Dear Mr. and Mrs. Morgenstern,

I am one of your daughter’s teammates on the Axis bike racing team.

Nancy accompanied me and another teammate recently on a casual training ride to Nyack and back. We were together for over three hours that day. During the course of the ride, Nancy and I talked about many things. She was looking forward to the last bike races of the year, especially the difficult Bear Mountain Road Race. She was looking forward to finishing out the season with a good race, followed by some easy riding, sans the hard training and racing that all bike racers typically put in during the season. She talked about peaks and valleys she experienced this year while racing.

Following a strong spring and early summer, she had experienced a brief letdown in early August at a race in Pennsylvania. She said that she just didn’t feel very motivated to be at that particular race, following all the racing she had done to that point. However, she was very happy with the race she did at the end of August. This particular race has very difficult turns that the racers take at high speed. Nancy said that she had been extremely intimidated by the course during the early part of the race. However, as the race progressed, she said she rose above the fear and began to have fun on those same difficult turns. She finished that race in the top ten and was very, very pleased.

Nancy talked about continuing to work with a bike racing coach during the off-season. Your daughter was very determined and exceptionally focused. She had found a coach that she liked, and was already looking forward to getting better for next year. So much dedication on her part! We also spoke about possible vacations, and Nancy mentioned to me that she would probably go back to Majorca, Spain, sometime this off-season for a cycling vacation.

Overall, Nancy was extremely upbeat and happy that day. She had successfully endured the ebbs and flows of another challenging racing season, and appeared ready to finish off the season on a high note and transition to the fall/winter intent on improving herself and enjoying some vacation time.

Richard Song