riding, walks, a BEAR, and a Chicken

This week was a quiet one. Bernice was gone almost the whole time; she was in North Georgia with her supposed friend Cheryl(more on that in a minute.) Derek and I held down the fort and did quite well with both the housekeeping and meals end of things. Riding was somewhat limited due to pesky rain (which we need - so I dare not complain).

Activities this week were divided between work, some riding, lots of dog walking,and housekeeping. The dog & I had some late night early morning walks which both of us seemed to enjoy.

I did also have two nice long phone calls with friends: Tim from Tennessee and
Darrell from California it was good to catch up with both of them. The only bad thing about having friends scattered around the country is you do not get to see them as often as you would like to.

Bernice had fun hiking in North Georgia with Cheryl. But Cheryls true colors were revealed last Thursday. They had just read up on bear saftey and how you should stick togehter, act BIG, walk away slowly without turning your back. Well the two of them encounterd a bearon the trail. Cheryl TOOK OFF SCREAMING--- YIKES!!! Luckily the bear did not eat my lovely wife. (the above Bear is not the one they saw)(for those of you who followed us this summer Cheryl was the Heckeler in my Blog)

They had a chance to have lunch with Uncle Bob from the bike trip.
He seems to show up and eat whenever we are in the area. This time he was with the lovely Sherry, his bride who hails originally from Chattanooga, TN. They had a LOOOOONG lunch that lasted till after 4:pm (from a 12:30 start) He tends to chew his food rather methodiclly due to his advanced age and weak digestive system.



He was inducted into the "Brotherhood of the Chicken"

For those of you who do not know this is normally given while accomplishing a particularly arduous task requiring perseverance to complete. I got mine while riding accross the country.. well Bob got his for having to endure a 3 hour lunch with Cheryl.

The century(100 mile ride) went very well. I finished in 5 hours and 5 minutes with an average speed of just under 20 mph. This is one of my best centuries in a number of years. I was able to meet up with some friends form Ocala and meet some new friends from Alabama; together we enjoyed the scenic back roads of north central Florida. The day was topped off by some good Gator football with a win over the 8th ranked Kentucky team.

I enjoyed a short ride Friday morning before steping astride the Yamaha FZ6 and heading to Daytona.It is Biketoberfest there and the bikers were out in number. I had planned to hit High Tides in FLagler for lunch but so did about 300 other motorcyclist and since they can seat maybe 50 on a good day I headed down the coast and would eat later. The ride along A1A was great; nice surf, cool breeze, and lots of Bikes to look at. I ended up with over 200 miles by the time I returned to Ocala. The pic (above) is not of me.

The other news this week was that Michael got his first new vehicle. A 2007 Toyota Tacoma Prerunner SR5... very nice truck. He was excited with the purchase and learned some lessons on car buying as I would provide counsel but made him do all the negotiating and such. He says he is really begining to enjoy the truck as he becomes more proficient on the use of a clutch. This is his first vehicle that is standard shifting.

Bernice is enjoying this week in North Georgia with her friend Cheryl so Derek & I are holding down the home front.

This week a half century and next week a century

- On Wednesday this past week I crossed the half century mark and next week I will ride a century.

To clarify – this week I turned 50 years old and this coming Saturday I am riding the Santa Fe Century (any 100 mile ride is called a century).

On turning 50 – no big deal; physically I feel great – no aches and pains (yet). I do need my reading glasses more often these days but that is pretty normal. Mentally I feel about like a teenager – meaning I still like to catch some air while skiing or riding the mountain bike. So I guess I will refer back to my old quote on aging. “Aging is inevitable, maturity is a choice – there is no future in growing up.”
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Reflections on 50 in no particualar order:
27 years married to my sweetheart
2 great sons who I am very proud of
a faith that is srong and vibrant
a business that is blessed abundantly by GOD
many goals accomplished and many yet to do
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This week I said goodbye to a good friend who is moving away. My buddy Jeff has left Ocala and is transitioning to Pennsylvania (job related)..
I knew this was coming for several years just did not know when. Thank goodness for cell phones and email this shrinks the distance. Never easy to have good friends move away – Tim, Cullie and now Jeff are 3 that come to mind in the last few years
Well my upcoming trip to Georgia got cancelled. My friend Bruce can not get the time off due to recent use of vacation to visit his Mom who has been in failing health. This means a week without my sweetie as she is still going with her friend (Bruce’s wife) for a week to the mountains.
Some have asked how my sister is doing with her fight with cancer- she had a pretty decent week this week and is in good spirits. This week she has a week off from Chemo and just has a transfusion on tap. Keep her in your prayers.

Dahlonega day 4

We had the picture perfect day he in North Georgia---blue skies and sunny. We covered 315 miles and rode in the states of Georgia and Tennessee. JImmy was a happy camper because of the sun--he still wore his knee high rubber Mullet boots.
We had delighful weather and blue skies. Heading first to Ellajay GA to pick up our tour leader for the day David - from Oppenheimer who has a second house in Ellajay. From then we went to Occee and Telico Plains. From there we did a stretch of the Cherahola Skyway and then on to Suches, Wolfpen Gap, Hogpen Gap and back to Dahlonega.

We had a great lunch along side the river by the Cherahola.

All in all an excellent trip --- we head home in the morning

Dahlonega Day 3

Well today started in the rain and it rained most of the day. That said we still logged 215 miles.... the first pic is of a friend named Mark or Cags or Elvis depending on who is talking to or about him.
He asked me to feature him since his Mom supposed to check my site.

Though is was raining the traction was not bad at all and we were able to make the best of the day. After all we had come to North Georgia to ride not sit in a hotel.
You can tell by Jim's pose that it is important to stay focused while riding in the rain and critical you do not get on it too soon coming out of a turn
Sonny the ride organizer had a problem with a tire that wore out during the trip. Amazingly he found a replacement at Bubba's lawnmower & rental shop in Clayton Georgia--- hence the big smile after the ride was over.
Here you can see our boy Mark, ELvis or Cags caught in a private moment with his new girlfriend ... I did not catch her name but it was said she was Gene Simons sister.

dahlonega trip day 2

Today we covered 291 miles and hit a limited amount of rain, which was not bad considering there was a 60% chance. I stayed dry thanks to good clothes. We headed to Blairsville and then on to the Nantahla gorge and up to Robinsville and then on to the dragon. I had a great uncrowded down & back run on the dragon.
From there we ran the Cherahola Skyway some nice twisties and sweepers The smokies were at their finest with smokelike fog all day.

I had a great time after the ride when I met Uncle Bob from my cross country bicycle trip for dinner. He drove nearly an hour today to have a most excellent dinner with me in Dahlonega. It was good to see him again. I count him as a true family friend and really enjoyed catching up with him again.

Well tomorrow is another day of riding ... take care dont forgget to leave a comment

Dahlonega Motorcycle trip Day 1

We left Ocala at 5:30am with the bikes in the trailer and headed north arriving in Dahlonega about 1:00pm. We checked in, changed, unloaded the bikes and headed out.


We rode to Suches, Wolfpen gap, Clingmans dome and Blairsville at total of 91 miles. The weather was spotty rain -- then rain --- then clear.


On the way Back from Blairsville we stopped for coffee and pie and a place called the Butcher the Baker and the Candymaker. It was very good pie as the smile on Jims face shows.

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.