revolution?

head down. barreling forward trying to get work done and keep my head above the water. i listen to a lot of npr at the shop and it seems the world is going to hell in a handbasket sometimes but every time i hear about oil hitting another record i know it is going to mean that more people will ride bikes. big oil companies are posting record profits and the average american drivers are paying for it. will suburbia crumble after we hit peak oil? will the (oil based) fabric of american society be torn apart? will i be able to afford to have tubing shipped across the country in a ups van? will we be able to afford a loaf of bread? all these questions brim to the top of my head as i head off to the shop to finish jake and rick martin’s bike. jakes bike has polished top tube and downtube lugs and is set up to be a commuter and light touring rig. ricky is getting a light and simple road racing bike. he is planning a campaign on the furnace creek 508 in june. the stem is for ari’s porteur bike in chicago. 120mm with one degree rise from horizontal with a 26.0 clamp. powdercoat silver or white to match.

keep putting one foot in front of the other and listen to the world around me shift to more bikes, gardens and awareness.

new stuff

trans iowa weekend

otis’ disc cross bike.

in “honor” of the trans iowa race that is taking place this weekend, i decided to ride 300k in oregon instead of the 300 miles on gravel in iowa. i am more than happy with my choice to skip the epic gravel race this year. i think the promotion could be better and it is hard to justify that much pain for the glory and a couple water bottles and t shirts.

the brevet series in portland is great. good people, great routes and wonderful organization. the idea of being at your own pace all day without the pressures of racing is ideal for most people. waking up at 4am on saturday to get a ride out to forest grove for a 6 am start is a little rough but they had doughnuts, coffee, granola bars and smiles all ready for us. watched the sunrise as we rode out hwy. 6 towards the first control. the group of 60 or so quickly spreads out and everyone finds their own pace. lot’s of fenders, lights and big seat bags. i felt super sleek with a tiny seat bag and everything for a 13 hour ride stuffed in my jersey pockets. rachel, dan sharp and i all ended up rolling the same pace all the way to the coast. the sun came out and shined on our backs all the way to the ocean. a tail wind to the sea meant that there would be a headwind all the way back. i kept hoping it would shift but it never did.

i reminded myself what time is was in iowa throughout the day to imagine what was happening on some quiet gravel road somewhere in the midwest at the same time.

we were making good time and getting tired as we turned back in from the coast towards the roads south of forest grove. the route back was the reach the beech route reversed taking us through grand ronde, willimina, sheridan, amity, dayton and lafayette before turning north. the headwind never let up along the flat straight road east.

we finished in 12 and a half hours and waited for dan sharp to roll in before we could drive back to portland. sore backs, necks and swollen feet but all in all we had a blast riding from dawn to dusk in the oregon coastal mountains.

today i am headed into the shop to continue working on jake’s commuter bike with polished lugs. hoping to start ricky’s road bike and maybe jeff’s commuter bike. believe it or not i kind of want to ride today but i think 186 miles in one day is enough to warrant a rest/shop day.

dirt!

a little more extensive report about our trip and future thoughts on mountain biking and maybe a little racing.

we flew into salt lake city and picked up the big white pickup loaded with gear for a weekend of camping in the wild west. since we flew with our bikes, we drove to the wild rose bike shop in salt lake to assemble them before we hit the road for our 5 hour drive to fruita. wild rose is a great little shop and patrick helped us out with a couple tools and stashing the bike boxes for the trip back. the drive was long and when we got to fruita, most of the good camp spots were taken. we opted for a tiny state park and looked froward to the riding the next day. the sun was bright and in the sky by the time we were on the road to the kokapelli trail head the next morning. we kind of got lost and ended up on a super technical trail called moore fun. we ended up doing a lot of hiking but i managed to clean a couple sections on my rigid bike in the presence of some full suspension dudes. that felt good. it’s the throttle, not the model. that afternoon we drove up to 18 road to explore some of the trails and found it to be buttery smooth single track in every direction. fast riding with plenty of places for air and technical climbs and decents. after riding for about 5 hours friday, we headed up to colorado monument to camp. beautiful camp on the top of the mountain. the wind picked up that night and kept us awake late. not wanting to deal with the wind or setting up/tearing down our big dome tent, we headed towards town the next day to find a spot that would work better for camping. we met up with dr. doom, jon bailey, mellisa and a couple other colorado friends from telluride at the hot tomato pizza shop at noon for a beer. we drove up to 18 road and had a rad time riding with a group. for the record, jon, doom and thad can rip it up on some single speeds! super fun. the wind blew hard all day and into the night. we had a little fire and even got out for a evening ride under the full moon. the camp was a little busy as i think a lot of people had the same idea to get to fruita the week before the fat tire festival to maximize the riding before the masses moved in.

sunday morning we all mobilized to make breakfast at jen and anne’s house before they took us on a ride in grand junction down the road about 10 miles. we amassed at the trail head with 13 people! the greatest thing about this group was the fact that 7 of the riders were women and they were really good too. we rode up to the ribbon trail where a couple of us split off the head back. riding in a big group can be a little frustrating at times and rachel and i just wanted to get some time in riding. we said our goodbyes to everyone and headed back to our tent which was flattened by the wind. tired and dirty from no showers and riding for 3 days in a row, we packed up the truck and headed back towards salt lake. we made it to ogden by midnight and showered before sleeping in a real bed. ahhhh. monday we rode the shoreline trail in the morning for a couple hours before we had to box up our bikes, ship them back to portland and make our flight in the evening. we made everything on time and got back to portland and the rain by midnight.

i love traveling and riding in new places but the time it takes to decompress and get back to life and business is hard too. i am happy to be back at work and have plenty to do in the next couple months. this trip really makes me want to mountain bike more this year and maybe even do a 24 hour race or two if i can find the time. we will see……..

zippity do da

a brief post to say i am back to my life in portland and the shop. rachel and i took 4 days to go mountain biking in fruita, colorado. if you have never been to fruita and love to mountain bike, you have to visit this mecca of cycling. we camped and rode every day. the trails went off in every direction and rolled like ribbons over the hills. super flowing single track that begged for more daylight to ride. we met up with jon bailey and dr. doom from durango and rode in grand junction for a day. riding a rigid mountain bike requires a little more finesse but it was worth it for the looks people give you when you clean a section of technical trail passing a rider with a full suspension bike. i will say that i want disc brakes though. colorado is a beautiful place to ride.

gone fishin’

just finished jerdan’s heavy duty cycle touring bike today just about an hour and a half before he came to pick it up and sweep it away to a new life of adventure. i can safely say this is one of the finest bicycles i have made to date. to be able to make a bike for someone as enthusiastic about bicycles as jerdan has been a super fun process. his idea for a bike started with the desire to be able to tour off road on some of the great hidden roads in the cascades. the lugs are custom filleted to give the profile a smoother look and add a little strength to the forces of fully loaded touring offroad. using dedacciai cromoly tubing all round to maintain a truly classic style to the bike. jerdan supplied most of the parts including the vintage 6 speed 600 freewheel, the old school shimano cantis and the sugino crankset. beefy phil wood wheels and 700 x 32 tires are going to hold up well. stainless tubus racks, brooks b-17 and nitto noodle bars are all new bits and built to last.

i have been building more than a few rando bikes that are mainly suited for roads and light loads so it is nice to construct a bicycle that is made for the long haul with all the trimmings for weight and gear. this bike has a distinct rugged feel to it. think of it as the brutish lumberjack cousin to the rando bike with skinny fenders and a handlebar bag. needless to say, i had a good day handing off this beautiful machine to a great friend and cyclist.

tomorrow rachel and i are off to fruita, colorado for 4 days to ride mountain bikes and camp. i am very excited to make my first pilgrimage to the rocky mountain state to ride some great singletrack. looking forward to seeing some new scenery and meet some new people. i will be away from email, phones and civilisation for a couple days.

shred on!

dirty thoughts

for a couple weeks now rachel and i have been trying to ride mountain bikes a little more to break up the monotony of road rides and pavement. rachel is training for the cascade creampuff in june and is trying to spend as much time in the saddle of her mountain bike in preparation for the 10 or so hours it will take to ride the coarse in the cascade range near oakridge oregon. at first i wasn’t inspired to ride my bike as it felt slow and lacked that smooth, silky line that i have come to know and love in the winter training rides. just 5 minutes from my shop door is forest park where i sometimes ride on my way home from work. in general, the park is lackluster for mountain biking as you aren’t allowed to ride the trails that are reserved for pedestrian use only but for a muddy, rocky commute home that lasts an hour and a half it is rad. with lights and a backpack full of work clothes, i roll up to the park for some night riding action. it has revived my love for the mountain bike in a big way. i am planning a couple long mountain bike weekends this summer and a couple mountain bike races if i get all my work done those weeks. last weekend we rode out to scappose to some trails that are pretty short and muddy but fun none the less. the ride out was about 15 miles of road riding with a healthy climb just to get to the trails. short and steep with a ton of slimy mud made a lot of sections unrideable but after an hour or so we left and climbed up to skyline where we rode the soft shoulder all the way to the first trail head into forest park. all the mountain biking in the park is either up or down a fire road meaning that you are using the full spectrum of gearing just to get to the other side of the park. it rained off and on the whole ride and by the time we made it to forest park, we were covered in mud and my “old school” brakes were less than great against the rims. just a note that i am ready to join the 21st century of braking technology and want a bike with discs. although, i am holding fast that i still prefer a rigid fork. even after having to spend an hour cleaning my muddy mess post ride, i can’t wait to do it again. the thought of a epic summer adventure with hours of wilderness around you and the idea that you are powering your self along a sweeping singletrack on the tip of a mountain is too good to ignore.

shred on!

whats missing?

the sweet zip 404’s that are gonna be on this bike when track season starts. i dropped by zak’s gym session to get a couple shots of the bike all built up and ready to race. the 404’s in flat black are going to make this bike look mean for sure. thankfully zak’s shoulder is healing well too so he should be able to ride in the first races of the season.

things have been good and busy around the shop. trying to maintain a steady work load to keep bikes headed out the door. looking to finish building up rick and jerdan’s bikes this week and start getting some parts for matt’s bike too. dropped off otis’s cross bike with discs this week and looking forward to seeing it in champagne paint in a couple weeks. kevin’s polished fixed gear is slated to get a coat of white and have a good start on jake’s polished commuter/ light tourer a couple days ago.

i am happy with the bikes that have been coming out of ira ryan cycles lately and look forward to refining and polishing my work.

fresh paint

i picked up 3 frames at coat on wednesday. needless to say, they look super hott. poncho has worked with powder for 7 years at spectrum and i think the experience shows for sure. both of the green bikes are powder and you can see all the lug lines perfectly. for the durability and environmentally friendliness, i think i will start to use powder more often. the quality is there. matt hall’s road bike is liquid and sticks out amid the green rando styled bikes. it seems fashionable to paint bicycles with subtle colors currently but it is refreshing to see a little color on matt’s bike. we both agreed that the bike will be soooo euro. personally, i think it crosses the line to babies room a little too much but when you add the parts, it takes the color down a little. needless to say i think the slant six lugs on a bike create a machine that is modern in style and still pays homage to the classic designs of the bicycle. jerdan’s touring bike turned out great and the smooth lines on the lug profiles give his bike a classy french look. still waiting to add the 32mm tires and black b-17 saddle. stay tuned. next up to bat is kevin’s fixie with polished lugs, jake’s cross commuter also with polished lugs, rob’s ultra-light fixie and otis’ disc cross bike that is at paint now.

on the riding side of things, i have only been able to get out for a couple hours this week and i feel it for sure.

livin the dream.

tour de headlands.

some of the most beautiful scenery and riding i have ever done.

it’s true that bicycles have taken me to places school never could.

enjoy.