A Letter From Luke Ward

I just wanted to pass along my thanks to Backbone Racing and 661 for the pads we got late last year. Unfortunately, my oldest daughter Julie didn't race this year. She even sold her unicycle, so her pads didn't get used much. However my youngest daughter and I have definitely put our pads to good use.

Article in the Colorado Springs Gazette:
http://www.gazette.com/articles/unicycle_39872___article.html/trail_riders.html

Video from Colorado Springs Gazette web site:
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1155184276/bclid1155106690/bctid1757573062

The pads have been life-savers several times over. We are very pleased with them. I will get a review out on mtbr.com soon. Unfortunately the pictures in the newspaper and on the web site don't show off the pads a whole lot. We should have pimped them harder to the writer as we were riding down Pikes Peak.

We are hoping Julie will start up racing again next season. We may encourage her a bit more next year. Every time we mention her doing roller derby, she gets all excited and starts throwing elbows at whoever is closest to her. She may not get to throw elbows while bike racing (legally, anyways), we're pleased to see that she still has a competitive drive and isn't afraid of getting roughed up.

I got a shot of cortisone in each shoulder a while back. Shoulders don't ache nearly as much, but they are still a long ways from fixed. It has been a different summer, cycling-wise for me. I haven't done any road rides and only one mtn. bike ride this year. I do commute every day to work, but that is the extent of my biking. The majority of my exercise this year has come from hiking up the Incline (http://www.inclineclub.com/incline/) and then riding my unicycle down Barr Trail. Riding the unicycle off-road is a big workout, so I think my fitness has dropped too bad.

Hope all of you have had a fun (and relatively injury-free) cycling season.

Thanks again.
Luke