Dear Mr. & Mrs. Morgenstern,

I raced with Nancy in the CRCA. The first time I heard about her was a few years ago, when some of my teammates had been to Fitchburg and rode in the Cat. 4 field with her. When they mentioned Nancy, they said that she was a beginner, but incredibly plucky and determined to do well; they were impressed with her drive, and thought she was a nice person, as well. We considered asking her to join our team the next year, but by that time she had joined Renaissance.

After that I had the chance to ride with Nancy a few times in the park. She was always so enthusiastic, with bright eyes and a constant smile when we talked about racing. With her smile, her cute nose and short, spiky hair, she reminded me of a happy character in a Disney movie. At Fitchburg this year I was always impressed by the way she dressed: after the races I would be exhausted, dragging around in my worst clothes, but Nancy always looked fresh and spiffy in her skirt and sandals.

She was feisty in races. She developed a good spring and we knew that we had to attack a lot to tire Nancy out, because if we didn’t she could surprise us in the end and outsprint us.

She had one bad racing habit: she always tried to attack the pack on the downhill. It’s not a good tactic because the pack doesn’t have to work that hard to catch the person who’s trying to break away. I used to tell her, “Nancy! Don’t attack on the downhill! We can catch you!” and she always said, “I know! I know!” But she kept trying. Once in Prospect Park she put a lot of distance on us and almost stayed away, and I thought, “Hmmm, maybe she can do it after all.”

It seemed as if Nancy was happy on the Axis team, and she seemed to be recruiting good people to ride with her and make the team even better. I know she asked Jane Maloney to ride with her next year, and with Randy, Lori, and Tamara, they would have made a good team to race against.

Recently, my team was having a team meeting, and she was sitting outside with Jane Maloney on a beautiful morning. Before they left they came over and talked to us. Nancy chattered on and on, bright-eyed and excited about the season.

You raised a happy daughter.
Kristi Roberts