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The best thing about the Single Speed European Championships (well really the best thing about any single speed mountain bike event) is the sense of fun. 

 

Of course, fun is a relative term. Fun means a little something different to everyone, and this event and events like this, take that into account.

 

For instance: there were some dudes there for whom fun was to jump on their plasticized carbon 29er and ride as fast as they could, not even stopping at the beer tent at the halfway point, racing to the end with fury on their faces and winning in there heart.  So that was what the first four guys did.  Then, there were people dressed as stuffed animals (plushophiliacs as I call them), families doing the ride together (below there is a picture of a 12 year old girl who totally smoked my sorry ass), zombies, zombie Marios, ballerinas, all kinds of people in those flesh suits, cowboy hats, lots of kilts and (of course) the guy dressed as Freddy Mecury in drag from the “I Want To Break Free” video (there’s always one of those).  Some people rode all five laps of the course, some three, some two and many rode only one.  There was lots of stopping for beer, and bike swapping and people just having a good time.

 

To me it’s all about the fun of drinking beer and laughing with other like minded weirdoes.  Its much more ride than race (probably because I was DFL, but hey, those grapes were probably sour anyway).

 

This event is just like Surly to me, because it supports each person as an individual, and their own version of fun.  It doesn’t just support the idea of individualism it encourages it. 

 

Events like this are for the misfits, and really that’s because they’re the ones who started it all.  They were tired of going to races and feeling like they didn’t fit, so they made their own race, where no one fits (which really means that every one does).

 

The event, by the way, was in Floressas, France, see you all next year in Spain!

 

Below is a smattering of the ten thousand pictures I took there.

An omelet and green leafy vegetables on a white plate

This was the meal we got after Peter posed the question to a French cafe proprietor, "Speakensy Englies?"

A deer head mount and an antler mount, hanging on a white interior wall

This old farm house felt like home.

Side view of 2 beer cans, standing on top of a paper map

Side view of a Surly Bikes O.D Crankset, outer drivetrain side detail, sitting on a wood workbench

Right side view of an orange Surly Cross Check bike, parked at the base of a deck with a Bernese mountain dog under it

Check out that percentage!

Rear view of a person standing in a doorway of a public restroom

Fearless leader.

Left side view of a black Surly 1x1 bike, leaning on a handrail, inside of a public restroom

1x1 in it's natural habitat.

A large group of cyclists with their bikes, gathered around a statue, with trees in the background

Straight-away view of a paved trail in the woods, with a large group cyclists standing all along it

Right side view of a blue Surly Karate Monkey bike, leaning on a grass bank in the woods, with other bikes around it

Left side view of a person with their shirt raised, showing their distended abdomen, next to people in the woods

 

Front view of a cyclist, riding their bike on a trail, in the grassy woods

Front view of a cyclist, riding their bike on a trail with another rider behind them, in the grassy woods

 

Left side of 2 young cyclists, riding on their bike in single file, on a dirt trail in the woods

Right side view of a cyclist, riding a black Surly Karate Monkey bike, on a trail in the woods

That's Curtis Inglis on a Karate Monkey.  If you don't know who he is, you should check him out.

Right side view of a cyclist, wearing a colorful costume, riding a fat bike on a dirt trail in the woods

A chest up view of a group of cyclists, standing near a blue canopy, in the woods

The finish line.  Why was everyone there already?