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2,000-plus riders race for winning tattoos at Single Speed World Championships
Video by Josh Stephenson
"I'm thinking tramp-stamp," said Irmiger, 30, gesturing to the small of her back.
Schnell, 29, put a hand over his heart: "Maybe right here."
As winners of the men's and women's divisions of this year's Single Speed World Championships in Durango, the two were forced to quickly re-evaluate their opinions of body art. Neither had any tattoos before the race began, and neither was overtly excited with the idea, as they cooled down after taking first in their respective divisions.
But if they didn't want to make foolish decisions, why were they going for it at the Single Speed World Championships?
Then again, why were they there at all?
Durango's arterials pulsed with spandex and hops throughout the warm morning at the Single Speed Worlds - that illogical velocipede mass-rally, popular for finish-line keg stands and incidental male nudity - and was left with a large section of town grinning, standing too close to your face.
Among the perils of actually taking the race seriously is the Pyrrhic first-place prize: a tattoo commemorating the achievement. Aficionados claim none have ever declined the honor, and this year ended up no different.
Both Irmiger and Schnell said they've considered getting inked in the past but never could settle on a design they wanted to wear forever.
"I've often thought that if the perfect tattoo came along, then I'd get it," Schnell said.
Said Irmiger: "I told myself if I ever got one, it would have to be a good occasion - and this is a pretty good occasion."
Irmiger edged Durangoan Shonny Vanlandingham and Kelli Emmett for the tattoo in the women's division.
FLC Cycling coach Matt Shriver took second after Schnell; Carl Decker, third; and local mountain biking institution Ned Overend proved a 54-year-old man still can finish in the top five while wearing a frilly dress.
"This is a whole different kind of cycling," Shriver said.
The considerable crowd didn't just gather at the start and finish, but was spread out across the 22-mile course. They saved their loudest cheers for the festive, the young, the determined and the unusual - in other words, they didn't let up. They threw their craft beer cans on the finish line dirt and swayed to reggae bass lines high atop Raider Ridge. They came from Italy, France, Ireland, New Zealand and all across the U.S.
And, happily, "There are many, many beautiful women here," said mud-flecked Flagstaff, Ariz., racer Paul Byers, 39, sitting in a lawn chair at the finish line. "But there's like 800 men to 200 women."
Just a few less than 1,000 registered. Race co-organizer Jon Bailey estimated upward of 2,100 rode some version of the race. They took off from Buckley Park at 13th Street and Main Avenue in Durango and ventured down all manner of terrain, carrying and pushing their craft at bottlenecks and sketchy sections of Horse Gulch.
Iron Horse Bicycle Classic Director Gaige Sippy said it was nice to finally enjoy himself at a local race. He raced in the 1990 Worlds in Durango, the city's coming-out in the world of cycling. He said single speed is gaining in respectability in the area.
"A lot of racers will start with the World Championships, and then work their way up. Or down - I guess it depends how you look at it," he said.
Bailey wore an old Eagle Scout uniform (Troop 380 - "You can look it up.") that stretched more than just the imaginations of onlookers.
Throughout the last year, he was part of the team that helped bring the event to Durango.
"It gives you a little hope for humanity," he said. "To just get out and ride bikes and have fun. It started out kind of slow this year and just became this huge movement. Celebration is just an accessory to the love of riding bikes."
A member of the Gary Fisher Mountain Bike Team, Irmiger hadn't raced single speed in six years but said she got back the hang of the discipline pretty quick.
"It's just like riding a bike," she said.
gandrews@durangoherald.com
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