It’s been three years since the circus known as the Singlespeed World Championships touched the shores of the United States. While we here at Dirt Rag aren’t as fortunate as we were in 2005 to basically have SSWC in our back yard, we still plan on running away from home out to Napa, California to join the traveling band of one-geared freaks, animals and tents. If only for a weekend as it’s one of the stops on the Dirt Rag 2008 World Tour.

All racing spots for SSWC08 sold out in mere minutes on New Year’s Eve, so consider yourself very lucky if you got one of them. There’s a whole weekend of various official and unofficial rides and other festivities on tap in San Francisco, Marin and Napa. And then the big day is on Sunday, up at Skyline Wilderness Park in Napa.

Soulcraft and Kish are the big sponsors of SSWC8, but there are more than 50 other sponsoring companies who, along with Soulcraft and Kish, are offering up a pile of prizes big enough and deep enough that it’s likely each and every person racing…or “racing”…will walk away with some very good loot!

Dirt Rag will be on hand the whole weekend to give you on-the-scene reports and photos. But since SSWC is just as much a party as it is bicycle race, the regularity of our reporting might vary from day to day. But fear not. We’ll provide you with a full report and image gallery once the event is over, the hangover wears off, the cramps are worked out of our legs and we return to our normal lives.