It's been fun RACCers...

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

Hey Chris have one big beer for me before you leave. Trust me you will miss the German suds! Also make sure that you send Phaty an email an let him know your leaving. I'm sure he'll want to post on the SIS page & let everyone know. Hope to meet up with you this Summer and hit the trails in Cali:)

Chris,

It was nice meeting you and getting to ride with you the few times I did, especially SiS! I cant wait till this year to do it again. I have also been in contact with Phaty about doing something for the Fisher House that you had suggested to him, he said he was all for it and we could figure something so I will get that done for you if possible. Take care and be safe in your travels and one day I will see you on the trail again.

Best Wishes,

Theran

Chris,
Will miss ridin' and tacklin' those hills with you. Still need to get with you for the jersey POCs and purchase information. Been busy with TDYs and stuff. But, let me know where I can meet you, if you are stilll tied to that office.

Happy to know that Guth and you have plans for a MOAB adventure. This will be a great time I'm sure. Anyhow, take care and thanks for all your support of the RACC and our jersey sets. I know you did a lot of work to concept, develop and order.

Cheers friend...you can still find Franziskaner at most shoppettes. I had an rotating order of 24 every month at DM.
Good Luck!

Big Wave, Glute, Dave

Chris it's been a blast... I thought for sure you would've caught up to my post #'s by now LMAO...

The one memory that will stick with me forever is my first night ride... Rodalben A side... OTB and the cliff... God's hands caught me on the way down. HOLY POOP! that was quite the scare... and you got the best view of the whole thing LOL!!!

Thanks for the good times and most of all the friendship! You truly are one in a million! You will be missed,

Ill miss you man. And I promise to be rude to all the french at the tour. To pretend That I don't know what a German is talking about when he says these trails are not for bikes. And to always try and find a place to drink some spirits in the middle of a long ride. Thank you for showing me the trails. I have your email and I will stay in touch.

Chris, it's been a great time man! I'll never forget my first ride with you guys when I was walking a geared bike up the hill and you cruised right on by with the single speed. Talk about motivation to get back into shape! Turns out it was more because your legs are the size of tree trunks than the fact that I was out of shape. But regardless, thanks for showing me the trails and taking the time to put together so many great rides. SIS has been great and it will definitely be continued next year. Anytime you guys are doing stateside epic's...Moab, Fruita, ect...post them here so we can try to hook up if the circumstances work out. Good luck and keep pedaling, damnit!

Phaty has a real name!!??

Keep me in the loop for Moab. Merle has been talking about May next year for either Moab or Fruita.

Hey RACCers thanks for the comments....well I've been here for about 1 1/2 months and have not been on the bike for almost 3...WTF that really sucks!!! Work is work, real busy at the moment, looking to really get some riding in the legs as soon as I can. The weather has been pretty "crappy", rain and wind, actually it reminds me of Deutschland...now if I could only get some riding in I would feel right at home. This PCS has been a real pain in the A$$, I get my final HHG shipment form Germany on Wednesday...I have no Idea where the hell I'm gonna put everything! Well, got to get to bed, have to be at work at "O" dark-thirty...we have shippers tommorow. I may be able to get a ride in with a local club this weekend, I'll let you know how it goes. So quite yer bitch'en and hit the trails...I'll be right behind you...tchuss.

Chris,

Have you put your order in for the new Air 9 Carbon yet. Price was released today and they're taking pre-orders for $500 down.