On Thursday Tim and I were able to set up a time for 3 of the guys to come out and do a practice caddie. Ricky was on Mark's bag, Matt was on Eric's bag and Andrew was on my bag.. of course the big winner! I really couldn't have played much better then the way I did. I just haven't been playing much at all and my focus has been on getting my knee better and riding. I shot a smooth 75 and really it felt like nothing and I could have gone lower. It was really awesome to have the chance to be one on one with the guys and to get them to walk with us 9 holes.. you really can learn about someone fast on the golf course. Andrew and the guys are really really great guys and have so much ahead of them since they are about to graduate the program. Andrew really didn't waste much time in opening up to me and telling me about his struggles and what he has done. For me to hear all of that and to see where he is at now is a complete 360! He is finishing up high school and hopefully going to college by the summer. Learning that he played soccer since he was able to walk and now he plays the guitar and from what I hear is an artist also. It was just an awesome day on the golf course! Its so hard to put into words what I felt and how much fun we had. It went from the 10th hole being quiet and trying to teach them how to caddie to the 18th hole with high fives, hand shakes, and hugs. Its pretty funny when I asked Andrew if he ever played golf and he said "yeah a little I've played at the Hampton and Country Land" which are literally 2 seconds away from my house... it just puts more into reality that these kids really do live here.. in Forsyth county...

$1,425 and counting

So it’s been a while since I’ve given you an update! This week has been awesome, I've been doing a lot of riding and actually feeling okay.. Monday I rode on the trainer for 45 min and did some ILTs. Wed about 10 of us went up to bull mountain to do a night ride, and yesterday I rode 1.5 hours on the road bike in the morning to follow it up with 1 hour on the mountain bike later. Just taking it easy and spinning or trying to. Wed night was very funny because we though we had "charged" lights to find out when it got dark and we were ready to turn them on... yes you got it they didn’t come on! Still had a great time though and it is different trying to ride in the dark not seeing what rocks, roots, logs are ahead of you until you hit them. I'm not going to lie I'm pretty dang sore after all that riding and it sure feels good. Now on to the good part....

so far in just two days I have been able to raise $1425 dollars for 3-D!!! I'm so happy to see everyone that is stepping forward and donating money. I've enjoyed every bit of talking to them and telling them the power of 3-D and what my goals are. I'm very confident that I will hit the 6,000 dollar mark and I'm going to try my hardest! This Saturday will be the big day when I will see a majority of the people and hopefully be able to hit the 2,000 dollar mark! I will be sure to keep you posted!

3-D

Today was a very very special day. Two nights ago I was having dinner with Eric and told him the idea to go out to the farm meet the kids and look at building some mountain bike trails. He was all about it and as excited as I was. We headed out this morning and met up with Tim who works at 3-D and he took us on a tour around their 4500 square foot house. They have utilized ever square foot of the house for the 10 kids now in the program. The guys were having hay day today since they didn’t have to go to class and we had the chance to just hang out and talk with them. We all sat around and they asked Eric and I questions about riding and what type of training there is to do this Ride Across America. So there are 10 kids the youngest is age 15 and the oldest is 18. A guy that is 3 days in the program and another that is going into his 8th month in the program. Everything is done to the T! They stick to a strict time schedule starting at 6:00am every day and going through 11:00pm.

 Every guy is so incredible in a way that they each have their own stories on what they have been through and each of them have some real talents. One guy Andrew, who has been in the program the longest, loves playing the guitar. I didn’t get the chance to listen in on it yet but from what the other guys say he is amazing. Some of them were BMX riders and skateboarders and some of them even shopped/ knew some of the employees at Reality Bikes. One played baseball and told us how much he misses it and how the drugs took over his life and that he is ready to get back out there on the field and play. Their addiction is one thing but when we were in that house it was different. I didn’t feel like these guys were addicts I just felt they were normal kids they just wanted to go out and run around and build stuff. Some of these kids have already faced charges, some have been to jail, and some have been kicked out of the parent’s house at the age of 16. These kids WANT to be in the program. They WANT to get better and to change and to be somebody one day. Today is a different day, today my attitude towards life has changed and I feel full of energy. The guys were very inviting and open. We were able to hear a testimony from Andrew that I heard the other night and a graduate of the program Chris came out to just share what changes he has faced at home with his family and the love he gets now and the way he looks at life and the challenges he faces.

Some of these guys struggle with failure. They struggle with the thought of not being able to finish something. That question came up to me and if I was scared to do this ride.... I laughed and said yeah I'm scared; I've never been away from home this long. I won’t meet anyone until I fly out there. What if I can’t ride one day what if I get injured? All those things go through my head but it’s not going to stop me from doing something I love. If I fail so be it.. I'll get right back up and try again. This is a journey that I want to take; this is a experience that I want to have. This ride will change me someway somehow. You can't hide from everything or run away from your fears.. You WILL fail time and time again.. You WILL get hurt.. You WILL hit rock bottom, but get right back up and keep going.
I'm so happy that I got to go out there and meet them and I'm glad Eric came with me. It feels good to be able to show people the reason why I'm doing this for the guys and not only the money I'm raising but the power of giving time and to just hang out with them. I'm looking forward to building the trails and showing the reason why i have this passion with riding. I'm looking forward to the bike shop Reality Bikes helping out and giving back. That’s what I've learned this is about, that’s what I remembered today, the reason for this all starting was for me to finally give back to the community.

So we had the tee off party last night at the golf club and about 30 or so people showed up. I cant even begin to explain to you what such a small idea of mine has done and how big of a deal it has become. To see the how many people are willing to spend and donate their time is unbelievable! Andrew, one of the students in 3-D came out and spoke about why he went into the program and where he is now. Let me tell you something... ive have never ever felt something so powerful and moving then to see him get up in front of everyone and spill his guts.. a man that is 18 years of age was about to face jail time for a very long time.. he lost his family at the age of 16 when he decided to move out. He not only brought me to tears but everyone in there including him. "I now have my dad back who is my best friend and my little sister can come up to me and hug me and not be scared." He has 2 months left in the program and can honestly say his life is changed. I talked with him after and talked about what life is like at the house with the 10 other kids and what their day to day duties are. He said its crazy we go to the gym at least 3 days a week.. they teach mind, body, and sole. He said I can run now.. I can actually run. On Thursday im getting the chance to go out to the farm and meet the rest of the kids. Not only that Tim and myself were talking last night about possibly getting some bikes for the farm so the kids can do some mountain biking. We're going to walk the 55 acre property and see what kind of trails we can build. I'm so happy to be able to finally give back now... I kept thinking man my trip isnt until April I want to do something now and I finally am. Only words can tell you what I felt and how incredible these kids are but to experience it in person is another thing. I cannot wait to see the rest of them Thursday and ill keep you posted!

Enough with the vacation and back to work! Just got back from camping with the family and a bunch of friends.. what a great time we had I went from Friday to late Saturday night. Man did we have a great time around the camp fire and of course I was the piro of the weekend by throwing in as much wood as possible! We were able to enjoy all sorts of things like smores, carrot cake, drinks, and the big chili cook off! So I got my new helmet camera, the Vholdr HD. I got it all set up on the helmet and we went out to do 3 gap from Vogel state park. I was pretty worried about my knee problem especially since we would be doing a ton of climbing. But it held up pretty well! It was just Ed, Art, Stephen, myself and Uncle Jim! It was Uncle Jims first time ever doing 3-gap and he was ready to tap out on the last 9 mile climb lol. So back to the helmet cam. I have to figure out how to upload the videos on here and edit them. I only recorded the descents since watching me climb for 45 min would probably be boring. On one of the descents we got stuck behind 5 motorcycles and a car. Ed, Art, Stephen, and myself kicked it into high gear and hammered past the car with the motorcycles getting up to about 45 mph. It really is so much fun hitting the corners and tucking on the straight parts of the descent. After we finished 3-gap all 16 of us hung out around the fire stuffing our faces with junk! It was cold cold cold at night and I think that is where I got this stinking cold from. All and all it was a great couple days off relaxing with the family especially after the week in Vegas.