One gear, weed, burgers and a mandatory winner's tattoo: 2023's wildest World Championship

The Single Speed Cyclocross World Championships offer a chance to win a coveted tattoo instead of rainbow bands

The SSCXWC in Utah in 2019
(Image credit: Ian Matteson)

After two years of Covid cancellations, the Single Speed Cyclocross World Championships (SSCXWC) is taking place in Durango, Colorado, this weekend, where participants will be vying for bragging rights and a lifelong tattoo instead of rainbow bands. 

Now in its 14th rendition, the very unofficial, unsanctioned and anarchistic World Championships is a celebration of all the things we love about ‘cross: playing on bike in the mud, beer,  hand-ups, fried foods, spectator engagement and a healthy dose of competition, without the limitation of pesky rules around sock length, tires width, barrier height, flat bars or course features.  In fact, there’s only one enforced rule: the winner must immortalize their victory with a tattoo or forever be shunned from the single-speed community. 

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