5, July 2009

Greetings -

This is not my team, it is our team atmo.

Now that I have your attention, thanks so much for letting the Richard Sachs Cyclocross Team
into your inbox and world as these routine emails resume for another season. It's true that I am
attached at the hips to this organization. The Cliffs Notes is that this group began life in the late
1960s as the Connecticut Yankee Bicycle Club. In the mid 1970s, as the boundaries between the
terms amateur and professional were being dismantled, many Olympic sports began to allow athletes
and teams to be sponsored. In the beginning, many cyclists were racing with commercial ties to
bicycle industry brands. By the time the games were held in Los Angeles, most of the peloton were
representing firms which made household products, or by car companies, or chain stores, or candy
makers, blah blah yada yada. When I started racing with CYBC in the 1970s, we were sponsored. I
learned from day one where the lines were, who was responsible for keeping the team well oiled, and
where my allegiances belonged, for without sponsorship, none of us could make it from one race weekend
to the next.

A period in the early 1980s saw our little group with a dwindling support system. It was during that
time that I decided to switch over from being one of the racers in the squad to taking the reigns and
sponsoring the riders with my frame making business. This year, 2009, is the 37th contiguous year
that there has been a Richard Sachs Cycles supported team. Over the generations we have had scores
of racers as well as dozens of industry and non-industry firms helping to keep the organization in place.

About 15 years ago when the focus switched from road to cyclocross, the team began its slow and
steady rise from being a regional club with very good racers to a nationally known group whose focus
is completely and inseparably tethered to the autumn schedule. 'Cross Fukcing Rules Atmo, and it
rules for us because of you, and you, and you. This team could as easily be called the Challenge Tires
Team, or the RGM Watches Team, or the Radix Team, or the Rex Chiu Team (I'll stop here since I
know you get the picture) because all of these entities, as well as a host of others, are what keeps the
Richard Sachs Cyclocross Team alive, fueled, equipped, in the black, and inspired. We race for you
atmo. Thanks to all the sponsors and patrons, past and present. Without these firms and folks in the
background, we'd be nonexistent. Having said all this, I am proud to list the sponsors (and links where
appropriate) who are the backbone of the 'cross campaign for 2009. Note: I expect this list to be added
to in the next few weeks, and when it's complete, I'll revise it). But (drum roll...) for now -

RGM Watch Company
Radix Group
Rex Chiu
Rajanaka Yoga
Challenge Tech (tires)
Oval Concepts (stems, handlebars, and seatposts)
Cane Creek (brakes and headsets)
Cole Products (wheels)
Wippermann (chains)
Rudy Project (eyewear and helmets)
Crank Brothers (pedal systems)
Bailey Works (luggage)
Verge Sport (apparel)
Joe Bell Custom Paint (well, paint duh...)
Svelte Cycles
The Fat Men (no, that's NOT a misprint atmo)

Don't fall asleep yet I am almost done atmo. In keeping with the tradition of pointing readers of these
missives to links and stories that relate to our little community, I'm happy to supply two recent and
SUPERB interviews that regard RS 'Cross Team alumni, Justin Spinelli, and his not-so-new venture,
Svelte Cycles. In the past 2 weeks, Justin and Svelte have been covered by Pez Cycling news as well
as in The WashingMachine Post. Enjoy these two reads atmo:
Pez Cycling News
The WashingMachine Post

In the coming weeks I will continue to update the sponsor and support system list of names and I will
also be pasting in texts from the various firms and peeps so you can read, in their words, how these
liaisons come to pass and what it all means to them.

Thanks for reading.

e-RICHIE©™®
http://www.richardsachs.com
Richard Sachs Cycles
No.9, North Main Street
Chester, CT 06412 USA