Brett Bellchambers, a 40 year old Australian with a beautiful, self-deprecating sense of humor, marvelous beard, and a fancy for pain and suffering just won the Single Speed category of the World Solo 24 Hour Mountain Bike Championships. Brett ran Frequency i19 29” Team TCS rims, Nine Line 2.0 29” TCS tires, and a Volt Team saddle for a staggering 253 miles (408 km) to a first place finish in single speed. He was sixth overall – yes, this includes everyone running gears, sissies!
WEMBO, the World Endurance Mountain Bike Organisation, staged the event which took place in Stromlo Forest Park, 11km west of Canberra, the national capital of Australia. Still drawing a blank on where that is, have a look see at the map below:
Photo courtesy of WEMBO, World Endurance Mountain Bike Organisation wembo.com/au
Stromlo Forest Park has hosted quite a lot, including the 2008 UCI MTB World Cup and the 24 hour course was 17 km (roughly 11 miles) of hot, rocky, dusty terrain. 24 laps and 24 hours later, Brett was victorious.
Hot, dusty, and drifty. Read James Downing's interview to see how Brett really feels about two wheel drifting. Photo courtesy of World Endurance Mountain bike Organization.
There are a lot of people accomplishing impressive feats that seem to test the limits of what’s humanly possible, this is true. However, it’s pretty hard to find someone who pushes it as hard as Brett and still has such a good sense of humor about his efforts and can openly make fun of himself. Listed below is just a taste of a great interview that takes place on James Downing’s blog: pin-it-you-muppet.blogsport.com.au:
Brett Bellchambers: Yeah up Cardiac Arrest this year at XC Nats I probably looked like a monkey trying to hump an orange, and to be honest with my lack of handing skills the bike humped me on the way back down. Last lap I got the entry and exit wrong to one of the droppy bits and I cracked a rib as my chest made ‘heavy contact’ with my saddle.
http://pin-it-you-muppet.blogspot.com.au/2013/10/interview-with-brett-bellchambers.html
It’s worth a read and boils over with humor. From triathletes wearing full white kits to standing atop the podium in your wife’s jeans, the two know how to carry on while still painting a picture of what it means to be an endurance athlete. In today’s win-at-all-costs mentality to racing, it is incredibly refreshing to know that out there winning are people like Brett Bellchambers and James Downing.
