Well,

It's that time for me to say my farewells to all of the RACCers out there that I have had the privelage to ride with. I have a had a great time riding the trails and shooting the sh!t with everyone. My plan was to continue riding until this week but plans changed when my wife headed to Sacramento for a job. I had built up my ZION and had it ready to go, unitl the rear brake some how started leaking fluid. So I made the decision to send it with the house hold goods since I had no idea when the brake would be sent back to CONRAD's, well what do you know, it came the next day - WTF! We all know PCS time is stressful, but holycrap, this one has taken the cake!

I'm definately going to miss the trails here in K-Town, Germany and Europe, unfortunately I/we did not do many MTB Marathons this year, but I encourage all of you to try them out next year. There is nothing like riding with 400+ individuals who all have something in common, pedaling our little asses off for that carrot at the end of the ride. Don't forget the the Tour, Kendal, you got the helm, keep the tradition going!

The RACC has gone through many transformations, from mainly MTB back in the day (early '90s) to mainly Road, back to MTB, then a combination, back to MTB, and now I see alot of you TRI guys and girls, thats awesome stuff. I actually started MTBing here in K-town on these trails many a moon ago. Hopefully the RACC and this site will grow by leaps and bounds over the next few years. What I like a bout the RACC is you can be who you are when you leave the job behind, first names, no rank, poke fun at eachother, serious discussions about bikes to encouraging the newbie to come out and hang with the group, there is alot of knowledge within the RACC, so past it on to the new guy. Some of you may know why you ride, so of you may think you know why you ride and some of us just ride and don't understand why, all I know is it's a part of who I am and I will contiunue doing so for as long as my little legs will turn the cranks.

If you don't already know I'm off to Sacramento to work at the MEPS, so if you are in the area give me a shout, there is plenty of riding to go around. As of now, me and the GUTH are sorta planning a MOAB trip, Lake Tahoe trip etc next summer. If your interested keep in touch. I'll be checking the RACC now and then so if you got a question shoot me a PM. Or contact me at ninerider@hotmail.com or 2niner@live.com or christopher.lockwood@us.af.mil.

There are a few individuals I want to signal out:

Rick-aka-bcane98, thanks for setting up and managing the site, I believe it has made a huge difference, lets keep it going.

Christian Kramer-aka-PHATY, what can I say, SiS is fuk'en Awesome, I'll be back!

sjoerd-aka-the Dutch Guy, thanks for the keeping us informed about the rides in Luxembourg, I didn't know that mud could be that sticky, and the wind, the f'en wind!

Trent-aka-MOAR, the last of the Mohicans baby, pick his brain he knows more about the trails and riding around here than anyone else now.

Ed-aka-"Crazy Ed", I'll never forget that day at the marathon, he rides up with a full beard, on a hard tail bike with "big" wheels, one gear and ask "you guys gonna do the 120k with me?" we looked at him as if he was some crazy madman who was related to Paul Bunyon, thanks for the 29er inspiration.

Kendall-aka-krocko1, goodluck with the training and keep the infectious enthusiasm going.

James-aka-afsere-aka-"Madman", now I know why I never bought a carbon MTB.

Thanks for the memories RACC,

One Pedal Stroke is all you need to Start a Revolution!


"To be a cyclist is to be a student of pain....at cycling's core lies pain, hard and bitter as the pit inside a juicy peach. It doesn't matter if you're sprinting for an Olympic medal, a town sign, a trailhead, or the rest stop with the homemade brownies. If you never confront pain, you're missing the essence of the sport. Without pain, there's no adversity. Without adversity, no challenge. Without challenge, no improvement. No improvement, no sense of accomplishment and no deep-down joy. Might as well be playing Tiddly-Winks."
Scott Martin