Great things are afoot for Team HealthFX and we're all pretty excited.  We met at Brent's house high noon yesterday for a little MTB action out in Brent's backyard.  You see, about 3-4 times a year he gets as many folks as possible to come do a group MTB ride with him.  Sure, he's a social character and tons of fun to be around...but he has an alterior motive!  Brent is a trail architect at heart, building new trails in the local public lands, so having us ride his new "trails" is more akin to trail work.  This shot is everyone catching their breath on the top of Skull Ridge as we were desperately trying to keep Brent in sight with varying degrees of success (see his grin?). 

After the ride it was time to get down to business with a team meeting.  We've got a new team manager this year, Ken Armstrong, who brings a level head and a lot of experience to the team.  Ken is helping manage team finances and sponsorship relationships.  He's a great guy and we are psyched to have him!  He'll be sharing his insider view of the team periodically, his blog is here.  Shane Ellison and HealthFX returns as our primary sponsor for '06.  It was Shane's idea to bring Ken in, that Shane is a sharp fella.

Miles was out of town and Lynda lives in Saint George, Utah, so we had set up a conference line for them...but technical difficulties nixed that seemingly great idea...so we were only able to connect with Lynda.  Sorry Miles!  Ian was out of commission with a broken wrist.  Not sure what he did but it's an impressive cast.  Not to worry about his dedication though - he hasn't missed a workout, keeping up the training on the indoor trainer.  Now that's dedication.  Chronic in training ;) 

We'll announce the full '06 lineup shortly, but here's one of the new riders, Ben Kraushaar:

Ben is the Junior Expert 15-16 '05 NORBA national champion and after yesterday's ride, I see why.  So long as he keeps air in his tires this kid can ride!

Finally, I surrendered the remote (note to self: don't schedule team meetings during a football Sunday afternoon) and we were treated to some fine cooking courtesy of Brent and Mackenzie.  There were cookies everywhere...a bunch of kids in a candy store.  2nd note to self:  keep tabs on Fergy's sugar intake.  He put me in the vulcan death grip, and after finally getting free, one look into his eyes told the story.  Cookies are Fergy's catnip...

All in all it was a great time.  We're excited for next year, and we promise to lay off the cookies, but not before New Years.