Cycling: Full speed ahead for Weinberg

Garth Weinberg (pictured), of Rotorua, will face off against fellow local Carl Jones at the Anzac Singlespeed Championships this Sunday.

Rotorua's top singlespeed riders will be on show at the Anzac Singlespeed Championships this Sunday - along with some colourful costumes.

Think of the physically demanding discipline of one-geared mountain biking, and Garth Weinberg's name immediately comes to mind.

A multiple New Zealand champion, he won the world singlespeed title on his hometown trails in Rotorua in 2010. But the build-up to this year's championships hasn't been ideal.

"I'm about 85 per cent, my back is wrecked - again - and work's interfered with my lunchtime rides," he said. "If it was a month earlier, I'd have been more comfortable."

Among those challenging Weinberg for the title will be a fellow Rotorua local Carl Jones, a New Zealand cross-country representative. Weinberg was full of praise for his opponent, and suggested it may require some unorthodox tactics to win the race.

"Carl is a powerhouse of mountain biking," Weinberg said. "There's no way to combat him unless he gets caught up in a dodgy start or is susceptible to Jedi mind-tricks."

The courses for singlespeed events are kept secret till they are marked out the day before. For Sunday's event, there was only one rule for course designers Haedyn Borck and Damian Pootjes: it had to include a stream crossing on Rosebank Trail.

Just over the bridge from the main trailhead into the Whakarewarewa Forest at the Waipa MTB car park, the crossing is a prime spectator spot.

"We always get great crowds there," said Paul Laing, of the Rotorua Singlespeed Society.

"And there's always plenty of over-the-bars carnage into the stream to keep people entertained and making noise."

Another feature of singlespeed racing is the costumes, and Laing said many of the riders will be attending for the fun of it, rather than going for gold.

"Most riders will be there for the laughs, the on-course beverages, the socialising at prize giving and a big Kiwi fry-up on Monday at the Pig and Whistle," said Laing.

"They'll be happy to do well and finish second equal. That's the real spirit of singlespeeding."

At the 2013 Championships in Rotorua, Wayne Gedye from Whanganui completed all three 11km laps of a difficult course dressed in full scuba gear and flippers. He will be back on Sunday, alongside riders from Australia and all over New Zealand.

Carl Jones will be starting alongside his cross-country teammate Katie O'Neill, and said they were both looking forward to a fun day on Sunday.

"Katie is still recovering from injury and working full-time, so races like this give her something to focus on a few weeks at a time, and I'm just cruising, doing anything that pops up," Jones said.

"We just wanted to dress up and have some fun."