that I've had being a part of the Athletes by Design cycling club.
First and foremost, I need to thank all of my elite team team-mates.
You have been a great group of guys to travel with, race with, and
learn from. I include as part of the team my wife, Jenni. She has
been a huge help this year. Much of the year she traveled with the
team to nearly all of our races. She is an expert feeder and
photographer and patient enough to deal with an entire team of
psychotic bicycle racers. I don't think that any of us even know how
to mix Gatorade now thanks to Jenni.
Second. I need to thank Mike and Mary Lee for all of their support.
Without them and their excitement for our racing we couldn't have
accomplished what we have the past couple of years.
Third. I'd like to send a specific thank you to Rob Jungels. I don't
think that we realize how lucky we are to have such a gifted and
generous mechanic as part of our club. Jungels, you're the man.
Thank you for all of your help and advice.
Fourth. Last but not least, I'd like to thank all of you the club
members. Your enthusiasm and dedication to bicycle riding and racing
is fantastic. Your dedication to the club has enabled our elite team
to be the highest ranked amateur team (based on NRC points) in 2006.
Your financial dedication to our success has been very generous and I
thank you for it. Your cheering voices whenever we raced here in the
Midwest has also been fantastic. Its always nice to race with a bit
of a hometown advantage; all we seem to need is a couple of you and
ABD is immediately the loudest cheering section on the entire course.
For the 2007 season, I have signed a contract with the Kelly Benefit
Strategies/Medifast professional cycling team. The team management
is based in Minneapolis and is being directed by Jonas Carney. The
title sponsors are both businesses that are based in Baltimore. I am
looking forward to the new opportunity to learn and develop as a
bicycle racer. Our first race in 2007 will be the Tour of the Bahamas
over the first weekend of February. I'm planning on hitting the
first couple of ABD indoor TT events so hopefully I'll see many of you
around then.
Thanks for all of your support, encouragement, and help. You've been
a great club and I'm proud to be one of you the past couple of years.
reid
