Singlespeed Worlds Rotorua

Single speed mountain biking as many of you will know is hard but rewarding work, and having ridden single twice before on flat trails I thought " hell yeah, lets do the worlds in Rotor Vegas". (otherwise known as Rotorua).  Now I'm not saying I am heading straight down to the pawn shop to trade in all my derailleurs and cassettes for a single speed frame but I am a convert......absolutely.
The Singlespeed worlds was by far the best, most fun, most chilled out event of any kind I have been a part of, and I'm already thinking about how I can get to Ireland the next hosts of this event.  Around 1000 riders turned up from all over the world sporting costumes that had been created with so much love and attention that I was feeling my 1980's skin suite was a slack option.  With everything from  Muppet's charicters to a bikey gang in black jeans and leather you wonder whether many competitors got lost on the way to a Halloween party.

The race was simple.  Ride in a large circle with 1000 or so other riders and wait for a gate to randomly open.  Once you are on your way grunting up the first hill with a police women, a guy in a g-string and the village people you start thinking about the beer short cuts.  Two per lap.  I was thinking  wow, two beer cuts per lap, 2 laps = 4 beers.  I'm usually a bit drink on 4 beers so how will I go with 4 beers while racing????...........And there definitely was a time about 3/4 through the second lap that I was feeling strange, drunk even. Looking back I did have quite a spectacular off about 1K from the Finnish which may have had something to do with the beer,  but that's all part of the fun. 

So you might be wondering who won, how did the MM crew go, who was the fastest Australian etc etc.  The answer is: it doesn't matter.  A local Kiwi guy won the race and the Tattoo that comes with it, a girl from Canberra won the ladies and the obligatory Tattoo and as for the rest.  As cheesy as it is: mountain biking won!  How can I get to Ireland?