/Media Card/BlackBerry/pictures/IMG00064-20090703-0803.jpg, originally uploaded by ronswilliams123.

Enjoying a nice cup of coffee at home! We are in a recession, sorry Starbucks.

Camp sunshine, originally uploaded by ronswilliams123.

All is right with the world. I have a new camp bracelet! Its a long story. I will have to share it sometime.
Think before you print this e-mail. By not printing it, you preserve precious natural resources. It’s another step in growing green. The information in this communication is the property of Southwire Company and intended only for the use of the addressee.

Riding Outside Again!, originally uploaded by ronswilliams123.

The wrist is still very stiff, but I am able to ride outside! I have
missed riding my bike, but the down time has been good. Brooke and I have
gotten to spend a lot of time together and we were able to buy a new house!
That probably would not have happened if I was racing my bicycle very
weekend. The new house is awesome and we are all settled in thanks Brooke’s
mom Barbara! Barbara and Brooke are a great house decorating team. Well I
am off to ride my bike!

The arm is free!, originally uploaded by ronswilliams123.

Finally! The cast is off. I now have a splint and rehab twice a week. My wrist is very stiff, so it’s going to take some work!?

My new Ride, originally uploaded by ronswilliams123.

Brooke and I had a great weekend in Athens,GA at the TWLIGHT!

I usually race, but with a broken wrist, the only thing I was ride was the bench and this bulldog! There’s always next year………………

Dr. Follow up II, originally uploaded by ronswilliams123.

The bones are healing great! Ahead of schedule. I get the X Fix off next monday!!

The Good News is that the arm is healing very well! The Bad News is that I have to wear the X-Fix for four more weeks??!  Dr. Lourie was very happy with the way that the “big” bone came back together.   I was surprised when I saw the X-ray that he did not have to use a “plate”!   The screws in my wrist will come out and I should have a full recovery.   Brooke was there for the visit so that she could hear straight from the doctor exactly what things I was allowed to do… I guess she knows me pretty well?  I tested her in the car on the way home when I said, “I think I can ride my rollers with the arm!”

Here is a slide show—it shows the x-fix and blood and gore-beware!

RD9, originally uploaded by ronswilliams123.

I have been up and down lately. I am not one for patience or inaction? My
DR..wife keeps telling me to slow down and take it easy. Taking it easy is
not as “EASY” as it sounds. I also called my coach, jim lehman, and he had
the same advice take it easy and finish watching “Entourage!” I am taking
it easy until my follow up with Dr. Lourie on the 14th.

I am at 73% today. Did 30mins on the stairmaster and 1 hrs spin on the
trainer.

Enjoy a clip from the “ARM!”

first ride, originally uploaded by ronswilliams123.

I use to hate riding the trainer! Since its the only way I can ride my machine its the best. Its been two weeks since the crash. Recovery is under way.

Thanks to Bobs Bikes and Will for all their help!

new bike.jpg, originally uploaded by ronswilliams123.

The best way to get over a bike crash!!! New bike! I guess its going to be a while until this baby gets out of the open road.

Thanks GIANT for all their support.

I am 65% today. I have not taken any pain pills since yesterday morning! My body seems to be catching up and my spirits are lifting.

Enjoy this clip from the arm!

Nice to see that I am in good company.  Thanks to bicycling for the shout out~!  more tweets coming with many recovery days ahead.

tweets-bicycle-mag1

recovery day 2.3GP, originally uploaded by ronswilliams123.

I am at 53% today. Starting to get the idea of taking the pain pills before it hurts. The sun is out today!

Recovery day 1. Its a bit more painful than I expected.

My first race of the season did not go as planned! I was racing in a master crit in atlanta when I was taken out. I thought masters races where supposed to be safer? Someone overlapped my rear wheel while we were flying down the front straight. Yes we were going in a straight line at about 27 mph….no reason to overlapped someone rear wheel. The Someone did not even stay around to make sure I was ok? I know he is ok because I broke his fall, as he was laying on top of me while i was loosing skin sliding along the pavement. My wrist is broken in three places and I have to have surgery this week. Thanks to DR. WIFE for taken care of me!

Things are going pretty good with the Fat to Fitness Plan. I have riding the bike 12-17 hours per week for the last couple of weeks. I have joined a local gym and I am attending the “Body Pump” classes two to three days a week. These classes are whipping me into shape! They are harder that I thought and they are challenging me with many ways. I can ride a bike like a pro, but I am no “Body Pump” master…..yet! Today I also tried a yoga class, next time I need to take off the leg.

Coach Jim was deeply concerned about my fitness after he saw the “Pull Ups” clip. After an intervention and some tough talk, Jim is going to help me find my fitness! It is so easy to get out of shape? After Beijing I was over it….training, diet, etc. I let the fat, beer chugging, kid out for a couple of months, and now its time to put him away.

Some good news came this week! Brooke passed her board exam, so she is now a Board Certified Pediatrician.

I am happiest when I am fit!

The off-season has been good to me!   I have done everything I wanted to do, drank all that I could, eat everything, and traveled a lot.   It’s now time to get down to business.  I am ready to get back to training and see what I can do in 2009.     I am now a fitness level 0!   See the below clip!

See clip

IMG00064.jpg, originally uploaded by ronswilliams123.

Finally getting out and exploring auburn and lee county…..plenty of dirt roads!!!

Not many people get to meet the president of the united states. I on the other hand have had the awesome opportunity to meet cliton, bush, and bush! A few weeks after our return from china the USOC flew all the Olympians and paralympians to the white house to meet president, George Bush. The white house visit is a lot of fun. We all gather in the rose garden and the president delivers a speech thanking all of the Olympian and paralympians for representing the US in the 2008 games. The most fun part of this whole trip to me is meeting fellow Olympians. It is great to share stories and get to know the able bodied versions of ourselves. I had a chance to meet the future of US Cycling, Taylor Phinney! This guy is awesome and he is going places. I also got to meet miss shawn johnson, she was great and know we are BFF!

I am getting settled in in Auburn, AL! I hope to make this the cycling capital of Alabama. The roads are great for riding and Auburn University provides great scenery.

I know that it has been some time since I have last posted. I guess I needed some time to get my thoughts in order. The last few days have been a blast traveling around China with Brooke and company. We have experienced a lot of things that not everyone gets to do, so for that I am very thankful. It was my bicycle that bought me back from cancer, and it is my bicycle that has helped me ride through life. I am not sure where my bicycle will take me next but I am sure it will be an adventure. Brooke and I hit the ground running when we get back home… Well we don’t actually have a home anymore since the movers are coming on Monday to move us to Auburn, Alabama. I guess you could said that the Williams family is starting a new chapter in more ways than one. I need to figure out what’s next for me and my life with the bicycle… Brooke is starting her career as the best doctor ever, we are starting a new life in Auburn, and I need to get my Southwire life back on track! Just writing this today is making me emotional; I did not do what I set out to do here in China. But as I step back and think, I feel that maybe I have done what I set out to do! My goal has always been to promote the ability of disabled athletes through elite sport. By my competing in the Paralympic Games I hope that I will inspire a future “Ron Williams.” Maybe a “poor sick child” from Camp Sunshine will see what I have done and decide that he or she too can accomplish great things. I am so thankful for my purpose in this life and I will continue to help others ” Make a Plan and Plan to Make it!!”

Now that my eyes are filled with tears……….I am out.

PS. Rob thanks for this comment:

Dawg,

So, the race didn’t turn out like you wanted it to, but As Teddy Roosevelt once said…

“It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement; and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” Teddy Roosevelt

Nuff said.

Dawg

“The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.” Olympic Creed.

It is all over. I am done. Things did not go like I had planned, but I did have a chance to race with the best cyclists in the world. Not sure what happened in my road race… I was caught up behind a crash, but that is not a good enough excuse. My competitors were better than me today. That is a tough thing for me to accept. I do not know how I could possibly train any harder? The road race featured three different categories for the first time. I was competing against many guys with two good legs! And those two good legs were very strong. The European style of racing is very different from the racing we do in the USA. The euro go all out from the gun until the field is crushed, and then they attack some more. One positive thing were the crowds at the venue and along the course. I have never competed in front of so many spectators.

Thanks to everyone for you support!

I am going to enjoy the rest of my time in China. I am off to see the great wall!

Well I crushed my competition, except for the 4 guys that crushed me!! Not sure how I feel about it right now, but hopefully I can put this behind me and focus on tomorrow’s race. I wish I had some better news.

T minus one day! Friday is my Time Trial.  Four years of training will be on display as I race my GIANT bicycle againist the best cyclists in the world.  I am feeling good about my chances to win a medal.  “Make a Plan and Plan to Make it”………I have put in the work, I have made the sacrifices, and I have the ability to WIN!  The venue is going to be a blast to race at… there are grand stands and large jumbo screens to catch all the action.  I will be wearing a race radio, and my coach Jim will be in the team car behind me coaching me through my effort.

I saw an amazing thing today while walking to eat breakfast… Only at the Paralympics will you see a one legged person pulling a person in a wheelchair who is guiding a blind person!  We all have issues… it’s how you decide to handle them.

Today’s training is light with a lot of rest before the big day.

Nations Slide Show
I know you wanted to see all the different nations that are here! I tried to take a picture of each nation’s shirt! With over 150 different nations I still have some work to do.

(you can turn off music by clicking on the speaker icon in the upper left hand corner)

I am not sure where all the time goes!?! The past two days have flown by, yet I can’t really remember what I did! We have been training a lot on the road course/time trial course. Each time that I ride the course it seems to get a little harder. I have been dialing in the course as much as possible… I like to break the course down in sections and work on how I can ride each section. It is during that process that I keep finding more hard sections than easy sections. The course is either climbing, rolling up a false flat, or winding through a fast technical section. All of this should play into my favor for the time trial!

With this being my third time at the Paralympics I should be use to the down time! We keep a schedule while we are here but there is still a lot of free time. It during the downtime that my mind likes to work me over. I have been working towards this goal for many years, and I just do not want to screw up. I want to have the best day I can have on my bike and I want that result to yield a medal!! Now that the competition has started here, athletes are winning and they are losing. It has been said “that’s why we race!” because any one thing can happen and everyone has a chance to win. My time trial is on Friday, and Friday is the day that I am going to ride like the wind and stand on top of the medal stand!

Brooke and Barbara visited the Village yesterday. It is nice to have them here in China. We enjoyed some McDonald’s for lunch. We had to sneak them into the dining hall! Brooke does not like to break the rules! After lunch we decided to take a trip outside the village to a place called Silk Street Market…so a small group of us piled in a couple of taxis and were off like a herd of turtles! Now, I have seen my share of traffic living in Atlanta, and I have experienced traffic in LA, but I have never seen or experienced traffic like we did going into the heart of Beijing!! It was bumper-to-bumper or bumper-to-back-of-left-quarter-panel the whole trip. The way that the Chinese people drive is very different. They do not respect the lane that they are in and they like to use the HORN. If people drove like that at home there would be a ton of road rage! Here the people cut each other off and blow the horn, yet nobody seems to get upset. I also noticed that most of the cars on the road are new models. While we worked or way into Beijing you can not help but notice all the tall buildings. The buildings look like NY City but for miles and miles and miles and miles. There are many skyscrapers of all shapes and sizes. We passed one building that looked like a pair of pants! I guess with over a billion people you have to have a lot of buildings.

The Silk Market was an experience. It is a building with floors of copy cat items ranging from polos, electronics, golf clubs, jackets, silks, pearls, watches etc. You name it and it was in the place. You have to be ready to negotiate and ready for high pressure sales. The salespeople in each shop do not want you to leave their stall without buying something. They will use every bit of English they know in a effort to sell their goods. Brooke is great at this whole process. Brooke, armed with a calculator, starts the bidding. It goes down like this: “Sir, Sir, Mr American, you like my stuff? You need a some pearls to take home to family? Come in, Come in I give you best price…you my favorite… I give you best price. Where you from, where you from?” When you get down to the price of the item, it’s like a game of Texas hold’em. The salesperson types the price on her calculator in yuan. Then you immediately take that number and divide by 2 on your calculator. Then divide by 6.8 to get the US $$. Then you decide how much you really want to pay for the item and make an offer via your calculator. It is a very fun process! Brooke and I were in one shop and we were haggling over a silk top for Brooke. After about 15 minutes of back and forth I said, “Let’s go… you don’t need that!” So we walked out of the shop. We were half way down the aisle when the salesperson came running after us shouting, “Wait, Wait, I give you best price.” We stopped and Brooke started to haggle again in the middle of the aisle. Brooke won! She got the silk top for 80% off the original price!

Pictures from the silk market

Today, it’s back to the road course for some more training.

I am working on gathering the information so that you can watch the action on the internet.   ParalympicSport.tv seems to be the best place so far to view coverage of the games.    I will also post updates that we get from US Paralympics

Located under FEATURED CLIPS click on the UPDATES and Schedules Link