i have been working on my new Ira Ryan Cycles website and finally have it up! please check it out and feel free to send me a deposit for you own personal newness.
also, please go out and buy a copy of the december bicycling magazine to see the sexy reynolds 953 Ira Ryan road machine on the cover!
woo-hoo!
this idea always seems to be coming up every time i write. there are so many people out there in the world doing great things that i think never get enough props for doing what they do. this idea also fits with everything from what type of music i am listening to in the shop or what my favorite socks are this week. hard to keep up. maybe i should start tweeting! just kidding.
in the bubble that is the utopian cycling city of puddle town oregon, it is hard to swing a dead cat without hitting a coffee shop with good espresso or a cool bike locked up to any of the million bike racks around town. it seems like every time i ride across town to go to the paint shop, i see some cool bike being pedaled the other direction. i love old bikes that someone has ridden every day for the last 10 years. i am not ashamed to say that even an old bike with a rack or milk crate tied on lights my fire for why i ride bicycles. it is important to remember that we all collectivly add up to the greatness of the cycling movement. we are all fighting the same fight.
his being said, i have to give the bicycle transportation alliance a big shout out for being the ones that go to bat for all of the cyclists in this state. they never get the props they deserve. please become a member if you can to help sustain the hard work that they put into making the world better for cyclists in portland.
meanwhile back in iowa, the first snow has fallen and i know some folks are waxing up their skies for winter fitness but there are a couple people working hard to keep iowa city riding bikes all winter long. 30th century bikes is still chugging along with coffee in hand and working hard to make iowa city a bike riding town in the midwest. cody and g. steve pickle have been some of my best friends for a long time and it is nice to see people working so hard for all the same causes that portland and the bigger cycling cities are known for. some of the best cycling in the world can be had in the midwest and i encourage anyone in iowa city to drop by and say hi.
even thought there isn’t any snow on the ground yet in portland, the rain is here along with cross racing every weekend but i am already looking forward to putting in some rides this winter in the rain and cold. the task of making a long ride in the rain and cold is made easier by some good gear. i have worn a lot of winter kit over the years but have to say that rapha has come up with some great pieces that make the winter riding so much better. the heavy-weight winter jersey with the new rain jacket over the top and the old faithful 3/4 knickers are my tried and true favorite to keep me dry when i am out of the shop in the rain. quality isn’t cheap but it is worth it in the long run.
i am reworking the ira ryan cycles website which has been a ongoing process but it will be updated and look good. stay tuned. i wouldn’t be able to do it without the help of local photographer and designer, dan sharp. his work is amazing and he is a solid guy to boot. he has shot some amazing photos for rapha, embrocation magazine and also from living in italy for a while. check out his photo work here: http://www.danielsharpphoto.com/portfolio.php
lastly, i have been listing to a lot of last.fm lately. my current faves while i file away on bike frames in the shop are: ralph stanley bluegrass in the mornings, magnolia electric company or greg brown for iowa pride, m.i.a. or wu-tang to pick it up a bit. charlie parker, missy elliot, nas, andrew bird and classic heart all make it on there too.
enjoy.
the work in the shop hit its first real strength stride last week with an amazing bike heading off to paint before it get’s boxed up and sent to eastern canada.
still a little behind but looking forward to a long, cold winter full of bike building productivity and a little riding to keep some fitness. i am a little behind with my builds but i have never felt so good about the bikes that are coming out of the shop. a years worth of amazing experiences all seem to be distilled into my file strokes and torch handling in the last 6 months. i am happy to be settled and able to make a dent in the list of bikes i have.
the new shop is fantastic even if i still need to run some 220 power out to be able to turn on my mill (which is now a 700 pound paperweight). i built the last frame like i did when i started with hand cut miters and i was surprised that it didn’t take as long as i thought it would. maybe i am getting more proficient with my files and hacksaw.
i love technology but i can’t help but feel that some things are just as good even if they were around when your grandpa was riding in wool knickers and a beanie. well, maybe some things are better. i have been thinking about this idea lately as cross racing is in full swing and every weekend matt hall and toe up to the line with all the other fast-as-shit a’s racers like ryan trebon, molly cameron and erik tonkin. looking around i am proud to be racing (and sponsoring matt hall who also rides) a fully lugged steel cross bike with traditional tubular wheels and my modified flite saddle from back in the day. yesterday while doing a little opening up ride with some friends, one guy’s carbon bars just snapped off when he was climbing! i mean come on. really? (feel free to make some jokes about trading in your carbon credits) it seems like we (industrially, socially, technologically) are teetering on the edge of a point of diminishing returns with technology.
this may be a good time to bring up a personal story about my own struggle with technology. i have had a computer issue for a couple weeks where i haven’t been able to upload images to flickr or my blog and it kills me to not be able to show the world the bikes i have built lately. the solution is in play but sometimes i just sip my tea and think about how great it would be to have all my connections with the world be through actual mail and telephone calls. but then i snap out of it and realize that i do love my 10 speed with integrated shifters and clipless pedals. the modern world works with this computer screen acting as the window to my storefront.
the open sign is out and i am open.
speaking of which, i received a handful of hats last week and they are for sale. this batch is dark, chocolate brown with an off white stripe on the cap and then just a couple swallows on the bill. made by caroline at little package dot com with care, love and still the finest cycling cap i have worn. like so much these days, they have gone up in price and i have to sell them for $40 but unless you live in nepal, i should be able to include shipping. i am working on another batch like the black ones i did last time with ira ryan cycles and swallows on the sides and bill. classic and i still love the monochromatic style.
interested? post me a check to:
7331 n. knowles
portland, or.
97217
and be sure to include a return address so i can return the cap to its home.
to get a letter, write a letter.
but this is one of the most amazing places i have ever ridden.
back to the filing, grinding and hot tea drinking…………
here are some of the accounts of the cent cols challange with images and tales of brutality and beauty.
http://bespokecycling.blogspot.com/2009/10/ccc.html
http://www.cyclosport.org/members/myBlog.aspx?mid=446&size=5
i am back at work and happy to have my mill moved in last week with the help of cx veteran matt hall, an always timely john dorfer and the world famous cycling writer, jeremy dunn from embrocation magazine. i was grateful to have such icons to help me heave 700 pounds of machine into my new shop. i still have to run some new electric lines to the shop to be able to plug the thing in but i am busy filing away on dan’s portuer, jeff’s rando and jame’s city bike this week. i am a little behind on my work load and had to choose at the last moment to pull out of the oregon manifest show due to not feeling like i would have represented my best work at the show. it was hard decision to not show but if i go into a show as good as the manifest, i want to do it to the best of my ability and really put my soul into the bike i build. case in point is tony p. who did put his soul into his bike and it showed. way to go tony! right down to the tailored suit to match his orange details on the bike. classy. looking forward to some cross, some pumpkin carving and a winter of productivity in the shop.
thank you for reading.
as i sit here with my morning espresso in hand, the sun is shining and today is the beginning of cross for the fall. everyone is talking cross and how the sunshine will be gone this week. bittersweet end to one season and the beginning of another. i am happy to be back in the swing of things at the shop but still have to finish moving the last (and heaviest) of the machines and tools from the old shop to my new spot. my list of work and duties have grown in the last couple weeks that i have been outta the shop.
i have to say that i am grateful for the opportunity to ride in europe and see a tiny part of the world that most people in the states haven’t seen much less ridden through. that being said, i am happy to be back at work and have to say that my mission for building and creating bicycles is still bigger than a trend or a fad. i am here to stay and i am working with a steady hand to make the best bicycles that i can for all the people who want to ride, race, tour or explore on the most noble of inventions. sometimes it shakes me to think how slow the process is sometimes and i feel bad having a long build list but i need to be sure that everything i do is the best example of my work.
in the coming weeks, the oregon manifest show will be taking place and while i didn’t have time to build a specific bike for the show (which is a huge expense in money and time), steve g. will be riding his new ira ryan racey rando for ira ryan cycles in the builder’s challenge. i am very happy with how his bike turned out and also proud to have someone with as much life experience as steve to represent ira ryan cycles this weekend. i have heard about a couple other portland builder’s bikes and i am sure there will be some amazing bikes on display. i wished i could have had more time to build a show bike but i have always felt that the idea of a show bike doesn’t represent the types of bikes that leave my shop every week. i want to build bikes that are elegant, simple and well designed without complicated features or polished bits just to make it shiny. my ideal bike would be classic with fenders, a simple rack with lights and components that are easy to repair and adjust.
here is the link to the oregon manifest site for the list of events and schedule.
so tomorrow is the last day of the cent cols challenge and it is a bit bittersweet but i am ready for the ride to be over. spending 3 weeks away for home and riding hard in the mountains for 8-9 hours a day gets tiring pretty quick. it makes me really appriceate the pros and living out of a suitcase for five months out of the year. it has been a different bed and bathroom every night but always the same routine. get everythign ready the night before, chamoix cream before you head to your breakfast of brioche and espresso then clip in by 7:30 with enough energy bars to feed and army all day.
i took a two days off to recover from my bike crash and have ridden a borrowed bike for the last couple stages. they have been long days and i wished the bike was fit a little better but…… stage 8 started the morning with a little ride up mt. ventoux. past the tom simpson memorial in the morning light where i stopped to pay my respects to lillig, blockhead and kristine who have all died while on their bikes. from there we continued north and away from ventoux where the climbing got steeper and hotter. the last climb of the 208km day was 1200 meters with a stiff headwind and a cold dark tunnel at the top. it was amazing to think that we started with ventoux for breakfast, 8 cols for “lunch” and then finished off with a gradual grind straight up a rock faced fortress.
friday i board the plane back to my home time zone along with my garden, workshop and my lovely rachel.
i can’t wait to get back.
cheers.
today is a rest day in the south of france near nice. it is raining as it has been all week and everyone is happy to do laundry, organize their gear and clean some bikes. the past couple days have been amazing and hard. the rapha team has ridden well and we are usually the last to leave in the morning and near the first to arrive in the evenings. the cols have been grueling with massive views down valleys and over baron landscapes on the mountain tops.
we started near lake geneva and have worked our ways through the tall alps south toward the coast where we will turn around and head north again to end just south of geneva. day two was sunny in the am as we rode over glandon and the croix de fer before the rain really picked up and we made it to the base of the galibier where we met a road closure due to snow at the top. all of us were wet and tired so we all huddled into a cafe and awaited a charter bus to take us to the hotel.
the next day was supposed to start with the iozard but again it was too high and closed due to snow. this whole global warming thing is really putting a damper on the alpine cycling adventure. the day was shortened and we cracked off 170km with some faster times than the day before.
day 3 started like most others. wake up, brush your teeth, apply chamoix cream, kit up, eat breakfast and roll out of town past the citadel towards the foggy mountain valley. we had a photographer taking photos out the back of a car for the event and we were having a blast pacing him along the roads when another car came round a corner too fast. it was 2 cars and a bike all side by side on the narrow french road. to avoid the back of the car i headed off the road into the rocky ditch where i kept it upright for about 10 feet through the rocks at 45 kilometers per hour. in a split second, the sound of carbon snapping and tires puncturing resulted in my crashing and smashing my hand on a rock.
cars stopped and i evaluated myself before realizing my frame had buckled the downtube and snapped the fork clean off. my hand swelled up and i had it checked by a doctor at the next stop to find i had not broken it but i had to abandon for the day. the rest of the rapha boys rode on and i spent the day in the broom wagon.
we have been posting the fastest team times and graeme is leading the pace up all the climbs.
i tried to ride the next day but the rainy decent on a borrowed bike proved too painful for my blue-thumbed hand. i stopped and rode in the mechanics van.
i will see how the rest of the trip feels and try to ride easy as the swelling goes down.
i am sad to see my bike broken in two but it gives me a chance to do it better next time. already thinking about a new design.
cheers.
where to begin? the climbs, the food, the brutality of the last two days has been a bit of an eye opener as far as the type of riding that people have out their back doors in these tiny french villages. yesterday was a tough with 8 cols right out of the gate. we rolled out at 8 am and it was pretty jovial group of 40+ riders riding mostly carbon race bikes with compact cranks and lots of fancy gadgets like garmins gps computers that everyone also seemed to be unable to make work. hehehe. i can’t seem to remember all the details of all the climbs but i can tell you that the colombiere was massive and desending down the back side of the col de joux plane was off the hook. the climbs are brutal with a 39 x 26 but i have managed to finish in the top 6 both days along with a the other rapha boys.
for photos of the cent cols challenge, check out the rapha blog.
today was the big day with the col de telegraphe, the col de la madeleine, glandon leading up to col croix de fer before we finish off our day with brief but painful slug up and over the galibier. the madeleine was a mellowish climb compared to the rest as the sun rose in the valley and the fog was lifting over the mountain tops around us. we joked about dancing on the pedals and how our style probably seemed more like a barn dance on the pedals compared to the fluidity of the pros who’s names were have been riding over everyday. the glandon struck fear into us as we attacked the “gentle” slopes near the bottom for 18k before the pitch picked up to 15+% for the last 4k to the top. it had been raining on us for the bulk of the climb and the temp dropped so everyone had on the rainjackets and plenty of embrocation. (shameless plug: i have been working my way through my jar of embrocation gentlemen’s blend in the cold wet rides and to top it off, my embro team socks are a perfect match for my blue rapha jersey)
the decent down the other side was super dicey and full of potholes, patched pavement and wet to top it off. for every truly grueling climb there is a fantastic decent down the other side. while i admit that i will never be able to out decend matt hall, to be able to rally 7-8 10 minute downhill is great practice. it makes the climbs almost worth it.
the group quickly settles into groups of similar riding pace and style and for some the level of competition is very good with group and individuals pushing each other but also being encouraging and helpful.
sadly (but too sadly as it rain most of the day) by the time we made it to the galibier, it had been snowing at the top for 4 hours and they had closed it to all traffic. we figured out an alternate option for getting over the mountain and waited for a bus to drive us to our hotel. the snow was visible from our stopping point and it looked heavy in places. as everyone was very wet and cold riding in rain and 35*F temps without proper gear, no one really complained about a warm vehicle to the overnight.
so far i haven’t sold any bikes to anyone on the ride but i can claim to be one of 4 steel bikes on the ride and the only one that is lugged. i can’t help but feel like i have to represent for all the steel bikes in the world of carbon and ti bikes.
and while i am at it i have to also say that back in portland, rachel killed it on the rapha gentlemen’s race with the royal family team also on a steel bike. the next day she loaded into a 1972 checker cab headed to durango for the single speed world championships where she will continue to ride her ira ryan mountain bike setup as a single speed in the race this weekend. good luck baby!
all i can say is steel IS real.
REAL cool.
just spent the last week traveling and working in northwest norway where the troll is king and you could wrestle a reindeer for dinner. amazing landscape with fjords, ice, lots of rain and some amazing riding. it made me a little homesick for portland winters (also read: cyclo cross) but the kindness of the people and being able to ride and work with rapha on their 2010 cycling clothes was worth it all. we stayed at hotel juvet where knut took amazing care of us and i will forever seek brown cheese with my waffles. got to work on some serious cross prcatice for a whole day in between 65k road rides in the rain up and down the trollstigen 3 times.
just got to france yesterday and finally got everything put together for the first day of the cent cols to happen tomorrow. i have been going back and forth with feeling prepared and then wondering what i got myself into. i think it will all be good and i am one of two people riding steel bikes and the only one who is riding a lugged steel machine. i am happy to ride what i do and i feel it is the best machine for the job. (the baggage dept took their toll on my bike and left a massive dent in the seat tube just above the front derailer but does that stop me from racing it or even riding it? no!) i put my bike together amid all the light weight carbon machines knowing that it will be solid and dependable everyday in the mountains and for years to come.
tomorrow is 194k with 4 major passes.
ouch.
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