loved every minute of it, carried by the atmosphere, the weather and my incredible fellow competitors. I'd like to give a big shout out to my fellow NI boys who embraced the singlespeed ethic by also only ever being in one gear, just a different gear at different parts of the course! You know who you are!!
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| Unlucky for some, but not me! |
A huge part of the responsibility of hosting the SSEC is that the organisers have sole control over who hosts the following year's event. Chatting to Rick and Davy beforehand they talked of a succession of fun challenges that would end in smiles all round and an easy conclusion. If only...
The Sicilians had driven an incredible caravan all the way up from below Italy and the Slovenians had brought enough booze to make you wonder how the hell they cleared customs. Both squads were dead set on securing the hosting for 2015 and so proceedings became a bit more serious. I was away for the main games but returned to talk of pump track ringers, pickled egg horsing and a slightly niggly atmosphere. The NIMBA boys were looking stressed for the first time all weekend and it seemed that the weight of the decision was a heavy one to bear. If you were there you know that it all ended amicably with the Slovenians very graciously offering the decision to Sicily despite Slovenia winning the final and decisive challenge. The upper floor of Maginns visibly breathed a unified sigh of relief and Rick and Davy displayed the manic look of men who'd dodged a bullet! After all you don't mess with the Sicilians! They were the right winners having been beaten out by the NI bid in 2013 and I'm sure they'll repay the favour by awarding it to Slovenia for 2016.
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| Victorious Sicilians |
So we all headed to Maginns for a big Saturday night feed of stew and booze. The prizegiving was yet another highlight with the most animated crowd ever stirred up into a cauldron of shouting, cheering and stomping by Davy and his intermittent microphone. I couldn't help but laugh at the thought of any couples who'd popped in downstairs for a quiet romantic meal being drowned out by what was probably the decibel equivalent of standing between a Boeing 747 and an AC/DC concert. Prizes were thrown, dodgy quizzes hosted and the gifting of the much admired Surly Krampus fat bike to the winner of the bike throwing comp, a man who'd only just said to me that we were stood in the wrong place to win anything! Again I ducked out before it got too out of control as I'm old and boring but the pics doing the rounds and the walking wounded on the site allowed me to feel real smug on Sunday morning.
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| The beautiful Tollymore Forest and beautiful Singlespeeders |
I only expected about five people to show up for the Sunday ride out with the crushing hangovers and huge journeys faced by many, so was delighted when nearly 100 turned out for the spin. We had a superb time hitting Tollymore Forest and I got to relax and chat to some incredibly chilled people on incredibly cool bikes. As we basked in the post-ride sun having some really engaging conversations whilst various people plied us with cheeses, beers and biscuits it dawned on me just how good a time I'd had all weekend. It had flown by in a kaleidoscope of images and emotions, all of them really positive. I'm not one for cheesy cliches but as I mentioned how good it all felt and was met by the reply that 'well, life's not a f***ing dummy run' it seemed really apt. If I can spend just one weekend a year having that much fun then my life will definitely be fuller for it, and now I know exactly how and where to make that happen. As we said our goodbyes I couldn't help feel that Castlewellan may never quite feel the same again, something pretty special happened here, that's the power of SSEC!
There's a long list of people who made SSEC 2014 such a massive success and I was proud that me and Rock and Ride could play a small part along with the marshals, helpers and of course the competitors from all corners of Europe. In reality though it was all thanks to the determination and vision of Rick, Davy and the ORNI crew. They did an incredible job and deserve all the gifts and accolades they receive. However, if you lads can't decide who gets those beautiful carbon forks then I've got a project build that would suit perfectly! You know you want to.....
Keep an eye on Google for SSEC Sicily 2015, they've got some big shoes to fill!
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