David, Joelle and Johnnie Besnette

Final Edition from Matthew Roberts on Vimeo.

It’s getting to be springtime and I am starting to think about biking again. In the past, I would often times head for Moab during the spring to savor some of their famous slickrock. March through May can be awesome times to bike in Moab.
Joelle has started Mountain Biking, but hasn’t yet done anything in Moab. I think my folks want to meet us out there in a month or so - that way they can take care of Johnnie while we go ride! If I take Joelle, since she is fairly new at Mountain Biking, I would probably take her on the Klondike Bluffs trail, or Bartlett Wash to start with. Then, maybe the practice loop at Slick Rock.

Moab Mountain Biking is one of life’s musts if you are a Mountain Biker. We hope to get out there this year.

My friend Dave put together this video of our ski day at Eldora this past weekend. Was a great day.

This was my sister’s wonderful speech when she received the 9news leader of the year honor. I meant to post it last year but forgot..so here it is..:
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Dr. Carrie Besnette’s remarks
April 9, 2008
9News Leader of the Year Luncheon

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit Nepal, a place of mind-blowing natural beauty and harsh human realities.

A visit to any third world country provides a very real glimpse into both disparity and hope. So very poor, the average income for a Nepali is less than $200US/year.

We regularly witnessed the back-breaking efforts of the Sherpa people carrying heavy loads up high, steep Himalayan passes.

Everything by hand or foot. Nothing easy.

Yet, all around there was also evidence of investment.

Principally, that of Sir Edmund Hillary, the first to summit Mount Everest along with Sherpa Tenzing Norgey.

Sir Ed, as he’s known, donated his fame, funds, and sweat-equity to build schools and hospitals throughout this impoverished region. He recognized that access to education and health care were essential building blocks to potential and opportunity for anyone, regardless of their background or circumstances.

Upon returning to Colorado, I learned that Edmund Hillary had just passed away. The climbing world had lost a king. His broader legacy will endure forever.

Like the Himalayas, we are all fortunate to live in a place of natural splendor and rugged peaks.

Colorado is also one of the healthiest, wealthiest, and most educated states, per capita, in large part due to an “import” effect where so many bring these attributes to this beautiful state when they move here.

A perplexing paradox, however… we don’t rank as well, comparatively, when it comes to factors such as personal charitable giving, childhood obesity and immunization rates, and for sending our own kids to college, particularly those from low-income backgrounds.

We might all take a page from the book of Sir Ed. Or from Bill Daniels, whose profound charitable legacy further fueled my own professional course.

These individuals cared about people and invested in children who were not their own. They recognized the power of education and access to basic health and human services.

Most of the people they helped, never met them.

The return on their investment is individual, collective, exponential, and will span generations.

I’m blessed and thankful to have had several role models. Some I never knew, like Hillary and Daniels.

Others have had a more day-to-day impact, and without whom I would not be here.

To name a few: Certainly, my family.

A very close group of friends and colleagues, a few who traveled great distances to be here today.

My mentor, Phil Hogue, who died a little over a year ago.

To the individuals who have received this award in years past–thanks to each of you for paving the way.

And, if a community can be a role model, I’d add Denver to the list. There are few if any like it. Vibrant, inclusive, “small” and connected, big and bold, purposeful, networked, action-oriented, responsible, engaged, and full of people who dare to dream big.

Looking around the room, so many of you have been part of making this city and state what they have become, and why I love living here.
Others, several we’ve lost in recent months, are also to be credited and remembered.

This City embraced and invested in me when I moved here eight years ago, and has allowed me to give back in ways I never thought possible, not the least of which is in my current role at Metropolitan State College of Denver, a place that levels the playing field for so many.

Thank you to President Steve Jordan and the incredible students and colleagues I get to work with every day.

We gather today to highlight and support the work of the Colorado Leadership Alliance. The students around the room represent our future and collective responsibility.

A few of them you now know as they are sitting at your tables. Others you will never meet.

Invest in them. All of them.

Help “grow our own,” here in Colorado, these aspiring college graduates, a diverse group of emerging leaders who will, in turn, do the same and invest in others.

To the students in the room, congratulations on your accomplishments and future successes.

I’ll leave you with a quote pasted on the wall of a Nepalese tea house. It is by an Everest Summiteer named Byron Smith.

“Life’s greatest challenge is exploring the leader within.”

I encourage you to do this, and to find mentors and role models who will help you pave your way.

Thank you.

I laughed out loud at this.  Thanks to my friend Dave D. for sending it to me  - CAREFUL - there’s some foul language in it..but funny nonetheless..

My friends at Western Spirit Cycling have a great bike trip in Idaho - the Lewis and Clark trail - This is listed as one of  Outside Magazine’s Top 25 Trips of a Lifetime. You can contact Western Spirit Toll Free: 800-845-2453

Some trip specs:

Road Surface: Clay and gravel primitive road.
Technical Difficulty: Easy to Moderate.
Physical Difficulty: Moderate to Difficult, a significant amount of climbing.
Altitude: 3,000 - 7,000 feet.

However, the best way to get an idea for this trip is by the following video

“You’re not in control, but your desperate efforts to keep control actually does alter the way existence moves for you. It doesn’t move in the way your controller wants to, but it does have an effect on existence, your effort to control it. It doesn’t have the effect you want it to have, but it does have an effect. And you only know that when that control is totally let go of. Because when it is totally let go of, and you are no longer putting that energy out to existence or to consciousness, then existence starts to change.”

From tomstine.com

Staying Afloat Amidst the Spin
Taking Things Personally

Every time you interact with others, you have the choice to listen to, acknowledge, and let go of their words, or you can take what they are saying personally. Taking things personally is often the result of perceiving a person’s actions or words as an affront or slight. In order to take something personally, you must read negative intent in an individual’s words or actions. But what people do and say has no bearing upon you and is usually based on their own experiences, emotions, and perceptions. If you attempt to take what they do or say personally, you may end up feeling hurt without reason.

If you are tempted to take a comment or action personally, creating some distance between yourself and the other person can help you. Try to determine what is at the root of your feelings. Ask yourself if the other person’s words or actions are just reinforcing some insecurity within you or if you can really be sure that an offense was intended. You may even want to ask them what they meant. Finally, put yourself in the other person’s shoes. Instead of taking their words as the truth, or as a personal affront, remember that whatever was said or done is based on their opinion and is more reflective of what is going on inside of them, rather than having anything to do with you. You may have been an easy target for someone having a bad day, and their comments may have been offered with no ill intentions.

When you recognize that what anyone says or does doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with you, you will no longer feel hurt or attacked. While it’s easy to take things personally, you should never let anyone’s perceptions or actions affect how you see yourself or your worth. Your life is personal to you, and it is up to you to influence your own value and sense of well-being.

From the Dailyom.com