Eugene, OR is a fantastic cycling town and has an amazing pool of potential cycling partners. I feel fortunate about the circle of cycling friends I had while I lived there. We were all able to take advantage of one another’s strengths to stay fit, improve our riding skills, and have fun.
For me, Ian Fuller has been both a cycling mentor and a human database of longer, “interesting” rides in Lane and Douglas counties. “Hey Ian, I need to do 65 hilly miles on Saturday.” Soon, an email would arrive with a couple of options and a weekend training ride would be in the works.
A boy and his bike: Ian showing off his first real racer, an Olmo. The neighborhood boys were drooling just a bit.
Ian grew up in Southern California, and has had a lifelong love of all things cycling. Whenever he turns up the tempo a notch and inflicts some pain and misery on the rest of the paceline, I remember that he was racing bicycles before I was born. Literally. Ian claims that his passion for cycling, and racing in particular, kept him out of trouble as a teenager. Seems like he did just fine in avoiding the pitfalls of adolescence and early adulthood. Ian’s fitness and cycling skills are an inspiration to everyone in the Eugene cycling community.
Ian in 1958 wearing the San Diego Bicycle Club team jersey, where he is still a member (even though he lives in Eugene). Ian claims he’s the only member without a suntan. Probably the only member in Eugene, too.
Ian battling heat and hills during the 2006 Mt. Lakes Challenge in Ashland, OR.
When it comes to battling a headwind, which is usually a part of any ride in the Willamette Valley, Ian is the man. In the homeward stretch of an 85-mile ride that turns out to be more like 105, Ian invariably slips to the front of the line and leads us home. The rest of us fall behind his slipstream and let him drive the train home, and agreeing, “Glad that he likes this crap!”
Know someone who deserves to be profiled? Let me know!
