I took off the full week between Christmas and New Year’s for the first time in past three years which turned out to be very pleasant.  Of course I didn’t get as much done as I’d hoped, and there was enough insanity in the extended family that our marriage and family therapist actually wrote me a prescription for “a stiff drink.”

I shit you not.

Anyway, not working turns out to be nicer that working.  Even if I didn’t end up riding my bike as much as I’d hoped (family, weather, desire to avoid the trainer, and copious “meh”) I still got some good stuff done around the house and on Gus.  The new dash was installed, and the rear suspension mostly disassembled while I wait for a few lingering parts.  Unfortunately removing the self-leveling suspension components created a hydraulic fluid nightmare on the garage floor I’ve yet to broach.  With the car work at an impasse, the weather iffy, and family drama, it was good to spend time with Leah in amounts we’re normally unable to find.  That was very nice.  It also left time for introspection and a review of the past year.

In talking with others it seems that 2009, by near-unanimous vote, blew.  I couldn’t agree more.  I rode less, raced poorly, gained twenty pounds, and incessantly bitched about my inability to keep things in balance.  The economic poop left jobs uncertain, only compounded by Leah leaving Quest and churchplanting.  Neither side of our family fared well.  There was far too much death and despair.

On the other hand, there was awesomeness.  Four of our favorite couples were married.  Aaron and Anna visited the northwest.  The house didn’t catch fire.  The cars (mostly) worked.  We still have jobs.  The church plant is being planted.  I’m playing around with cameras.

Life as always had a mixture of good and bad, but I’m hoping for 2010 that mixture will favor good.

Blessings in the new year.

(from Wedding Crashers)

It’s amazing how the time flies, but considering that it’s been an unusually busy month it shouldn’t be surprising.  I doubt I’m breaking new ground for anyone here, but Leah has finished up at Quest and started making baby steps towards her next venture: Sinners and Saints Church.  Even though she’s technically “resting” right now, she’s stayed plenty busy working and dreaming on what is to come.

I haven’t been sitting on my ass either, but the sordid details aren’t nearly as exciting.  Cars break and get fixed.  House projects are undertaken.  Yadda yadda yadda.

Anyway, for the first time in many, many years we’re in between churches since the new church won’t start services for a few months.  It’s especially an inconvenience during Advent, when there are so many fun church things in which to take part.  While we won’t have a church “home” for a while, we do want to keep going to church, or rather churches.  There are plenty of churches in the area we are planting in that we want to scope out, and many other churches pastored by friends which we can’t visit during normal sundays.

There is, however, a beauty to being a visitor.  No one expects anything from you, and furthermore, no one knows who you are.  You’re anonymous, and just like being a freshman in college all over again, you can take on a new identity without anyone being the wiser.

With that in mind, Leah and I have been brainstorming new identities for when we visit new churches.  Ex-satanists making their first visit to church?  Ultra-fundamentalists (dressing for the part, and Leah walking behind me) come to tell people of the error in their ways?  Christian swingers?  New-age devotees promoting one-faith agendas?  Really the possibilities are endless.

While it’s cool to mix it up ever decade or so, and it’s fun to see some of our friends in action, I think we’ll both be happy to be us again, and with a church to call home.

The big local cycling news has been Kenny Williams’ post positive admission of DHEA use in preparation for the Masters National Championships.  I’m pretty much past that part of the story.  I get along fine with Kenny, and I hope he reforms and comes back post suspension to race clean and strong again.  He made a huge, huge mistake that will follow him forever, and he’ll have to live with that, but per our rules, if he serves his time, he gets a second chance.

The reaction on a local and national level is what has been truly disturbing.  A shocking number of people including multiple USA Cycling officials, have publicly commented in support of Williams and have made comments trivializing his offense, vouched for his character and integrity and insinuated since the product he allegedly used isn’t effective it doesn’t really matter.

I don’t know if anyone is paying attention, but cycling has a major credibility issue due to doping.  It’s a big deal.  One of the most frequent questions cyclists field from non-cyclists is that of drug use within the sport.  However, the reaction to this incident has taught me many things.  Cyclists aren’t all on the same page when it comes to the seriousness of doping within sports.  People are suckers for post facto admissions.  People are much, much, much more likely to give the benefit of the doubt to someone they know.  People aren’t really familiar with the meanings of “honor”, “character” and “ethics”.  People think that being a friend is accepting whatever your “friend” does.  People think that they know people much better than they actually do.  Masters racers and local cycling fans care far less then young local racers.

These people didn’t give Basso the benefit of the doubt when assuming his statements were true, and that he’d only tried to dope once.  Americans didn’t care that Tyler Hamilton’s second offense was only for DHEA.  But now, if I hear one more comment about how “we all make mistakes”, “life is in shades of gray”, “we all go through desperate times” I’m going to throw up on my keyboard.  People will talk shit about Armstrong all the time, but when one of their buddies or coaches gets caught, it’s all time to sing kumbaya.

While we all make mistakes, there’s no part of that which makes cheating okay.  It doesn’t allow us to minimize anything.  And furthermore, when we make big mistakes, it does show our character.  It shows that we have ugliness inside.  We can accept offenders back into our communities, we can forgive, but we have to be informed by what has taken place.

For a decade, Kenny has been our most prominent cyclist.  He’s the guy the kids and young cyclists want to be like.  His cheating is important.  If we can’t all agree that doping is a big deal, the sport is screwed, and history will repeat time and time again.