Growing Bolder Community

I was enjoying a multi-hour “recovery ride” (typically something I do after a particularly long, hard, fast ride the day before) this morning during which I had ample time to contemplate various things other than my navel (which could have had catastrophic results). Growing Bolder Media came to mind as I realized how fortunate I am to have them as a part of my life – something that...

The following is something that I posted on my Facebook page in response to numerous birthday wishes:Thanks to all of you who sent me birthday wishes yesterday and today. At the age of 72, it's always a major accomplishment and exciting to make it through another day! Of course immediately upon discovering that I had made it to another landmark this morning, I ambled out of bed, found a...

The Magic Performance & Health Elixir As an active cyclist who logs up to 16,000 miles a year of training and racing, I am always looking for ways to enhance my performance and health. I have often read about the importance of including L-Arginine as part of one’s program of nutritional supplementation, but I take a slug of things every morning so I simply never got around to adding it...

The Mike Costello Story I have personally known many military heroes such as Guy Garuthers, a co-pilot of mine at Eastern Airlines who was captured by the North Vietnamese the second time his fighter was shot down, and subsequently spent 5 1/2 years undergoing torture in the Hanoi Hilton. His story is worthy of a book. I have had the honor of flying with Bob Hooks, a World War II Navy ace...

THE LONG SUCCESSFUL ROAD TO REDEMPTION In 2007, I was training quite vigorously with the goal of winning a national cycling time trial championship at the National Senior Games (aka Senior Olympics) in Louisville. I had only recently recovered from a broken neck suffered in a time trial event in late October of 2005 when an official stepped in my path as I raced towards the finish line....

THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A BLACK CLOUD OVER THIS HEAD I’ve always been struck by the fact that I have consistently been extraordinarily lucky in my life. Quite the opposite of those who seem to go through life with a perpetual black cloud over their heads. I always achieved everything that I set out to do mostly through hard work and dedication, but I have also had more than my share of...

I think that one of the themes that comes through loud, clear and often in the various Growing Bolder stories is the concept of never giving up. Here is my take on the subject: NEVER GIVE UP An incident that recently took place at the end of our club ride drove home to me the meaning of the adage, “Never Give Up.” I’m as competitive as one can be, but even someone as hardcore as I...

JEZEBEL THE TIME TRIAL BIKE Jezebel and I became a couple on April 15, 2005 – it was love at first sight. She was a Guru cron’alu time trial bike that had been custom-made for me. She sported a beautiful red, yellow, orange, white and black flame paint job with gorgeous Zipp wheels and titanium pedals. Her aerobars were wrapped with a fancy patterned tape to match her paint job. I...

Earlier I published a near death experience that I had participating the sport of skydiving. This one was a bit more terrifying in that it lasted a seemingly endless amount of time. SKYDIVING ADVENTURE STORY #2 – OVER THE PINE FOREST I had been skydiving a mere week and my skydiving logbook reflected 20 dives at the Deland (FL) airport where I had learned the sport a week earlier. I had...

A Tribute To Craig A friend is a rare and wonderful thing. I have had the opportunity to call a very special, incredibly unique man, my friend. Among his many characteristics and amazing accomplishments were the following: Entered college with no high school diploma and had PHD’s working under him in laser research while an undergraduate Hit a hole-in-one in golf Is and...