Merry Christmas

Praise The Lord! I know what is wrong with my eye and if it gets worse I can have surgery done to it. Tiny Cataract in my left eye so it is just some vision loss that I can handle. Sometimes I still have dizzy spells and headaches but am very happy that we found out the problem. It only took 2 months instead of 4 years so that is a major plus.

Here with family in fairborn and we opened up presents this morning. Kids had a blast so we will be playing all day. My brother is engaged and I have never seen him this happy. Thank you Lord for all of our blessings.

The Result

Thanks for the prayers and emails and comments. Doctor told me I had a water cleft in my left eye. This was better for him to tell me, instead of Cataracts because he doesn't want to repair an eye that has slight damage at my age. More to come when I have time to post... Thanks again

Upward and Onward

Upward Basketball is going on at our church. This is for young kids who just want to have a great time playing basketball. My mom was in charge of finding prayer partners for 100 days of prayer for Upward Basketball. Overall we have 110 people praying for Upward but could be more. I pray about Upward everyday and hope that everything goes great for the kids. It is all about having fun, not how good you can be. Don't get me wrong, you strive to be the best but be good sportsman and help all others to have fun as well.

In the years I have been cycling I have tried to do this but I am not perfect. One time in St. Albans I was so happy I won I couldn't help but to scream for joy,.... more than once. I gave God all the glory for helping me to win over two major teams of more than 3 riders on each team. Four of those 7 riders trying to beat me have been pros. Also I did the same thing at Miamisburg but we had the same numbers, two against two.

So why do we do these things and get caught up in all the emotion? Satan wants us to destroy others and make sure we pound each other into the ground. God wants us all to have fun and enjoy each others talents and work together. I have found out over the years that I have had
pure joy when I have worked just as equal as other riders and ended up beating the odds, instead of having joy in the moment and wishing I wouldn't have done them.

I share everything with my family they support me and love me as do I. They get to hear all the real stuff that goes on in cycling such as being spit on because I am not wanted in their group. I also remember a time when someone caused a wreck and I couldn't believe all that had happend, so I let the gentleman know. I have never felt so bad about doing that in my entire life, it wasn't even his whole fault.

In the end you get rewards for what took place from the same team members of the rider that spit on you saying "how great you did" or "I really respect you for riding against all 11 of us and beating the odds" things like this are said because God wants you to here them or receive them. God has given me so much and I thank Him for all of these things. Surprises are the best of all. Even when the rider that spits on you says after all that has happend wants you to race with them next year and you already turned them down without knowing.Thank you Jesus!

GodSpeed

MRI

MRI came back normal. Thanks for the Prayers.

Days to pray

Thanks to everyone that has sent me e-mails or posted comments. Prayers always helps no matter the outcome. Well I have two appointments coming so pray for these days and times. But first continue to pray for my family to have a peace of mind, and for whatever it is causing loss of my peripheral vision as well.

The date for the MRI is Dec. 10th at 3:20pm. My Neuro-Ophthalmology Doctors appointment is Dec.18th at 1:00pm. Pray that I will be focused on God and not the problem durning the next few weeks. More importantly I am having trouble getting into the Christmas spirit, so I pray I can do that today and from here on out. Time to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and to focus more on loving one another.

Thanks everyone Love ya,
JC

Flu Over?

Well Becky, Caylin, and I have all had the flu. I pray we are all done for the rest of this year and next. Still pray that we all stay puke free and that we get back to normal soon.

Today I had an eye exam and they ran a test that I knew I didn't pass before the result. Now maybe we can get the MRI done and if they find something in the MRI I could have someone go over it with me before the end of next week.

Pray that it will be something they can fix and pray for my family not to worry.

Thanks again,
Jeremy

Flu...Week

This is one week that doesn't fly by as everyone with children knows. Poor mommy, one day Caylin had puked 10 times and then the next day was better other than her tummy had a boo boo on it. I puked one time and my ribs hurt so bad it felt worse than wrecking my bike.



Bike what is that? I rode 3:30 hrs Sunday after a week of not riding at all. Haven't got on the bike since. I went up to 200 pounds so I guess it is time to start getting serious, I just hope I follow through with it. I got a great start with the flu though. I dropped 8 pounds of water weight in one day and still don't feel like eating, well I do but I won't. i don't want to rush it, plus maybe it is time I start enjoying food and not inhaling it. Yep if you ever saw me eat you would get sick too. At least I don't eat 2 pounds of liver at one sitting in the lunch room at work, yes I have seen someone actually do this and he heated up some corn to top it all off.



That reminded me of the movie the great outdoors with good ole John Candy eating the ole 96er I think it was. I just remember that guy with the white streak in his hair saying he got struck by lightning 6....6.....6...6...6.times" wow that's alot"..6....6...6..6....6...... "66 times". Have to watch that movie again some time.

Thanks to all for the prayer concerns. I have had a better week other than the flu. My eyesite is the best it has been but not even close to 100%. The improtant thing is I have not felt dizzy or I haven't had any headaches or numbness in my hands. Praise God for everything. I will try realy hard to eat better and hope that this problem will just go away and never come back. I will keep you posted.

In all things praise God and you and others around you will be blessed. It can be very hard to do this when you are not focused on Him but when you are trying hard to be focused on Him you will receive extra strength. I am speaking from experience. God is Good all the time, don't know how people can live without Him.

Anyone ...Anyone...

Like in the movie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" Anyone... Anyone... Ferris... Ferris...

Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions? I am open to any or all so feel free to suggest anything. You can call me at work 1-877-766-4465 mon-fri 7am to 3pm or at home 330-683-5303. or e-mail me grimm1990@netzero.net

The body is so complex. God has made it that way for a reason. People way back before Christ came to earth lived to be what we consider old. Well lots of people don't believe that people could live to be 900 or 500 or have children after they reach 100 years old. God made it happen and it is written.

Doctors have no idea what is wrong with my left eye. It could be as simple as a vitamin deficiency, to as complex as a secondary chiari malformation (where the brain sinks into the foramen magnum {the hole in the skull the spinal cord exits through]). So lets hope for the first one.

I started my vitamins today and hope to start eating better soon. My symptoms have progressed to Blurry or out of focus but can read 20/20 vision or gray vision in my left eye. Ringing in ears but the Dr. said that is from hearing loss of high frequencies. Those symptoms last all the time. The others go on and off as they please and are: dizziness, headaches, numbness in hands for four days they just feel stiff most of the time now, weakness everywhere on the body.

So maybe a Dr. will read this or people that know someone that has gone through these same symptoms and has some ideas for me would be great as well. It only took my family, friends, and I 4 years to find out I had Lyme Disease, so I hope this won't take as long. God has blessd are family so much and contiues too everyday. Caylin was sick with the flu all day and night yesterday but is doing so much better today, Praise the Lord. When someone you Love is sick it hurts you more.

Cat Scan

I had a Cat Scan on my brain monday. The result was a good one. I do have a brain, hard to believe I know. So I have been to one eye Doctor twice, a family Doctor, have had blood work done, and a Cat Scan. I am planning on seeing at least 3 other doctors in the next 3 months.

Pray that someone will be able to find what is wrong with my eye and the ringing in my ears. Also pray for my family not to worry. Pray that my eye will be healed. Pray that it doesn't get worse as well.

God will take care of everything, He is in control. I pray that everyones focus will be on Him and what His will is if it is supposed to be known.

Just in time

This Pic was taking right before Halloween Night. Well my eye has still been a problem so I ask that you pray for healing and a reason why it has been blurry for two weeks now if it is meant to be. Please pray for my family and that my eye will return to its normal sight if it be the Lord's will. Here is a very scary Pic:

Elves and More 2008

I wanted to give everyone an update on the arrival of our bikes. Everyone’s heard of the freighter out in San Francisco that bumped into the San Francisco Bay Bridge, spilling all that oil? Here is a picture of it:

An approximately 100-foot gash stretches along the hull of the [Hanjin] Cosco Busan in Oakland, Calif., on Saturday. The cargo ship spilled 58,000 gallons of oil into the water Wednesday after it struck a support on the Bay Bridge.


I wish this was a bad joke but that ship was supposed to be heading to Shanghai to pick up the containers of OUR bicycles and returning to the States on Monday November 19. However, because of the damage, that ship is now out of service for the year.

The folks who we’ve ordered our bikes with in Houston (The founder of Elves & More down there) have been scrambling (and sweating bullets) to find another ship to bring the bikes back to the States, and have now arranged for another shipment, but at somewhat later dates.
Right now we expect to have all of our bikes loaded on a ship that sails November 23. That will put those bicycles in our hands on/about December 16. This will ultimately affect that nice and tidy schedule that I sent out last week. We are now making plans on what the new dates will be and I will keep updating the website here: http://www.elvesandmoreneo.org/volunteer.html to reflect the changes that we make. All things point to a delivery date on the 23rd and a build/load on the 22nd. Again, this is not final yet but one thing is for sure, building on the 15th is certainly out of the question.
None of this is optimal of course, but it is what it is. It's one of the hazards of trying to squeeze the manufacture and shipping into the timeframe when we have BOTH the build-space and the money.

In the meantime, if anyone has any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Praying

So many people came to my mind this morning when I rode my bike to work. So many people need prayers. When I pray I always tell God how wonderful He is and How everything He created is so awesome. Then I come to the point in my prayer life that I struggle with. I confess to Him my sins and the things I struggle with weekly. This could be anything you are doing that is not pleasing to God. I know a lot of people including myself need so much prayer in this area. Then after I get that off my chest and give them to Him I thank Him, for everything. Now you will run out of time when you do this but try and think of something new each day. God knows what you thank Him for but He Loves to hear it from us. Then after thanking Him it is time to ask Him for things like Protection, food, shelter, healing, to be rich, be really specific, you will be amazed from the prayers and how they come out. God could make you rich in Love instead of rich in money. Or He could say no you will not be rich in money or wait maybe someday I will give you money. I use the word rich because the Bible talks about being rich in money and how it is the root to all evil. I agree with that 100%. So be careful of what you ask for, but God knows us better than we know ourselves and we should do our best to follow Him in all we do.



I just want to do the right things all the time. How do I do them? Well no one is perfect but it doesn't hurt to try, I start over again ever morning when I go to work because I never do the right things. It seems I struggle every week and I would like to last for at least two weeks or more without struggling. God wants us to Love and have a relationship with Him. In order to do that we need to pray to Him everyday and without end. We should be in prayer all the time with Him. Also we need to spend time in church or fellowship with Him weekly the Bible tells us that. If you come to a church like the one I attend, you are greeted with love and it stays that way no matter how many sundays you miss. Get active in your Church, I pray some of you just make that first step you won't regret it. I also encourage you to get into a group and learn the Bible with others, you learn so much more with others than just one mind. They have lots of different groups for you to join at churches. Singles bible study, family bible studies, Men bible studies, women, youth, and more.

Once you have done this for a while you will realize how wonderful it is. You will see a change in your life and others in your life around you. God will become your focus and you will want to learn more about Him and His Son Jesus. Then you will want to try and live more like Jesus. Everything will be focused on Him and when you are doing just that God will place everything perfectly in your life. Everything will work itself out. You will be asking God to use yourself to bring others closer to Him and that is what it is all about. God wants you to Love everyone and He wants us to Love Him no matter what is going on in your life. You will win every time you choose Him, instead sin.

Cross My Heart

Yep this race was the hardest cross race ever. Thanks to everyone that put on this race. I will be back next year.

Last Orrville Cross Race

This has been the best course I have ever done in cross. I can say that now after doing the Spin City Course. Thanks to everyone that put on the Orrville races they are a must for next year. Here is some video from the race.

PM Lights Out

I had a great time suffering at the NEW Orrville CX race. This race could hold a lot of racers on it at one time. I loved this course cause it was so hard and no time to catch a breath. I was told a UCI course has more off camber turns or just more turns to make it more technical. That would be great for me cause I am starting to like turns in cross. I think I have got a handle on turns now and hope I can do more races with or without both eyes, I don't think I could do them being dizzy though.

PM came to the race today and I was disappointed when he said he was going to race with Texas Roadhouse again. Thats ok though I am happy for him. He is a great guy, then I went up to him after the race and asked him if he would come back next week to the Orrville race, can't believe I asked him. A race with PM will always turn the lights out for sure. Shawn Adams also made it hard as well, working with PM to make sure I wouldn't catch back on. Those guys are great and I hope to get better if and when my eye clears up.

I was pretty sore after working for only two and a half hours the day before making the course better than what it was. Thanks to dad for the right stuff and for everyone else that made this course come together. Awesome course I wouldn't change a thing. I did say that I didn't like it as much as the other course but that is because it was flat and had lots of turns to it. I am used to that kind of course and the UCI courses are like that I was told but more open. I am starting to Love CX and it shows now if I can learn how to bunny hop those barriers like Barry Wicks, boy am I dreaming. I think I have enough things going on right now, first get my eye better and then lose the weight.

Continue to Pray

I have been trying to keep up with Church Bible study and everyday prayer concerns that I have received. Please Lord help everyone in need, as I have learned no prayer is to small and no prayer is to great, so pray for all.

Things are going great with bible study and our 40 days of community projects. I have a new one for next year or sooner than that. Please pray that all know that OCC is trying to help out the community in some way meeting the needs of those in need.

With life flying by me so fast and lots of plans to do this week, I am almost at a stand still now. I have had a fog or out of focus left eye since Monday night and I did have dizziness and headaches, so I am glad they are gone. The fog still remains in my left eye but I hope the Dr. is right and it will go away with the eye drops, thanks Steph for the sample eye drops. The Dr. ruled out everything which is good and did say I have a little bit of a inflammation in the left eye. I have been blessed with perfect vision up to my 4th grade year and with the help of glasses till now. I really would like to see again Lord if it be your will. Just now sensing more dizziness so please pray that will be completly gone as well as the headaches. I can live with everything but it would take some time getting us to it.

A couple of my plans were to go with my Bible study group and help the least of these, a program for feeding the homeless in the big city. Also going to see Josh Short, I mentioned him in the last blog. The community has really helped out with going up to see Josh and the school worked out a program so they could take the kids up to see him. I wanted to go up this week but I think resting would be better since I have been trying to work. I am not riding my bike to work either and I gained some weight quickly, must be stress.

Last night Caylin puked all over her bed and is running a temp. Becky woke me up cause Caylin wanted a kiss from Daddy. God is good all the time and He will help us get through times like these. I pray that I learn from these things going on, for healing and for peace of mind in all things. Love you Lord God and thank You for all the blessings you have given to me. In Jesus name Amen.

Something no child should have to go through

Something no child should have to go through

ORRVILLE -- Among the many sentences I never figured I'd type, how about this one? Manny Ramirez makes perfect sense.

Here's one I wish I never had to type: A young man, instead of getting ready to play the game he's always dreamed of, is fighting for his life.

Manny, of course, was "being Manny" when, with Boston down 3-1 to the Indians in the ALCS, said that the end result didn't matter.

"It's only a game," he said, and for that, he was laughed at, questioned, even vilified by people a lot smarter than myself.

This column was supposed to be about Wooster and Orrville's football rivalry. In a way, I guess, it still is.

But it's more about what is really important.

Like Josh Short.

Josh is 17 and a junior at Orrville High. As the starting center on the football team, he was supposed to spend Thursday night tossing and turning in his bed, wondering how the biggest game in his life would turn out.

Instead, Josh was rushed to Akron Children's Hospital on Tuesday. Wednesday morning, he was diagnosed with leukemia.

And, Thursday he started CHEMOTHERAPY.

GO THROUGH THAT, AND ALL OF A SUDDEN, THE WOOSTER-ORRVILLE GAME DOESN'T MEAN THAT MUCH.

ASK ORRVILLE HEAD COACH DOUG DAVAULT, A FATHER WITH CHILDREN OF HIS OWN.

WHEN YOU'RE A HEAD COACH -- AND THE HEAD FOOTBALL COACH IN A TIGHT-KNIT COMMUNITY LIKE ORRVILLE -- "YOU LOVE YOUR PLAYERS LIKE THEY WERE MY OWN KIDS."

DAVAULT TOLD ME THIS ON WEDNESDAY, WHICH TURNED INTO THE LONGEST, MOST TRYING DAY OF HIS LIFE.

LIKE ANY SANE, RATIONAL HUMAN BEING -- EVEN MANNY RAMIREZ -- DAVAULT HAD NO PROBLEM PUTTING A HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL GAME IN THE PROPER PERSPECTIVE.

AS A FATHER, HE HAS ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE. AS A COACH, STILL ANOTHER.

"YOU WANT TO FIX THINGS AND MAKE THEM RIGHT, AND IT'S IN THE HANDS OF OTHERS, AND YOU FEEL HELPLESS," DAVAULT SAID. "YOU'RE THERE FOR SUPPORT, AND TO DO WHAT YOU CAN TO HELP, BUT WE'VE GONE THROUGH THE WHOLE GAMUT HERE.

"YOU FEEL SORRY AND THERE'S TEARS, AND THEN YOU GET MAD AND WANT TO FIGHT, AND THEN, WHEN YOU THINK PRACTICALLY, YOU ASK WHAT DOES THE FAMILY NEED FROM US? ALL OF US WENT THROUGH THOSE PHASES IN LIKE A 10-TO-12-HOUR TIMEFRAME.

"YOU LOOK AT JOSH, AND YOU CAN'T HELP BUT THINK ABOUT EVERYTHING THIS KID, THIS YOUNG KID, IS GOING THROUGH AND GETTING READY TO GO THROUGH," DAVAULT ADDED. "YOU WONDER HOW YOU WOULD RESPOND."

JOSH'S PARENTS, LARRY AND KAREN, WANTED DAVAULT TO COME TO THE HOSPITAL IMMEDIATELY ON TUESDAY NIGHT.

IT'S EVERY COACH'S -- AND PARENT'S -- NIGHTMARE.

BUT, WHEN A 17-YEAR-OLD RESPONDS THE WAY JOSH SHORT DID, WELL, AS A COACH, THOSE LESSONS YOU SO STRONGLY BELIEVE THAT SPORTS TEACH ABOUT HANDLING ADVERSITY, THE LESSONS YOU TRY TO TEACH EVERY DAY AND WONDER IF THE KIDS ARE EVEN PAYING ATTENTION, THE PROOF IS RIGHT THERE, LYING IN A HOSPITAL BED.

THAT'S DAVAULT'S PROOF -- LIVING PROOF.
SO, IS THE WOOSTER-ORRVILLE GAME IMPORTANT? YOU BET.
IS IT EVERYTHING? NOT CLOSE.

"IT'S JUST A GAME," DAVAULT SAID. "OBVIOUSLY, YOU WANT TO PLAY HARD AND YOU WANT TO WIN, BUT WHEN YOU GET DOWN TO IT, IT'S ENTERTAINMENT FOR A LOT OF PEOPLE, IT'S A LOT OF FUN TO BE IN, AND IT'S GREAT TO BE ABLE TO DO IT. THAT'S ALL IT REALLY IS.

"THEN, LIFE COMES BACK, THE REAL WORLD, AND THINGS HAPPEN. SOME ARE TOUGH TO TAKE."

ANY COACH, PARENT, FATHER OR FRIEND KNOWS THAT.
JOSH SHORT AND HIS FAMILY KNOW IT BETTER THAN THEY SHOULD HAVE TO.
SO, WHETHER YOU'RE IN RED AND WHITE OR BLUE AND GOLD TONIGHT, YOU SHOULD SAY A PRAYER FOR THE SHORTS.

AND, WHILE YOU TAKE A COUPLE OF HOURS TO CHEER ON YOUR FAVORITE TEAM, DON'T FORGET TO TAKE A MINUTE TO REFLECT ON WHAT REALLY MATTERS.

Orrville CX

Well this is going to be short, very sorry. I have been busy very busy and I want to post about my last two races at Orrville. So here it goes. The first Orrville CX race was almost a no show. Thanks to Jeff coming up and racing and Ed doubling up. Thanks to the Orrville men for making this course the best it's been ever.

After my first CX race I remembered I have to start out as fast as I can no matter who's in the field, Jeff, Ed, and Tricia(sp). So there is only four of us and I know these guys can race. Tricia was there to get ready for the next week, Although I had trouble passing her in the race she is Strong, Look out women!

I was able to get a great start and I felt great about my start passing the clock just under 5 min then the next lap was 10:12 so I was ok with that and then I wrecked with a nice gap bruising my ribs again and re-opening my wound on my arm. I looked like a Paris Rouibax(sp) rider dirty and bleeding. I finished 11 laps under 60 mins so I was some what happy. Thanks to Wes for all the CX advice. http://orrvillecycling.com/OrrvilleCross.php#results

The next Orrville CX race had a better turn out the 2nd weekend. I think it was because the weekend before there were 3 races on the same day, but Ed and Tricia showed up so why didn't more? Just kidding I understand.

Well Cameron came to my house and Caylin wanted me to play with her barbies(sp). So sorry Cam that I wasn't to sociable. Cam and I rode to the race and there was a great turn out today. I can't wait till this coming weekend.

I knew there would be a bigger bunch of riders today. It was near 80 and hot is what I told my wife after coming back to the house before the race. I told Cam it's all about the start at this race, well at least I thought that was true. John Lorson proved us all wrong as he passed so many riders to get 3rd place in the masters. Great job John! I had a perfect start nothing went wrong for me. I was on Steve's wheel and he was on Matt's wheel. We stayed on Matt's wheel for two or 3 laps as he towed us away from all the others except for his teammate Shawn. So at the top of the hill on the first barrier on the 3rd or 4th lap Steve took off and I was right behind him. Shawn or Matt was next. I was able to hold on to Steve's wheel for a lap then we worked together almost the rest of the race. I was having the race of my life! I asked my Dad for time gaps and we thought for sure Shawn was catching us. In the end I finished 12 laps under 64mins with no wrecks and one miracle of a race. Thank you Lord for pushing the pedals for me today.

Come to the next Orrville CX race this Sunday the 28th at 3:15 and Cheer us on. The day starts at 1:30 in the YMCA parking lot. Come bring friends, and walk around, don't forget your boots it will be muddy. Also bring your cameras to get some great pics of muddy teeth. This course will be awesome, wide open everywhere and more pavement than any CX race I done. Drafting will come into play at this course and also bunch sprints, maybe. Looking forward to 1 hr of pain, and muddy teeth.

Top Pic is Bill Marut, had to put that one on the blog. Nice pic Dad!

Thanks Dad for all the Pics and video.

Gideons

God Loves You

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.~John 3:16

But God commendeth his love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.~Romans5:8

All Are Sinners

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. ~Romans 3:23

As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one. ~Romans 3:10

God's Remedy for Sin

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.~Romans 6:23

But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. ~John 1:12

All May Be Saved

NowBehold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him.~Revelation 3:20

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.~Romans 10:13

But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.~John 20:31

My Decision to Receive Christ As My Saviour

Confessing to God that I am a sinner, and believing that the Lord Jesus Christ died for my sins on the cross and was raised for my justification, I now receive and confess Him as my personal Saviour.

Oct. 7th

Today was great spending time in our class and in church. The Lord is working in me so much. I actcually felt smart for a change.... well not really just prepared. Becky and I were door greeters today at the North side of Church. Not to many people came in from those doors so I spent some time talking to some great brothers and sisters of Christ. Then I saw Dean that I play church softball with. If I had the keys I would have locked the door.... I held the door shut till his family came up to the doors then I let them in. I must have looked very helpful with that name tag on cause everyone wanted me to help out today which was fine by me. Ask away I told myself I am here to help.

Bunch of Love going on right now at the church and in our Bible studies that we missed that night. We had planned on going to the Steven Curtis Chapman concert that night. So we missed our friends at bible study but we had a great time at the concert. We met up with Jim and Vicki to eat out before hand and everything went great! We had an awesome time fellowshiping with one another and the concert what so awesome. The Lord had blessed us all with some strong testimonies and music with lyrics of Love toward Him and each other. Thanks to Jim and Vicki Becky and I had a wonderful time. Becky and I will be buying Stevens new CD coming out this Oct. 23rd.

Oct. 6th

Oct 6th and Caylin was happy I was at home when she woke up early in the morning. We had a great morning. My wife said that Grandma and Granny would be coming over this morning so I charged up the I-pod and went for a 3 hr ride. First time in a long time but I Loved it. I kept it in the 53 all day and it was hard going up some of those steep climbs in stark, holmes, and wayne county. I almost didn't make it up one of them but can't remember where that was.

I went on a bunch of dirt roads that I don't remember being on before, so it was great! I had such a great time singing to all my tunes and then about 40 min from home my battery ran out. I only charged it for an hr so I didn't get the full charge but that was ok I put everything away and road in silience the rest of the way home. At one point in the start of my ride I came across a beautiful view wishing I had a camera on me. God had blessed my ride so much today. Thank you Lord so much.

Got home and had some more fun with Caylin. We were wrestling though and she kneed me in the ribs again but this time twice once with each knee real quick. I stll hurt from that and my ribs may never be fully healed cause of so much activity that goes on around or house. I enjoy all of it though, even though it hurt to laugh telling Becky trying to get some sympathy.

Last Night

Last Night I was still tired from the Steven Curtis Chapman concert that took place on Sunday Night. Old age is catching up with me faster than I want it too. So yesterday I did fine eating but when I got home I did great at first and it was later in the night because I had bible study with Tom.

So I started eating good stuff that Becky had made around 6:00pm and after that it went downhill fast. Becky started mowing and then I finished what was left which wasn't much. I did spend some good quality time with Caylin but it can be a lot better than that. I had candy corn, M&M's, and the cookies Caylin and Becky had made.

Ok there was maybe 28 cookies now there is 12. I am bad... very bad. I want to look at the scale and see how bad I did but that won't help me that will only make things worse. So here we go again, I was focused more on food than what God would want me to do. There are so many starving people out there and I come home and eat a weeks worth of food very selfish and not very Loving toward Caylin and Becky cause now there isn't very much left.

Rick Warren

Short Interview with Rick Warren, (PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE) You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren has, with his wife now having cancer and him having 'wealth' from the book sales. This is an absolutely incredible short interview with Rick Warren, 'Purpose Driven Life ' author and pastor ofSaddleback Church in California.

In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren,

Rick said:People ask me, What is the purpose of life?

And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven. One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body-- but not the end of me.I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity. We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.

Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one. The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort.God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life.

The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness. This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore. Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good an d something bad in your life.

No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems.If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness,'which is my problem, my issues, my pain.'

But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others. We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her.It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people. You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life.Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder.

For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy. It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease.So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72

First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases.Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor , care for the sick, and educate the next generation. Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in th e 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity? Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?

When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better.

God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do.

That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.
Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD.
NOW ... PLEASE SHARE THIS WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

Love Life

This past week I rode my bike to work everyday, again. Thank you Lord it was perfect weather to ride. I also did a Orrville cyclocross ride on wednesday with those great Orrville club members. Thanks to them posting the rides. It is so much easier to ride with someone. Caylin and I rode our bikes around the streets where we live. She is really doing good going up and down hills now. Training wheels are still on and I don't plan to take them off until she is older. They slow her down, so that way I can keep up with her. Becky has been working hard as she always does. We have been reading our book by Rick Warren side by side at night before we go to bed.

Things seem to be going good but not great. I have realized I am not doing what God wants me to do. I am doing what I want to do. I need to spend more time with Caylin and Becky when I get home instead of feeding my face with a bunch of junk food. This morning I stopped looking at the scale to show me how much more I need to lose. I am devoting my heart and soul to what God wants me to do. I think I know what that is, the hard part is doing it. I ask for prayer from you that God will be my focus instead of what could be or what hasn't happend yet. Giving myself to God Loving Him and also Loving others. That's what God wants us to do, Love Others that's all. It is so hard to do sometimes but with God all things are possible.

Sept. 30th Get In The Game

In Church we started 40 Days of Community. Where our church goes out and meets the needs of our community. We had a great morning at church worship time and Sunday School class where we really shared our differences out of Love or litterally in Love. We talked about how important it is to know the meaning of Love and how we need to Love others. That is how things happen, out of Love for others. When you Love others as Jesus did there is no greater Love. Our verse for the week is John 13:35 Your Love for one another will prove to the world that you are my discples.

It takes time to have us all work together and get things done in 40 days but with God working through all of us we can get things done. I pray that we all come together and get things done for our community. Something that our church has done is feeding the community once a month and last monday I helped out with that. Such an experience to be a part of. i am so blessed I have a job that I can help support my family for the things we need. Like food, water, and shelter.

That night we had bible study group at our friends house. We had such a great time and everyone in our group is so Awesome. Thanks to Bob, Amy and Jill. Also to any one else that brought the food. We all share our turns each week which is Awesome. Listen to me more food.. food.... food.

Sept. 29th

After the powerman race went home and got ready for church. Saturday night tail gate party at the church with great food and fellowship. Ok so this may be another reason my weight hasn't come down lately, all this great food is killing me. Tail gate party at a church you ask? Where is this church you have parties at. Yep you better come and enjoy while we are here.

Man the food was great anything for your dogs you want. We had like ten grills there... serious. Pick where you wanted to get your dogs. What grill did you want your server you name it. So thanks to all that made the dogs and all the toppings for them as well as tons of sides to add to your mammoth plates.

After all that was said and done Take your pick of Homemade Ice Cream! Yes! I'm in Heaven! No I am still in Orrville and that will put on some pounds. I had two different kinds though and man were they awesome!

After we stuffed ourselves we took Caylin to her classroom and she had fun with her friends. While we went to the sanctuary to have some more fun and games. I had no idea what those football movies were for the guess what movie that is.

Thanks to John, the cooks, and everyone that made everything possible today it was Great.

Westlake

I forgot to tell you about the last Westlake. It was the last Westlake of the year and I wanted to keep things together for the Team cause all of us can place at Westlake. I pulled back everything and did no work in the breaks cause we just didn't have the right #'s up front. Tris is an animal he was awesome tonight, pulling us back and going solo that took several riders to pull him back. Well in the end he made a hard solo effort to get away in the last mile. I pulled him back and 4 RGF riders took money in the top 6 Dave took 1st, Stephan took 3rd, Bob took 5th, and Polo took 6th. I got 8th and was worn out and just one place shy. But I did happen to take some primes which ws great for the Team. Also talking about primes Cameron took a prime after being away for several miles. I should have tried to jump up to him but didn't. Noah and I were doing a great job of keeping others fresh for the end. Although Polo helped pull back Tris in the end as well and still had a great sprint in the end. RGF is going to have some fun next year! I have had so much fun already racing with these guys. It just isn't fair for everyone else.

After the race at Dave's house we had a party for the whole year. Got to spend some great times talking with others and looking at the new uniform's. They will be sweet! Thanks Polo! Thanks to all that helped out with the party and the food was Awesome thanks to Tom. I got home at 10:30 and Caylin was up running around telling me all about her day for a whole hour. Then she hit a wall and was out for only 7 hours but Becky recovered nicely she always does. Almost forgot the coke zero just isn't good enough for after the race so next time I will have to bring Coke Classic. I can't wait to wear those uniforms and they do have yellow on them so you may be able to see us in the pack if we have bright yellow helmets to go with it.

Powerman

Powerman 5 are signed up and 5 showed up. Great day to race, and the payout was going to the top 2 of the five of us. I had a teammate today Anthony Rienzi, great racer very smart and strong. He is only 20 years young so he has a bright future in cycling now with the Tour of America coming to the US. Well they put us with the cat 3 racers and so we had 21 racers together at the start for a quest of only 42 miles not 56. So we started out slow and worked our way to the hilly section of the course. I was back a little and a group of 6 hit the climb hard. I chased them down and waited for my teammate, that didn't need any waiting for later to find that out. I asked him how he felt after the hills and I mentioned to him that he got caught behind the others on the climb. Well after we all got back together Anthony and I were talking about going on the climbs again or to look out for them. 6 of us broke clear and we all worked together perfectly. Anthony was the only cat 3 rider with us how sweet is that. Well I knew Anthony could hold his own with the rest so I attacked several miles before the hills. I thought I would be able to hold them off at one point but they were too strong and they caught me at the base of THE climb. Anthony attacked everyone which hurt me a bit more than others but I caught them on the downhill, I still have that extra weight.

After that 5 of us rolled together for a little bit then Anthony and I started attacking them and it helped in the end cause I just beat the 2nd place rider. Anthony almost broke everyones back in the mile and I thought for sure we would go clear. I should have jumped a couple of times when Anthony did and maybe we would have split them up more in the end. Almost a perfct finish but with both of us winning it all worked out. Great job Anthony!

Also thanks to my Dad and Mom helping me and others get ready,for a great event, and also for Benny Rienzi taking those photos.

Kirtland Race

After early service my Mom, Becky, Caylin, and I went to Kirtland for a cyclocross race. It has been one week and Caylin kneed me in the ribs while we were wrestling a couple of days before that so my ribs still hurt to take deep breathes. I wanted to see how I would do after being 20 pounds lighter than all of last year. Well I was kinda disappointed cause my start was horrible. I was back maybe in 17 place with two groups ahead already forming 20 seconds ahead. This was the race to be up front in cause you could use the draft all day. Well I worked my way back up to the top 10 and I ended up 6th overall but 5th in the A group because Brent was in the 40+ group and he was up front all day. Great job Brent! Thanks to everyone that cheered for me the whole race or parts of it. It was exciting for me to hear Go Jeremy or Grimmy or Daddy all those laps. It helped cause I passed a lot of guys those last 5 laps. I bet my times were faster than in the start of the race. I had forgotten how much I love cyclocross races. Also a special thanks to Mehul Gala for the pics on RGF Solutions website. Thanks to RGF for putting them on the website so I could see them. It turned out to be a really great day when I went up to see what place I got knowing that they were only going to pay to the top 3 I just wanted to see what place I got. I was hoping for top 7 but thought I was 8th - 10th out of 21 starters. When I was going up to look for the results Julie gave me 30 bucks for 5th place YES! I couldn't believe I got 5th place let alone 6th place overall my Mom and Becky were right again. Thank you Lord for an awesome start to my day by worshiping you at church then having some fun on the bike then spending time with family after that. Sorry to those that saw my arm after the race it was really gross looking. My Mom almost lost her breakfast.

This makes my 100th post is that crazy or what?

Need to be Alive in Christ.

Went to Church on Sept 23rd and it was way over due. The word of God lets us know how important it is to be in fellowship with other believers. That could explain my weight gain of 7 pounds or it was from the wreck. I am stuck in a rut again but this time I am 191 pounds not 210 like last year.God rested on the 7th day. I went to church and I sure was filled with the Holy Spirit today. Our Church is hopping, it is so exciting! We are getting prepped up for our 40 days of community by Rick Warren next week. Ouch!!! Just killed a gnat on me, hit my ribs in the process. Struck me funny but now it hurts a little more. So back to Rick Warren, who wrote this book and also 40 days of purpose. Great books but know one is perfect. God's word is where it is at. It helps to read books like Rick Warren's to get some refueled and energized. It is working for me so far looking at the things that help me out. For others and we are in the 6th day now it may be all about Love and may not be as excited. But if you get past the Love part of it the message can be very helpful.

Rick Warren gets everyones attention by starting out with "What Is Love"? Love is a feeling True or False: Love is and action True or False: Love is commitment True or False: I looked at these the first time real quick before the lesson in SS and I said True to all the above. The first one was false and that got our class going. I won't be able to explain how to convince you that Love is not feeling cause I can't explain it to my wife. I do believe it is an action and a commitment an every day thing. Here is my take on it today: If you get caught up in feeling's and say something you didn't want to say or didn't mean them, you just said them because you were upset at the time and no one is perfect. Well true Love forgives what you said because of the commitment you have for one another. My wife and I have said things to each other in the past that wasn't too nice and why do we do it more to the ones we Love? Well we are learning as we are now in our 10th year to be full with Love and we don't have these little spats as much over the years. I am so Blessed that my wife has forgiving me many of times and I don't deserve it. Sort of like how Jesus died on the cross for us and we didn't deserve it but he gave us the Choice of Eternal Life with His Father in Heaven(God). That's why I think it is more of a gift than a feeling. Please tell me what you think. Is it a Feeling, a Gift, an action, a commitment, some of those, none of those, all of the above, more than all of the above. What is Love? Tell me what you think Love is. I'm interested in what you think Love is.

What Is Love?

Last Softball Game

Well here goes everything I got, bruised or cracked ribs and lots of road rash on my arm. Only two days after my wreck and I am not going to sit this one out. It hurt just to yawn or take half of a deep breath but I am going to swing the bat any way. No warm ups just go for it, Here comes the pitch..... what am I doing I must be out of my mind. Needless to say God got me through the night but he reminded me of how stupid it was to try and play. So I guess I won't do ththat again even though it was a little bit of pain. I went 1-2 but had a couple of errors and the other team was ready and they hit the ball all night. I guess they earned it as we got beat up in 6 innings. A couple of days later my ribs couldn't be broke cause they felt a lot better. That same night during the game Don had told me he got hit by a 1200 pound steer and it cracked his ribs so I was glad I hit the crub at 35 mph instead.

Didn't Plan That

I thought that this weekend I would be going to church but Dad had told me we could go out to see Grandpa and Grandma. They live in Maryland, and on the way home we could go to a bike race or two. I looked up the race and I knew there would be a bunch of racers there. Meridith GPOA had 12 riders and Rite Aid Pro cycling team was also there with 3 guys. Kelly Benefits Pro Team was also there as well as a couple other Pros I had no idea would be there as well. Dad took a pic of Stubna all smiles of course, that whole team is great.

Last year Carney won the race so I guess it was good to go and get beat up a little. I had a great start and stayed with every move I thought would work. I felt better than I had all year and I knew today I could do anything I wanted, so I did. No Primes were given out all day even though they said they would, but they never said anything once we got at the line to start. We had 60 starters and they dropped fast with a nice hill in the course, which was fine with me.

God really blessed my legs today everything was going perfect for me. Then with 18 miles or laps to go Tom Soliday attacks right after all the big boys had been in the break that I just worked in. I didn't know who this rider was until I jumped up to him solo. While we were in the break that I didn't feel too comfortable being in after 3 laps, they said look at Soliday and Grimm they have a 24 second gap. Soliday was hammering and I started to feel a little tired. I told Tom I was done working and he was ok with it, I am pretty sure he knew I was hurting.

Well there we are in front of the pack by 5 seconds hoping someone would join us, but no go. I then thought to myself I am feeling pretty good I think I will pull as hard as I can for a lap. We put 10 seconds on them in one lap with 6 to go. As I went around the corner of the first turn I pulled over to fast and to hard and clipped my pedal hard enough to roll my tubular off the rim. Couldn't get the wheel changed quick enough to jump in with Soliday so now I am back with the field and we have 5 to go.

I rested the whole time as they caught Soliday and now it was game time. The first person in the last turn wins. 2 laps to go and I am sitting on the lead out man for Rite Aid Pro cycling team. He had long blond hair sticking out of his helmet whoever that is. He took off so fast a had about 2 bike length gaps between us. I looked back to see what would happen and nothing. I knew I would catch him fast and I was right. When we got through the last turn he gave it everything he had and I was sitting down still and I don't know why I didn't go around him but 3 others did and 2 were his teammates. Stephan won the race and his teammate took himself out of the race, as well as Jared and I. I guess Rite Aid wanted to be greedy or something cause at the last 2nd the so called Pro cut off Jared into the turn and we had to hit our breaks. I felt fine going into the turn and I think I went faster through that same turn when I caught Tom for our break.

You can see in the video we slowed down after the pack started to. I almost made it through the turn and it would have been so nice, but it just wasn't meant to be. I keep telling my self maybe next time but now I have to wait till next year. I tore up my left arm real good but my hip is good already. The worst part is the bruised ribs which hurt worse after I was applying pressure to them in the car on the way home. I heard and felt something pop while pushing on them, and then it hurt worse after doing it. It doesn't hurt that bad anymore but will make sure if it gets worse to check with the Doc.

Fair Day

Caylin and Mama, my girls. (left)

Caylin is getting to be a big girl. (middle)

Caylin loved the pony as she said "Ye Haw"

(top)

9-11-07 I took off work to take Caylin to the Wayne County Fair. This was something she has been looking forward to in such a long time. She rode a pony and loved all the rides she did. It was great having the day off just to relax for a change. My wife and I talked about how much she enjoyed the whole day with us. We all had such a great time. We saw some of Caylin's friends there too.

Father you are so awesome and perfect in every way. Your creations are magnificent and your Love is endless. Father times can get out of control but you are always there when we ask for your help. Lord I thank you for so many things. Thank you so much for my family, my friends, my freedom, all of the abilities you have given to me. Thank You. I pray that I and others will look into your word and see how amazing you are. How your son Jesus is a perfect example of how we should try and strive to be. I pray that I and others will come to Love you more Lord. Amen.

In Matthew:

10:37 “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 10:38 And whoever does not take up his cross 62 and follow me is not worthy of me. 10:39 Whoever finds his life 63 will lose it, 64 and whoever loses his life because of me 65 will find it.

16:16 Simon Peter answered, 19 “You are the Christ, 20 the Son of the living God.” 16:17 And Jesus answered him, 21 “You are blessed, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood 22 did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven! 16:18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades 23 will not overpower it. 16:19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven.”

God's Promises is intended to inspire you as you see how God can work in a man's life.

Final Stop for Ohio Cup

Caylin was asking me why are you outside in the rain?

What she wanted to say was get inside before you catch a cold.





Thank you OCA!

Well it rained again for another Road Race which was fine by me. Well not really, the downhill section of the course had chip and seal on it so it tore up a lot of tires. Dad put brand new tubulars on his wheels and let me race on them for Grand Rapids. They worked great and thought I would have problems with the track racing slick on the front in all those turns but the Lord kept me upright.

Well with the rain and only a few turns the race would not be decided in the turns. I did take it very easy in them though. Brent started the pace strong for the first several miles then a break got away with my teammate Bob Martin up the road. I knew he would be great in the break away but then he had a broken seat post so he had to DNF. I don't recall to much of the race after that I was so tired from my trip the day before. All I know is I tried hard to work in the breaks and make sure I would be able to try and win this race. I felt good about that until I had a flat tire going up the hill before 2 laps to go. I changed the flat before Steels Corner so I would have the downhill to chase back on. Sorry the van blocked everyones way and slowed everyone down. I heard the front group got slowed down as well. We had 7 guys still strong in the chase group so there was no way they were gone for good. I didn't know how Dave was feeling but I was not feeling good after I stopped out of the break to change my rear tire. As the chase group of Albers and my Teammate Dave went by I knew it would hurt to get back on.

As soon as I got back on I rested for the rest of the downhill and then we hit the uphill section. I looked behind me to see if Dave was still there and he was so I worked a little knowing I was cooked. Once we caught the break no one did anything till the 2nd to last roller which was great for me and my teammate Dave. Here is the video showing Dave won with ease. Great Job Dave!

Thank you Lord for the great day and my family there watching and supporting me in the rain. You blessed me once again and protected me from crashing. You have also provided me a great sponsor in that I will do your will so that more will come to know you as I do. May my actions in all that I do reflect you Lord.

Make Up Games

Yes after three days of racing I am playing two games on the same night after 8 hrs of work and my legs have been burning ALL DAY! I am complaining I know sometimes it helps to let it out. Well we won the first game in 3 innings but I had to run all night cause I got on base and Dex kept hitting the ball on the grass in between fielder's like you should do, why he chose tonight, to see how much pain my legs were giving me. Or he wanted to see my legs give out on me and do a face plant in the dirt.

Well the next game was against the best team in the league. I knew after one game our guys were just getting warmed up and the fire was lit. We scored 5 in the first 5 in the second and then they scored 10 in one inning with no errors. 8 runs with two outs, very impressive. It still didn't phase us. We kept tacking on runs here and there. It came down to the last inning we batted first and we scored 3 runs and had 3 men on when I came to the plate. So we were ahead by 6 and knew we needed to keep going. I was getting tired of Dex placing the ball just right so I would have to run. The last couple of times I held him up and he gave me some sympathy. Well the last time I came to bat we had 3 on like I wrote and I had hit the ball hard two times in a row my last two at bats and I was thinking about Dex hitting behind me again. I said "God please hit the ball over the fence cause if I have to run one more time I am going to cry. God gave me the strength to hit my 2nd Homerun of the year and the other team couldn't come back to win after we scored more than 6 runs that inning.

Thank you Jesus I didn't cry or do a face plant in front of everyone, fun game and great guys.

DEBAETS-DEVOS Pro-Am Criterium Championships

Labor Day, and boy did we sleep good after the meals we had. Thank you Lord! Everything went smooth in Canada. I was worried a little but didn't let it show to Becky or Caylin. If you give everything to God he will take care of everything, Amen.

Todays race was going to be hard. Very tuff racers and my third day in a row compared to other racers just being there second day. Well my plan was to sit in the whole race and go for the sprint. My how things change so fast. I think it was the 3rd lap and I was in a break with Steven Howard again. We kept it rolling for about 2 laps before Paul bridged up. Then we kept growing the lead each lap. The course was perfect for me even though it had two hills with 180 degree turns on it. I felt pretty good considering my legs hurt the whole race and never let up. They were burning so bad they didn't have time to cramp up. Well as we were coming up to the field to lap them after 1 hr and 15 of riding Paul lapped the field and Steven and I had nothing left. Steven got DQ'd because he drafted his teammate and I BONKED BAD. Rish and Fisher saw me bonk once before and this time I didn't let it go that far cause I didn't have time. With 6 laps to go Steven dropped me quickly. One min I was fine the next second BAM!!!!

I was going 3 miles per hour instead of 24 mph. It took 4 laps for the field to lap me and when they did I could hardly breathe and I was using a hay bail to push myself up the hill. I got to the point where I could see nothing for a couple of seconds and the EMS guy said I was gaging but I don't remember a thing. I do recall my wife asking me if I was ok and I couldn't say no until I caught my breath 5 mins later. Then my little girl said "Daddy are you ok" as I am laying on the ground not moving at all. I opened my eyes and said "yes Daddy will be just fine as soon as I get some sugar.... I Love you Caylin." Then she said " I Love You Mr. Incredible" she got that off of the movie. Caylin is the Best!

So two days in a row and out of the winning breaks. That hurts bad, real bad! Today was my fault though. I had 3 waters but no Gu to eat or anything. My breakfast was light and was 5 hrs before the race and I had one Banana 1 hr before it was time to race. I had plenty to drink and felt full the whole race but I had to go pee 3 times in the last 30 mins before the race started.

That's why you never say NEVER cause sometimes you forget. Well this reminded me again NEVER to do that again. I put myself in bad shape for next weekend too.

Grand Rapids Pro Race 9/8/07

Before the start of the race.

Pro's called to the line on the smooth section of bricks.

Well after 3 days of rest my legs have felt better so my plan was to sit in as much as possible. Today was the first race Becky and Caylin didn''t go because it would have been to hard on Caylin to travel 12 hrs in the car and 4 hrs at the race. Dad had his new camera which is totally awesome! You all will enjoy looking at pics and videos thanks to my Dad providing those as well as teaching me how to put them on my website, Thanks Dad.

So we get there after Dad and I talk about what I should do and he is helping me by telling me what to eat and when to eat it. I wish I could remember everything before races, so thanks to my Dad this race was great till the start then it was up to me to do it. Legs felt ok before the race I wish it would have been one day later but I had fun. Here is how it unfolded:

Rock racing didn't show up but everyone else did that they said would show up. http://www.priorityhealthclassic.com/ You can find the results there and the racers that showed up but like I said Rock Racing Pro Team was not there. Everyone else was, which wasn't to many Pro racers but enough. Health Net had there strongest Crit monsters Kirk, Karl, and Pipp. Jittery Joes had three there as well. Priority Health had 16 riders but I think only 10 finished. They called the whole team to the line and all the big Dogs even a Discovery Channel/ Marco Polo rider, Bradley White, who eneded up beating everyone up. Well he didn't win the big prize in the end but he won everything else, other than the one prime he gave to Pipp.

The first 25 laps were for prime points, every five laps. So the first four cross the line get points. 5,3,2,1 Bradley White took 23 points total and the next rider had 9 points then it was a mess. I took 2nd in the first one and 3rd in the 2nd giving me 5 points. So I thought, well they had # 54 down instead of #24 for the 2nd round of points and I asked the #54 rider if he got any points and he said no not that I was aware of. So I was glad I asked about it cause that tied me for 5th in the points with Kirk O'Bee the current and 2 time US Pro Crit Champ. Since #54 had no idea they said well there is one prime we didn't give out and we will give it to you. I guess it never hurts to ask. Maybe I was wrong and I got 5th instead but who knows. I thought I didn't have anywhere close to the points but since Bradley White took them all That gave the rest a chance for more money. White won $1000 for that as well as 3 hundred dollar primes as my Dad said he won and was working every break and blowing people up so bad they quit. The big break was the 7 man break. The seven had 3 Priority Health riders, 1 Jittery Joe rider, 2 Health Net, and Bradley White.

Well White and Pipp took off and Priority Health had to chase since no one else would work. After 5 laps of trying they quit and waited for the field to help out. Out of 60 that started we had 28 finishers and 10 were Priority Health. They pulled Pipp and Bradley back with ease I was so glad to see them at the front since I missed the break after I blew myself up on the 15th lap of the race going for the points prime. I sat in the rest of the race as well as Karl Menzies and all 3 Jittery Joe riders Dad siad those guys didn't do any work and I knew they didn't as well.

Well Pipp blew up or Bonked or quit 3 laps after White let Pipp win a $100 prime. So when that happened the group was 13 seconds ahead of us. Pipp was sitting still when I passed him and Bradley White was pulling away and 3 laps later he had a 20 second lead on us. Priority Health caught him and the field sprint was in full effect now. The pace seemed to get faster, but I only noticed by looking at my gears I think we were in the 53 /12 most of the last 5 laps and I was sitting pretty just like the National Crit. Today I wasn't going to Bonk no way. This was the first race I didn't do any work in since the National Crit. How do I beat all three Jittery Joes and Karl Menzies cause Kirk O'Bee just got caught with a small group with Jake Rytelski(sp) in it so bye bye to both of them as well.

Bradley White was the main concern still but I should have chose Karl instead. With two laps to go and 2 wheels behind Karl I was fine with that even though 4 Priority Health riders were on the front towing Karl. The last lap was a nightmare I got passed a bunch and had lots of power to work with. At 35 + mph I passed a couple of riders and in the turns I passed a few more then I had a chance for Karl's wheel or an opening maybe. I chose the open rode on the outside with 2 turns to go. Bradley had blocked my opening and I had to go around him after the others had jumped with Karl forcing me to try and make up ground in the last 300 meters with a single file line due to the 3 turns in less than 150 meters and than a brick downhill to the finish the last 150 meters. I got pushed outside a little too much and scraped my pedal on the curb losing 3 places but not going down was so rewarding. I looked back to see how many more were going to beat me but there seemed to be a gap after White. He must have got pushed out or was so worn out from his efforts he couldn't do any more. I almost closed the gap as well as White did behind me so it must not affected anyone else because the gaps got bigger after that. If you look for my yellow water bottles you can pick me out. Kirk O'Bee comes across before the white car.

Windsor

Well today was a great day. Thank you Lord! I have wanted to get a big result all year and I was so close today. Thanks to Paul telling me about Karl I felt better about getting dropped out of the winning break. This race was 62 miles long and a total of 55 laps on a pancake flat four corner crit.

Early, on maybe the third lap I went from the back to the front by winning a $100 prime. Then after that I saw 4 riders out front two laps later I said "man those guys are flying." I moved up and got a better look. I saw Paul Martin's stars and stripes jersey and noticed Kirk Albers moving to the front rapidly. Then I saw Andy Clarke moving up fast so I jumped on his wheel and as Andy caught the chase group I took off to the break thanks to Kirk not chasing me down. It took me 3/4 of a mile to catch them, but only a 1/4 of a mile to pull through. I should have taken a long break when I caught the other four riders.

I felt good early and they rang the bell for another $100 prime that God blessed me to win. Later on they rang the bell again for a merchandise prime. The announcer was bragging that I won the other two primes and that I was sure to win this one as well, as we passed by. Talk about some pressure in front of hundreds of people. Well he could tell I was a big guy and he new it was a food prime. I wish they would have told us but am glad they didn't. My body was telling me don't do it. You will blow yourself up going for whatever prize they will give you. The other four riders let me have the prime since the announcer told them they didn't have a chance. They let me have the prime for a four course meal and a grand total of $108 dollars worth of the best food I have had eating out in a long time. This was also the tenth year Ann. since we have been to Canada so it was a very great night, and Caylin's first time to Canada.

Warm Welcome

Sat Sept. 1st Ohio State Crit Championships. Today I signed a contract with RGF Solutions. Nice sunny day and the course was awesome, and Tyler payed out great with low turnout of racers. I met Andy Clarke of RGF today. I raced against him at Summer Solstice this year. I remember him being really strong and a great guy. I was dead on those subjects. Andy won the Ohio State TT by 40 seconds over 2nd place finisher Paul Martin, and I got a taste of Andy's power when he pulled me away from everyone else.



Polo made this whole sponsorship deal happen. My 2nd year of racing was one of my best because I felt like all the guys on the team were my brothers, so when Polo e-mailed me I was more than happy to sign the deal. Polo gave me some goodies today so I wouldn't stand out from the rest of the racers. The colors are hard to pick out in a race compared to the Yellow Team GodSpeed uniforms I have, we will add some yellow for 2008.



Stephan, Dave, Anthony, and Dick were at the race too. Dave and talked about families and our trip to Baltimore, Md. for Bike jam we did one year together with Stephan when we were on different teams. Well actually Dave was on a different team but we all got together really well. That was the time when my grandma had ice cream and brownies for us at 1:00am we got up 5 hours later and rushed to the race. Great times.



Dave finished 6th today and Stephan got 10th after not riding for a month, he was over in Romania, where he grew up as the Junior National Champion.



I got 2nd today and Andy won the race, man does it feel good to win as a team.



Thanks to all the sponsors and RGF Solutions for the rest of this year and next.



Visit the website at: www.rgfsolutionssportsmarketing.com

By Faith Alone

Acts 15:7-11 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
7After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: "Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. 8God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. 9He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. 10Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? 11No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are."

Since June I have been praying for a sponsor for the 2008 cycling season. I told God that I wouldn't ask anyone for sponsorship. I asked Him if He wants me to race at the Pro level He will provide.

Now the reason I asked for sponsorship from Him is because I know He has given me the abilities. Why now? I have put Him first in my life daily. I will never know if I am doing the right thing but it is pretty obvious when someone e-mailed me and told me they would like for me to be on there team. I thought it was early thinking about next year already but they have the sponsors to sponsor me in the 2008 season. Things still are not final but will be very soon.

God is Good! Thank you Lord! I hope and pray that I will continue to be focused on what the Lord wants me to do and I pray that every choice that I make will be pleasing to God. This whole sponsorship thing is pretty amazing looking back at when I started praying for sponsorship.

Kind of weird how I have lost 20 pounds this year cause it only took 6 years to lose it. I am not done yet and I pray that the Lord lets me know when to stop losing. I think I only have 15 more to go but who knows, only Him.

Fellowship

We had our Church picnic on Sunday boy was it great! I enjoyed fellowship with others and hope they did too. The best was the BBQ Pork and also the apple crisp pie. I learned that it is important to have a certain amount of time or a set time on all that you do to keep a well balanced life. Things are starting to come together for me day after day. We live and we learn I pray that others look to Him and live there life like Jesus did. I pray to you Lord that I live my life like your son Jesus. I have sins and I will never be perfect. But I pray for you in my life so others will come to know you. When people come to me with ?'s I hope they look to you in The Holy Bible. Thank you father. Amen.

Yesterdays race

The race at Valley City yesterday was great. Thanks to everyone that put on the event. They had drinks there and food, so what more could a big guy want. I needed the drinks today, and I should of had another banana. I rode to the race, but only 10 miles, and rode for another 30 mins before the race. On any other day than today I guess that would have been easy to do. I have rode 3hrs easy before a Pro race with big Pro names and finished in the top 25 but I felt good all day before doing so. But today at home and twice before the race I had the restroom on my mind. I ate and drank the proper stuff before during and after the race and I felt sick till 8 last night. Look at the scale and it read 185 instead of 190. So with this next weekend of full races I hope to be in great shape so I can beat up the Rock Racing Pro Team.

Yesterdays race went like this. Polo rolled off the front and then hammered away with Andys coming up strong and those two got away for awhile and then Tris took off and joined them and Polo came back with us and worked the front for his teammates. Paul drove the pace today with Dan and Lake Effect helping as well. But just before two laps to go the guys made everyone hurt. I managed to get on the front up the hill behind the lead group with Paul on my wheel then he pulled through and we had others behind us just before the field. Attacks were made and it hurt my power was draining slowly and I could feel it. Then we caught the front two and at one point we had 8 riders. That went down to 6 riders with one lap to go and I felt like the weakest one with half a lap left. That proved to be true when we came into the little rollers before the end of the race. I wish I had my best stuff today cause that was my kind of course.

I loved that course and it had my name all over it. Thanks to the Lord I was safe and didn't get really sick. I thought I would have to ride 33 miles back home after the race but the Lord provided me with a ride. Caylin, Becky, Ann , and Granny picked me up after the race which helped me not to get any worse than I already was. So thank you all very much and thank you Lord for our safety.

Another game of softball

Last night I played softball but this time it wasn't a real game. We had a real game set for 8:30 but the team we were going to play had already played two games and it was 9:30 when we would have started. The team they played said they will play against us instead. So that was nice of them to give us a game. I played 3rd, catcher, Right Center, and Pitched. I enjoyed them all but catching to many games behind the plate in my lifetime. Plus in softball no action at all.

Today I am getting ready for another race and my wife will drop me off 10 miles from it and then I will race and ride home, so I should get in close to 90 miles on the day. I haven't done that in a while. Good news about my job. I leave everyday at 3 now so that means more time with Caylin after work. Thank you Lord. Also with my Beautiful wife. Maybe Becky and I can drop Caylin off at one of the grandparents and celebrate.