Dear Bryan,

Thank you for encouraging me to enter the Panoche Road Race. Without your plea I would not have entered and would have missed the experience and life is often about new experiences. That's one of things that is great about being on a Team. Having said that, I will not be entering another non-Master's category again. I am an old and large man who does not belong with such a youthful group. My first clue was when Bob pointed out the college uniforms. The final straw was the discussion of the Prom last night! [not true but you get the point]. I am more comfortable with discussions of anti-inflammatories, degenerative arthritis, hip surgery recovery tips, and how I got my wife to agree to let me do this.

Dear Body,
I am going to need more watts and fewer kg's. There is a numerator and a denominator. It is very simple you increase the numerator and decrease the denominator. Having to generate close to 500 watts just to stay with the lead group on a relatively mild climb is not cutting-it.

Dear Feet,
wtf and omg. What was that! I have experienced pain in may parts of my body over the years. But never from you. The 2nd half of the race was a death-march with you guys giving me some agony like never before. We are going to have to do something about that! Perhaps the new shoes are not so great after all? Please let me know, we can't do that again.

Dear PowerTap,
I consider the truth to be personal core value no matter the consequences. I am going to make an exception for you. When climbing in races please reduce the display watts by 100. Perhaps I will believe I can actually keep going at that pace. I would also like more TSS points when I suffer so much; 174 points for 3 hours of suffering does not cut it. I do appreciate the 2184 KJ used though.

Dear Bob and Ed,
It was good to have teammates along. A shared experience is a powerful bond. I think we were able to help each other for the most part. Sorry about riding away on the return leg. Actually that's not true, I was hurting so bad I just needed to go my own pace and I really didn't care about anyone else. Maybe if you had fallen or something.... or had some water for me....

Dear Road racers,
I have great respect for your fitness and ability to suffer. Road racing is tedious and damn hard. No offense but give me a good Cyclocross or MTB race any day over that.

Dear Dave Gil and other promoter guy,
Great job. A very well run race. Guys like you are what make this country and this area so great. You have enriched my life in so many ways. I am extremely grateful for what you do. Same goes for the volunteers.