Ira Ryan: Epic Bike Rides, Mental Health, Steel Bikes, and 2020 - Episode 1

When I thought about who I wanted to sit down with for the first episode, really, it was a no-brainer about who I wanted that person to be. Due to his bike racing and bike-building, I have known OF this person for as long as I’ve ridden and raced a bike in the PNW and in the past two years I have gotten to know him very well and a great friendship has blossomed. 

He is the co-owner of and steel bike fabricator at Breadwinner Cycles here in Portland. I have been blessed enough to work with him twice on bike builds and it has been one of the highlights of my cycling life. 

In January of 2020 we began meeting regularly about an idea we had been tossing around for the entirety of the 2019 cyclocross season and that was doing a photobook together of my images from the season. As a cultivator of ‘cross books and something of a historian, he had always wanted to do one. As such he was the driving force behind my photo book “Of Crank & Chain”.  One of my favorite things to do when I have a new camera or lens or tool that I need practice with is to go down to Breadwinner and shoot with them. 

He is one of the great figures in cycling particularly in the Pacific Northwest. He is an artist, cyclist, competitor, dad, craftsman, deep thinker and all around amazing and loving Human. We had a great talk the other night. Just him and I having a couple of distanced beers and we cover a wide-range of subjects from bikes to mental health to his amazing backstory from Iowa to Oregon. 

My friend and inspiration, Ira Ryan.  I’m super stoked to have you listen in.

Thanks so much for taking some time out of your life today and I hope you had as good of a time as I did with this one. Follow me on Instagram @dcmediahaus and also Sign up and download, rate and review and subscribe wherever you source your podcasts so you’ll always know when a new show drops - it means the world. Stay Safe. And just keep pedaling.

Content Warning: A small handful of curse words by both host and guest (but mostly host).