Rhapsody Denton Recap

Well, the race has come and gone. It was amazing fun! We got up at 6:30 this morning, the whole family. The race was about 1.5 hours away and we got their a little early so I could get warmed up. Our friend Greg Bargo met us up there. This was also Greg's first race. Greg rode cross country with Ride:well 2 summers ago, so he shares my passion for Africa and clean water & blood. He has also biked across parts of Africa while doing missions work and meeting with government officials there about the prevention of malaria. You can learn more about him and what he does at http://www.onebloodinitiative.org/

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The weather was around 50 degrees, and the wind was blowing hard, b/t 18 and 20 mph. The race started promptly at 9:15. I got off to a terrible start b/c my foot slipped while trying to clip into my pedal, but I was able to stay onto the back of the group and not get too far behind.

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The race was much harder then I expected. The pace was very high, it started high and they never slowed down. I eventually fell off the back with some others, sometimes riding by myself and sometimes riding with 3 or 4 of others. Which was much easier then being alone, especially when there was a headwind or crosswind. I rode a few miles with a guy who races for LSU (one of his teammates finished 2d). Go SEC! I was able to tell him a little bit about Ride:well also. Greg and I were both in our Ride:well jerseys, so that was very cool.

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What I learned: Riding around that many people, going that fast, is pretty scary. So I need to do more grouping riding to get used to that. I also need to practice clipping in faster. And that I really enjoy racing, that it is a fun, crazy challenge and I love it.

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The numbers: 40 minutes, 13.3 miles, 19mph avg, 27mph top speed, 18 laps, 38th place out of 52 racers.

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Now for all you who sponsored me or would still like to donate at this time. 1st, thanks you for your support! 2d, just scroll back up and follow the instructions under the 'How to Donate' section.

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Thanks again to all my supporters and a special thank you to Sherri, Christian, Dylan, Trinity, Devin, and Justin for getting up early to come and watch.

I'm typing this at work and it won't let me upload any pictures. So I will add some pictures later tonight or tomorrow.

First Race - Rhapsody Denton

Well, my first race is this Saturday, the 13th. It is a Criterium called the Rhapsody Denton. It is a 40 minute race around a track that is about .75 miles in length. The one with the most laps at the end of the 40 minutes wins. The course goes around a football field and thru a parking lot and has 4 or 5 turns.

I'm very excited to get to race while wearing the Ride:Well & Blood:Water Jersey. Raising awareness and money for such a great cause is an honor. Here is what I need from you guys: I want to start out with atleast 5 of you sponsoring me for this race. Well, you won't actually be sponsoring me, you will be sponsoring and providing clean water to thousands of African families. Every $1 you give will take care of one person for a whole year. My $5000 goal could build a well for a whole village, but I need your help.

Like I was saying earlier, this race is 40 minutes long. I would like you to decide in your head how much you will sponsor me for each lap I complete in that 40 minutes. You can do .10, .50, $1, $10, whatever you like, I don't even have to know what amount you decide or if you are able to sponsor me this time or not. You could even throw in a little bonus if I make a top ten finish (there will be about 3o racers). I think I will be able to do about 30 laps in that 40 minutes.

Then, on Saturday afternoon I will post the results of my race and provide instructions on how to give.

Thanks for reading, for your support and especially for your prayers for a safe race!

Day 13 Update

The Unwritten Life

It's been a crazy week! Lots of late nights and long hours at work. I won't pretend to say that it has been easy. When we work concerts I normally drink a monster or two. Well, not this week. I have to thank Trinity for getting me through the first day. She had given my a Fun Dip Valentines day card and the sugar and lik-a-stick kept me going. The guys have been very supportive as well, encouraging me to keep going and sacrificing for Africa.

Today, Sherri and I watched a great movie: 'The Brother's Bloom'. There are a couple of great lines in the movie. The first is this: 'There is no such thing as an unwritten life, only a bad story.' & then later: 'Let's live like we are writing the best story ever told.'

Those lines reminded me of why we are doing 40 days & why I'm racing for Ride:well & Blood:water. I had just finished reading Donald Miller's new book, 'A Million Miles In a Thousand Years'. If you haven't read it, you should. It has inspired me to try and live a better life. His book is a challenge for us to live a life for more then ourselves. To write a story that will change the lives of your friends, your family, yourself, and all those you come in contact with and even those you will never meet. This is why we do things like 40 Days, why we give up things like coffee, soda, and tea (& monsters). It is much harder to do then you think and I believe it is changing me. Sherri has always been the compassionate one, going on missions trips, adopting kids through World Vision & teaching our kids about giving and caring for others. I am really enjoying sharing this experience with Sherri and the kids. I'm finally putting into action what I've known to do for so long. Living with a purpose is fun!

So, get out there and live like you are writing the best story ever told!

Day 3 of 40 days is almost over. I've had a sore throat so I've had a couple of cups of hot tea, organic throat coat, so really that's medicine. Right? Anyway, the caffeine headaches are getting less severe and later in the day. Excedrin helps with those. The family & I have saved $12 so far. That's 12 Africans with clean water for a year. Hope you all are doing well & that the headaches are few & the energy is high.

40 Days of Water Challenge

Who is ready for a challenge? A very tough challenge.

The Challenge: Only drink water for 40 days. But wait! Don't stop there! Take the money that you have saved, that you would have used to buy that Skinny Latte or Big Gulp, and give it to help someone in Africa who doesn't have clean water. They don't have the option to choose a morning coffee, or soda or tea during lunch. Many of them don't even have the option of drinking clean water. I can't even imagine that. I whine and complain when I have to drink the water in Red Oak just b/c it tastes a little weird. They probably say the same when they have to drink Waxahachie water. I know this won't be easy. You may have to suffer from caffeine withdrawal headaches for a few days and not getting that buzz from your favorite energy drink. Sounds to me like a great excuse to take a cat nap every afternoon instead.

You may say; 'Why drink only water?' Can't I just give some money and still drink whatever I want?' Well, yes you can. But if you do, I think you will be missing out on a chance to grow, a chance to feel compassion for people you don't even know. Sacrifice brings change.

Join me! Let's make a difference. Every dollar you give will change someones life for a full year, and every drink you skip may just change your life as well. That is so amazing to me, that a single $1 can make such a difference.

The 40 days starts this Wednesday, the 17th of February and will end on the 3rd of April. Learn more at www.bloodwatermission.com/40days

I will keep you informed on how I'm doing and hope you will do the same for me. Oh yea, and on Sundays you can feel free to drink whatever you want.

Why?

Why water? Why a bicycle? Well, those are very good questions. It all started about 3 years ago when I heard about a group of people riding across the country. It was the ride:well tour and they were doing it for blood:water mission. Raising money and awareness for the tremendous needs that the people of Africa have. The need for clean water and clean blood.

Sherri, myself and the kids all got our bikes ready to go and started raising money. It was a great summer day in July, a very hot day, when the ride:well team came through Waxahachie. It was a very challenging day and an amazing experience for us all. The next summer we did the ride again and also got involved with the Water Walk at The Oaks Fellowship. We walked three miles to a dirty pond and filled our water jugs and then carried them back to the church. Just a very small example of what many African women & children have to do on a daily basis.

I caught the cycling bug after that first year and have continued to ride ever since. Christian and I have logged many miles together out on the road. This year I have decided to challenge myself even more and start racing my bicycle. Then I thought, why just race? Why not give back to what got me into riding in the first place? So, here I am. Getting myself ready to race, to challenge myself physically, and to challenge you as well. To challenge you to partner with me and make a difference in the lives of 1000s of African people and maybe even a whole village. I would like to raise $5000. At current costs that should build one well or provide fresh water for 5000 Africans for a whole year.

I am very excited about this race season and wearing the ride:well and blood:water mission cycling kit. I will use this blog to keep you informed of my training, my races, and more importantly, how you can get involved. Thank you in advance for all your prayers and support.