The likely explanation is that my body clock, which always made me come on strong the same time every year, was shutting me down for the winter. I was energetic and motivated but hadn't trained hard past the second week of September in 11 years. The nail in the coffin was when my Commander, Lt. Colonel Schalch, in light of the September 11, terrorist attacks, required we be able to return to work within 24 hours of a recall. My necessary evil, the Air Force, forced me to give up what I unnecessarily loved to do. The fastest flight to Okinawa, Japan was 26 hours. I drafted an appeal, but that didn't work. I canceled my dream of returning to race the 2001 Tour de Okinawa. Wahhh!!!
I met a few women in 2001, but nothing came of it. Most women turned out to be hiding something, lying about something, and that really bothered me. Deception was the norm with women, even Christian women, and I'd grown weary of trusting. There was also a consistent lack of backbone, being demanding, shallow, gold digging, and having the personality of a large rock. I've dated rocks before and let me tell ya, they're a hard act to follow. One quick way to spot someone speaking out of two sides of her mouth is when she brags about being fiercely independent, and then has an income requirement for the guy she dates. The nice word for a woman who dates for money is gold digger---but there's a better name I'll save for later.
