To The Podium With You!
A great night at Ye Oulde PIR last night, both on the dirt and the pavement!
The top story of the night is first-year rider Marylynn King and her 2nd place in the women’s novice race. When we first hired this gal at the start of the year, it was a commuter bike with stickers all over it, panniers, seat too low, and had never pinned on a number. In keeping with the Ironclad Cycling Team’s program of fostering new talent and getting people involved in the sport, we found Marylynn last night on an actual race bike, with a racing helmet, road shoes and cleats, and a sprint that’s coming along nicely as she swiped a fine 2nd place finish in the race. We congratulate you Marylynn, you deserve it!
In another first of sorts, we had a rider, Ryan Smith, in the Master 1/2/3 race. It was Ryan’s first masters Monday race in the higher category since upgrading last week. He did well flying solo to get into the first chase group, and in the end score an 8th place! As Darth Vader would say, “Impressive. Most impressive.”
In the men’s 4/5 we had Kira Crawford chicking dudes and doing her thang. Nice work, kid!
And switching to the dirt, we had Greg Hudson and Stephanie Chase wearing combo kits and taking on the Short Track. Not really sure how that all turned out as the groups all blended together from the get-go. Steph crashed a lot, Greg raced twice, that’s about all we have for that one.
Ryan and Marylynn warm up with some light King Fu, some adult contemporary music, and a convenience mart that sold us giant cans of PBR.
The fashionable Greg Hudson on the dirt.
Here’s Marylynn’s awesome 2nd place sprint:
Public Service Announcement
For the betterment of all, please be advised the following PSA (public spelling announcement):
The word is spelled peloton, not peleton.
Thank you!
Le Tour de France
Funny to see the optimism seated so closely next to the blind these days when it comes to the Tour, isn’t it? We see these teams that get on their high horse by leading with their anti-doping stance, vs. their strength and experience. We see other teams on the sideline crying foul for being excluded though taking no accountability checkered-past riders. We see commercials touting the revolutionary mantra: Take Back The Tour. We see commercials played in reverse undoing cycling’s greatest “highlights” of recent years. We see the omerta has become the currency of the speak-easy, and we’re up against it to turn it around now.
Doping has nearly destroyed the sport. This is truly its Alamo.
Yet, one need not think doping will be eradicated, but hopefully brought to manageable levels. Cheating in the sport has been the way since its inception and has increased as the demands on the riders in Grand Tours has increased simultaneously along with the steady influx of the common cancerous evil: cash money. Look to the past to see simple amphetamines, short cuts in cars, ether, cocaine, etc. It’s only in the past 25 years or so it’s become so darkly clinical, with shadowy doctors and microdosing the latest and greatest, exercising at 3am so the blood wouldn’t thicken and kill, and so on and so forth. One is an utter and complete fool to think anyone in the top echelons of the Tour in the last quarter century was clean. The debates are old and entwined, and have faithful to both sides as any religion might. The definition of religion in cycling is like any other religion: the suspension of disbelief. To believe in Lance in in his heyday was kind of fun, for instance. Then the truth to the mythology leaks out through many channels, juxtaposed against a myriad of confessions, some forced, some voluntary. The research yields the preponderance of evidence with all of the greatest names in our sport of late. Seek and ye shall find. Cry ye will. Hoodwinked ye have been for a long, long time.
The money began to fall through the floor, and finally, finally, the tide seems to be turning. Isn’t wasn’t the fans turning away, it was the money. After Festina. After Puerto. After Floyd. Christophe Bassons. Willy Voet’s book. Kimmage. Jesus Manzano giving up the dark and dirty secrets of the group that Phil Liggett would discount as “bits of problems”. Armstrong pulling the Ferrari Wool over our eyes for 7 Tours. Vino. Kaschekin. Tyler Hamilton, oh that Hamilton. LeMond getting screwed for speaking his mind (authoritatively, though perhaps not the most business savvy of public statements). Riis. Zabel. Aldag. Three names that in part morph into the Voltron of doping in cycling. And the gazillion other busts not worth naming, not to mention the first yellow jersey of the 08 Tour has his name in Puerto. Finally a fan can perhaps began to think about believing again. There will always be the cheater, but perhaps we can assuage the systemic deluge of teams organizing doping practices in the top tiers of the sport. Perhaps those that blow the whistle will cease to be marginalized and written off as nutjobs. Maybe all angles that encourage the hardcore systematic doping can all take a step back, from promoter to writer to rider. They have to.
The analogies are many, and easy to pick out. She made you think she loved you, and you certainly loved her. Meanwhile, she was out back blowing the bartender and his buddy while you were playing darts. She did this for years, and then you got wise, and felt the anger that would make you take top honors on the Dark Side. We’re talking Sith Lord shit, here. But yet, somehow, you still love her. You want her to wash out the stains, get a haircut, sober up and start working out, talk to her mom again, and maybe one day the two of you can put it together again.
Most of us fans are still across the street, arms folded, eyes fixed, jaw set in anger and hurt. But our hearts wish to fawn over our beloved sport once more.
Can cycling come back from the edge of being no more than the WWF on wheels? Let’s all cross our fingers and hope so….
With some degree of trepidation: “Vive Le Tour”
Tabor Goodness!
A week of firsts it would seem….
For the women, we had two top tens in the 4’s race with Anna “Clash” Clark and Ginny Pederson, and in the Open, Stephanie Chase took a fine 5th place finish. Well done, ladies!
In the men’s 5 race, Tyler Houck continued his impressive improvement and finished well. He learned a few lessons the fun way, by hanging out near the front and attacking a bit. He overdrew his account and fell off the pace, but it was great to see Ty mixing it up.
In the men’s 4 race, we had Josh Hunt and Dave Aldersebaes, with Josh deciding to pull the plug, and Dave fulfilling his goal of two laps with the pack, and not dead last. It was his first Tabor race with a number on, and after Tuesday’s 1.2.3 race where Dave (Sopwith Camel) was escorted by Doug and Evan, etc (F-15 Strike Eagles) apparently he thought he had the nuts for the volcano. Not quite. Dropped and solo for most of the race but that’s to be expected! Results are a bit off in the men’s 4, but it’s all good. We did what we needed to do.
Stephanie stands up
Get thee behind me, Satan
A cool pic of Doug, unfettered and free to fly. Fare thee well, golden boy.
Willing And Unable
(excuse the narrative for a paragraph, please) There was a strange alignment of the planets last night, and for some reason, a phalanx of pros decided to try to get me a good result in the 1/2/3 race at PIR. A good result, to them, meant a win. “Get in the break, and don’t pull, and we’ll get you there.” I won’t go on with the masturbatory, self-impressed 1st person idiocy that pollutes so much of the web these days. I will however, say I am completely honored and humbled and thankful for the help of Evan Elken, Doug Ollerenshaw, Kenji Sugahara, and Seth Hosmer, for watching out for my bacon. In short, I failed to execute the plan, and I burned a lot of matches in the 1st half hovering near the front and hanging on to Doug’s wheel. Simply put, I was in over my head. But despite the plan not coming together, it was a blast. Stephanie Chase, Ryan Smith, and Mark Crawford are also due some thanks. I tried, folks. I really tried. I simply am not a fast rider.
Thanks.
Now, the team had a fine night, fielding riders in the 4/5, 3/4, and 1/2/3 races. In the 4/5 we had Josh and Q, and those two also took to the 3/4 field with an almost late Flyin Voytilla. The 3/4 saw Josh exit early, but Q and Flyin around 20th. Nice work you guys~!
The 1/2/3 race was a fast eye opener for the quartet of Ironclad riders. All finished with the group, and Crawfy scored a fine low 20’s finish. Ryan was in a good spot until he decided on a little cyclocross practice. Steph played tail gunner and stuck with the group. It was a faaaast race. What cures everything are beers at Lucky Lab afterwards. And of course, seeing Doug chase down hipster fixed gear sorts on his New Belgium cruiser.
Doug, Steph, Dave
Ryan, Mark, Dave, before the shit really hit the fan
Left - winner, Right - loser
Tons of fun, no doubt. And equal parts pain.
To The Dirt!
Ironclad swapped some personnel Monday night to take part in the PIR Short Track series, of which we are a proud sponsor. Greg Hudson, Stephanie Chase, and Lana Pressey all took to the dirt while Kira Crawford maintained our presence in the mens 4/5 on the pavement.
As Steph puts it: Hudson was leading the men’s beginner field through the first lap when he dropped his chain, which was a big bummer. Lana rode in the sport women and made up a couple of places on the last lap for about top 15 finish, I think. And I - being a chump - missed a turn in the forest and got 5th. It’s like cross without portaging.
Hudson saw it this way : I did lead the first lap, then I was passed by three dudes. Then on the second lap my bike started auto-shifting. Then on the last lap going over the whoopty-do’s (sp?) my chain fell off. I stopped to quickly fix it and was immediately passed by three more dudes. I got back on to try to pick them back up. I was getting closer to doing so (not realistic with the finish so close), but I took a corner a bit to fast and slid out. Pissed and frustrated I just pedaled it in. I have the minorist possible rash on my right hip and arm. I also managed to hit my left quad on my top tube or stem and it’s pretty knotted up and tender. It was a really fun race, it just sucks to have mechanical issues screw me for the second week in a row. (I had a flat/burp in my rear wheel.)
Kira chicked three dudes to get in a good ride on the road.
And tonight, at PIR……something rather special is brewing.
Bottle Throwing A No-No!
Our own Stephanie Chase had a momentary lapse of reason and jettisoned a bottle during the Elkhorn classic, in full view of some riders. She was tired, sunstroked, had spent the morning throwing up, and made a judgement error that seems to be making the rounds in Obra-land.
She says she’s sorry. You can all throw a bottle at her later.
As an aside, and this is only an aside, a few of us dropped riders could only make sure we were on the right road by seeing the chucked bottles on the side of the road. So, it certainly doesn’t make it right, but it was quite obvious that 100’s of others were chucking bottles too. Let’s all try not to litter, regardless of category, so the promoters like the fine folks that put on Elkhorn can keep their permits.
Ironclad Races in California
Bryan Voytilla was down in lovely Manhattan Beach, CA, to take on the local Grand Prix on Sunday Morning. Early reports suggest he had the best looking uniform, and took a fine top 25 finish in a field of 75 racers…pics and words to follow. Nice work, Bryan!
Bryan Voytilla, racing in lovely California!
Searching Our Feelings In Salem
A fine day for the team indeed! Pics and story to come, but Ryan Smith took top team showing of the day with his 2nd place in the M4/5. The trio of Hunt, Conant, and Allyourbase finished in the top 20.
The women’s 4 delivered Kira Crawford in 6th (I swear it looked like 5th to me) while supporting her were Anna Clark, Marylynn King, and Lana Pressey, who all did their jobs to a tee.
In the men’s 3 we had Crawfy dropping off a nice, 8oz Top Ten Finish, medium rare, like we like it.
In the women’s open, our dear Eva rocked as only she can to finish admirably.
Pics up at the Flickr page, and there’s more to come from Brandon’s camera, so stay tuned for more images…in the meantime, try these on for size…
Tall dudes don’t climb
The home team set up the first few hot laps
Ryan clears through some blockage to take a fine 2nd place behind the fast man from North River Racing.
Der Wilde Mensch
So, you may know that our ranks harbor some former Army Rangers. Bike racing is puny to what these guys have endured….
But sometimes they show a more “earthy” side, like 1st Officer Kevin Hedahl, who instead of riding Elkhorn opted for a 5 day solo hike off in the wilderness. As he put the highlights:
The quick facts:
13.5 lb pack w/out food or water
24 lbs with 5-days of food & 1 liter of water
5-days, 4-nights
avg of 20 miles/day
went over 48 hours w/out seeing another person
one stream crossing that had me almost balls-deep in snow runoff
1500 calories of food/day; burning about 3000 calories
I think I lost about 5-6 lbs; pretty damn good diet
no bears, but lots of killer slugs.
Killer slugs……sounds like a B horror movie. It also sounds better that dying on Mt. Dooley, too.
Here’s yer boy:
And when in such epic conditions, you need the best gear. Here Kevin has selected the Ironclad 1st layer as his garment of choice for the hike. The silver colloidal negates body odor, and the synthetic materials wick moisture away and help keep Kevin all snug, be it hot or cold. Yes, we know, we make great stuff.
In the words of Yode: Huzzah!
See you out at Salem Fairview tomorrow, where we’ll get back to the business of riding bikes……
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