Against The Wind

We've all had to fight against the wind (meaning the hardships that everyday life throws at us) in some form or another. In them times it's always nice to know there is family, friends there for you but some don't have that luxury, some have nothing and/or no one to turn to or they don't know where or how.

So I'm going to jump in and help a few causes. Mainly I'll be writing, speaking, bicycling, walking, fund raising, etc. about: 1. Hunger (being my main topic) 2.Hearing Loss 3.Cancer - All 3 issues at one time or another in past and present have affected me, my family and friends.

I will be posting information, awareness articles, places where you can find help, my bike rides, new advances in research or studies, etc. Basically anything I can find that seems to have some importance I will post. There is a solid base of research that shows some cancers can be avoided by proper nutrition. Beside helping stock food banks I will also be advocating about growing food your self... I will still continue to post my usual other articles on here too about my biking. feelings, etc. etc.

All the fund raising that I will be doing will have an accompanying site and instructions showing where donations can be made. All donations made by you to the organizations I list will be tax deductible.

I will be asking for no monies for myself, although gifts (cash/products/services) to help with some of my expenses will always be appreciated. Please contact me at knobbykabushka@charter.net if you so desire to help in that way.

I already have planned one fund raising ride for this year. I'll be riding from Luna Pier, MI. to New Buffalo, MI. (215 miles) trying to raise awareness & funds for The Food Bank Council of Michigan - At the present time the ride will take place between Sept 16th and Sept 22th, which coincides with this years start of FBCM 20th annual Michigan Harvest Gathering campaign... Not all details are configured yet so please check back to see further updates.

Thank you all and I hope we can join together to help those whose needs are greater than ours...

PS: It may take a while for me to get all this out and online as I also want to try and set up a FaceBook page and such, so please be patient.. In the mean time you can follow what I do through this blog or follow me on Twitter or Facebook

Just put on a rain jacket and ride...

Morning to all the few reading this, hope all is well in your world?

I drafted this big post the other day about stuff and plans and whys and whys nots and then yesterday decided not to post it - enough talk, enough writing, just do!

The title of this post came from a book Brad Kearns wrote about Lance Armstrong - when asked how he (Lance) dealt with the attacks from European media and drugs accusations he replied, "When it's raining, I just put on a rain jacket and go"

Simple ain't it? and there is the key I have been missing, Simplicity. As I saw somewhere else the author stated: "No one ever won the Tour de France by contemplating winning the Tour de France"

I still have my ride for charity I want to do, still have my plans, still the dream and maybe one day I will post that post, but for now action will be speaking louder for me than words...

Enjoy yourselves, Knobby

The Dream, where it's at now!

My cycling as an adult began on April 13th, 2003 - when cleaning out garage I found my oldest daughters huffy mountain bike. dragged it out, I put a little air in the tires and rode it down the street. Next day I took it to a MTBike trail close by and I went about a mile and a half and almost DIED, virtually. From them 2 little ride my cycling path grew longer & longer until in 2005 I entered a few local MTBike races and faired not to bad.

In 2006 I made a firm commitment to local state MTBike races and ended up in 4th place overall for my age division in Norba Michigan State Championship. Rode a slew of bike tours http://twitpic.com/1gxk9y/full

After that I wanted to move on to bigger and better things, but things happen, illness happens, family matters happen, and slowly from 2007 to 2009 I faded and cycling took a back seat. Then in April of last year - I got all excited about doing cycling again, I had just retired from my regular day to day job and thought at last I can do what I wanted to do. LOL

Little did I know, that the mind can be the key motivator in a persons life, the body may be able and willing but if the mind is not in sinc with the body, then all can be a wash-out. Couple that with outside circumstances and soon you find yourself making excuses for not doing more then making excuses for doing. Which is what happened all last year, ZIP, NATA, NOTHING - One excuse after another, another year wasted, another dream chance shot, another year older, etc., etc.

So you're probably asking , but what is this dream of mine? Well originally it was to race MTBikes and also do a little bit of road time trialing, across the state for a while and then move on to national events. Climb Mt. Mitchell, race in the Trans Rockie race, etc. Now, because of issues in family and I have let myself go so bad health wise, now the dream is changed a little.

The dream has now taken on a little more meaning than just chasing MTB trail after MTB trail. though there is nothing wrong in that, but for me, substance has been added now.

I want to ride, I enjoy riding my bike everywhere, I miss riding, that is one thing that will never go away. Whether I ever race again, who knows, but I know I need to ride somehow, somewhere.

So I am back and yes it's July already, LOL. First I need to get back into shape/form (like lose at least 30 lbs) and then the plan is at least for this year is to do local bike tours here in Michigan and other rides, but I want to ride also to bring awareness and funds to several organizations, that have helped either me, family members or friends.

I know times are tough for alot of people, but I am going to do what I can to help these places and I ask you to join me. If not through funding than positive support for me in doing so or helping spread the word about these great organizations. (please see my list in the side bar)

So that is where things stand at the moment - I am going to try to the best of my ability to accomplish this, this year.

Thank you for reading and maybe with a little encouragement and help we all can help make this a little better place to live in...

PS: I will be posting more information in next few days...

PSS: I have also on the side of blog a feed which keeps tracks of all the riding I do and which you may follow..

Start - Fail - Restart - Success?

Last post shows July 2009 - Where has all the time gone? especially when I feel like I have accomplished nothing, absolutely nothing pertaining to getting back to cycling...let alone my life. So many dreams, so many ideas, so many talks and yet nothing.

My first post for this blog was a little over a year ago and now here I am again trying one more time to re-start my dreams.

One thing that has made it hard is support, local close by riding support and companions. My friends do not ride (they do golf though), so it makes it hard when you're the only one chasing a dream, an idea. You get into a mode of 'the less you do the more you do nothing'

I don't know where this is going at the moment, I don't know even what tomorrow will bring. I do know that I'm not getting any younger, that life is short and in a blinking of an eye a persons life, a family's plans,etc. can change or shatter in pieces.

This past year has had some good & bad in it, some family members have had a bad year, with one battling Pancreatic & Lung Cancer and another with Prostrate Cancer and yet at the same time a new grandchild was born. Some money problems, some personal health issues again, etc. In all I guess that is what life is about for most people - Living through challenges the best you can and striving towards renewal. Just wonder sometimes if it's possible that one person can have so much illness and death in their life that eventually it affects their outlook on life?

So with a little help from all of you and others, maybe I can try to re-start this dream (which I will post about tomorrow morning) and accomplish it before the twinkle of life runs out for me...

Another addition to the Bucket-list

I figure if I come up with big ideas for me to do, one I won't be bored, two I'll have something to shoot for and three I enjoy reading what others before have done..

So on that note I leave you with this link to The 10th Annual Off Road Assault on Mt. Mitchell