OF NEW DAYS AND OLD

And so it comes to an end. This will be my last column as president of this illustrious club. I have been doing this for several years and have seen president elects move and develop other complications. I think new leadership will be good for the club and I look forward to supporting John Beverly as he takes over the helm of CBC. When I began as president I was off the bike having broken my wrist while bird watching on a ride. But bones heal and I was soon back on the bike and off climbing things. I have ridden in Colorado, something I never thought that I could do. I recall climbing Lookout several years ago and stopping four or five times. On that ride had someone told me that I would cross Trail Ridge Road or Monarch Pass I would have told them they were crazy. Yet I did these things. Our Ride the Rockies jersey this year contained a quote from Plato wherein he stated; "The journey upward is the ascent of the soul."

Behind every great man there is a woman. This is no less true of our club although I am not saying that I am a great man. But I do have a great woman behind me who has not only encouraged me and been there at the top of Mt. Mitchell and other places; but has also been a good sport when I have written about the mysteries of little shoes and marriage. Whatever I have accomplished in the last several years both as president of CBC and as a rider I could not have done without the support and backing of the bride.

These periods of transition always seem to be ones in which people get thanked. I cannot thank all of you who have contributed to the club during my tenure but I would like to name a few. Daisy of course who keeps this all together. Dawn Salyer for her work on the centuries (and no, you don't have to do everything, Dawn). George Perry who writes the checks. John Oakey, our road marker extraordinaire and lover of bicycles. Larry Gilreath for being the de facto leader of the Thursday night chases. And those of you who have said you read the column and liked it. And those of you who didn't like it but kept your comments to yourself.

Riding is an opportunity. It is an opportunity to do something good for yourself but the benefits go beyond simple physical fitness. The companionship in riding with others is part of the beauty of the sport. But it is the opportunity to do things that you never thought possible that is one of the great blessings of the sport. The True Mileage Ride contains a hill that at the bottom, looking up, it appears that you will be climbing to the sky. I think of it as climbing to heaven and I half expect to see St. Peter at the top. But if you climb it; it is yours. No one can do it for you and, although equipment and Campy parts help, you are the engine. And that is not something that can be taken away. If I have tried to convey anything during my time as president it is that you can do things you thought impossible.