Mountain Biking: Lycra's out - it's strictly funtime

Carl Decker wins the 2008 crown in Napa. Photo / Supplied

Every event has its own quirks but it is fair to say nothing compares to the madness of the singlespeed world mountain bike championship.

The fact that 2008 champion Carl Decker of the United States won the gruelling 40km race at Napa wearing a black Borat-style mankini, Zorro mask and a flowing cape sums it up - the event is more about the social side than the competition.

"Even the top riders wear costumes and anyone wearing team-style lycra will need to be prepared for the consequences," said Gary Sullivan, president of the Rotorua Singlespeed Society.

New Zealand hosts the annual championships for the first time today with more than 1000 athletes from all over the globe getting ready for the madness. Rotorua has broken the record of the largest number of entries for a singlespeed worlds. In 2009, nearly 1000 raced on the trails of one of the great US mountain-biking destinations at Durango, high in the Rockies, in Colorado.

Another tradition will be upheld later today, with the winner of the event receiving the SSWC winning tattoo. "Like previous organisers, we're saying 'don't win if you don't want the tattoo' to anyone who enters," said event director Dean Watson.

For Kiwi cyclist Julian Dean, the chance to compete in his hometown of Rotoura was too good to pass up. "I am really looking forward to participating although solely from a fun point of view," said Dean, 35, who has completed the Tour de France four times.

"Why am I doing something as crazy as this? Because Dale Hollows [legendary New Zealand and Rotorua bike mechanic with long grey hair and John Lennon specs] who was with Sarah Ulmer when she won Olympic and world gold medals asked me to. And wherever a good laugh might be lurking is a magnet for me."

The race is "up hills and down again on around 40km or so on a tough but fair course - it is a world champs, after all".

Watson said there was no qualification and entries were on a first in, first-served basis. "All you need is a sense of humour and a one-geared bike."

Kiwi riders make up the biggest "team", followed by the US and Australia. Riders from Europe, India, Israel and Asia (Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and the Philippines) and Africa (Nigeria and South Africa) will be on the start line.

The Americans shape as the biggest threat, with Ross Schnell and Heather Irmiger defending the men's and women's titles. Irmiger is a top pro mountainbiker in the US, and is joined by her partner and fellow pro racer Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski.

Travis Brown has been a star of the US cross-country scene for a decade and was world champion in 1999 and 2002

Alongside Dean there are a host of top names from the last decade of New Zealand cross-country racing. Mike Northcott, Tim Wilding, Anja MacDonald, Mark Leishman, Nic Leary and Kasha Leuchs feature, as well as Rotorua singlespeeding legend Garth Weinberg.

"In 2006 the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships [the "real" worlds] were held in Rotorua and I had the honour of representing New Zealand," said Wilding. "The SSWC will be much more relaxed but I'm looking forward to it just as much."

"The UCI world champs was without doubt the biggest buzz in my 10 year career," added Leuchs.

At the other end of the age scale, Dave Donaldson is chair of the organising committee for the 2006 UCI Mountain Bike and Trials Champs in Rotorua. The 59-year-old, who dressed up as William Wallace with blue face-paint, mini-kilt and sporran for the 2009 NZ singlespeed champs, loves what the event offers.

"It is retro but very innovative," said Donaldson. "It balances the need to cater for the very elite athletes and also the huge numbers who just want to participate.

"It captures the imagination and breaks as many rules as possible."

A good example is riders can take marked short cuts if they down a beer. "It's absolute nonsense and all part of the fun - there is no other event like it." For the Kiwi team, the excitement has been building all week about the international community of riders in Rotorua.

"I'm really looking forward to catching up with some good friends from the pro scene, whom I haven't seen for a few years," said Leuchs. "Some of the top US pros are coming over to give it a crack, and it will be great to meet them.

"Anyone prepared to fly 20-plus hours for this race is going to be pretty stoked to be here and I think that is going to produce a pretty incredible atmosphere."