Turkey hunting with a bow is an awesome challenge, and a blast besides. I've had more fun going after these crazy birds, than even bugling elk in the fall. Each year I'm also reminded of the physical demands of pursuing game with a bow. I'm always exhausted at the end of a day hunting, much more so than even going for a 6 hour mountain bike ride.

Saturday morning I arrived at my hunt spot and quickly got ready for the pre-dawn hike up to a high ridge. It was actually a bit humid and overcast and I noticed a lot of fresh bird tracks as I made my way up the ridge. Peering over the ridge, the outline of southern rockies was just becoming visible, when I let out a few hen calls. Silence. I worked further down the ridge to the edge of a secluded basin and let out a few more hen calls. Gobble, gobble, bingo! Not one, but at least 3 different gobblers answered my call. I quickly made my way down into the basin to set up. I was able to get a decoy set up in a small clearing, and then conceal myself between some trees with some blind material. I continued to call and kept getting responses, and after about 30 minutes, I got my first glimpse of not one, but two gobblers coming at full strut, gobbling and drumming the whole time with a hen in tow. They came in to my right while my decoy and my shooting lane were to my left. They strutted around, showing off for the hen, and trying to lure more hens for 10 minutes or so, never seeing my decoy (or me), and thus never presenting me with a shot opportunity. My heart was pounding, and my quads were burning from squatting, dead still the whole time. What a fun rush seeing wildlife so close and trying to control your nerves. It's really something that has to be experienced to understand. Man, those birds are just so cool and fun to watch.

I stumbled across some ancient pottery shards, perhaps an old canteen, in this same area, reminding me that these were someone elses hunting grounds long before mine. Perhaps 600 to 800 years ago, based on archeological literature for this area. I can clearly imagine some young aboriginal men, silently stalking through the woods, stickbows in hand, ready to launch a wooden arrow, tipped with obsidian point at their quarry. Respectfully, I'll return, ever more appreciative of the opportunity to experience those things that God spoke into existence.

Revelation 4:11 - You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.

What a glorious Spring weekend. Just awesome weather. We rode one of our favorite trails. This trail just flows and it has a few technical areas, but mainly we love it for the solitude. Not many people venture this far into the mountains. In fact, until this weekend, I had never seen another rider out in this area. When you reach the end of this flowing single track, you are greeted by a brutal climb, and though I can do much of this climb on a geared bike, the singlespeed was just too tough for me to pedal on the rocky technical switchbacks. It was on this climb that we ran into my old friend Kirby. I knew Kirby from desert cycle racing days and at over 60 years old, he's as fit as ever. He routinely rides 30 and 40 mile loops and his technical skills are exceptional. I'm sure most that meet him on the trails probably think he's in his thirties and he can still ride with the fastest experts. At one time, he had a full factory ride, but that was in his fifties! Seeing Kirby makes me wonder how long I'll be able to ride like I do, and even more it makes me appreciate the gift of good health. Thank You Lord, for your countless gifts.

Had my routine endocrinology appointment this morning. My A1C blood tests continue to be outstanding and my blood pressure is excellent at 100/64, which is darn good considering I'd had 2 cappuchinos earlier! It's been 13 years since I was diagnosed with diabetes. To put that in perspective, I average about 4 to 5 insulin injections per day, so I've had somewhere in the ballpark of 20,000 insulin injections during that period, WOW!

I'm so thankful that God has protected me from complications from this disease, and I am convinced that the GIFT of cycling has played a major role in my overall health. I'm now in my 5th year of mountain biking, and I also started road biking about a year and a half ago. Prior to cycling, I had reached an elite level of another sport, but it became something it wasn't intended, a grind to maintain that elite level, and I just walked away from it, thank God! My cycling has been a steady progression, but I vowed not to let it become like my other sport, which is why I avoid routine competitive cycling. I'm now at a solid "Sport" level and when I'm having a really good day, I can keep pace with the experts and I've had a lot of great riders to learn from and push me to get better.

The winter, Wednesday night crew is a pretty amazing group and it's so fun to ride with them, even when they inflict pain and serve humble pie. "McGyver" is an incredible athlete and former top 20 finisher at the xterra world championships. When PM joins us, they pace is amazing, especially when he brings the cross bike to the foothills and climbs the route up Pino in a 44:16 like it was nothing, dropping the whole group. PM is a former CT state CX champ, and former member of the Junior National Roadie team. He's been riding for something like 25 years, and I know I'll never be that good, but it sure sets a high benchmark. DJ is just plain fast and has been at it a long time, with very respectable finishes at 24hours of Moab and other events. The "D" man has gotten much faster than me since I first road with him, and he is now one of the top xterra racers in the entire southwest. John is a very fast expert racer and had solid finishes and a high standing in the NMORS while only racing a handfull of events. Todd is a roadie/cross rider that's come over to the dark side. He's really strong and working to improve his technical skills for the xterra circuit this year. Sam is deceptively fast. He's been sick a lot this year and lacking sleep with a new baby, but he seems to peak for the races. In 05 his team won their age group at 24 hours of OP, and in 06, they finished 2nd, in a much more competetive classification. Me, I just feel lucky to ride with such a great group; some are Christians, some don't give a rip about it, but we're friends and we love to ride just the same and we try to have a positive impact in each others lives. Cycling is great. It involves great people and has blessed me mentally, physically, and more.

During the Apostle Paul's second missionary journey, in 52 A.D., he visited Corinth, where he established a church of vibrant new Christians. Despite various growing pains, Paul continued to encourage, rebuke when necessary, and exhort this new fellowship that he loved so dearly.
I was reading 2Corinthians chapter three this weekend and the first three verses really highlighted for me the reality of the impact that my lifestyle has on an unbelieving world. Do I live my life with integrity and do my actions clearly demonstrate the things I profess to believe? As Paul states:

"You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is of the heart".

My life is an epistle of Christ. Am I really living up to that standard? Certainly not on my own, but when I allow God's Spirit to really lead me, the world will see a living epistle of Christ. Now, if only all the players involved in these shameful scandals at Calvary of Albuquerque, from the top on down, would examine themselves in light of being a living epistle of Christ, and allow God's Spirit to transform this chapter of their epistle, then maybe an unbelieving world would see true Christianity, rather than a microcosm of Enron characterized by pride, greed, power struggles and spin doctors.