Several years ago we were having a conversation with some of our friends regarding the status quo of the racing scene in Oregon. Our main concern was, “how come women don’t have a specific single speed category anymore”. It used to exist but as of three years ago it had fallen temporarily by the wayside. We couldn’t figure out why: female ridership was up at the time and lots of women were attending the races; it all seemed a puzzling. We wanted to revive the category but we weren’t sure exactly how to do it.
As it turns out all we had to do was ask.
We contacted the Oregon Bicycle Racing Administration (OBRA) and asked if it was possible to recreate the category…they said “sure” and the rest is now history. Three years ago our friend and teammate Ben Verhoeven at Peoria Gardens helped dream up a unique course of nature and structure at his family owned and operated nursery in Albany, OR. The race was to be exemplary of Ruckus company idealogy. It had to be fun, well crafted, unique (borderline crazy) and most importantly inclusive. This smaller, zany race has consistently been called one of the best races on the OBRA calendar. Race promotion is a miryad web of chance and difficulty, so its humbling and heartwarming to say the race posted 301 racers this year (84 female!), almost a 50% increase over last year’s attendance.
As usual, snaked the course through several greenhouses or “the poinsettia of no return”, we had a custom pallet feature slogging the perimeter of the field: “the palletsades”, we had LOTS of mud-that heavy peanut butter but still fluffy mud. We had much off camber and an incredibly fun filled fan area with flailing tube men, coffee and a taco cart nudging up against the barrier section. As is customary, we finished off the day with the famous “tutti-frutti” race: a two-lap free-for-all involving copious hand ups and balloons attached to the racers. This year’s event was family friendly, well attended and all the parents had a laugh watching a sea of eager children attempt the barriers. Some received off-course help…we’ll let it slide.
Furthermore, we provided beer from Block 15 Brewing and meade from Nectar Creek and asked for donations. We then took that money and funneled it back into the prize purse for all female categories, raising more than $2000 on the day! For the 37 podium spots (a few categories had only one racer) that is an average payout of $54.05 per place. We helped revive the women’s SS category and now we’re committed to helping it grow. Castelli Cycling stepped up in a big way with a $600 donation to the prizes making the pot even more ludicrous.
Ruckus Composites always attempts to live what our beliefs. We believe in the dynamism in the Oregon cycling community and we are honored to give back. It’s even more sweet when people take the time to enjoy themselves at these events. This race was and will always be a testament to the female cycling community in Oregon: it’s a positive, vibrant, vocal, dedicated community and we couldn’t be a more proud sponsor. Ride on ladies.