SSWC, And The Emotions Of Racing

Alfred Hitchcock said of anticipation: "there is no terror in BANG, only the anticipation of it..." As the singlespeed racers participating in the upcoming Singlespeed World Championships anticipate the BANG of the starting gun this weekend, they too live in the emotional state that is racing: fear, concern, worry, pride, nervousness to name a few.


But hey, racing is all about the emotion, the competition and the fun. If you're racing this weekend, time to start that meditation practice you've been talking about for the past year. What's more, you might also see what the pros do to prepare for mountain bike racing:


Shonny Vanlandingham in an interview with www.SlowTwitch.com says: At my age, 40, I don’t train as many hours as I used to. Quality is better than quantity at this point in my career. My coach, Rick Crawford, and I sit down and map out two weeks of hard training and one week of active recovery. The hard weeks may be something like 3 swims (2.5K to 4K with varying intervals), 4 bikes (2 hard rides, 1 tempo ride and brick to run, and one recovery ride), and 3 runs (1 tempo, 1 track w/out and one recovery).


Todd Wells in an interview with the Durango Devo crew says: It takes time to get to that level. You can look at guys that race on the road in Europe for a long time before they are good. Guys like Levi and Vandevelde raced in Europe for a long time before you ever heard of them. I think it’s the same with the mountain bike, it takes a long time to increase your level at the very top of the sport.


So time load up on the enervit and hope that the time you've put into the Singlespeed will pay off. However, the beauty of this race is its non-race qualities.



A fun image by the creative minds in Durango, CO


Today, Friday 9/18/09:



8:00am Hermosa Tours Shuttle, Champion Down, 25 spots
9:15am Hermosa Tours Shuttle, Champion Down, 25 spots
7-10:00am Pancake breakfast at Buckley Park by Sol Cycles
9:00am Group ride/ race course pre ride from Fort Lewis College Clock Tower
9:00am Ladies ride/ race course pre ride from Fort Lewis College Clock Tower
10:00-4pm Registration at Buckley Park
5:00-7pm secret group ride to beer and food followed by preliminary hosting comp
11:00pm Live Music at Derail Saloon

Tomorrow, Saturday 9/19/09:



7:00-10:00am registration & rock and roll out at Durango Cyclery
11:00am SSWC09 Race
5:30pm Coloring Contest Awards at Ska Brewing
6:00pm Race Awards/Dinner at Ska
7:30pm Live Hosting Competition at Ska
9:00pm Live Music at Ska

Sunday 9/20/09:



10:00pm SSWC09 Bike Polo Tourney
2:00pm Polo Final Four

For more information on all the fun click here...

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