Weinberg aims for new tattoo

Rotorua's Garth Weinberg is starting to run out of places to put winner's tattoos.

He has won the singlespeed mountainbike nationals on three occasions since they started in 2008, and has also won a singlespeed world championship in 2010. In all four victories he has been awarded a winner's tattoo, a tradition which features strongly in singlespeed events across the world.

Weinberg has tattoos on his chest, calf muscle, tricep and shoulder and hopes to add one more to the list today, during the 2013 Pig and Whistle New Zealand Singlespeed Championships in Rotorua.

"It is not going to be easy. If I do win it will be very close," he said. "There are a few really good riders in the field."

He said it was great to have the national champs back in Rotorua this year, after they were last held here in 2009.

The only downfall was all the great riders entering from across the region. "It's definitely good for the sport [having it back in Rotorua] because so many good riders turn up to race," he said.

"But that is not so good for me."

Weinberg said guys such as Rotorua's Sam Shaw had entered this year, and they would be hard to beat.

"Most of those professional guys pick [singlespeed riding] up pretty quickly.

"As soon as they get used to not using gears they are away," he said.

Weinberg said he had been out training quite a bit in the Whakarewarewa Forest recently and had even been working on a few tracks.

Weinberg has restored one old track to be included in today's race, which is part of the Rock Drop Trail.

"I'm just getting it back up to where it used to be.

"I actually just finished the last 30m today," he said.

"People hardly ever ride it any more so I have just stripped it back and tidied it up.

"I'm hoping because we use it for the race people will start riding it again."

Weinberg said his wife, Rachel, had just started riding and would also race in today's event.

He said he always enjoyed the social atmosphere of the event and had a costume of his own to wear during the day.

However, he said he would keep it top secret until racing gets under way this morning at 10.30am.

Rotorua Singlespeed Society event co-organiser Graeme Simpson said they had filled up the 250 racing spots quite quickly this year and it was a really popular event.

He said the winners of the men's and women's races would be given their tattoo straight after the race and the design was custom-made to reflect Rotorua.

Mr Simpson said they were hoping to see plenty of spectators down at the Waipa carpark today watching the racers and enjoying the costumes.

Weinberg is off to Japan next weekend, with his wife and two girls, to race in the Japan Singlespeed Championships.