Training Increases

This past weekend I was back to Saturday and Sunday rides.  Monday was my energy level was down but today feeling energized again.  Getting old but still cranking.

Saturday was  time with Trek and the new Century Training program which will culminate with the Tour de Poway in Oct.  Bruce Milikin and his side kick, Darryl MacKenzie, where out completing a double century up in LA called the Grand Tour this past weekend.  Bruce is running the Trek program and asked me to step in to help get things rolling on their second Trek ride while he was completing a mile stone in his life.  Bruce is a Leukemia survivor, a wonderful friend and a great USCF Coach.  He has brought all kinds of new ideas Trek training program. 

There was a lot of new people at the Trek ride this past Saturday.  I think I counted 35 new registrations.  I saw an old friend of mine from an early Leukemia and Lymphoma Society cycling program Ron Monts.  He was out riding with his brother who had recently recovering from a heart attack.  It was good to see Ron again after all these years.  I think the last time I saw him was over 10 years ago.  We had a chance to chat some on our ride down the coast and back.  Quick 30 mile ride.

The Challenged Athletes Foundation ride on Sunday was almost a replay of the day before but in the opposite direction up the coast to the other side of Camp Pendleton.  A bit more distance as well, over 50 some miles. 

Todd Northup was a guest Ride Leader in our group, Group 3.  He normally will be in Group 2.  Always a great guy to have along.  I can never thank CAF and XX1090 enough for the friends I found in 2008.  Todd and I met in that program and soon found kindred spirits with cycling and life. We both worked extremely hard on our event for that Radio Contest and gained a great deal of knowledge about each other in that process.  I refer to him as MVBMF(My Very Best Man Friend) but I'm not sure I should be putting that out in a public blog.  Oh, what the hell.  He won't mind.

Next week elimination starts for the Radio Contestants in the XX1090 contest.  We currently have 30 but after July 7th there will be 15.  First cuts are hard but they just get harder after that.

Looking for Inspiration?

I think we all wonder around in life with our day to day activities and don't realize how blessed we are.  I know I get up in the morning, eat my breakfast, let the dogs out, check my email to see if someone is offering me a job, and continue on to the next task grumbling at times and frustrated.  What I don't do often enough is be thankful for the things I have that are here right now in my little world.

Recently someone sent me this link to a YouTube video for Nick Vujicic who's pictured on the right.  Just click on his name and you'll be taken to the video.  Wow, doesn't that just blow you away.  Look at the energy oozing from him.  And the things he can do.  Again, WOW.

Here's another one.  Ezra Frech is just 4 years old.  Now you might ask what can a 4 year old teach me about life.  Watch his YouTube video and then tell me what you think.  What challenges do you have today that's bigger than his?  Can you pick yourself up after being knocked down, smile back at the world and turn it into a positive?

I'm trying to take a moment in my life each day to turn around and look at what I have.  I'm healthy, I've been married to a wonder woman for 24 years, I have a roof over my head, two fantastic dogs and all my faculties  (I think).  I certainly don't have anything to complain about.

Those days when I'm frustrated because I'm still looking for employment I'm going to remember to bring up these videos and see that life isn't that bad.  Videos like these are designed to draw inspiration from and we should use them to help keep us focused.

I've also found that if I reach out and help others I tend not to fall back into a world of self pity or as my mom used to refer to it, ".. navel gazing".  That's where you sit in your room and have a pity party with yourself saying why me, why me while you stare at your belly button.  So I spend my weekends helping others train for events with the Challenged Athletes Foundation and Trek.  There's something empowering about that sense of accomplishment when I've had a group finish a long bicycle ride or helped them learned a new skill.  Just that smile on their face is enough.

So from now on or as often as I can make myself do it, I plan to keep a smile on my face, hold a positive attitude and remember that my life is not that bad and pretty darn special.  There are plenty out there who have over come much more than I have but they are fantastic examples for working just a little bit harder.

Competitor Magazine & Rubio's

June 7th, 2010 - This past weekend my lovely wife Crystal and I stopped at Rubio's over off of Scripps Poway Parkway and the 15 to pick up a Saturday afternoon meal. They always have great food and beside, they support CAF, LLS and so many other organizations here in San Diego. While waiting I picked up the Competitor Magazine to pass the few minutes it would take for our food to be ready. I was flipping through the pages and came across an advertisement for the MS 150 which raises funds to fight diabetes. At the top is a picture of some cyclists and in the middle is me. Now I've seen this before but it always makes me smile and here's why. I've never ridden this event and the day this was taken I was riding with the Challenged Athletes Foundation so pictured also in this ad are several people wearing CAF garb.

I find this really cool because in my mind it represents the way I want to look at life. I want to support as many organizations and events I can and volunteer as often as my time permits. Seeing cross use of resources between non-profits is a way to a better outcome I believe. There is already too much fighting in our world so why not try and find ways to work together when every possible.

This was, I'm pretty sure, unintentional on the part of the MS people. I've certainly given donations to those raising funds for this cause. Why, because so many people have given to me. As a cancer survivor myself I have firsthand life experience as to why we all need to give something in life. You just never know when your number is up and you need science to develop a cure for that bad hand of cards sometimes we get dealt. In my case it was testicular cancer over 16 years ago and after 3 grueling and very painful protocol session with Chemo they finally announce I was in the clear though it be with no hair and a very weak body.

As I continued to flip pages I noticed that actually I could associate with many of the ads and articles. Leukemia & Lymphoma Society towards the front. I had done 13 programs with them. An article about Scout Bassett and Sarah Reinertsen both I've met and cycling with during the CAF events. And towards the back an advertisement for the program I am currently in, Million Dollar Challenge sponsored by Qualcomm.

It made me proud to see the effect of some of the things I do in life. When my time is up and I'm called to the gate of St Peter and he asked, "what did you do in life", I want my answer to be the longest he's ever heard.

2nd Radio Contest Ride

June 1st - It's a new month. This year is really flying by fast. This past weekend we celebrated memorial day my wife and I. Both of us are X Army vets and were proud to have serve our country. My wife is a West Point graduate (Go Army Beat Navy), class of 84, and I was an enlisted man. How did that work you might ask? It's a whole another story.


That experience in our lives played a major part in how we view the world today. Some of our values where shaped in those years though we both were well into adulthood at the time. Responsibility, follow through, high standards, respect for others, etc where an intricate what the service imparted on us. Thank you Uncle Sam for the opportunity and privilege to serve.

On Sunday the XX1090 Radio Contestants met at Solana Beach for our 2nd training ride. 14 of the 30 Radio Contestants where on hand. One guy, Happy Keller (that is his name), showed up even though his bicycle was on a truck heading to Tahoe. Happy is a very dedicated person. He is just finishing up a funding raising program with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) Team in Training (TNT) cycling program and jumped right into the Radio Contest with CAF. Next weekend he's going to ride a 100 mile course around Lake Tahoe after raising, I believe, over $3500 in funds to fight blood cancer. You wouldn't look at him and say, "...there is an slim and trim athlete". But to make an impact in the world and in this contest, you don't have to be. Showing up is half the battle.

Another one of the contestants, Tony Sciarrino, made it to mile 21 after some hard climbing for him. He was beat and let me know. I thought he was going to call his wife but instead he turned around and rode back putting in just over 35 miles. Though it wasn't the 50 mile course at least, again, he showed up and tried.

Opportunities in our journey may only happen once. What you do with those opportunities is not a right or wrong decision, it's just a fork in the road. But my experience has been if I take it on and look at it as a new adventure, my life is so much fuller because of that choice. My goal is to help the radio people see that opportunity and put every ounce of their heart and soul into being the possible winner.