John Hughes racing to victory in the first Furnace Creek 508 in 1989. Lee "Fuzzy" Mitchell— note the white beard— driving BikeVan.

• A woman preparing to ride her first century.
• A randonneur ramping up through a brevet series for his first 1200 km.
• A veteran randonneur testing the rider's racing legs in a first 12- or 24-hour race or cross-state record attempt.
• A dedicated crewmember that helps others in their cycling endeavors.

These are all part of the ultracycling family.

When Lon Haldeman and Michael Shermer asked me to become Managing Director of the UMCA, I was excited because this offered the opportunity to share my expertise with a much larger group and to try to help our members reach a variety goals.

Over the past dozen years with the help of many, many volunteers I've tried help you excel by:

• Providing information for you on the key factors for success in endurance cycling:
• Mental preparation
• Sound nutrition
• Intelligent training
• Relevant technique
• Appropriate equipment
• Sharing this information through UltraCycling, ultracycling.com, and our booklets Preparing for Long Rides and Crewing with Fuzzy.
• Creating an array of opportunities to challenge ultra cyclists including the Larry Schwartz Year-Rounder award, the UltraCycling Cup / World Cup and the Ultracyclist of Distinction.
• Awarding plaques and medals to recognize achievements in these programs as well as volunteering, setting records, qualifying for RAAM, the Hall of Fame and the Ultracyclist of the Year.

I hope we have been successful in providing you with a rich set of opportunities.

Our sport is largely staffed by volunteers and we couldn't have achieved any of this without you crewing for a rider, putting on an event or helping with a UMCA program. As I move on down the road I'd like to thank my friends who have helped us:

• The Board, the current Officers, Merry Vander Linden, Russ Loomis, Joe Jamison and Caroline Eastburn, and their predecessors for their leadership.
• John Lee Ellis, the tireless Year-Rounder chair and his volunteers, Bob Barday, Steven Barnes, William Beck, John Elmblad and Kerin Huber.
• Paul Evans, Joe Jamison, Jennisse Schule, the former UCC/WC chairs and Sven-Erik Olsson, the current chair, and the volunteers, Linda Bott, Steve Kulwicki, Peter Leiss and Joel Sothern.
• Jake (Terry) Zmrhal and Fred Boethling, the former Records chairs and Drew Clark and Marie Handrahan, the current chairs.
• Chuck Bramwell, who helped build the website, Dave Watkins, the former webmaster, Mark Newsome, the webmaster, and Terry Brown, who manages the Google chat list and helps with the website.
• Jake Zmrhal, the former calendar chair, and Larry Ide, the current chair.
• Saunders (Sandy) Whittlesey, the former RAAM qualifying chair.
• A. Caneman, the volunteer recognition chair.
• Ron Bell and Walt Chapman, the co-chairs for the Hall of Fame and Ultracyclist of the Year.
• Jennifer Coyle for processing membership and Bonnie Skilton handling the bookkeeping.
• John Ceceri, the magazine layout artist, Zack Rowland, the former layout person, and Rex Farnsworth, Elizabeth Wicks and Rhonda Womack for copy-editing and proofreading. The magazine and website are made possible by the countless authors who share their expertise and experience—it's always exciting to read your contributions. The next issue of UltraCycling will be Ceceri's first as editor. Please help him as you have me, sending your story ideas and submissions.
• The many event directors.

Many, many thanks to all of these individuals and to you for your friendship and support.

The UMCA is a good organization and an important force in our sport and I urge you to continue your memberships, to find ways to help your fellow cyclists and to support the Board, officers, chairs and volunteers.

See you on the road.