no LIMBitations

And like that I became a blogging failure once again.  It has been some time since I last wrote and while Sara has lots to say and write about I must admit in her absence I found myself to be rather boring. In all Sara was in Africa nearly 5-weeks prolonged due to an airport strike and general need for her help a little longer. For Sara it was an amazing experience but not in a once in a lifetime sort of way…she already has her eyes set on going back.

As for me, I road my bikes a lot. Experienced some down time due to Stumpy taking a turn for the worse, fortunately back up running now though. The summer has been beautiful thus far but between lots of snow in June and Sara being gone all of July it seems far too short. Sara is back to school in a week with the kids arriving on the August 27th. As for me the next big thing is Bow Hunting season and chasing around the elusive elk.

I promise to try to keep things more current on the Blog and am looking revamp the look of things over the next few weeks too.

For those wanting to view some of Sara’s picture click on the following link: Gabon, Africa

Sara is doing wonderful in Africa and loving each moment from the sounds of her emails to me. As always, Sara has managed to keep herself on the run spending time with the children at the orphanage, The Hope House, volunteering at the CMA headquarters in Gabon, and staring in a skit about Malaria, playing the lead role of a mosquito. As a result, she is pretty tired at days end from all the running around. But if you know Sara, she wouldn’t have it any other way. While I miss her very much I am so proud of her.

She’s met some wonderful people and thanks to not knowing much if any French and then her mispronunciation of words… there are many shared laughs. She said the kids love it when she attempts to speak in French because it makes them laugh. She setup a snapfish account with photos of her trip for those that are interested, drop me an email and I will try to get you setup to view the pictures. In the meantime I will post a few here as well.

I love this curious little boy, and I imagine despite his shyness, Sara was dying to give him a big hug…she has a lot of love to share with all of them.

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 A quick update on Sara, more to come tomorrow once I get a chance.

Sara is having an amazing time as we would have all anticipated. She has sent me several emails and all of them are filled with comments regarding how amazing the experience is and how wonderful it is to be there interacting with all the people and chilren. Thus far most of her time has been spent getting settle in and figuring out the lay of the land and teh various programs and plans that are being developed in Gabon.

Today, or is it yesterday now, Sara went to a small village for church. She said that the ride was pretty wild with 7 people in the front of a small truck and 8 more packed in the back. The service was amazing Sara said with all the African singing and dancing etc. For those of you that know Sara you can only imagine the smile she must have had on her face and her heart hearing the African’s singing and worshiping.

Supposedly she is going to try and get some picture on the blog or to me.  I will do my best keeping all posted.

On the home front I had a wonderful 4th with my parents relaxing and taking in the beautiful Flathead. Everytime I visit in the summer I wonder why I would live any where else, so beautiful.

I am here in AFRICA everyone!  I made it safely with only a few bumps and hitches:)  I will try to get a picture or two out by tomorrow.  It is 10:30pm here in Gabon, but I think that it is only 3:30m there.  I love you all!!!

:)Sara

Well it is the day before and I am preparing for a wonderful and relaxing trip to Africa, tomorrow.  First I will fly out of Bozeman at 6am, then on to Minneapolis, then to Memphis, then to Atlanta, then to Paris, then to Libreville in Gabon, Africa.  Okay, maybe not relaxing, but I did bring a couple of books to read.  I am bring two massive bags, along with a carry-on backpack.  Should be fun going through customs, hey?

This is the first out of the U.S. trip for me.  I am going to miss my family, friends, and all of their sweet children, but I am so excited to see what God will do.  I will also miss my main squeeze, SK.  Sam encouraged me to go on this trip of a lifetime, and I am so thankful that he did.

I hope to keep you all posted on Sam’s blog, so keep checking it.  I love you all!!

Well I am now a full week removed from the 24 hour race and still not sure if I have fully recovered which says a lot because I really did not ride all that hard. I am beginning to think my body is doing a little battle of its own called infection. For the last few weeks I had a nagging pain on my stump but thought little of it. At this point a day without a little nagging pain would be a day without breathing. That said the pain grew to crescendo on Thursday with an open sore back on the antibiotics I went. This morning things seem to have mellowed out so hopefully this is just another one of those good stretches ended by a brief bump in the road. Read the rest of this entry »

Well it would appear that summer may have finally arrived in Bozeman after one monster of a winter.  I guess there is no time like the present. I have now been back in town for a week and while it is wonderful to be home and see all my friends and be with Sara I am missing all the riding and training. Many of you may read that as some what of surprise but I love riding my bike and it was so satisfying for the short time to ride it like a professional and then to have so much success kinda took my breath away you could say. With out a doubt I walk away from this year with a renewed fire and only hope I can continue to pursue this dream.

The other plus of being home has been the opportunity hang out with friends with out the idea of training looming over my head. This allowed me to spend some quality time with my friends shooting our bows, pistols and drinking a few beers kicking back and appreciating all the good things in life.

This weekend I am back on the bike hoping for a victory at the 24 hours of Rapelje in the men solo category. I know I have the fitness but am kinda interested to see how my leg and endurance hold out for the full 24 hours. I will keep you posted.

Yesterday we finally had a glimpse of summer like weather here in Montana. Just in time for the get together Sara had planned for the evening to mark my return home, celebrate the last few weeks accomplishments, and of course rejoice in the summer season.

I opted to kick the festivities off early with a mountain bike ride prior to all the friends comming over. While I may be the only one saying it was a fun ride I must admitt it was not so much fun because the biking was that good. More along the lines it was fun because of how stupid it must seem to the rest of Bozeman that we tried to ride from Bozeman Creek to Leverich Canyon. Typically the ride takes me about 2:15 but today it was more like 3:00 plus and considering the adventurous conditions that was cruising pretty good. Dan was on his first ride of the year with Andy having a little more saddle time but both are in their week and half base training, power training and tapper for the 24 hours of Rapeljie.

The ride condition are as follows: Things started mellow and surprisingly dry for the recent weather with the first 5 miles leaving us pleased with our trail decision.  Bammm…a couple 100 yards further and the world begins to change wetter, muddier, and soft like riding on sponges. Fortunately, the change while evident was slow enough that we continued to slog on for 5-miles at which point completing the loop only seemd logically despite the double track being covered in 2-8″ of cold sloppy snow. The last 2-3 miles of the climb were slow at best with our tracks in the snow resembling that of a drunk on his way home wandering from on side of the road to the next followed by some walking and on.  Finally we reached the descent and trail conditions improved as we dropped elevation leaving us with smiles on our face but cold, muddy, and confused on just how we had gotten into this mess.

Now late for the party I booked it home via bike arriving 4 minutes past the start of the party. Sara always loving fully understood…cleaned up and beer in hand the yard games began. We wrapped the night up with a great fire, friends, and smores.

Bozeman has had wonderful weather the past few days.  I (Sara) have been able to soak up the sun and realize that I do love living in Bozeman.  Sam has gone back to work, but has gone on a few mountain bike rides. 

I head off to Africa on July 3rd, which will be an awesome adventure!  I am so excited for this trip; to be in another country and culture will be eye-opening for sure.  I want to thank everyone who has been so generous with their support for my trip.  I have been able to raise above what I needed, which will be given as a love offering to the Bongolo Hospital.  God truly provides!

I hope to be able to blog on Sam’s Nolimbitations site, to keep everyone informed with my trip.  Talk to you all soon!  :)Sara

Here are some good pics of Sam racing.  Be sure to check out the Bozeman Chronicle from Thursday, June 12, the Montana Quarterly-Summer, and the Bozeman Tributary coming out soon.

 Racing on the track!

National Champ with Dad!