Weinberg's indelible mark of victory | Rotorua Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Rotorua

If anyone is in any doubt, Garth Weinberg has the ink to prove his mettle.

In fact, he didn't wait long before getting his 2010 national singlespeed title tattooed onto his shoulder - he was told the tattoo parlour was staying open especially.

Weinberg backed up his Australian title, secured in November, with a storming win in Queenstown for the New Zealand crown.

"I knew I would get a tattoo if I won, but I was told the parlour was open and waiting for me so I could get it done before prizegiving," Weinberg said.

"My uncle drove me there and sure enough it was open. My wife rang me while I was getting it done. She was worried about where it was and that it would be big and ugly. I'm sure the tattoo artist had heard the same conversation a few times before."

The tattoo is the second Weinberg has as a result of the unorthodox competition.

His right calf sports the proof of his 2008 win.

He finished a disappointing fifth last year when the nationals were held in Rotorua and travelled to Queenstown with one goal.

"I knew I could win and that's why I went down there," he said.

"My training hadn't been that great in the last month but I knew I was in good form."

The race was a five-lap format of a 6km course with a maximum of two beer shortcuts available to competitors - you can take a shortcut but only if you drink a beer.

The start was Le Mans-style - a 700m run carrying your front wheel, which you then had to assemble before tackling the course.

"I can run pretty well but I fumbled putting the front wheel on and was second on to the bike. The first climb I suffered quite a lot, I was just hanging off the front two guys.

"We went over the top and I got my breath back and into my groove. It took a lot to catch up the first guy but I passed him on a downhill and rode away from him."

That was the back end of the first lap and from there Weinberg held his lead for the remaining four circuits.

"I was very conscious that someone could overtake or I could get a flat tyre. In the end I had four and a half minutes, which meant I would have had enough time to fix it.

"I was surprised at how much I won by but I knew I could win."

He finished ahead of the 81 other riders in 2 hours 18 minutes.

• Results: Garth Weinberg, 2h 18m, 1; Cris Lenth, 2h 55m 26s, 2nd; Ross Dittmer, 3h 10m 11s, 3rd; Peter Fraser, 3h 12m 34s, 4th; Jason Birchall, 3h 12m 40s, 5th.