How Do You Spend Your Time?

Today is the day after an enormous storm system moved across the southeastern US and to this point, there have been close to 200 deaths reported from the tornadoes. It's been said by a popular weatherman (James Spann http://jamesspann.com/js/) that this was a once in a lifetime storm. The last time a storm system of this magnitude was recorded was sometime in the 1930s and it would not be likely that you would see another. The storm was very scary and very tragic and I'm certainly breathing a sigh of relief that it skipped the Albany/ Leesburg area.

With that said, I've noticed several deaths around me lately. I found out yesterday that someone I went to high school with and still spoke to committed suicide yesterday. The Albany Herald normally has a front page filled with people that were either killed or convicted of killing.

It's a bit surreal at times with all of this going on around me and I know it affects different people in different ways but what I was thinking on was what I would be doing at the time when I leave this earth. Would I be peacefully sleeping in my bed or screaming as I wreck my car? I prefer the first to the latter but its very unlikely that any of us would have a clue. I don't have any doubt in my mind what will occur after death. I don't have any doubt that I will stand in front of my creator.

I just read an article on http://www.fatcyclist.com/ about a guy that passed away while hiking in Hawaii. I didn't read into the details of his death but he certainly died in a beautiful place and it was not in bed. That got me thinking and my question is, if you knew what day and time you would die, would that change how you lived your life from the present until that pre-determined day? Would you do something daring and wild or would you spend every waking second with your family?

This is what I've been thinking about today. Beyond the fact that I claim God as my Yeshua and daily attempt to yield my life to His Will, I spend quite a bit of time in recreation- mountain biking, running, kayaking, camping, etc. The amount of time doing those things don't really compare with the amount of time I spend with my wife and 2 girls but they are things I enjoy doing. I am passionate about these activities because they offer excitement and they are things I did before getting married and having children.

In the end, we spend the time and do the things that we most want to do. If you have a balanced life, you spend some time with family and some time doing whatever your hobby is. When you fall out of your balance, there will be problems that arise.
On the one hand, I have this great family-

I love spending time with them and watching my girls grow up is a joy. On the other hand I've got these hobbies-

My hobbies keep me sane and let me blow off steam. I have to find and readjust my balance week by week.
And this is what I feel like-

The Latest on the Chehaw MTB Trails

Starting back in mid to late 2010, several people began work on converting an old hiking trail and an old mountain bike trail at the Parks at Chehaw (http://www.parksatchehaw.org/) into a great and ridable mountain bike trail suitable for leisure rides and races.

Some of the final parts of that trail have been "cut in" and should be finalized very soon. The total mileage at this point is about 6.7 miles with roughly 316 feet of climb (according to my runkeeper app). The trail really does run through different extremes in terrain and view.

For anyone that has ridden in Ellijay, this trail compares to Ridgeway and is not anything like Bear Creek or Pinhoti Trail. The trail is a large winding loop the goes around the outer edges of the park. It runs beside the Kinchafoonee Creek, Philema Road, the animal park, the camp grounds, and through a low, swampy area and a managed forest.

I rode the trail yesterday and really thought about my previously held belief that you needed to ride in north Georgia to experience true mountain biking. However, this Chehaw trail is beginning to change my opinion on that. It's true that south Georgia is rather flat in comparison to north Georgia but we have hills of varying size that make our trails fun to ride. The new trail has some good changes in elevation with several climbs and drops.

I used Runkeeper GPS app on my phone to create the following map.

First New One in 10 Years.......

This is the first new bike I have bought since my last in 2001. It was September 10th, 2001 at REI in Atlanta. I guess I will always remember that date and where I was when I bought that K2. I was also single at the time and buying a full-suspension mountain bike was a big deal for me at the time. Here it is-

Now, I've only had my new bike for a few weeks and I have no idea what the date was when I bought it. I only remember that although the new bike is far superior to the old bike, I did pay more for the old one. Here's the new one-

The new bike is a 29er made by Specialized and I've enjoyed it so far. I've been hitting the new trails out at Chehaw (https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B-6R9nyCAymWMzJlNGFkMGQtN2U1Yy00MDhkLWIzMzMtNmQzMDBkN2FmNDVj&hl=en&pli=1). I'm not sure whether its the new bike or the excitement that comes with owning a new bike but I feel like this bike handles the trail much better than the old.

This bike cost about the same as the old even though there are 10 years separating them. I did get lucky and sell the old bike on Craigslist for $90. I was pleasantly surprised that it sold quickly or at all. That helped ease the tension on cost with my wife although I did pay for this one with cash from Christmas and birthday and not on the credit card as I'm sure I did with the old.

I guess this whole situation and the main reason for this long story is that I'm amazed at what has changed in 10 years and I'm not just talking about bikes and bike technology. I'm very much a different person from that September day in Buckhead. I'm now married with 2 kids, a steady career, and an appreciation for the money it takes to buy a new toy and the physical ability to ride it.

My Youngest Has Gotten Mobile

This past weekend, we traveled down to Orlando and spent 2 days at Sea World. We had a blast and got to spend a lot of time together. While at the condo, I noticed that my 10 month old daughter was pushing her way across my lap to reach the things on the table. She finally figured out how to crawl and that has translated to her doing that on the floor. Check this out-