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.

Nationals for the Elite

Every year you can count on all the best riders to be at this race. At least for the Elite men. Cause if you win this race you get a Pro deal for the next year. It is pretty much expected. So you got guys from every where in the US except from Hawaii, and Alaska. You have guys who have raced Pro there whole life and want to try and go back to Pro or just want to see if they still have it. The Best of the Best are always there. For some reason I thought I had a chance this year, I really did. 20 pounds lighter than all of last year and stronger than ever before. 170 other riders may have thought the same thing, at least that's how many went to the line today in the hard rain that was expected for a week's time. I looked at the forecast everyday for the whole week before wishing it was going to be dry. I would have done so much better if it would have been dry. Every turn slowed me down being a bigger guy than 90 percent of the field. I still think when you sign up for a race they should have how much you weigh beside your age. It sure would make me feel better. I would have found it hard to believe if anyone that finished was more than 190 pounds even if they were 6'4. So today I stayed in the front to middle a lot today. With 33 laps to go Becky said I moved up to the front half of the field and stayed there. It is pretty easy to see yellow even in a down pour she said. Well God really kept me safe today, He gave me the wisdom to stay on the inside of every turn and the speed I should go in every turn. I read a couple of racers blogs and they said that everybody wrecked. Well that seemed to be true all day every lap. I know that not every one wrecked. I was one that was very blessed not to go down. My ex teammates hit the road hard and some of them broke bones or didn't hit the pavement and got 6 stitches. Sorry to see Hekman in the 2nd to last corner go down, he ended up with a broken heel. I pray he will recover better than last year, which when he does not even a Pro will hang onto his wheel. So in the last 15 laps I am really setting myself up for a great result like I thought could happen. I was in the top 10 relaxing from lap 10 to 5. With 4 to go I noticed I may not have it and with two to go I thought I could do it cause with 3 to go it hurt bad. But with one lap to go I knew I would have to wait another year to have a chance. All through the last 5 laps Paul was on the front pushing the pace for Kirk. Paul brought back a break of 5 riders and I bet he did it by himself, it wouldn't surprise me. So after the race I was OK with losing 240 bucks total for the whole trip cause it could have been the hospital for me and more money to repair my bike or whatever. I pray that all the riders will heal up and race again soon and bring it next year cause I hope to there and be ready, really ready. God willing.

Softball before Nationals

Softball game 3 days before Nationals was kind of not what I planned but I told them I would play. We ended up winning big! The team we played had only lost one game I thought I heard one teammate say. We ended up beating them early and we had fun doing it too. % innings not 3 because we could have in three innings if we would have scored 4 more runs. Well the other team decided to score and not give up. they scored 4 runs and then we put them away in the 5th. I still have not hit the ball too good since my home run. Great fellowship and a great game, thank you Lord for no more black eyes.

2nd day of Elk Grove

This was the masters 30+, again not the best of the best were in the race today. Everybody must be saving it for the Nationals. Why? who knows? This was a great weekend for anyone that showed up and didn't wreck. I raced out of the money the first day but in the money the 2nd day. That happened to lots of other guys as well. But some like Jason Snow took money both days. This race was going to be another good one and I was hoping to make some money today if it was something the Lord wanted to happen. If I didn't make any money to cover our costs then I was done for the year, no Nationals o anything else out of Ohio. Well the Lord made it perfect. I told Becky if I didn't make $300 for the day then no more racing till I lose another 20 pounds. I was on the front at the start of the race. So I took off and wanted to see what they would do. 3 others made it to me but the field didn't let anything go as of the first 4 miles of the race. Primes again today and I tried to go for them with nothing working again. Then a break got lose and it was over. I thought the pack would pull them in but not enough horse power in the 100+ field. I tried on my own for 4miles and came within 10 meters of them and blew up with 4 laps to go and the field was charging hard. Once they caught me they sat up. What? Why? The three that were in the break didn't have any teammates in the field that could do anything so I couldn't understand it. Later I found out Jason Snow was in the field and he finished behind me so why didn't anyone work with me? Well I find out at the end. The Lord had given me some miraculous power that day. Once I got caught by the field and wasn't about to make the same mistake 2 days in a row. I made sure I could make my way to the front if I needed to. So with 2 laps left I was in the top 5 and with one to go was on the front when no one else would pull. I would just get on the front and slow down and let riders jump me and get on a chasers wheel and back to the front again. Priority Health helped me out for half a lap on the last lap. He led it out for his teammate I hope? Cause he pulled for a long way and I never saw him again. With no turns left and 600 hundred meters to go I am on the front once again. I slowed up just enough to let some riders go by and got beside them still in the wind. Then two rude riders cut me off back to back sending me flying into Harry Clark playing bummer bikes at 32 + mph. and at 400 meters I told myself just go don't wreck. I think it was God telling me to just go who cares if anyone passes you better than the hospital. I couldn't argue with that so I went. As I see the 200 meter sign I am thinking no way never going to happen. Then I see the 150 meter sign, then the 100 meter, 50 meters no way! After the finish I was so beat I couldn't catch my breathe for over 5 mins. I had never felt so beat in my life. I guess I should have felt that way cause as Harry Clark also confirmed we sprinted for over 400 meters. I looked closer at the results the day after and the guy who almost came around me other than Harry was a 50 year old, who also beat Jason Snow and some other great riders as well. That 50 year old must have been on my wheel the whole time until the last 50 meters, and I have never heard his name before. So I ended up winning the field sprint and taking 4th since the field didn't want to catch them. I am not saying they can't keep up with the young riders because I have got beat by them before but that is riders that have raced on a Pro team there whole life or have been in the Tour De France and are still beating up on younger riders. That is the great thing about this sport, once you got it you are good for years after. Kind of weird how the Lord works, we prayed for no wrecks and some money to pay for the trip if it was His will and He blessed us again.

Biggest race ever?

Well I thought Elk Grove was going to be my biggest race ever but it turned out to be slower than I imagined. I thought that the pace was going to be so hard I would have trouble keeping up. Well God blessed me so much that day. He kept me safe from all the wrecks and I went for 3 primes during the race. I learned a lot from this race as well. You have to stay on the front or near the front if you want to place. I thought I would have plenty of energy left at the end of the race to do what I wanted. With two laps to go I thought I would have no problems moving up to the front. All day, at least for me, I was on the front when I wanted other than the last two laps when it counted. It could have been the heat setting in on me, but I felt great at the end of the race. Puffer after his 10 place finish told me he was sick for two days after the race, probable from the heat. After the race I felt great but knowing I had so much more left in me. So anyway with two laps to go I was mid pack and started to move up but not like I wanted. I was in the top 30 at one point then made so wrong choices and I was back 60 deep it seemed. Then on the last lap I tried to get up front but only could muster 29th with so much disappointment. I will take it cause a big wreck happened right beside me and no one else came around me to the finish.

Tim Jackson

This post is well over due, sorry Timmy. Last year when I raced for A&F Tim gave us all frames, MASI frames. They were awesome and most of my family loved the colors and design of the MASI. Well I broke it in Oct. sometime and shipped it back to Mr. Tim Jackson the best MASI MAN out there. I said I really want to keep the frame if it is broke and can't be fixed.He said he might have one frame laying around somewhere. He shipped me a brand new frame and it was all black or as I call it Black Beauty. I decked it out with All yellow trim, what other color did you think I would use? Now I look like those Canadian Bummble Bees back in the 80's beating up the 7 eleven boys. I wish, but it looks sweet. It rides awesome in the crits and road races and in the hard rain in road races and crits. So thanks to Tim Jackson I am so happy to ride the MASI. Buy one today it races better than my Trek Madone.

What Do I Do?

Race time is coming up this weekend, this will be my biggest race ever. This is one of those races that if you finish it, you have done good. It is also the type of race that if you aren't bleeding after the race you really did good. If you happen to get lucky and win some money for the weekend that's great. If you happen to get top 3 and share your testimony with others... priceless.

To be honest I am in the best shape of my life and I still have at least 15 pounds to lose but think that I should be able to keep up with the big boys now. Time will tell and I hope that if I do great this weekend then I will be able to sign up for the next 5 weekends.

Well I hope to have all of the above, but I mainly just want to be safe and healthy. It seems like almost every time I go to Chicago I am on the stool a lot which isn't good for racing. You know what? whatever God's will is, it will be done and I pray that He will be glorified. I just want to have fun and let the holy spirit take over sort of like cruise control on the car. If I have a pricless moment this weekend it will help me to make next years choice real easy or then again maybe not. When I pray to God He will say "yes", "no" or "wait". I really don't like waiting. But hey I have lost 20 extra pounds and it has only taken me 6 years and I am doing fine with it. Liven large having such a great year with family and friends thanks to God. Everything has come from God and I don't deserve any of it. Give God thanks for your life today. GodSpeed, Grimmy

Grandparents

Grandpaerents are so smart, they teach you everything the right way. At least both of my grandparents have taught me so much the right way. What I am saying is sometimes Grandparents would say to do this or get this. I would have no clue what they wanted me to do or get. They did it as though I knew what they wanted or what to get. I felt stupid asking "what" or "you want me to get what" or "do what". Man did I feel stupid a lot. They never let me think so though. I was there best worker or gofer. They treated me as if I knew exactly what they needed. Grandparents are the best, they spoil the living daylights out of you. Not only that but play time can be fun. They have the biggest Easter egg hunts or the best Water ski tricks, so much fun.



You remember things of when you were younger I'm sure. What about how much food they make or how good it smells. I am writing this post so you can think or remember what your grandparents were like. Also for you to pray for mine. When grandparents get sick you feel sick. I pray for my grandmothers to be strong during these ruff times. You see both of my grandparents are really in need of prayer. Also my Mom and Dad need your prayers as well. My grandpa Mari has had two major surgeries and Grandpa Grimm has an infection in his body from 100 galstones(sp) the Doctors said they have never seen so many. They did surgery right away and he is in intensive care. So much goes through my mind throughout the day and I just try real hard to pray to God to calm myself down and keep busy with something else.

Thanks for the prayers. Becky Caylin and I are going to Chicago this weekend so please pray for our safety and mine during the races.

Perfect Day for Zoar

It was cool and rainy, perfect day for Zoar Road Race. When was the last time you rode in the rain? I have done it a lot since I ride my bike to work, and I love it. So much better than not being able to breathe at 90+ degrees. Thank you Lord for an awesome day. By the way I didn't have a flat today and my Dad was right again. Dad's are always right. The tire had 3 too many races if you ask me. I didn't have a flat so Dad can still use that tire on the trainer. The race started out pretty slow which was good for me. Up the hills we went, and I felt like I could go so much faster. So on the next lap I took off up the last climb and I blew up. I didn't have enough to do it. So then I sat in for a lap. Felt fine going up the climbs and we let Dan and Brain roll off the front. Then Mike Gorman went with them so I didn't work at all. Instead I attacked them trying to get away but I couldn't. I hope I am stronger this weekend at Elk Grove. Mike got dropped and we were only 15 sec at one point. It seemed like no one wanted to work with the little chase group gaps we had. Everyone must have been tired as well. The finish was very surprising to me. Tris came around everyone so I got on his wheel. He took me to the front and I went hard for a little bit then slowed way down and waited till the past the 200 meter sign and sprinted as hard as I could. I took the sprint by inches. Legs felt good sprinting but will need to be a lot better this weekend. Stark velo did an awesome job. Also Bike authority gave the first cat 3 $100 at the store. I love racing in the rain for a road race.

Shiner

There is a first in so many things. Well today I got my first shiner playing softball. In all the years of contact sports I never had a black eye until now. It must be a sign of old age. We were warming up before the game talking away and I lazily put my glove to the ground and my other hand at my side. Next thing I know POP right in my eye. It must have hit a rock cause it shot up so fast. This ball was thrown into the ground from first and not hard at all either. Well I got picked on the rest of the night by the other guys. I have to admit I was nervous about playing third after that. I had one get by me by their strong hitter and it kicked up real hard too. All I could do was get the glove on it but it never stopped.

Devil's Triangle

OCC club ride time and it is a tuff one. We are always going up or down, very little flat sections. It was hot tonight and I needed a good warm up for Zoar RR. It was great to see everyone again. Lots of fun and I thought I did to much tonight so I slowed up on the way home. The last lap I avg 20 mph and I went easy the last lap compared to the first two. I asked Dad what time it was when I passed him and then got the time when we all finished. Great course to ride on, just one turn is hard to see traffic so you got to slow up a bit. My wheel made a loud noise so I hope to get that fixed.

Great friends

Friends are great to have. God, family, and friends, almost forgot.....cycling. I prayed before the race and all I want is to be safe, no crashes. Well today at the Buckeye Crit I was crash free again, don't worry my time is coming. I just hope it won't be soon. My family came to support me again today. My family is the best. So are my friends, I have had so many people say "go Jeremy" or "go GodSpeed" during these races this year. It has been great. Thank you! Well I got to see friends I haven't in such a long time and it was good to talk to them. I pray for all of my friends every morning to work. I pray for there safety and health. God is so good.

This race was going to be a good one. The course was perfect and it had some nice fast turns in it. I loved this course, thanks Chris. Well Kirk was at the race today and we worked good together. I felt like I had the hardest part of the course to pull through, but it was short as well. It is so hard to tell if I am getting better or just getting lucky in these races. Today I felt like I was strong enough. After Kirk and I lapped everyone but Jim, Kirk attacked with 2 laps left. I couldn't get to Kirk's wheel he had a great jump. It was hard trying to catch Kirk but I learned a lot in trying. Fun race for 2nd place.

Thanks Dave T. for your post on your website maybe Kirk won't see it.

Sorry John

Went to church this morning and John really had a great message. The main lesson that I learned from it today was maybe you should let God do the walking instead of you doing it on your own. I had to go forward and tell everyone how much God has been working in my life. I am having the best year with God, family, and friends. God has given me so much this year and has given me gifts as a surprise.

Two weekends ago God gave me some awesome results at a bike race and gifts to go with it. The main thing that I didn't share with the church family was that I got to share my testimony with hundreds of people after the bike races both days. After going up there and others told me I did a good job God has the holy spirit do the talking through you and what you want to say may not be said for others to hear. I do want to say sorry to John Mulpas cause after his lesson on giving everything to the Lord I go forward and tell them God gave me this awesome watch. I have been giving almost everything to the Lord and I know that if I continue to give more to the Lord He will continue to bless me(us, everyone).

I will tell people what this watch means to me. How this watch wasn't supposed to be given to me because they only had three and all of a sudden they have four. I hope that the church family understands that if you give yourself to God fully then He has great rewards for you. This watch I have is God's watch and I am using it to glorify Him. Maybe I am wrong what do you think?

Amish Ride

Finally a day to ride by myself other than back and forth to work. It always feels like I am out where no one can come within miles of me. So much freedom out in the Amish backyards. I got out to ride for 2.5 hrs and rode hard for at least 1:50 mins. I rode up those hills like they weren't even there. Twenty pounds lighter than all of last year has helped me do great this year. All the thanks goes to God cause I couldn't do it on my own. I know He has changed my life and others around me. He has kept me busy with family priorities and disciplined me to ride to work every day. So all thanks and glory go to Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior.

Chapel #3

Well it was sad to have the last Chapel race come to an end. It was a beautiful day. Caylin rides her bike more than I do at these races. Well this week was a different story I tried hard to get away and couldn't do it at all. I wanted Mike and I to go together but they wouldn't let us Orrville boys go anywhere. Then Rish and Stephan took off with me in tow. We worked the rest of the race and the chase group was on our heels. The Lord provided me with another victory. Thank you Jesus.



The best part of the night was eating my Chick-fil-A on the way home in the dark. I was to busy talking to everyone after the races. They sure are the best people to help out for a bike race. Thanks again to all that helped out to make this a safe event. See ya next year.

Tour De Burg

Last year this was my 2nd best race of the year and I loved this course. So from the start I made things happen quick. I was hoping to get something going early and it did. I rested a lot in this race after the first 10 mins but kept the pace high enough to help lap the field. I had another shot at winning this race but I couldn't pull off the double V. I made a mistake in the end of the race and should have taken off early but I waited and I may not have won it anyway but I felt great all day and should have put the pressure on the whole race. There was so many people there supporting this race and I just was so happy to be on the podium again with Caylin. Thanks to so many taking pics of me and cheering me on. I have a large support group out there.

I pray that God will be glorified because of my efforts and actions that took place this weekend. I pray that I am a good witness for Jesus Christ but I know that I am not perfect and I hope others will share with me my faults because I know I have them but am not seeing clearly enough right now. Please share with me if you have the time I will not be offended.

Troy

Troy is a great town with one awesome course! Today was Caylin's first bike race, July 21st 2007. The horn scared her put she finished by going real slow the whole way. As long as she finished that was ok with me. Then she even put her hands up before the line. Man she knows how to make her daddy proud. She also got a medal after her race.

Well last year for me I was upset that I didn't make the break so I had better plans this year. At least I could only hope it was God's will. Teaxas Roadhouse had 12 strong today and with on two maybe three A&F guys it was going to be all Roadhouse. One roadhouse rider got away then another jumped and I was in the front 15 so I went with him with another roadhouse on my wheel. So three roadhouse and me are up the road working hard to stay away. Well it worked cause we were pulling away and then one of the roadhouse riders got dropped as another roadhouse rider joined us. I think this break started in the first 10 mins of the race.

Any way I didn't go for any primes I just worked hard hoping they would help me get a great placing. As three other roadhouse riders were closing in on us I thought they would attack me for sure. Well they did and I was able to make them hurt enough that I dropped one of them because he helped his teammate get back up to me. So there are still two roadhouse and myself with three roadhouse coming on strong. I had no choice but to work and it made it easy for Kirk and Kevin to beat me. I will take third though.

I was very happy to get third with the riders they had today. As a matter of fact the most important part of the day was sharing my testimony with hundreds of people today. Also having Caylin up on the podium. I know the flyer said they were only giving out 3 watches. Well Kevin gave me the choice of which watch I wanted and I told him red matched his uniform and so he gave me the blue one. I think I saw Kirk with a yellow watch though. Yellow would have been so sweet since that has always been the best color for me.

I can't say enough about the whole day. I just give God all the praise for the great things he has done. I felt like I was hated in this race and it turned out to be very rewarding for God my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. My family was there from Miamisburg as well. Billy and Nicki thanks for coming out and cheering.

Chapel #2

This race was in the hard rain and the best Womens Pro racer was in our field. Brooke Miller, from Tipco pro cycling team. She started it off very fast for some of the guys that they got dropped she was in our break of 7 riders when the Hard rain hit the pavement. She thought she had a flat and could not catch back on. I was told she rode 3 hrs before doing this race so I was very impressed. I also thought I had a flat tire too and ran off the road twice. I got used to the wet pavement enough to take first for the 3rd race in a row. I had a big race coming up the same weekend so I didn't want to go hard at all that day. Others deserved it more than I did today. I didn't deserve any of the prize money but I took it anyway and gave back 20 in hopes that it would help out.

Harvesyburg Race 2007

Well it was another hot day but no where near last year. It rained on my dad's race and he did great that day. He took his Zipp 404 wheels off of his bike and gave them to me like they were mine. They are the best wheels ever. Nothing compares to these and I don't think any one can change that. I started the race slow and worked up a couple of hard efforts. Won a couple of primes and lost a close one to Jim Matson. I won a beer jersey again this year if any one wants it name your price and I will use the money for what I think would be a great expense. I gave last years jersey to Hekman maybe someone will give it to him after they buy it off of me. I haven't seen the festival tickets yet but they are going to Scott Moro if I get them.

So Brian and I make a two man break and are gone away from the rest and never to be caught. I won again 2 in a row. Thank you Lord. God is so good. This time I got to take Caylin up on the podium with me thanks to team Dayton. Team Dayton put on this great event thanks a bunch.

Church please forgive me

I am going to be honest with this post. I went to church before my Harveysburg race July 15th but can't remember a thing about the lesson. Hope someone can help me out. My blog's should be updated sooner so I can remember important things like Church. It is not funny at all! I can remember cycling from years ago but not Church. You know I have a problem when that happens. God should be first in my life and not cycling. I do however remember that day in church talking to some friends about new treatment for my friend. I have alot of prayer concerns on my mind and they are hard to keep track of but every morning I ride my bike to work I have continueous(sp) prayer with my Lord and savior Jesus Christ. The way home can be very hard to do so I am always looking over my shoulder just before I almost get hit several times. I am thinking about putting something at the side of my bike just so cars get over in the other lane to pass.

Chapel

One of my best friends Jim Flesher put this race together at the Chapel for 2007. He started these races in 2005. This year he put on the races for free. He paid us back in full for the whole series. You could even ride with the B group if you were an A rider for 10 bucks as well. Then he put all the money back into your race for a chance to get it all back.

This first race was hard. Great day and sunny with no rain. I tried to get away but couldn't do it. I ended up winning my first race of the year at my favorite race of the year. Jim and I always get together and pray when we see each other. It is just meant to happen, I feel like I can tell Jim anything he is such a great guy and a Heavenly Brother to me. I also got to see his Dad and Mom and I was so happy to see them. Jim's family has been such a blessing in my life. Vicki worked hard at the races too, Jim's wife. Vicki is the best and so nice. Thank you for helping out Vicki.

Hagerstown

Went to Hagerstown to see family and while I was in town they had a race, perfect! Well my Grandpa and Grandma got to see me race and I wanted to win so bad. I didn't cheat although the officials were tuff on my mom and wife about my Dads tubular wheel that flated.

Yep they almost took me out of the race. This rear tubular tire only had 200 racing miles on it and 200 more training at a 16 mph pace. Here is why they almost DQ me. As the race started 200 yards up the road riders got tangled up and went down right in front of me. I locked up the rear tire and avoided the wreck. Thank you Lord! Then half way through the race on the hardest turn on the course the tire blew. Right in the apex of the turn at 20 mph. Guys freaked out behind me thinking I was going to go down. I thought I was going to because I have never had a flat tubular before. If this would have been a clencher tire I would have gone down with no ?'s asked or I would have jumped the crub in the turn if I was lucky not to go down instantly which would have happened. Thank the Lord again, man God is so good.

Any way the women official looked at the tire and told my mom and wife that it was a old tire. What ever, she had no clue! We even looked at it after the race and you can tell it had more tread on it than a new pair of shoes, well maybe not that much. I cut the tire open and looked at it closely.

Back to the race, I didn't go for a prime all day and I played like I was hurting all day. After all know one knows me and it is a game. Our avg speed was less than my first road race in the cat 5's and this was a crit course totally flat and in the elite cat. I went with a break late in the race and six of us were out there and I thought I knew one of the riders. I looked up his name and he won the CSC elite race that year and I was going to stay on his wheel in the end. So I did and we left a rider dangle in front of us. I was hoping this guy would have a kick fast enough to get closer to the other guy but he had nothing. So I got 2nd place by maybe a half a foot and ten yards past the finish line I had 3 bike lengths. Thank the Lord I didn't go down that day and also thank the Lord I made a $150 dollar mistake, cause I sure did learn from that one.

Rhythm

Well in softball I got back into the rhythm I once had when I played 80 some games a year at the elite softball level. Yes softball has a pro level and they hit Homeruns every time they get to the plate. Those guys look like they are doing drugs too. I am sick of these sports having cheats. Especially cycling, yep we are bigger news now than ever. People using there own blood for transfusions how smart, but still cheats. To have more blood in there system helps them perform better. Cycling needs to crack down on these guys and have a zero tolerence for this stuff. Well back to softball were in our church league we may have a few cheats with bats to use but I hope not. The bat I used to hit my 320 foot Homerun was over 7 years old. That bat was used more than any bat I know back then and is used more now since we are hitting them out. Our guys on our church team are hitting the ball good and will be ready for playoffs even though our record doesn't show it. We lost by a close score and I missed one game thinking it was on another day, but I also had a race that night and last night as well. I hope my rhythm will still be there missing 2 games, I may have to go to the cages to stay on with my Homerun streak. Great times with church brothers.

Grandview 2nd race

Well this race has a hill in it and is very hard. I didn't know if I would be able to keep up with anyone going up the hill 38 times but I managed with 38 miracles from God. I was 195 pounds and the rest of them are less than that. I tried to keep up with them the first 5 laps and it was sooo hard but did it. As soon as the pace slowed down I went and know on else seemed to care. I was too slow and they caught me and attacked me of course. At least it seemed like it. A big group of 11 made the front group and I was stuck with the rest of the field. A couple of us worked together but couldn't quite pull them back. I was able to get 23rd on the day which I was more than happy with, plus I learned so much from this race. Thanks again to God, my family, and friends for all there support.

My Father

God is great! He has blessed me so much and I thank Him for everything. In Sunday School class at church our lessons have been on how to win others to Christ and the lesson today was on Father figures. It was horrible to see how fathers can be so cruel to there own children. I am so blessed to have 2 fathers in my life. My heavenly Father, and my birth Father. There was a questionnaire we filled out and my Dad was so close in everything a real Father should be like our Heavenly Father. The main differences are communicating with God compared to my Dad. I am finding out that my Heavenly Father gives me all the communicating I need, I just need to listen to him better. I broke down crying in class today when I shared personal things with them. I love my church family.

Grandview

Ohio Cup crunch time! Grandview was a flat four corner crit that was awesome! Becky Caylin and I got there late due to my bathroom breaks. I didn't feel great today but glad I did the race. Anyway Caylin was crying so I tried to comfort her before the race and the next thing I knew it was time to race. No time to warm up just get on the bike and go. I heard some one say 80 riders tried to race that day but only 25 finished. The pace was fast from the get go and a break already went. By the time I felt like chasing after it, it was too late. I was hoping for another break and it happened. Only Kirk, Paul and I worked the break hard and we caught the others just as they were lapping the field. After that I had nothing left and managed to get 9th with Nate in 8th tying me for the Ohio Cup standings.

Run Ruled

In softball we run ruled a team something like 13 to 1. I don't remember cause I was thinking about my races coming up for the weekend. I went 0-2 and took my self out of the game. So glad we won.

Westlake

My first race at westlake was hard! It always is. Tris Mike and I took off from the start and lasted for 24 miles. Tris did most of the work and I just wanted to ride an easy pace. After that I stayed in the field till the last couple of laps and we had a break of 7 or 8 riders. Dave like always, beat me in the sprint. Great to see all the guys there. A few to mention: Tony Smith, he raced with my Dad and I remember watching Tony in a race at Akron, Ohio. Jules or Julio, he remembered me when I was 3 foot tall. Alot of great memories, it was awesome to see those guys again.

Seeker, Pretender, or In-the-Rut Disciple

Seeker, Pretender, or In-the-Rut Disciple
by A.W. Tozer

. . . People in the rut never know when the last leaves are falling for them. Why are people in the rut? There are several possibilities. They may never have been truly converted at all, and this is one of our great problems now. We have a dozen ways of getting people into the kingdom of God, when the Lord said there was only one. They leak in, ooze in, come in by osmosis and get in by marriage--just get in by any kind of way. But there is only one true way. When people find that after being in the church for years they are not making much progress, they ought to examine themselves and wonder whether they have been truly converted. True conversion means radical repentance, a changed life, conscious forgiveness of sin and a spiritual rebirth. Genuinely converted people, as the old Methodists said, had a radical repentance, which eventuated in a changed life. Then there came a consciousness of forgiveness of sins and a spiritual rebirth. People in the rut may never have had that at all. . . . People in the circular grave, who are getting older without getting holier, may have been abandoned to the devil because of two things--some fleshly sins (1 Corinthians 5) or grave irreverence at the communion table (1 Corinthians 11). Protestants are altogether too much inclined to take things for granted. We laugh at those on the other side of the ecclesiastical fence because they bow and scrape and kowtow in the presence of the church. But we lack reverence--not because we are free in the gospel, but because God is absent, and we have no sense of His presence. We sometimes come to the communion table in a moral and spiritual state totally unfit for receiving communion, and yet we take it. Paul said, "We are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world."

Prayer
Lord, I want to do Your will. I want to get out of the rut and follow You. In Your name and power I rise up!

Scripture
Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.— Matthew 7:21

Thought
It is sometimes difficult to distinguish between the sincere seeker, the "church member" pretender and the in-the-rut disciple. But God surely knows and the Spirit will reveal to us our own personal state. Or do we already know?