Wow! What a journey it has been since Jason snapped this "over the shoulder" selfie back in February. The league crew had just met at Halter's Cycles for a weekly meeting and ended with a ride along the canal path to eat lunch in Princeton. On the way back, Tom Kruse casually asked if I would be interested in leading the league. You can see Tom in this photo speaking to me, but you can't quite see the shock or emotion I felt. So many questions; Where is Tom going? Could I dedicate the time needed to succeed? Is this right for my family? Learning that Tom planned to transition to Board President, ambitious excitement and a little fear of the unknown danced in my head.

I am eternally grateful for the years Tom has dedicated to bringing NICA to New Jersey and smashing the inaugural season out of the park. His commitment is nearly impossible to describe, and certainly not in a paragraph. His guidance as Board President is invaluable, and a critical aspect of our future success. Similarly, the entire Kruse family has worked to support the effort; as trusted confidants, advisory board members, core staff members, and race-day volunteers. Tom, JoAnne, Jessi and Jakob have shown all of us what is possible when a family as strong as theirs unites around a common cause. I am proud to call them friends, and we are all fortunate to have their continued support and guidance.

A tremendous debt of gratitude is also owed to the rest of the inaugural season's core staff: Sandy Chapman, Kristine Contento-Angell, Chris Facas, Jason Gonsalves, David Kahl, BJ Kisch, Kathi Krause, Robin Lauezzari, Emilio Lois, Charmaine Michaels, Jon Sherwood, Larry Towner, Ben Tufford, Mary Beth Van Wart and John Williams. Thank you, and I look forward to many more years of fun on bikes!

To our inaugural season's coaches, THANK YOU! Your hard work and dedication to our student athletes is so inspiring. All of your training, practices, team building events and behind-the-scenes efforts have made life-long positive memories. You are the backbone of our league, of our community, and I could not be more excited to work with you in the coming years as we grow the league and get more kids on bikes!

Thank you as well to our Advisory Board, league sponsors and individual donors, at the local, state and national levels, without whom none of this is possible. Thank you for sharing our vision of enabling every NJ teen to strengthen body, mind and character through this lifelong sport.

A final thanks to our parents, families and student athletes! As a husband and father of four, I understand the commitment and sacrifices you continually make. This league is for you, and for the future of our sport. I look forward to providing you with the best possible experience in everything we do, and will work tirelessly to achieve that mission. Together we will continue to provide a fun, enduring and relevant mountain bike program for many years to come.

Thank you for reading, and I welcome your feedback at any time.

Happy Trails,

Ken Seebeck
ken@newjerseymtb.org

Gran Fondo NJ has recently come on board as a league sponsor, and we are forming a NJICL Gran Fondo team to celebrate this partnership, AND as an opportunity to get together friends of the NJICL for a fun and rewarding day on the bike. THE GFNJ offers routes ranging from 18 to 107 miles. We are not looking to make this into a hammer-fest, our goal is to challenge ourselves, have some fun with other members of the NJICL community, and raise awareness about NICA in New Jersey. We will offer team members the opportunity to make this into a NICA fundraiser, just like the many other charity rides out there. Click HERE to register for the NJICL team.