I Love You Alta Alpina!

Hi my name is Nick Ruana and I have been a member of Alta Alpina, as a junior racer, for the past two and a half years. The places I’ve gone, people I’ve met, and experiences I’ve had due to my involvement in Alta Alpina have all been amazing. I have recently moved up to Reno and have been attending UNR for the last semester. I haven’t been riding up here at all due to some injuries that have kept me off the bike. To be perfectly honest, I’ve really been enjoying my time off the bike and I have been experiencing the college life to the fullest. I still love the sport of cycling and I know I always will. Just being around the sport gets me excited and always puts me in a good mood. Yes, I plan on getting back on the bike soon, but the time off has been well needed. In this short little letter I would just like to extend my gratitude to everyone who is part of this wonderful organization we call Alta Alpina.

First of all, I can’t thank the people who keep Alta Alpina running enough. AACC has been nothing put a positive factor in my life. Everyone I’ve ever met who has been associated with the club has been positive and helpful.

Secondly, I would like to tell everyone that for me, the rides and races were always a blast. I appreciate every one’s hard work organizing and running all the races and rides. The rides were always fun and enjoyable, but what I really looked forward to was the Wednesday night races. Every week during the season I counted down the days until Wednesday was finally upon me. And on race day I would often develop a nasty twitch in my left eye and my legs would shake nonstop during the last few hours of school. To say the least, I enjoyed racing with the club a lot. I greatly appreciated the fact that AACC and the RWCC let the entire junior team race for free; I know that helped my tiny budget immensely.

Finally, I would like to thank everyone who has helped the junior team in any way. On behalf of all the juniors I would like to thank all those who gave us non-drivers licensed racers a ride to a race, ride, meeting, or anywhere else. Also the club itself has been amazing; they have given us a plethora of equipment, enough food to keep us on our bikes for days, and all the support we could ask for. I also want to thank Sierra Nevada Physical Therapy for letting us little ones lift weights in their gym during the cold months of winter. A special thanks goes out to the coaches Jeff, Dana, Mark, and especially Mel. Sometimes I absolutely despised them for pushing me to my limit, but when it was all said and done I loved them for doing so. I also want to thank all of the junior riders for entertaining me both on and off the bike. Without you guys (and girls) everything would have been a couple notches lower on the “fun scale.” And yes, I do have one.

Well, as of January 1, I am no longer a junior cyclist. The past few years of cycling have been wonderful and after two and half years of junior cycling, I can now look forward to 60 more years of just good, clean cycling fun. The most important thank you of all goes out to my fully supportive parents. They have always been behind me and without their love and care I would not be the person that I am today. And for all those I forgot, I want to thank you for your help either with the club, the junior team, or just the sport of cycling. - Nick Ruana

- “Keep your elbows bent,” Mel Maalouf’s most famous quote for the juniors.