This week is in honor of my sister Nancy. She is battling cancer that has spread to her liver and her lungs. I am taking some time this week to tell a bit about her and the impact she had/has on my life.

When I was 18 or so she became a believer and accepted Christ’s death as payment for her sins. You could call it being born again or becoming a Christian the words you use are not near as important as the impact on life itself. This accepting of His death and subsequent resurrection provided her with the certain knowledge of where her eternity will be spent. This is playing a key role now some 32 years later as she wrestles with cancer and the uncertainty that lies ahead
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Soon after she accepted Christ she began to tell me about what He had done for me and about my need for accepting his Love. I was at that time under the belief that if the good things I did outweighed the bad I would be OK with God. After looking at what the Bible said I learned that it was not about me (I like everybody was a sinner)but about God and my relationship to Him.

As a result of her sharing I to accepted Christ and enjoyed His love & grace now since 1976.

It is neat to hear Nancy talk about what could be a terminal illness. She says she is not really concerned about the illness since she knows where she will spend eternity. Powerful words when the rubber meets the road.

How bout you... can you say for sure. If not talk to Nancy or myself and we can show you how you too can know.

Here are a few pics of my sister....

she is a blessing to me.

a nice weekend North

It was a good trip north to see family and we got a bonus of some fall colors. Though the intent of the trip was to visit family, I have a sister that is battling cancer - there was a nice spattering of fall foliage

Bernice & I climbed Blue Mountain. It is a steep 4 mile round trip hike up the 3759 foot mountain. It took just over an hour to get up.... not sure how this compares to how fast we climbed it back in 30 years ago on our first date. I am pretty sure that we were faster this time. The rest of the weekend we spent with family just making memories and catching up. On Saturday night we had a bonfire at my sister Jeanne's house it was fun and we all had a good time It was time well spent and we were able to bring some good NY apples back with us. Tomorrow it is back to bicycling and working. I am glad that I love my job and my clients it makes Monday's fun too.

Summer Week

This week was another good one.

Two shorter (less than 25) and two longer (40+)bicycle rides (Mon/Wed/Fri/ Sat)

Work was slightly less hectic as I have cut back just a bit on how many clients I will see each week. It makes it a tad more relaxing for me the only downside is ocasionally clients have to wait a bit for a face to face. I can still handle most anything urgent over the phone.

I was able to get the first service done on the FZ6 and they actually charged me less than they quoted me. In just over 2 weeks I will head to the mountains of North Georgia to ride it for about 5 days. Looking forward to that.

We had dinner and watched the Gator game with some long time friends and enjoyed a great meal and big win over Tennessee.

Today after Church we had a church wide picnic at a camp called Southwind just outside of town. It was good food, conversation and games. They have a very nice facility.







Now I will have a little time to continue working on an upcoming Sunday School lesson I will be teaching a class from December till the end of February on the book of Judges. It is an old testament book with more action than most current day Movies and a messege that is so relevant it is scary. Some things that stay the same are good-- like God others don't change much and that is bad --- like man in general.

Sunday's Sayings

Well another week has gone by and it was a good one. I really enjoyed my meetings with my clients during the work part of my week. It is fun to know you are doing what you are supposed to be doing as far as a vocation.

I am using John Maxwell's definition of success as I look at my planning for my life:
“Knowing your purpose in life, growing to reach your maximum potential, while sowing seeds that benefit others” I am in the process of writing this in a personalized format when I get it done I will share it.

The week went well from a riding standpoint: We got in short rides on Monday and Wednesday and medium length rides on Friday & Saturday.

I also got in several rides this week on the FZ6 -- I now have over 600 miles on it and will take it in soon for the first service. I needed it done before the trip to the mountains of Georgia in a few weeks.

I also installed an aftermarket horn for the Yamaha -it is LOUD -- good to be heard"
I needed to modify it a little for the motorcycle -- needed a drain hole drilled to prevent incidental pooling of water during rain or washing.

Tonight Bernice and I will be sharing about our trip at our Sunday evening Church service. It is fun to tell about what happened and I never seem to tire of answering the same questions about mileage flat tires ect.

Sunday September 2nd
I started the day with some reading and a breakfast of homemade pumpkin chocolate chip bread. I am going to be teaching a class on the book of Judges in the late fall and I am amazed by the similarities of how Israel would do what is right and then do what was so wrong in a very short span of time. It reminds me of our need to stay close to God at all times because we are prone to do the wrong thing. We headed to the beach and it was not sunny but pleasant….we relaxed there for about 2.5 hours, came back to the camper grilled some steaks for lunch then took a nice nap. It rained again most of the afternoon; this weekend has been VERY relaxing.

Saturdays report

Saturday September 1st

We headed to the beach after a nice breakfast of chocolate milk and homemade banana bread. Bern and I took a nice long walk along the sea and enjoyed the relaxing noise from the surf. When we got back our friends Bruce and Cheryl from Ocala were just arriving and we spent and enjoyable time chatting laughing and discussing life in general. It is good to have friends that you can be transparent with; it helps in the Proverbs 27:17 process of iron sharpening iron. They were able to stay until after 7:00pm before having to head back home. I spent the last few minutes of the day chatting with Bob around the campfire. Very relaxing day.

Friday's fun

Friday August 31st.

We arrived at the State Park which is right on the beach on Friday afternoon about 1:30 it was pretty warm. Set up of the pop up went flawlessly and we were inside with the AC running before the afternoon thunderstorms hit. It is relaxing for me to relax in the camper and hear the rain. Did a little work, read some and took a nap….then the rain had stopped and we went for a nice walk ended up going out to the ocean. The ocean always reminds me of God because of its expansiveness and power. There is a verse in the Bible that talks of how God laid out the ocean within its boundaries and I am always amazed how this remains true. Yes it creeps out momentarily during Hurricanes and Tsunami’s but basically it stays put…..regardless of what those Global Warming folks might want to purport. I ended the evening sitting talking to my friend Bob (not Uncle Bob) about life and enjoying an adult beverage.

Wednesday's Words

Today was an interesting day....I turned the corner with my sinus infection and what started out as a day that looked like it would be one to endure turned out very good. When we cycled there were days that looked tough on paper and they turned out well and others that looked easy ended up being difficult. I think I learned a valuable lesson that things are not always as they seem and even when they are tougher than expected --this too will pass.

I had my three apts as is normal on Wednesday and then my plan was to close files and head home early to sleep. As the day wore on my energy level surged and I was being productive and felt better as time passed. In the afternoon I was able to resolve the remaining glitches from our computer upgrades late last week. (network issues and software compatibility) I ended up resolving a few other issues and did not leave till 5:30 -- with a smile on my face.

Wednesday is always a GOOD day because me and my sweetie have designated that as date night. We had a great meal at a local Mexican resturant -- very relaxing and enjoyable. Then we read a devotional book written for couples that seems to add perspective and help with balance.

When we got home it was cooling down a bit and I took the FZ6 out for a short ride. Nice way to end the day. Tomorrow we will go on a nice med length ride prior to work.

Tuesday thoughts

Tuesday is a rest day - meaning no riding today. Still at various times during the day my thoughts drift to the ride across the country. Faces of the friends I made on the trip pop into my mind. It is really profound how this thing can still in my mind.

Today was a full day at work and I have some sort of a sinus infection so I was not up to speed. The good part about it is I REALLY like my clients. So with multiple hand cleansing I made it through the 6 appointments.

My focus is building for the trips that lie ahead. This weekend we have a camping trip in St. Augustine with our friends the Hawk's and 2 other families from my Pop up forum. It should be relaxing and fun. I think we are planning to ride Wed/ Thurs and Friday and then leave the bikes home while we head to the beach. Sometimes we take them if we are training for an event.

Bern and I will be traveling to NY on the 20th of Sept for a quick trip to see some family. Especially my sister Nancy who is dealing with a serious bout with Cancer. On top of that there is a bit of friction between some other family members. Oh well I am doing my best to remain neutral..... eeee hahhh

I am also looking forward to a motorcycle trip in Early October with the guys. That means some new gear to be able to travel with the FZ6. It is all in the mail and I am waiting like a kid before Christmas.

Well dat's all folks

Riding again ....still

Well the bicycles are back home from Bicycle Bob's in Portsmouth, NH. We are back in the normal swing of things. Bern and I are riding 4 days a week; comprised of two shorter rides on Monday and Wednesday's (20 miles) and two longer rides on Friday and Saturday (40+ miles).

The conditioning from the trip is still very evident as the hills here seem effortless and when we want to we can pick up the pace and the heart rate is harder to get elevated.

It was told to us at the preliminary meeting in Astoria that the ride we were about to embark on would change us in some way. I wondered if that were true.... then-- I do not wonder any more.

This may sound trite but being able to dream.... desire .... lay groundwork.... prepare and execute an undertaking of this magnitude does change you. Not because I am all that but because it changes perspective on nearly all that you look at.

I see things differently now... I know that things that most people would see as difficult or impossible are in all likelyhood not that hard and certainly doable.

I find it amusing that one of the common questions is, "Have you recovered yet?"
The ride was tiring at times for sure but it was not draining it was invigorating. The further east we pedaled the stronger we got physically and the realization mentally that all I had prepared for and thought about for so long was coming to pass and that was totally invigorating.

Now if you are reading this and are a Christian I am not trying to imply I did any of this without God's hand mightily guiding, enabling, blessing, even challenging me along the way. The saftey, the incredible weather, the vast scenery, the awesome poeple were all from the hand of God to me and for that I give Him thanks.

As I returned to my practice and seeing clients I realized I really love my vocation in life. It was not difficult to come back to something you love. It is different to a degree... little things do not rattle me near as easy because I can do BIG things HARD things, things that make other people shake their head and think that I am crazy. Little things like a headwind or a mountain or endless hours of cornfields did not faze me nor shall these little things.

First post cross country trip post

I guess I have developed the habit of making a blog update and I think it is a good way to chronicle things and share with friends and family.

The only news since we have been back is I did pick up the Yahmaha FZ6 motorcycle. It is a fun bike to ride very different from the Harley they are both fun in their own way.

here are some pics of the new bike