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                                                         Hello and thank you for visiting!
  
  At the moment my page is in a constant state of change but, I did want to take the time to tell you a little about why I am here.

  Several years ago I needed a place to vent, a place to get things out. I had heard about blogs on TV and from friends but really never tried one.

  It took me some time before I finally joined a blogging community. What I found was that, in a world so full of people, we sometimes feel alone. However, in truth there are thousands of people who feel the exact same way that we do. I learned a lot about myself and about other people there. Although what I had not counted on, was one person that I truly believe, has helped to change my life.

 In that community, I met a very special person. It started out with a comment on a blog and, in time, she would read mine and I would read hers. I had found that she gave up her 'normal' life to do some good and went to Africa with the Red Cross. After learning all of this, I later also found out the she had Multiple Sclerosis.
 
 I was surprised by this because at first she did not talk about it at all, she explained to me that she did not want to be defined as 'the girl with MS', but as the person she was. While in Africa, there were some complications due to medical issues and her life was cut short.

 Her love of people and her desire to want to do more inspired me, so with the blogging community behind me so, in 2009, I started an adventure. 

 I decided to Ride in a MS150. ME - just an over weight factory worker with a bad knee that felt the need to do something more. I am not rich so there was no way to start a scholarship but, I felt I needed to do something so, with the bloggers behind me, I decided to try. We raised a good bit of money - money that came from all over the world. It felt great to do something for someone else. It felt good to know that I was, at least, trying to make a difference - not just talking about it and, in the process, letting her kind spirit and love live on.

 Early this year the blog community that I am a part of was getting ready to launch their web site, to take it from the beta stages to the next level and held a few contests for the members to invite them to the launch party. I never got the time to enter any of the contests myself, but there was one contest that, let’s just say I won by default, at least, that is how I look at it. 

 The contest was: The helping hands essay contest. In the contest people were asked to find a member of the community that had done some charity work or something of that nature and write why they should win. Due to some very good people and, one, really well written essay by another member, who has also been a constant supporter both financially and mentally all throughout my training and during my ride, I won the contest. I say 'by default' because I feel if my friend with MS was still alive, she would have won hands down. 

 While at the launch party, I met so many loving and kind people; people who did not really know me but only about what I did. They would tell me that I was an inspiration and that the things I did warmed their hearts. I tried to argue that Sydney was the true cause of our inspiration and, then, they would just smile and give me a hug. The love I felt in seeing how just a regular guy who works in a factory can touch so many people with just one act started me thinking. I began to wonder, what else might be done. On the plane ride home I got to thinking about who I was but, then something I kept telling people in Orlando stuck out: "Hey look I am just a guy on a bike. You gave your money and you gave me your support - without all of you I may never have finished." Then it clicked. I could build a web page - 'just a guy with a bike': use it to share with people all the other events I want to do; use it to bring information out about all the groups I am and will be supporting. So I did just that and here you are. 

                                Thank you for taking the time to read all of this. 

  Please come back and check things out. New stuff will be added all the time. I will have videos and pictures of events. I will have pages set up for groups who sponsor me so they can have links to their business. I will even have a map that I upload using Google that will tell you about my training and what I am doing - and if I am on an event it will tell you where I am.

                                       But please be patient and remember:

  Whether you are just a guy on a bike, or just a girl with running shoes, or even just a kid with a big heart...
                                            ...you can make a difference!