Someone please name this post

I picked my personal rocket ship up last Friday although now it somewhat has the appeal of space junk....its like the first scratch in a new car. Its now lost some of its luster but its mine and it does the job.

James, one of the owners of PC Bike, and a friend of mine fixed me up with new aerobars, cables etc. He always goes the extra mile for the price. If you're ever anywhere near Palm Coast on a bicycle and just plan on stopping in to pick up some stinger gels or a Coke stop in and give this man your money. He earned it.

My first ride out I will admit was a struggle. Believe it or not I managed to pull or strain a muscle in my ribs surfing so breathing at this time is giving me a bit of discomfort. Im the most injury prone person I know although I think its just bad luck. I also haven't been on a bike in 6 weeks. Time flies. I took it easy nevertheless I was extremely timid when I hit the first bit of traffic. The nerves of the big bang combined with the new bars put a little twist in my stomach but I settled down after a few minutes. I did one of my favorite out and back rides which is from my house straight down 100 to Flagler Beach over the overpass get a look at the water and head straight back. First time over the overpass hurt second time and I actually got out of the saddle a couple times. No big deal was just nice to be out. I only had one potential bad traffic moment someone exiting south on the interstate was to yield to traffic traveling west. Of course Im going west the guy doesn't yield and Im caught in the middle of traffic with cars on the left and right. This time though rather than give him the "New York salute" I simply waved and smiled. Better result this time :)

I noticed Im starting to approach the 2 year anniversary of my Quintana Roo and I've now got over 4000 miles on it. I thought that was pretty cool. Although I really thought I was going to approach 5000 by this time this year....still plenty of time to have it by the end of the year.

Imagine that, the guys in le Tour are doing 2000 miles in just 3 weeks and I've rode only twice that in 2 YEARS! An easy indicator of just how tough that race is. I went through my normal tour mania this year and found it more interesting and exciting without Lance as Im sure many did. I was pulling for "Big George" but am glad an American won nonetheless. Congrats Floyd! Tell you what on Wednesday I was falling into depression because I thought it was over but Thursday came and it was one of the most awesome sports moments I've ever seen. I know most Americans don't get cycling. They don't know what they're missing. Looks like Leipheimer is going back to Discovery will be interesting to see if they race him like Lance .... one warm up and then the tour only. Next year probably stands to be more interesting once the whole "Operacion Puerto" sorts itself out. Im wishing someone, OLN anybody, would carry the Vuelta and the world championships but typically OLN does no more cycling coverage during the year post tour. [Correction] Turns out OLN will by continuing their "Cyclysm Sunday's" including the Vuelta in September Giro di Lombardia in October and the Tour du Faso in November. This actually might have been the case last year and I just missed it because of Pro Football. Go Dolphins!

I have some comments to follow about Time's Teddy Roosevelt issue but its 3:30 am and Im going to try to sleep again. Wish me luck.

Surfing and Physique

Surfing and Physique

This article really couldn't have better timing as I've been trying to convince some of my friends and coworkers that surfing has an amazing side effect and that is the workout .... and not only is it an amazing workout but for me its also a total release from personal stress .... when Im in the water there is nothing else going on in my little pea brain but the task at hand and the occasional thank the Lord for giving me the opportunity to have moments of peace such as this during my current turmoil.... and oh yeah ITS FUN! Its nothing to pass a couple hours out paddling around and never even realize its gone by. So if you have the means and a local break give it a shot you won't regret it. Pinky swear.

Now, if I could just get passed that whole "I'm ravenous" when I get out of the water at nearly 9pm Id be set.

Closure.

Human beings don't treat other human beings this way

Well its over and now life goes on. After discovering the person I married was not the person I married over these last few months I've also found people are more willing to speak to me about things I didn't know had been going on including her having had an affair(s). These last few weeks I've felt like such an idiot. That these things were happening more than 2 years ago and like a fool I trusted. She also took complete advantage of my trusting in the settlement but in that too life goes on. I guess now I've gained some enlightenment, better it happened this way than finding out when you're still in love. At least this way the divorce seems somewhat worth it knowing what I know now .... its cliche but only thing I can say is at least I have Maddie. Even though I often find myself dazing at Maddie thinking I failed her. I still haven't told her I know about the cheating but I suppose she'll find out if she reads the blog. Reality used to be a friend of mine.

I found these Divorce Care series of emails a few months back when looking into things like christian divorce support groups and Im amazed how accurate they are in dealing with the emotions that go along with divorce and dealing with them as a christian. Unfortunately reading and putting these things into action sometimes are near impossible like avoiding feelings of wanting to get back and avoiding the urge to try to start a new relationship. This week it was something along the lines of learning to be happy alone before trying to be happy with someone else. Alone since I've been in relationships for the last 8+ years feels near impossible but Im starting to adjust a bit. That doesn't mean I don't fail in the trying but Im working on it. Im not perfect.

Training

Far as training goes its been non-existent. I finally got my bike into the shop this week having to get the aerobars replaced and other misc fixes post accident. I've been keeping in decent shape doing the P90X workouts and surfing. Surfing is my new passion and Im doing it 8+ hours a week..pretty much any time I don't have Maddie and am not working. Im still not any good at it and I know those little punk kids that have been doing it since they were born are out there laughing at me for being a "poser" but I don't care. Its an amazing workout for my back/shoulders/core Im sore after almost every session mostly because Im doing far more paddling than surfing. Which make it perfect cross training for swimming. I was really hoping to do Ironman again this year but Im outside the window of opportunity. With Maddie switching every 3 days the schedule is a killer on consistancy so will be sticking out the sprints.

Church

Once again I began to feel like a number at my church...as though I didn't exist much as I attended and participated I think all of 3 people might have known my name...as a kid I always remember the churches we attended it always felt like family and somewhere along the line I've lost that and perhaps my expectations were too high. I don't know what to do. I continue to study my Bible and pray fervently but Im desperate for fellowship and to surround myself with those that love the Lord and I just cannot seem to accomplish this. Maybe its me. Maybe the Lord is telling me I need him and not other people?

I read this back and all I see is blah blah blah ME blah blah blah ME blah blah blah ME. What is this a pity party? I think what happens when Im in a good mood I find stuff to do when Im sad I WRITE and here I am dumping on the interweb ;)