Readers vent about a photo, congratulate us on some good stories and ponder the value of supplements.

Protest
I am writing to protest the photo of the woman (a Victoria's Secret model) in the GeezerJocks section [Masters Athlete, May 2008]. O.K., so there's a play on words for the name of a hockey team (Victorious Secret), which you reported in one sentence. Where's a picture of the team? Instead, you went straight for the titillation shot of someone who is not a geezer nor a jock. The photo is larger than your print paragraph! And even worse, you used a huge copy of the photo on the contents page! You changed the name of the magazine, because you stated you wanted to attract Masters athletes and not offend them. Well, it looks like you really just want young men and don't care if you offend women.
 
Terry Foody
Lexington, Ky.

The writer is the chair of Masters Track and Field for Kentucky/USA Track and Field.

Congratulations

Congratulations to Masters Athlete and author Dan Rabin for your June 2008 article "The 10 best cycling towns for Masters riders." Dan picked 10 really viable places to ride. More importantly, he didn't fall for the trap that other magazines fall for, in which they give the award by counting miles of (mostly door zone) bike lanes and money spent on bicycle bureaucrats. I like to see communities get recognized for things that making riding fun, as opposed to failed attempts to imitate Amsterdam. While I want to see more Americans on bikes as much as anyone, I know people won't do it unless it's both fun and safe. Some of the faddish "bicycle friendly" initiatives have a very disappointing safety record, and they force riders to go very slowly.  Thank you for emphasizing the qualities that instead make me look forward to riding! Perhaps in a future article we can get Dan to take a close look at Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley, where the major cities (Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton) are linked by a nicely preserved canal towpath, making an idyllic off-road commute a reality for many cyclists and runners. In addition, we have many miles of other trails, some of the best rural road riding in the country, and a plethora of education and developmental programs ranging from ice cream rides for children all the way up to training with world-class athletes at the Valley Preferred Cycling Center Velodrome, which hosts the nation's best track racing program.

John Schubert
Coopersburg, Pa.

Great articles
I received my Masters Athlete magazine yesterday, and as usual it has some great articles in it.  Thanks printing the article about me and my basketball comeback following double hip replacement. Several of the girls had their copy at basketball practice last night. 
 
Sharon Thornton
Hot Springs, Ark.

Supplement experiences
I have been involved, off and on, in heavy weight training for almost 50 years and have spent thousands of dollars in that time on supplements. Most have not helped but some have. The key, as I see it, is to find out how your body works and supplement the weak points. Sounds easy? It's not!  You have to find a physician who is interested in helping you and/or find a lab that will do the type of testing needed to find how your body digests your food and how it utilizes the nutriments from that food.  When you know what your body is doing, then you can help it do better. The shotgun approach is expensive, and though you may get a hit by accident, it's going to be expensive. Let's use a car analogy. Let's say you have a car whose engine is not performing up to par. You try all sorts of additives, fuel mixtures, etc., and nothing helps. One day you check and realize it's only hitting on seven cylinders! You have to know what's actually happening before you can fix it.

Mike Reed
White Cloud, Mich.