The yearly guided ride with numbers is on again.

Registrations are open for SSUK 09.  It’s taking place in Dalby Forest oop Yaarkshire way on the 6/7th June 2009.  Entry is £36 and includes camping, a place on the start line and a post race BBQ.

It’s always a great laugh full of beer, bikes and, well, beer.  See the SSUK09 website for more details.

Rollapaluza XI – Kingspin – is taking place on Friday 8th August at the (rather excellent) Bloomsbury Bowling Lanes, WC1.  £7.50 entry with DJs, a bar until 3am, cut price bowling, food and underground stewarded bike parking.  Better polish up those Deep Vs and proofide that Swallow Classic lest the stewards should look upon your ride in shame.

For those actually interested in the racing, qualification is between 7-9pm with individual knockout and team rounds continuing until 1am.  There are £2000 worth of prizes to be won including goodies from Swrve, Madison and Condor.

For those who have no idea what this is all about, it’s basically like going on a bike machine in the gym, but while competing against a bunch of couriers zoned out on adrenalin, angry commuters and gurning roadies with faces transformed into rictus grins of fear and aggression with lots of drinking, shouting, cheering and loud music going on around you.  The riders sprint for what would be 500m at speeds of over 50mph so each round is quickly over.  Photos and videos of past events are available on the Rollapaluza website.

Tickets for Kingspin can be purchased online or bought on the door.

A fabulous time was had by all, with Drumlanrig putting on a great weekend bringing together amazing food, drink, dancing and good times. There was a fantastic ceilidh band on the Saturday which combined with copious amounts of Bruichladdich and Charlie The Bike Monger’s countryside mojitos meant for some interesting injuries and a bit of a hangover.

The riding was tough starting off with a 50k(!) guided ride on the Saturday and with Rik’s trails challenging the best of us for the race guided ride with numbers on the Sunday.  London Singlespeed were packing water pistols filled with vodka which was liberally dispensed, easing the pain of some of the climbs.

It’s been great to catch up with friends from SSUKs past and we look forward to seeing them all again next year or preferably before.

Our thanks go to Tom, Jules, Kenny, Singular Cycles and the rest of the organisers and helpers.

The film is divided into four parts, each reflecting a season of the year.  A group of top competitive professional riders are followed through the year starting with winter training, competitions over the summer and winding down by riding with mates into the autumn. It’s all top stuff – if you can get into a cinema to see it, jump at the chance.

All this has put us in the right frame of mind (we hope) for this years SSUK championship which kicks off this weekend in Dumfriesshire way up north in Scotland.