Go Ryder!

The Tour de France starts Saturday! From July 2nd to Sunday July 24th 2011, the 98th Tour de France will be made up of 21 stages and will cover a total distance of 3,430.5 kilometres.

Team Leopard-Trek's star is Andy Schleck. He was only 39 seconds out of first place last year. 39 seconds after 21 days! We like Andy. And Fabian Cancellara is also on the team. Leopard is a new team, first year in the race.

The Canadian guy I root for is Ryder Hesjedal from Vancouver. He's 30 this year and has been on Team Garmin-Cervelo for a few years. The TV commentators don't mention him which puts him a bit under the radar, unfortunately.

Ivan Basso is back. He's leading Team Liquigas. He hasn't raced in "The Tour" for a few years. Drugs. He's the pretty boy of the Tour.

Lance Armstrong was on Team Radio Shack. His coach/manager is still there - Johan Bruyneel. And the team has some great riders with experience.

There's only one guy we DON'T want to win - Alberto Contador. He's a weasel. Not a team player. Sorry - we don't want Alberto in the race!

A Start To A Better Me

I know Jesus doesn’t ask us to make new year’s resolutions but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea. So many people say they don’t make New Year’s resolutions because they know they'll break them. Sounds like a cop-out to not even bother.

Yes, I made some resolutions this year and I'll continue throughout the year. I have written them down in my journal so I can be reminded of them and check my progress, or lack of it. Hmmmm. Maybe if I post my resolutions it will inspire you to get on board, too. Here it is.

Relationships. I have one friend who is a new Christian and I want to encourage him, regularly. I have one friend who is not a Christian but seems open to the Lord. Another person is totally closed to Jesus so they need my prayers. And I’m not giving up praying for salvation for a certain rock star.

Doing. I want to expand my territory, both personally and professionally. I’ll leave it at that. I’m also burdened by the need of people who need food and clothes. I’m tired of praying for them. I need to take action. Will I do it? Right now I don’t have a plan. Maybe I should get a plan together.

Spiritually. I need to become a better worshipper.

It’s about me. I want to shut up. I hear the Holy Spirit telling me to shut up all the time. Often I will. Other times I don’t. I’m resolving to get it right.

That’s it. By tomorrow I’ll regret this blog posting because it’s vulnerable. I’ll get emails from people, people I know, who enjoy telling me “that won’t work; you can’t do that”. We’ll see.

A new year’s resolution is a start to a better me.