Belgium Group Ride/ Rain Bath!

Wind, rain and pain, was the motto of this ride.

Today I rode down to Waterloo to do a group ride with Romain and his father. The wind was blowing and the air was cool, but forty strong riders showed up. The ride was not that much different then a ride in the US only that we had the hole lane to use, as if cars were the minority. Halfway though the ride it started to rain, and shortly after the pace was starting to get fast.

As the rain continued to fall and the testosterone went up, the group shrunk down to twenty. We keep the speed high for rest of the ride, but the rain never let up.

We returned to Romains house drenched and cold, but it was a great training ride, 100km (62 miles) of wind, rain, and pain!

Ian

Before the ride

American?

In Belgium the word American is more than a US citizen. It’s simply raw ground beef, with onions, and spices. Now, when I first ordered this in a sandwich I was expecting some subway sandwich, but it was nothing I have eaten before. I was a little hesitant when I first ate it, but now its one of my favorite sandwiches.

Before dinner tonight my host father said we were having American. I saw fries and ground beef so I thought he meant a American dish, with hamburgers and fries. This was a misinterpretation, we were having American, but there was an other raw twist. I saw that the host dad had brought some eggs to the table so I thought that they were hardboiled. Again I was wrong, we added some raw egg to the raw beef along with some; salt, pepper, and onions. To my surprise, it was delicious. I would eat it again tomorrow if we had it.

different country’s, different food, good experience.

Ian

My Renaissance.

I feel alive again, I'm reborn.

I have been on my lactose/gluten free diet for one week and I already feel better. For the first time in almost six months I feel like my body is normal, I almost forgot what it felt like. I think I'm starting to get my strength back, and yesterday on a cross ride I felt strong. I still need a week or two for my body to respond fully, but I feel as if the monkey on my back all season is now gone. If the weather is fair I will put in some mile this weekend with Romain, and do a cross race for fun on the 16th.

Since I've been in Belgium I have taken an interest in politics, government, and just greater understanding of world policies and past events.

Now I'll just tell a little story of my political views and why I feel this way. I know that this is off topic of what I normally post, but being 16 I don't have the right to vote, but I can tell others how I think in by expressing my views.

It all started two months ago when one of my friends from California living in Belgium showed me this movie which talked about the unanswered question surrounding 9/11, the Federal Reserve and the World Banking Cartels. I had always thought that 9/11 was "a conspiracy" just because of movies like "Fahrenheit 9/11" and just thought that it was cool to be against the government, but I never had any background information, or know why it was a conspiracy. Now, after much research I have a better grasp on what happen on that tragic day, but I could go on forever about what I have found, but I will leave it up to you to do your own research.

Democrat or Republican?

Until now I never really made political decisions for myself, I just went with what the people around me were doing. For example: in 8th grade (2004) we had a school wide presidential election. I remember myself voting for John Kerry, just because I knew that my parents were democrats and voted the same. At the time I was to young to know anything about politics and the candidates (I still don’t know one fourth of what there is to know about government), but I think the same was for all the kids at the school. I would say 99% of them voted as their parents did. This may seem like the obvious conclusion, but I think this is the way it is for a large group of our population. People don’t research, they just do what their friends do.

Now, my mom is the best mom ever, she goes to hell and back to keep everyone happy, but when it comes to voting she is just another sheep in the field ( I love you mom, this is just an example). In 2004 she voted for Kerry, and if it wasn’t for me telling her to research, she would vote for Clinton in this next election. Anyway my message to all of you is to research all the candidates and see which is best for you. Not one candidate will please everyone, and you probably wont even agree with some of their views, but you can see which candidate best represents your political view.

Ron Paul Revolution!!

I'm sure that many of you have heard of the 2008 republican candidate Ron Paul.

I never thought that I would like a republican, but then again I didn't even know the difference, and what their political stance was. Just because the people around me were democrats I thought that “all republicans were like Bush". In fact now I don't even care if its a republican or democrat, the real thing that maters is their political view.

There are just so many things to say, I don’t even know where to start.

Okay, for me Ron Paul is the best candidate for the 2008 election(since the Bush Clinton dynasty). I'm not going to sit here and tell you all the things I like about him, I would rather you go out and find it out for yourself. Its not hard, just Google the name of the candidate and read their profile. I'm sitting here going crazy knowing that I cant vote and there are people out there that don't care about politics and don't even vote. To me that’s absurd, if you have the right to vote, vote, and take pride in your vote. Research, fundraise, put sings in your yard, do anything you can to express your opinion. Join a meet up group, get out and get active, discuss with you family or people at work about politics, that’s what this country is really about. I would love to have people to talk to about all the things I've researched, I want people to disagree and have disputes, that’s truly patriotic. Its not about the people talking about the big football game (bike race), that stuff is great, but once in awhile talk politics, something that really maters. Just get out there and get informed, and let me tell you, its fun to support a candidate you like, its just like football, all the other candidates are his/her opponents. I really am going crazy, I just want to see people get involved, I don’t care if its the least popular candidate, find one and get behind them and support them!!!

Americans have lost their political voice, we don't question the government anymore, most don't protest, and ask question, they would just rather sit in the field with the other sheep. The first patriots of this country fought and died so we would be free from a tyrannical British monarchy, and we have lost that drive. They knew that the tax on the tea that was being imported from Britain was unjust so they did something about it, they snuck onto the ship dressed like Native Americans and dumped all the tea in the harbor. I mean how great is that that way more inspiring then Terrell Owens catching a one handed pass. We don't see anything like that anymore, we don't see people asking question "why they pay a federal income tax, or where the money goes". People just think that its the governments right to take 1/3 of your earnings, most of which goes to the privet Federal Reserve, but that’s a another topic.

Its time for people to wakeup and see the world with their own eyes, and make their own decision, and ask questions, and know the Constitution and the rights that we all have. This is a great country and its time to take back the republic, and make a change.

I know I might have shocked some of you or put you down, but in doing so I hope you get mad and make a change.

Brief Overview of Congressman Paul's Record:
He has never voted to raise taxes.
He has never voted for an unbalanced budget.
He has never voted for a federal restriction on gun ownership.
He has never voted to raise congressional pay.
He has never taken a government-paid junket.
He has never voted to increase the power of the executive branch.
He voted against the Patriot Act.
He voted against regulating the Internet.
He voted against the Iraq war.
He does not participate in the lucrative congressional pension program.
He returns a portion of his annual congressional office budget to the U.S. treasury every year.

I hope you all get involved and do some research yourself.

ronpaul2008.com

Ian

Click here to check out
The Bend Ron Paul 2008 Meetup Group!

Tummy & Riding

Day two.

The second day of my fast went well, but I had to fight myself to not eat. Its not so much that I was hungry, but I just craved the taste of some good food.

I awoke on the third day of the fast feeling weak so I decided to eat some breakfast, but I was told by some wise advisors that I could have an allergy to lactose and or gluten and that might be the problem. So on top of not eating for two days, I would now not eat any dairy or wheat products: bread, cheese, cereals, pasta, are all included just to name a few. The more challenging thing is trying to find foods that doesn’t have those ingredients. For the past four days I don't think I've eaten any of these ingredients, but I'm not sure if all the foods have been gluten free (its in almost everything).

I'll continue to eat like this for a month to see if the problem is solved, but if any of you have suggestions let me know.

December riding

Last night was a downpour, but when I woke up this morning the sun was shining and the roads were drying out. I got dressed real quick and hit the road. The weather was great and so was the ride. I got in two and a half hours with some superb climbing. I’ll try and go out tomorrow and get some more miles on the legs.

Here are some pictures of the ride.
Ian

Day 1

I have successfully completed the first day of my fast. I didn’t eat anything all day, it‘s crazy because I‘m not even hungry. I'm drinking a combo of lime juice, cyan peppers, and water, its not the best, but it keeps me going. I'm not yet sure of how many days I will continue, I'll just go until I feel like the system is revitalized. Tomorrow I have no school so the temptation to eat will be high, but I'll try and restrain myself by reading my book "out of my later years" by Albert Einstein and drinking my lime pepper combo. UMMM

I never think of the future - it comes soon enough. -Albert Einstein

Well I hope it comes soon, because I'm hungry.
Ian

Bye

My brothers and mother just left to go back to the US, but needless to say it was great to see them again. For the past week we traveled all around Belgium, and more importantly spent time with each other. We even had Thanksgiving, we got one of only three turkeys in the supermarket and cooked a good old American Thanksgiving for my host family. They loved it, but were shocked when the saw how much food we stuffed in our mouths.



On the other side of life I'm having some stomach problems. I have been experiencing some digestive and diarrhea problems since June. I have been to two different doctors (two different countries) and done tests at both to see if they could detect the problem, but in both nothing was found. I still have no idea of what’s going on, so I'm going to try a fast to see if resetting the system does anything. This might be the hardest thing that I have ever done, I look forward to eating so much that I my brain wont know what to do, but I'll give it a try.

Ian

My family and I in Belgium

My bothers and mom have been in Belgium for the past five days visiting. Its been great to see them again, and show them around Brussels and Belgium.

Pictures from Bruge, Brussels, and around the house.