Single Speed USA 2012, Stowe, VT

The annual Single Speed USA participants terrorized the quiet town of Stowe, VT on July 28, 2012. The past locations include Tennessee (2008), Georgia (2009), Arizona (2010), and Colorado (2011). It turned out to be a most memorable weekend with great trails, beers, and unending entertainment.


Fortunately, the drive from Central Mass was only 3 hours and a mix of highway and back roads to mix it up. I stayed near the center of Stowe at Gold Brook Campground, splitting the site with a fellow biker Gary. This company was a welcome surprise since I really didn’t know anyone else going up for the weekend. Gary is an avid mountain biker who has been to other Singlespeed USA events and even to SS World championship events in Ireland and Scotland and he likes Volkswagens.  

Arriving on Friday, I cracked a Magic Hat #9 w/Gary, set up my 6 person tent for one (and a bike), and then headed out to the Matterhorn for pre registration, pizza, and some Long Trail beers. The bike racks outside of the bar were jammed with single speed rigs. Everyone got to choose their number, either 69 or 666. The locals, a mix of laid back vermonters and uber wealthy trust fund vacationers with accents were a bit befuddled by our crowd. I gladly explained to a few of them that 200 single speeders from around the country (and world) were in Stowe to ride their trail system and party. I ran into a few fellow Bikeman.com riders here at the Matterhorn including Racin Rick, Paul Simoes, and Keith Reynolds.

With a late 9:45am start time, I Slept in, slapped on some Assos anti-chafe cream, and proceeded to try to find the start line. I managed to get lost following other people that were lost, but eventually asked a local where the race start line was and she said “two lefts and take a right into the cornfield”. Easy enough and we shortly arrived at the polo field starting area. The host from Bike 29, who won last year's contest and the rights to bring the event to VT, gave us a short rundown of the course, the basic cardinal rule, and made statements about how the Stowe trails are better than the Kingdom trails. Then without further ado he simply said “go”. No one bolted at the start, we just rode out as a group up a hill, a long long hill. A few riders began to push the pace halfway up including fellow #teambikeman and Team Bums member Paul Simoes, the rocket man from Rutland, MA who finished the ~25-30 miles with the fastest time of the day in ~ 2hr15min..

The three aid stations were unlike anything I had seen before. The first one was just a couple miles in at the end of the first hill, stocked with The Alchemist Heady Topper. The 2nd aid station was fully stocked by Drunk Cyclist ...complete with Whisky, oreos and cold St Ide’s 40’s. A $40 bar tab at the Rusty Nail was granted to the first three people to pound 40 oz’s of freedom - one guy in a Banana suit named “Montana” drank two for good measure- Banana drinks 40 x2.

Everything was good until my chain kept popping off, damnit! I must have bent the chain somehow and it would just not stay on. Perhaps it was because it was a 10spd chain or maybe I just ‘rolled’ it back onto the cogs too many times which twisted it beyond its limit. It must have popped off 20+ times and I ended up running a lot...good cx training I thought to myself. I had thrown my bike together the night before due to a late shipment of a frame warranty and didn’t have much of a chance to test it out. I wasn’t fazed though, after all it was just a ride and not a race. It actually allowed me to take it slow, watch people chug 40’s and shoot the breeze with other single speeders.

There were many interesting bikes, even some full suspension with chain tensioners (YESS brand tensioner seemed to be the most popular for this setup). I particularly liked seeing the exquisitely designed bikes from smaller custom bike builders such as Black Sheep, Zanconato, and Gunnar to name a few. It was also great to chat with fellow riders about where they were from, and where they have ridden (many of the riders also ride the SingleSpeed World Championship event, SSWCs). This year the event will be held in South Africa.

The trails were absolutely fantastic. The Stowe mt bike groups do a superb job of designing, building, and maintaining the trail systems. The start and finish line were not far from downtown Stowe and the The Three Segments that we rode were connected by wide meandering country roads. Stowe is a great place for cyclists with a paved Rec Path meandering through the town and connecting shops, restaurants, bars and of course lots of singletrack. I don’t have to tell you if you have already been, but Vermont is beautiful and these trails are challenging without beating you up too much. A crew from Mountain Bike Vermont were interspersed throughout the woods snapping photos of the action. They are creating a comprehensive guide to VT mt biking- I can’t wait to see the final product.

I was enjoying the trails but was quickly growing tired of putting my chain back on so the finish line came as a relief. When I crossed the final bridge I was greeted by a rowdy crowd that were quickly draining two kegs and rehydrating with shots of whisky. I’m not sure what happened during the post race but the events were epic. It’s hard to put into words. Luckily there is plenty of video footage to sum it up which I’ll link  to later. The events consisted of a push up contest for one of two $600 gift certificates for Stans Wheels (I should have won) and mountain bike trivia for a sweet titanium fork from Black Sheep bikes  (I should have won this too). Dejay Birtch won the SS USA belt by way of a Mountain bike Derby showdown. My friend Gary was runner up, running out of room and unable to bunny hop back around to face Dejay. Wiki definition of a bike derby.

The big challenge was a contest  to determine who and where SSUSA 2013 would be held. After some whisky fueled brainstorming it was determined that the 1st person to drink a one pint glass of Maple syrup would win the hosting rights for the following year. A fellow from 29nsngl.com put the pint of syrup down like a champ. He chose Minnesota as the place for the ride in 2013. The crowd seemed to be unsure what to make of this choice but I’m sure they will be happy to see what MN has to offer in 2013. So much happened in such a short amount of time at this post race party, I was left dazed and amused. I wish I had pictures to go along w/this article but I jumped into the river with my iphone camera and it is no longer functional.

We spent Saturday night at the Rusty Nail listening to a kick ass band and knocking back some local Vermont brews. Pictures of the event were broadcasted on TV at the bar allowing the riders to relive the day and regular bar patrons to get a good laugh on our behalf. I met some great riders over the weekend including Dan, Joe, Sandie, Thom, Kim, Matt and Gary and look forward to riding with them again in the near future.

What a blast. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to do this ride, fortunate to have 1 of only 200 tickets awarded... a sort of golden ticket of sorts in my view. You have to really want it to get it and oh boy, I understand why people want these so bad. I arrived not knowing what to expect and left eagerly looking forward to next year’s event in MN.

Here is a link to some awesome Cycling Dirt videos including the derby and chugging contest. Once on the website be sure to check out the “top” videos on the left for more hilarious videos. There are also a couple of other sites below with coverage of the event.


http://bigbikesmedia.cyclingdirt.org/coverage/249636-2012-SSUSA/video/652648-SSUSA-2012

http://www.video-vermont.com/video/?p=889

http://vimeo.com/46779638#

http://www.video-vermont.com/video/?p=889

http://www.singlespeedusa.com/

http://bike29.com/ride29er/single-speed-usa-2012-pt-2-electric-boogaloo/

https://twitter.com/bikeman_com

www.bikeman.com

Bikeman sponsored products used:
Assos anti-chafe cream
Motorex wet lube
Verge team bibs and jersey
Lazer helmet

Other bikeman items:
Ergon Grips w/barends
Bikeman builtVelocity Blunt SL 29er wheels w/Surly new 1x hubs, White industries freewheel and stans tire sealant. Schwalbe racing ralph/knobby nic tires.
Niner carbon bar
XO Brakes
Raceface stem
king bottle cages
rockshox xx reba w/hydroloc remote
Selle italia seat
SL-k carbon seatpost