I agree with Craig's comments. My God what is wrong with me? We need two
champions, one for the Championship Race and one for total points over a
season. This is how most sports in this country are organized, whether team
or individual. I do think individual Championship events are important to
showcase elite athletes and the sport.

As you all know, with a difficult economy sponsor dollars are harder to find
then ever. The USHF has little or no money. How many people reading this have
given ANY DOLLARS to the USHF in the past few years? It is hard to run a
series of quality events without funding. Only through the monetary support
of Adaptive Adventures, Ian Lawless, and Fred Hecht have we been able to do
any Championships over the past few years. Adaptive Adventures focus is on
the grassroots development of adaptive cycling and handcycling around the
country, not just competitive racing.

Handcycling is an awesome, growing sport that deserves more dollars from the
grassroots to the elite level. It is up to US, the people on this group and
handcyclists around the country, to figure out a way to take this sport to
the next level. I have no doubt it will eventually happen. It's just hard to
say when?

For now, let's just all enjoy a great season of cycling!

All the best,
Joel

PS The US Paralympics is now "in charge of" elite handcycling, and it is
unclear to me whether this will be good or bad for the development of the
sport. To date, I am very disappointed with their efforts and actions.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]