Home updates

Home updates:

Boxes are getting unpacked and I'm trying to bribe the recycle and trash man to take out the mountains of rubbish we've put near the curb. 

Finding a place for all this stuff has proven interesting and I'm hoping to find a new home for lots of it.

The Nebo Ridge rides on Tuesday and Thursday have been a great but I'm missing the Hinkle crew and some of my regular riding buddies. 

And now for a realization - It has come extremely obvious to me that in this adventure of my stewardship of this house I will have "The List." "The List," will be lengthy. In fact, this list will be so lengthy it will be never ending.  The list starts with one thing, and then another, and another. Not all of these tasks are difficult or overly time consuming; they are simply tasks that need to be done. The realization is that this list, being never ending in nature, is exactly that. I will never be done with this list and there will always be more tasks to do.  Cross one or two off, put another on.  Simply add another to the bottom and continue to work, diligently, carefully, humbly.
The sooner I accept that this list is never ending and that I will always have another task to do, the sooner I can get to work.

The start....

One thing crossed off the list!

 

Moved

Where to begin?????

New home. New fence. New Neighbors. New appliances....new life?

Moving is sort of strange in a way.  One night you sleep in one location. Then the next you sleep in an entirely different place with all of your same belongings.  This is different from say, staying in a hotel or with a friend, because you move all of your "stuff" with you. Same TV, same furniture, same piano, same utensils, cups, dishes, etc. they are all just in a different location.  It is also interesting to see all of your "stuff" put into boxes and loaded into the back of a truck (or trucks in our case)  I think the expression is unanimous when people move and think, "I didn't think we had that much stuff!"  

Which leads me to wonder, why do I have so much stuff?  Is it because I don't like to throw anything away?  Somewhat.  Is it because I just have too much stuff? Yes.  I have come to realize though, that of all the things I do have, I cannot brag or boast about any of them.  I believe these belongings are merely gifts from God that I am meant to steward until it is someone else's time to own them.  

Take, for example, our house that we just moved from.  I truly believe it was through divine intervention that I was able to occupy that house during the time frame that I did. How else could I have happened to mention that I was looking for a place to rent, to the exact person that I needed to mention it to, in the time frame that she was looking for someone to rent her house?  This is just one small example of all the great gifts that have been bestowed upon me which I need to recognize and give glory to the proper place.  

That glory is all His and I want nothing that I say or do to stand in the way of others recognizing that belief in my life.  Amen.

If you took my advice and visited Rangeline Nature Preserve (see other post for RNP review) you will definitely need to venture down to French Lick, Indiana for a day's worth of riding.

I was pretty unsure if I was going to put up with a 2.5 hour drive just for one place but let me give you some insight as to how wrong I was. - For the drive, bring a friend - Mountain biking is no fun alone anyways. It's better if you can make your friend drive so you can catch up on some light reading.

When you arrive in French Lick DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT stop at the Subway; unless you like veggie sandwiches or COLD steak and cheese. Seriously. Horrible.

You are going to want to park in the golf course parking lot. It's near some trains and it's past the first resort into town a little bit. When you get there, go into the golf pro shop and sign in on the clipboard on the front desk.  Then check out all the fancy golf outfits and wonder why you are wearing spandex. Next, suit up.  There's no need to drop trow in the parking lot. The pro shop is very courteous about you using the restrooms (which are SUPER nice) by the way.

When you are ready to hit the trail follow the sign down the gravel path and turn right over the covered bridge.  Straight across, through the practice greens, and over the road will get you to the trail head. My suggestion to begin your adventure is to stick to the right when starting out.  Either way you go uphill but I guess if you go right you are following the trail how it is "supposed" to be ridden.  Now climb!!!!  You'll climb your ass off for a while (not too steep, or difficult, just long and gradual). = at some point after the top of the climb you will cross a fire road - take a minute and travel towards the actual road that you can see (to the right if you are traveling the "correct" direction). Climb up the small grassy hill there and check out the sweet view that overlooks the valley and golf course =
Head back over to the trail and get ready for a nice lengthy downhill. You did all that climbing for something right? Now enjoy the fruits of your labor. For those that are more mountain bike savvy and want something a little more entertaining (or if you aren't that great but don't mind walking your bike occasionally) you will want to hit up the blue loop.  It's a straight ahead as you are making a left bend on the downhill.  It's pretty well marked.  The blue loop is AWESOME.  DO IT.The intermediate loop will put you back onto the green and you won't actually miss too much.
If you absolutely MUST know what you missed, well...enjoy the rest of your downhill and as you come to the bottom head back up and do it again.Worth the 2.5 hour drive?  You bet and all I did was a green + blue and an extra green. Was a total of about 2 hours easy wheel spinning time.

Oh, when you are all done. Indulge yourself with a shower in the locker room and put on some clean clothes for the drive home. Remember, you've got 2.5 hours and no one wants to smell you.

Have an afternoon and need a quick adventure?  Look no further than Rangeline Nature Preserve!

 These guys did an amazing job out at this trail. No matter if you are a beginning, intermediate, or an expert there is something for you at this park!  It's a quick 45 minute drive from Broad Ripple up to Rangeline and the drive is 100% worth it.

Need beginner trails?  Stay on the green loop.  Rolling, smooth, just enough to get you some fun experience at a new location besides Town Run.

Need something more challenging? Take a jog over on the blue loop and test your speed and handling. Watch out for the two trees just before the bridge, see if you can sneak through without knockin' em!

Think you're a BAMF?  Hit up the entire expert trail. Climbs, drops, rock gardens, everything you could ever want so you can finally answer that question, "Am I good enough to do this?"


The great part about RNP is that you can mix and match.  You can start on the beginner and add in some intermediate or when the expert section is taking it's toll you can hop onto the blue for a section and take a breather. Just follow the signs!

Enjoy!

I have been fortunate enough to spend the last three days in the woods with two professional trail builders and a few really great co-workers. There's nothing like a good bit of manual labor to put life into perspective and give you time to think about the little things, the big things, and all the things in between.

For starters, I am fortunate. This is realization number 1 as I reflect back on my week.
I have a job, actually two or three depending on your perspective. I have a home filled with a loving family. I have food in my cabinets. I am healthy and able to work.

...I don't really know what else I had to say besides that, but I am excited for the future! There are amazing things happening in the Wefler Household and I know that none of them are possible without God's grace and our trust in Him. 

Great Race, Horrible Finish

June 2, 2012. 

Eagle Creek Crit. 

Cat 5. 30 minutes (12 miles)

As I sat in second place, feeling great the entire race, I started to wonder what my finishing lap would look like. As they announced "Last lap," I was beginning to think about my ending strategy to get out from behind this guy in front of me. Unfortunately it was on the last climb of the course that I realized you need to attack early when you  have an uphill finish. Luckily the guy that pulled me around the course the entire time only finished two places higher than I did, so that made me feel slightly better.

Thanks to my family and friends that came out to cheer me on. Glad I could give them something interesting to watch for the first 11 laps.

The first blog. I have officially started a blog. This creation now classifies me as a "blogger," although I don't feel any different. My goal of this blog is to have a place for people to learn life lessons - the easy way.