Opinion: Singlespeed Mountain Bike World Champs mind-blowing

Matt Dewes races up a hill during the 2017 Singlespeed Mountain Bike World Champs in Rotorua. Photo / Ben Fraser

A taco straps on a helmet. The Cat in the Hat chases Superman through a forest. Where's Wally has been found, he's lying in a stream next to the bike he just fell off.

No, I have not lost my mind. All of this and much more happened during the 2017 Singlespeed Mountain Bike World Championships in Rotorua on Saturday, an event that is as much fun for the spectators as it is for the riders.

I joined hundreds of people next to a shallow creek, 100m from the finish line, which has tested riders in the past. I wondered if people were there to cheer on riders who successfully navigated the obstacle or to watch them fall in.

I stopped wondering when, after the first 20 or so riders managed to get through unscathed, the crowd started chanting "in the water, in the water, in the water", like a tribe of blood-thirsty hunters.

Finally, they got what they wanted. The crowd erupted as the first rider went over his handlebars and into the stream. They erupted again, even louder, when he stood up and took a bow. It was great to watch.

One particularly enthusiastic member of the crowd started organising games to play with the riders as they rode past. First, she yelled "everyone, when the next rider comes through, let's stay completely silent but wave our arms as if we are cheering". The entire crowd bought into it and the poor rider must've thought he'd gone deaf, until he got through the other side and the crowd erupted again. The same woman later had the crowd meowing like cats and quacking like ducks as bewildered riders came through.

Never have I experienced a sporting event so unique and so passionately supported by competitors and spectators alike. The closest thing I can think of is the early days of the rugby sevens in Wellington, where the partying and dressing up were as important as the rugby.

The fun does not end after the riders are finished and the winners get their compulsory tattoos. There is still the matter of who will host the annual world championships next year.

Throughout the day I quickly began to realise singlespeeders don't do anything by the book, so why would choosing a host nation be any different? Every year the countries wanting to host the next event are put through a series of challenges, set by the organisers, and whoever wins gets to hold the next world champs.

This year it was USA versus Canada.

Challenge one comprised each four-man team riding a miniature bike 10m, drinking a beverage, then spinning around with head to a broomstick in a traffic cone and trying to ride the bike back. It came down to a captain's run-off, which Canada won to take a 1-0 lead.

In the second challenge team members were doused in Mudtopia mud then had to slide as far as possible on plastic with the Lake Okareka fire brigade hosing them down. USA took the win and it was all tied up at 1-all.

The third and final event, held at the after party at the Pig & Whistle, saw the two nations race to eat Hapuka eyes, Kina roe and Pikopiko as fast as possible. USA took the win and the 2018 Singlespeed World Championships will be held in Bend, Oregon.

While the entire event is very much hard, fast and loose, organisers also use it as an opportunity to do good in the wider community, with all funds going to a carefully selected cause. This year the Rotorua Singlespeed Society chose to support Lifeline and raised thousands of dollars for the charity.