I'm still steaming and have the adrenalin buzz from riding perhaps the most technical bike race course I've ever done. More technical than SSWC2005 in State College, Pennsylvania? I think so. But the kind of technical that you simply don't get sick of. As I said in my previous post, there are so many roots and rocks here, so we renamed it Rockholm.

The ride started with a 20 minute rollout through town to a ski hill. Then the lemans start up the ski hill was dumb as usual but completely necessary to string out the couple hundred riders before they got into the technical stuff. 10 minutes into the woods I punctured a tire. No big deal, I wasn't racing. Once fixed, I started rolling again and tried to get into a groove. Then a small deer ran full speed in front of me, cool. Rock garden after rock garden and infinite tree roots made me happy I was rolling 29" wheels on my Karate Monkey. The lack of any suspension didn't even matter, since it was easier to pull the front wheel up over everything with hard fork.

We did two 14k laps, which does not sound like a long course, but as you may imagine, they were slow laps. As promised by the promoters, there was a mandatory beer stop out in the woods. We overlooked a lillypadded lake and sat on the rocks drinking refreshing beer. As each rider rode into the beer stop, they were cheered and handed a coldie. If they refused, the got it poured on them. I was so far off the back after puncturing, the beer stop on the 2nd lap was really the first time I'd seen my American and British friends since the start.

Knowing what laid ahead of me, I knew I needed to roll on without too much beer messing with my vision. It honestly felt like you were operating a jackhammer at times, only going high speed through the woods and having the time of your life. Every time somebody took a picture, I think I had the dorkiest wide grin under my sweaty and dirty face. Smiling was so easy.

Perhaps the best thing about Singlespeed World Championships aside from the riding is the comraderie. I know this sounds cheesy, but you never know who you'll be having an excellent conversation with or what country they'll be from each time you stop in the woods. You just can't wait to share you stories with them and find out what their world is like.

The prize ceremony and "other" events are tonight. Hopefully we'll see a nice sized turnout in a derby. Either way, it should be fun and everybody should be excited to rock out in this fine host of a city. Sweden rules!