“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is
more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded
genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated failures.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” ~ Calvin Coolidge

Real Caveman undoubtedly faced enormous hardship in their times. I can’t imagine how rough life must have been in ancient times. And to think that so many people in this day and age think they have it bad. The cavemen of those times had two choices: succumb to hardship and die, or persist and survive.

I haven’t faced hardship anywhere near the level my caveman brethen did, but I’d be lying if I said  things have been easy the past few months. The separation from my wife has took a huge emotional toll on me. A lot of you have already heard the news, but if you haven’t , Colleen and I have decided that it is in our best interest to end the marriage. She hates it when I post stuff like this on the blog, and I’m sorry Cupcake, but everyone is going to find out eventually and they might as well hear it from me here.

I didn’t just leave behind my marriage, I left behind my home, my family, my friends, everything that was familiar. I left for a place I hardly knew at all. It wasn’t a move I was planning on, it just sort of happened. Luckily, I adapt well to change, but it wasn’t the abrupt initial change that threw me off, this was actually kind of fun and exciting. It was the gradual realization that I didn’t have any friends here. I didn’t have anyone I could fall back on. I hardly had any money and no work lined up. I’ve been struggling to find work to this day. Yeah, Cavemen are tough, but they aren’t made of stone.

You read the last post about how crappy last week was. Kind of regret using the adjective I really used, but it really was a bad week. Well that is all behind me now.

For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning

Psalm 30:5

(Thanks to my high school sweetheart Joy Johnson for sharing this verse with me a long time ago)

This week things are different. Completely different. My back pain is almost all gone, I’ve been putting in some serious training time ( almost forgot what it feels like to be sore-it feels awesome!), I’ve made some new friends, I have finally found a little local work, and my entrepreneurial spirit has absolutely exploded. I am currently laying the foundation for a new business venture that will not only provide steady, growing income, but will help others in ways I’ve only dreamed about. Those dreams are about to become reality. And this is just one new business. I’ve actually taken some action to possibly start 2 or 3 other ventures. They are more long term, but the wheels are in motion.

Check back in noon mountain time Thursday for the official press release of the current business venture. I have a feeling it could benefit a lot of you, because it has greatly benefited me and millions others across the world. It’s rather random that I stumbled upon it, but I’m happy I did.

One last bit of news for the day. I think I mentioned somewhere else that I would be traveling back to Texas for a 24 hour race. Well, the rumor is true. I really wanted to give Moab a shot this year since I am living only 4 hours away, in a very similar geographical and climatic region, but the registration fee was just too high. So I’m coming home for none other than the world famous 24 Hours of Rocky Hill to defend my title. It not only makes more financial sense, but I’ve some unfinished business to attend to in Austin.

I likely won’t be in the best shape I’ve been in for years past, but I shouldn’t be too far off. With the temps still reaching 100 right now in Texas, I don’t want to think what the weather will be like come Oct 15. The heat will likely be my biggest challenge to overcome. I remember last year it was pretty warm and I had some problems, and that was being used to it. I also haven’t had as much ride time. My volume right now is very high, but I got  a very late start this year. What I do have in my favor is EPO! I’ve been living at 6500′ and routinely training 7000′-10000′ so hopefully I’ll have some supercharged red blood cells. I also have more climbing strength. You can’t ride anywhere out here without hitting some kind of decent elevation change, so I’ve improved my climbing skills quite a bit.

One other thing I have to my advantage is a really cool junkyard gym. There are some old concrete footings for propane tanks in the backyard, and we have tons of old steel pipe, auto parts, crates, rocks, junk, you name it. I setup a little circuit doing some caveman workout moves that you can study for ideas.

So, things are finally starting to look up. Durango is my new home, and it is here that I shall rebuild the Caveman legacy and be at peace. Contrary to many a belief, life does not suck and then you die. It throws you challenges to make you stronger and appreciate your blessings. Live, endure, persist.