Full Week Off

Yes it is!

Rollers!

So I decided to try and borrow some rollers from a friend. Hope you enjoy!



btw, it took me about 7-8 minutes to get going, and I still fell of 2-3 times after that video, but only due to stupid crap like trying to ride no hands and such...

Eye Opener

Okay, this stuff is hard! I'm not gonna sit here and act like I'm the shiz-nit just because I went 4-3-2 in one season. I know that's a bit of an accomplishment, but I also want to be as humble as possible about it. Support from family, riding buddies, my coach, and many other aspects of my life such as my faith and what-not has gotten me to where I am. I know that I'm the one that gets on my bike day in and day out, riding 15-17 hours some weeks. I'm the one that rides my trainer 3-4 days a week because I have a son that I need to hang at the house with while my wife does stuff around the house. Still, having a solid support structure around you is the most important thing in ones life aside from faith. If the people you have around you are trash, then that's what you may become. All the riding buddies and friends I have surrounded myself with are definitely stand-up guys who care about their families greatly, and have taught me much more than what I've learned from them on the bike. I'm definitely gonna need support this winter and next season. I've got a lot of work to do, which was made very evident this weekend by the proverbial kick in the crotch I got in the two races I did. Time to Train!!!

Wow!

This is being posted from my iPhone, so give me a little bit of a break for typos and such. Yesterday was my first pro, 1, 2 road race, and wow. This is a whole different ballgame! I won't say that I couldn't have done decent if I would have just sat in, but I did get dropped about a mile from the finish. The power that I had to use to answer attacks and keep from getting dropped was much more significant than any cat 3 race I did this season. I don't have much more to say. I'm blessed to be in this situation, and what I do with that blessing is up to me.

The other 20%

So today is my mom’s birthday, so I have to start off by saying happy birthday to her. My mom has been supportive of my cycling from day one. My parents always take the time to come to close races (and some not-so-close) to support me and cheer me on. My other parents, Tim and Carol, are just as supportive and helpful. When I say other parents, I mean my in-laws. I don’t really look at them that way, though, as they treat me like I am one of their own. I guess this all goes to my point, which I’m getting to sooner or later.

Support from friends, family, ect. is what brought me to the place I’m at today in my life. My parents (all four), along with all my grandparents are Christians, and that has been the biggest influence. I’m definitely not always a shining light, but I do try to catch myself when I feel I’m about to do something that isn’t a good projection of what a god-fearing man would do. I think this has recently come more to light with my son being around. Aaron is getting a little older, and is slowly going into the copy-cat stage. We can stick out our tongue, and he’ll do it too. You slap the table, and he does it too. You know, just simple things like that. My wife tells me I act like my dad all the time, which isn’t a bad thing until I bring out my stubbornness, which my dad knows he has. Makes me think that I need to be very cautious about how I act around Aaron, so that he’ll grow up knowing about God and actually having a conscience.

Here’s the point. Family makes you who you are in my opinion. You can tell how someone’s family is usually by how they act. This isn’t always the case, but it definitely is I would say in 80% of people. I also believe that if you have been brought up in a rough environment, you can still be a good person. There’s that 20% of other people. It all boils down to who YOU want to be. I say I’m of the 80%, but that’s a good thing. Are you the other 20?