COBALT WHEELS GIVEAWAY

Before the 2009 Downieville Classic, we announced that we’d be giving away a set of Crank Brothers Cobalt wheels, generously donated by our good friends at Crank Brothers. Anyone racing an Ibis at the race was eligible for a free shirt. And once you got your shirt, you became eligible for our giveaway. No purchase necessary (other than the Ibis at some point). The criteria for the giveaway was rather vague, we didn’t want to set hard fast rules. The Ibis crew deliberated over the weekend and on into the next week.

WE HAVE A WINNER

It's fitting that we are pondering a new Supreme Court Justice this week, because it was all about deliberation for us too. Many worthy Ibis racers picked up their T-shirts, many stories were told. Thank all of you for the various bribes, especially the all the booze and the numbered Swiss bank account!
In the end, we chose a winner who was not a whiner.

Drum Roll....

Ashley Fouts is the winner. We chose Ashley for a few reasons. Remember, our criteria for winning the wheels didn’t relate to speed or results. There’s more to mountain biking than that. When Ashley came by after the race, she didn’t tell us much about how she did, mainly she said she had a great time. She was smiling and happy. We like that. I asked a friend of hers about her race later, here’s what he said:

“She broke her rear derailleur cable on Sunrise so rode the rest of the course with a 3 speed (11 tooth cog & front chainrings). She had to hike part of the mid-course climb unfortunately. Then she flatted on 3rd divide. Snakebite on a 2.4 if you can believe it. Seems like she rolled the tire since she said she didn't hit a rock when she flatted. So she was 4th for the XC Expert women, but was 7th when they combined the AM & XC groups to pick the winners for the XC (new process this year apparently). She thinks she's lost around 15 min between the two mechanicals, but was absolutely grinning from ear to ear post race. She LOVED the descent on her Mojo. She can't wait to go back, and can't wait to have a clean race next year and see if she can find the podium.”

To recap:

• Did 2/3 of the race in her 11t cog with a broken derailleur cable, so only had three speeds.
• Had a front flat on a 2.4!
• Was still grinning ear to ear at the end, which is pretty much the reason we chose her.

Here's our winner, on and off the bike:

About Our Winner

Turns out we really know how to pick em! You might remember that the winner of our raffle bike this spring was Adam Beguelin, a smarty pants with a PhD in math. Well, now we come to find out that Ashley also has a PhD (Microbiology). When we asked her to tell us a bit about what she does, she said:

“I came to the bay area to start my doctorate in Microbiology. My thesis was on a parasite, Toxoplasma. Yes, the 'kitty litter' parasite. I worked on mechanisms of persistent infection. I finished 2 years ago and have been doing research at Genentech in South San Francisco on various viruses since.”

As you can see based on those two data points, IBIS RIDERS ARE SMART.

Not only did she get her PhD from Stanford, she raced bikes pretty much the whole time she was there. She said she raced 3 mountain bike seasons, 4 road seasons and a couple triathlon seasons, and won the West Coast Mountain Bike Omnium in 2003 and switched to the road, winning the Bay Area Omium (Cat 3) in 2007. That’s cool but here’s the cooler part:

"It was when I first rode the Ibis Mojo at Trailhead Cyclery’s demo day that my love for mountain biking was renewed. It was a whole different sport…fast, unbelievably smooth…like buttah! I couldn’t sleep that night, I was dreaming of how I could get a mojo on my student salary. It was my first big purchase after getting a job."

Here’s a picture of her the day she got her Mojo

“This year with my full time job and new Mojo I decided to forgo the road racing this year and focus on having fun!”

That’s the spirit, Ashley!

Other notes:

• Likes beer (dark &/or Deschutes) and Burritos.
• Used to be a ski bum in Jackson Hole.
• Grew up in New Hampshire and Colorado.

Congratulations on the wheels. Ashley is choosing Blue.
Thanks to David Belden for the photos.