The 2011 Single Speed World Championships are to be held Saturday, August 27th in Ballyhoura, Ireland. BikeRumor sat down with Tomás from the SSWC11 team for a very quick interview. I have to say I am a little confused by the fact that, when asked: “If the course were a movie villain, who would it be?” Tomás replied: “Shrek.” Do the Irish consider Shrek a villain because it’s a heinous crime against art and comedy that Mike Meyers insists on giving a Scottish accent to just about every, single character he does? Meyers spent years in dispute with Universal pictures over the now permanently scrapped Sprockets movie. I believe this had something to with the fact that Meyers insisted on portraying the German host of Sprockets, Dieter, with a Scottish accent.
But all that is beside the point. Like Fiji is beside Finland.
First off, talk a little bit about how, exactly, you won the privilege of hosting the 2011 SSWCs. What gave you the winning edge in the competition?
We won it through the Luck of the Irish. I met a guy in registration, after I got the people at registration to wear our t-shirts (now famous) ‘Get Lucky in Ireland in 2011 – Vote Ireland for the Singlespeed World Championships’. I was wearing one and he said to me are you Irish and I said I am. He said I’m married to an Irishwoman and I said brilliant now can you help me I’m looking for a fourth member of the team…he gave me Garth Weinberg’s number, current World Champion, and his local knowledge was crucial to our success. Oh and we had a few beers along the way as well.
How’s planning for the event going so far, where are you guys at in the process?
We’re in the process of organising it and enjoying it….at this point in excess of 350 are registered for the event, we’re not sure how many we’re going to cap it at but registration will close soon.
What is the course like?
Nice and easy…wait and see!
If the course were a movie villain, who would it be?
Shrek
Got anything sort of extra-special planned for the participants?
Again you’ll have to wait for the surprizes.
Have you thought at all about what the selection event for the 2012 event will be? And if so, will it involve drinking?
As you know we love Guinness and Potatoes so I guess both will be involved although nothings guaranteed at this point.
An internationally virtually unknown local rider won the 2010 edition of SSWCs, is there some darkhorse lurking around the Shannon Region of Ireland, waiting to devour the souls of cycling rockstars like Ross Schnell and Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski?
We have been training him for the last two years and he’s ready. We call him Bally – horse, wait till you seen him, no one will get around him on the bike, he is built like a tree.
If you could have one random, enormous cycling celebrity from any discipline show up, who would it be?
It’s gotta be Lance. Can you imagine he tweets and 20,000 people turn up to Ballyhoura, wouldn’t it be fantastic, the exposure the SSWC would get.
What Irish-stereotype-costume is most likely to get the piss beaten of the wearer? I just ask because there’s a rumor that one of the guys from the Niner-Ergon team is planning on wearing a costume that can only be described as “Sexy Leprechaun.”
Well Sexy Leprechaun will do it, St. Patrick or Father Ted are also favourites. Alternatively Guinness Man or something like that would be good.
I have to ask you one question (even though I really don’t want to) on behalf of our reader Rich “TEAM DICKY” Dillen: what is the RIGHT gear ratio to run in Ballyhoura?
You really need gears for this beast.
Links:
SSWC 2011 on Facebook
Official SSWC 2011 Website
