On July 5, I began attending Seaford Baptist Church. Miimii had taken me there on June 7, 1998 and I loved it, but she didn't want me to attend when she was there. She didn't want the people to know she was divorced. One day she called me and said she'd quit the church so it was okay for me to go. I'd had it with the Catholic Church. It felt unloving, and more interested in its traditions than in Christ. I'd tried for nine years to learn but for the most part people didn't want to even talk about Christ outside of church. I'd gone to a local Catholic church for six months and it was rare that anyone spoke to me at all. At Seaford, first day, everyone was very friendly. In my first service an elderly man had a stroke in front of me. Services were stopped and he was rushed out. I thought it was a sign I should stay. He later died---another good sign. They needed new blood.
One day my boss, Captain Darnell said,"I found you can drive up to eight hours on your day off without taking leave." He'd previously told me three, and after I'd cancelled all my important bicycle races and pretty much lost motivation to train, it was a little late! I liked Captain Darnell--I couldn't stay mad.
And so, in horrible shape, I drove to the Virginia Commonwealth Games in Roanoke. I hadn't done them since 1997. Knowing I would be badly beaten, I broke away two miles into the race to steal some glory before the fast riders did to me what I did to everyone else in Korea. The race was 40 miles on the Blue Ridge Parkway, all climbs and descents. I led alone for six miles, and when I was overtaken, only three riders caught me.
