For those of you who do not want to go back and read all of the sordid details let me give you a quick breakdown of why I ride bicycles and why I ride in the Tour.

1993-My estranged father has a heart attack

1995-Dad moves to Florida

1998-Diabetes claims my father’s kidneys

1999- My son arrives

2000- I tip the scales at 386 pounds

2005-I am diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes

2008- Dad’s leg is amputated, Diabetes finally claims his life

2010-I rediscover cycling and gain greater control of my numbers

2011- I race in and finsh (not even last) my first Iceman Cometh Race

2013-Race and finish the 2013 Barry Roubaix. My numbers still stable with Diet and exercise and I am scheduled to ride in my first Tour de Cure.

Last Saturday my wife and I raced in the Killer Gravel Road Race called Barry-Roubaix . We raced in the 23 miler. The hills were incredible and the scenes were beautiful. I will have a short write up on my experience shortly. For real this time. I am now going to work on keeping this blog current as I train for the 2013 Iceman Cometh Race.

Until then here are some links if you are interested.

From Cyclocross Magazine:

Barry Roubaix Race Recap: Low Temps, Fast Times

A wikipedia article:

Info on Barry-Roubaix

I have taken a pretty big step in my training for the 2013 Iceman Cometh race. Over the past week I have taken a pretty huge step. I enrolled in a physician supervised weight loss program. The great thing is that my new doctor is actually a triathlete! I also have a coach who is a fitness instructor and two nurses that are helping me along the way.

There is no way that I ever want to be sitting here in Toledo when the Iceman race is happening. It’s a crazy mixed bag of negative feelings. I am gonna train hard this year and do whatever it takes to come back next year. So that I never have to be alone in Toledo like this thinking and wishing  well for Ben, Mark, and Team Hotdog.

See You In 2013!

I’m lucky, real lucky to have hooked up with Team Hot Dog. Almost all of my interaction with them has been online, but that is changing too. A couple of people on the  team that I have been sharing my junk with have been incredibly cool. As well as some other people that I have met through this site. I am still stoked on riding and maintaining an active life.

2013 Iceman Here I Come!!

Recently I just kind of decided that now was the time to get serious again. My problems were clearing up and the overtime and work had slowed down. I had way too many bikes that I liked but nothing really that I loved. I tend to get overly obsessed with things and just fizzle out, and then have a huge supply of stuff from whatever it was that I was into. There was never really any danger of my interest in bikes petering out, but I was kinda frustrated because neither one of my road bikes were perfect.

While perusing the Ann Arbor Craigslist I came upon an ad for a 1999 Bianchi Eros, which is a steel frame bike with lower end Campagnolo components so I called the guy took it for a ride, fell in love, sold my other two road bikes, and then bought the Bianchi. Boy it makes a huge difference riding a bike that you love. The oddest thing is that it feels like the bike was made for me. I am ready to log miles as long as I am able to! Here goes training for my century, only a year late.

I am attempting to raise $2,000 for the ADA

The updates will start flowing big time again!

This is Shelly her first day of riding a DJ. She is progressing so much! I am so proud

I could spend all day in the sport section at Ray’s seriously!

This guy’s perseverance inspires me.