It is not easy to give updates about a book without giving away parts of the plot. What I can say is that Twisted Trails 2 has reached its final phase of development. Heather, my amazing Editor is currently scrutinizing Chapter 2 while Terri, my Proofreader/wife is helping me on the wording of the Introduction/book blurb. What I can tell you is that the book will be similar in style to the first Twisted Trails. It will have nine chapters, each with a somewhat self contained story that shares characters with other chapters. Most important to my local readers is that the first chapter will take place in Florida. It is a location that many mountain bikers know and love. Also, if you are part of the Florida cycling community you might very well have inspired a character. That's enough for now. Stay tuned for updates - Alex H

Twisted Trails 2 Update: The new book is right on schedule! The first chapter made its way to the Editor so we will likely be on time for a Fall release. Also, as some of you might know I have a new job driving an airport shuttle for Florida Sunshine Express. This job has allowed me to spread the word about my writing. At the beginning of June my Author Rank on Amazon peaked at 4,400! There are hundreds of thousands of authors on Amazon so this is a huge boost in popularity. Thank you all for the support, we are racing up that ladder. Visiting Florida? Need a ride to/from the airport? Give us a call! Florida Sunshine Express (855) 397-3458

Today is my 43rd birthday and I'm still chasing my dreams, sort of. There are some who envy my dedication. Others are quite aware that I'm full of shit. The truth is that we all do what comes easiest. The only difference is that my imagination has been running wild for years and I only just now grabbed the reigns. My long list of achievements includes quitting or getting fired from 70 jobs. Of the 700+ articles I have written a mere 7 made it to print (Only one was paid). I have been turned down by every publisher and agent I have queried in the last 20 years. The only mountain bikes races I won were the ones with no competition in my class. I never needed to lie about any of these things. When you compete, people assume that you are an amazing athlete. When you get published once, people assume that you get published often. That's right I'm blaming you audience! Why am I kicking this trash down the hallway? Because I'm over it. Granted it took a long...

Challenges come in all shapes and intensities. It has been 70 days since I started to build the body I always wanted and the gains are becoming visible. You can see from the picture above I am the biggest I have ever been in my life. Here are the results so far. Bodyweight increase +7 = 189.2pds Arms increase +.50 = 15.25" Chest increase + 1.00 = 42" Thighs increase +.50 = 23.50" Calves +.50 = 14.50" The rest of my physical measurements stayed roughly the same. I had started by focusing on volume training using Arnold's Blueprint Program on Bodybuilding.com's BodySpace community. While this gave me some huge numbers, the long workouts took too much energy to complete and affected my consistency. I was having trouble getting in 4 workouts a week and I was coming up short on body parts. After shopping around a little I found James Grage's Rewired program. These workouts are shorter but more intense with lots of supersets...

That's right I'm still pounding away at the weights. It has been 50 days since I started to build the body I always wanted and the gains have come slow but steady. As you can see from the picture above I am the biggest I have ever been in my life and it feels great. For those who don't know, I have an eating disorder and spent most my years far below an ideal bodyweight. Despite being physically active, this nutritional deficiency caused all kinds of pain and problems. Fast forward to Dec 6th, 2015 I decided to build the body I always dreamed about. Now I'm roughly 50 days in and here are the results so far. Bodyweight increase +5 = 187.2pds Arms increase +.25 = 15" Thighs increase +.50 = 23.50" Calves +.50 = 14.50" The rest of my physical measurements stayed the same. Now let's get to the personal records. I did not attempt to go after any individual records but rather focused on volume training using Arnold's Bl...

It was a day for the bold and daring as 240 mountain bikers took to the trails of the T. Mabry Carlton Reserve in Venice, Florida for the annual Piggy's Revenge Off Road Challenge. The park had received two inches of rain in the three days preceding the event turning otherwise pristine singletrack into mud rutted splash zones. Outsiders to the sport might watch the music video and think to themselves: Why would any one want to do that? Part of the reward of mountain biking is the journey through suffering. That is why we call it an Off Road Challenge, it's not for couch potatoes. You've got to have grit. This was truly a Pigtacular Mudfest! Let's see what the riders had to say. "Another Piggy's Revenge in the books! This course was about as mean as a junk yard dog. I don't think I have ever ridden in so much water! Glad I survived to talk about it but it's going to be a while before I remember it fondly." - Scott Pfaff, 60 Miler ...

As you learned last year, I love favorites lists. They help me clarify what I enjoy doing, they help race promoters adjust their offerings and they spread the word about events you might not have heard of. This was a unique year because I actually had sponsors. Help from Bicycles International , Luksha Reconstruction and SixSixOne products motivated me to hit a few more stops around the state. These included several places I had never been before. This year's list includes some personal victories and a couple unique locations. Here are my top seven favorite rides/races of 2015. Number 7: Edinburgh CX Challenge (Dunedin, FL) Autumn is the busiest time of year in Florida for many reasons. The snowbirds return, businesses get busy and both CX and XC kick off their seasons often pairing races on the same weekends. This forces all of us racers to choose one or the other. For the last two years I chose CX. However, my piggy bank only allowed for a couple forays. They wer...