The Radavist

As an anchor for the NorCal cyclocross scene, the Rock Lobster team and their eclectic band of racers, builders, horn players, writers, photographers, and dreamers are here to take you on a journey into the heart of Single Speed Cyclocross World Championships 2023. From riding the tiger to fording the pool of plunder, this story captures cyclocross glory and heartbreak at its finest. From the desk of the award winning SSCXWCTV investigative news team, please enjoy “You Can’t Buy Money With Happiness,” a mixed-media Reportage with weekend narration from Matt Miller, along with photos and video from Josh Becker and Mike Thomas. 

Here I am again, writing about a World Championships experience. This one is just a touch more debaucherous than the last one I attended in early October. I swapped the UCI regulations for one rule to rule them all: if you win you must get a tattoo. Single Speed Cyclocross World Champs is the not-so-underground, fringe, party event that calls itself a World Champs and, in many ways, it is. But instead of (doing drugs) (marginal gains) that make you faster, you do things that make you slower like keg stands, whiskey shots, and hot dog hand-ups.

November 23rd, 2019 brought the absurd to Santa Clara, Utah with the Single Speed Cyclocross World Championships. Less about racing, and more about chaos on a bicycle, the SSCXWC travels to a different destination every year to showcase a variety of terrain and whatever shenanigans the host city decides to throw at racers.

Sven Nys’ SSCXWC Bike
Photos by Jeff Kennel / Justin Blumer and Sean Talkington, words by John Watson

Each year, SSCXWC lands in the lap of some innocent city, only to have its parks, streets, and bars invaded by hundreds of singlespeed-wielding maniacs in search for mud. This year the event found itself in Portland, Oregon, the bastion of debauchery when it comes to illicit bike races but I’m not even sure the organizers of the PDX event knew what was in store for them or their event. At some point, Trek felt that it would be a good idea to bring a recently-retired ‘cross world legend into the party. Yes, the one and only Sven Nys. For the guys at Trek and Sven, it would prove to be the perfect opportunity to create a special bike for the event and maybe up the ante for future SSCXWC races.

Justin Blumer from Trek described the design process as:

“Like most great ideas, the appearance began as a somewhat whimsical “what if we…” conversation amongst designers at Trek, who went on to make it happen and collaborated on the bike’s custom graphics. The scheme is a collage of tattoo-style art highlighting Sven’s career and celebrating the debacherous spirit of the event.”

As soon as the event unfolded, the internet was filled with “Jump the shark” memes, but isn’t that the role of events like this? Surprise the attendees, no matter how ridiculous and even if there is some shark jumping to unfold, it’ll most likely be in the mud pit.

Thanks to Sean from Team Dream and the boys at Trek for sending these images over! And to Sven for keeping the stoke high.

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Follow Trek on Instagram, Sean on Instagram and Sven on Instagram.

Fireball and Pixie Dust at SSCXWC15VIC
Word by Amanda Schaper and photos by David “Dusty Bermshot” Smith

SSCXWC has become a staple in my annual race calendar. Actually, it’s become my favorite event of the year. It’s a great excuse to travel somewhere cool and get rowdy with a bunch of crazy folks. When this debacle headed out of the fine USA for the first time, I had to be there. The Canadians are known for throwing a fun party, and I had high expectations for Victoria.

And let me just say: Victoria delivered a damn good time.

A crew of us from the Santa Cruz area headed north with a bevy of Santa Cruz Stigmatas and Rock Lobsters. I was riding my trusty Stigmata, and while the bike doesn’t come stock as a single speed, just throw on an EBB and you’re ready to rally. Of course, we also had our costumes. We went with a Peter Pan and the Lost Boys theme, with Tinkerbell, Captain Hook, and Peter Pan all making appearances.

But before we even got to the big race, we had to survive what basically felt like a solid 36 hours of partying. There was the Warm Up Party Friday night, the Feats of Strength ride all day Saturday, and the Pre Race Party Saturday night. Whew! Going into the weekend my good buddy asked if I had any tips for SSCXWC, and all I said was “Be ready for anything, prepare your liver, and your costume better be dialed.” I stand by that advice, it’s really all that matters.