Additional 📷: Tim Grey
Although not in Brighton, it’s an event that’s on my calendar to go to whenever I can. In fact, next year’s race is already on the overthebar.cc rides and events calendar! It will be at the Twisted Oaks bike park in September 2027.
So what are the single speed uk (SSUK) championships? Well simply it’s a race held every year to see who is the fasted single speeder in the UK. You can race any bike along as it has one gear or doesn’t have the ability to change gears. The course tends to be who can do the most laps within a certain time period however that can change in format from year to year.
Unlike some races, you don’t need to be a serious racer to go along and have a great weekend. So its great first race for people or those who just want to have a good weekend riding silly bikes for as many laps as possible.
This year the event was held in the cotswolds at Hayles Fruit Farm that was nestled in a beautiful valley with an excellent campsite and cafe. The race itself was a 4km loop with the person who completed the most laps within a 3 hour timeframe. While not a very technical course, each 4km loop had around 130m of climbing. This doesn’t sound a lot but when you factor in doing 8-10 laps in that time, it soon adds up. The most laps that day was an impressive 12 laps with 1560m of climbing over 48km, oooophm……
Hayles Fruit Farm is a working farm with the course going up and down the valley through many of the orchards and fields. There were plenty of grass climbs, short gravel roads and full speed descents dropping back to the start and finish line.
Single speed races have a few unusual experiences. For a start you leave your bike at the start in a field and all walk a few hundred meters away where you can’t seem them. When it’s time to race, a Lemond style start has the fast people running back to their bikes while those more chilled have a nice stroll. However, while you were waiting for the start, some plucky helpers have moved all the bikes and hidden some. One year many moons ago, when on-one inbreds were very popular (white ones in particular), a 2.5m high pile of them was created. Good luck if yours was on the bottom!
Once you have found your bike off you go and get round the first lap. Another tradition of any single speed race, is the beer stop. Yep you read that right! Somewhere out on the course, there will be a beer (and in this case cider as well) stop. It’s not mandatory, however if you do not partake, you are required to do an extra dog leg to make up for it. This year the offerings were a larger, an IPA and normal cider and a monster 18 percent cider! My tip for the future, is to choose the least gassy one, riding with that bubbling in your stomach is unpleasant.
Thankfully the course route after the beer/cider stop sent you down hill back to the start/finish line. This was one of the fastest parts of the course where you could really rail your bike around the corners on the grass. Thank goodness it wasn’t wet otherwise this corners would’ve been carnage!
Fancy dress is encouraged and award with a spot prize for the best dressed. Highlights this year included two marlins, a banana and Beetle juice. That leads on to the results: This year the Women’s race was won by Petra Vymetalova and the Mens Race by Johnathan Dennis, incredible effort! This year I came 4th! However I should say that everyone who doesn’t come 1st, 2nd or 3rd comes 4th, the front can be competitive, but for most, its one of the least competitive and stress inducing races. I would encourage anyone to try these!
SSUK does incredible raffles with amazing companies supporting them. The main raffle prize being a beautiful Surly Sorceress frame, although to win it, you had to compete with 2 other people drawn from the raffle. This year the competition was apple bobbing, then finding a plum in a pile of flower, then Arun through a children’s playground with the first person to get to the frame claiming it. Im pretty sure they didn’t say you had put your head into the pile of flour after bobbing for apples but all 3 did anyway… In all the event raised around £1500 for charity and hats off to everyone who put on the event and made it such a special time.
To wrap up the awesome weekend, cider and beers were served by the cafe with lots of opportunists to mingle ,share stories and catch up with old friends. All in all a fabulous, chilled and fun weekend away and if you like silly bikes, plenty of them to geek out about too.
An extra thank you to Tim Grey for sending over some more pictures, I was too excited and didn’t take many!
