Greetings all - As always, we send up our thanks for good fellowship and blessings of protection during our "Day at the Races" event. As in our last event, I was very fortunate to have a subset of some our street fighters present from our BRO Team (Back Roads Only) bikers to help round out the day for fun at the track. I had 4 men strong again which were ready to help and serve: Alan P., Jason J. (Jonesy), Chuck K., and Mike H. along with yours truly (John L.). Mike served as our photographer since he was unable to ride due to late registration. The Lord placed his steps however, as he was carrying a professional grade camera and took some amazing shots. I believe he captured well over 800 high speed incredible visuals, which he will sort through and post up the highlights soon. Come back and visit this posting again for those pictures - they were amazing! Alan, Jonesy and Chuck were all elevated to the Red-N group, which meant I was in great company. We ventured out together on nearly all the ride segments and tore up the track as best we could. Riding the track is always fun, but doing it with all your friends together - priceless!

The weather was absolutely perfect! As you'll see from the pictures, our CSBA Camp just kept getting bigger and bigger. We caught up with a rider (Chin) who rode his bike from NY (Yonkers) to be on his first track day. We offered him to pit with us since he was alone and didn't have support. We also helped a young man (Diago) with his bike and offered him the same courtesy. Mike H. was hot on my heels during the drive down and we caught up to each other at the local Wawa in Millville, were I gassed up and picked up fresh hot dog rolls, mustard, ketchup, and misc items for our Moto-Picnic later. We got to the track just shy of 6am, and were among the first to arrive, which afforded us the best spots to claim and set-up Camp CSBA. By 7:00a, Mike and I were setup and ready for action - then off for tech inspection. The BRO Team arrived closer to 8am, so they quickly got their bikes unpacked, and got to the bikers meeting. Prayers were given and we suited up and got started.

There were several downed riders in the morning, and I managed to get back to Camp CSBA by 11:30, so I sat out the next ride and prepared the grill for a nice hot lunch. I set up the multi-media and we enjoyed a DVD instructional tape on high speed cornering. The word was shared and we talked about a level playing field. Some shared why they don't like riding street anymore and/or why organized rides don't work for them. Others talked about being faster and the slow people in front of them. The key was we all came together in fellowship and had a good spirited discussion. Many remarked how this was the very best track day to date - and I would agree! The more we do it, the better we get at it. Plus, no one got sick from my cooking. :)

Near the end of the day, we only had one person from Team CSBA go down - Chuck. As best we can determine since we don't have video or pictures capturing the event (just visual accounts), he was stuffed in turn 6 while executing his turn - hit on his left side and pushed off the track. He was very lucky as the only damage to his bike was a little road rash and a broken clutch lever. Chuck was ok - he was wearing a rented one piece suit - thank God. He asked around and found someone in the paddock that had an extra set of levers that he tested for fitment. Once assured they would work, he paid for them. He was back in action for the next heat. Dedication - he made it happen. Plus, the people at the track are awesome - always ready to help. So again, the good news is no one was hurt on our watch and the Lord blessed us for another day of fun in the sun.

This marks our fifth track event this year. As we continue to build on this venue and introduce more riders to controlled track day racing, we manage to still have fun and spin it as a family type event. Our goal: to enjoy a joyful spirit and fellowship with fellow riders, while always learning and testing our limits for this passion we have for 2 wheeled movement. It's tragic when anyone goes down, especially one of our close brothers/sisters - but we applaud them for exploring their limits. We shouldn't be afraid to test our limits as that's how true growth in anything is experienced. If you've never done a track day, do yourself a favor and try to get in at least one. It will surely make you a better street rider. The pace is yours to set; grab a partner and explore.

Thanks again for everyone's support in today's ride/event. Come out and enjoy our next event which is the "Dauphin County Screamer" on October 5th, 2013. Hopefully we'll see you there! I'll post up more pictures as I receive them here and also on our Facebook Forum Page (CSBA Facebook page) and at this event's Facebook Event Page (CSBA Day at the Races)

See you out there - Lets Ride!

Scripture for Track Day Event - September 28th 2013

With so much diversity and the presence of backslid Christians or non-believers among us, the focus of my prayer was centered on leveling the playing field and not to lose vision on why we're enjoying such a fun day on our CSBA Events. What is really dividing our Christian community and man in general? Dr. Stanley shared a wonderful sermon on this topic - here's the highlights:

A great deal of friction and enmity is generated by those who see themselves as superior to others by virtue of their race, religion, or social status. Such attitudes destroy peace between individuals, communities, and even nations. The early church confronted this problem when it addressed the status of non-Jewish believers. These Gentiles had been excluded from the commonwealth of Israel with all its privileges and covenants, so it was easy to view them as second-class citizens in the church despite their faith in Jesus. Even after Pentecost and the outpouring of the Spirit, the old ways of thinking were hard to abandon.

The apostle Paul spoke to this very problem in Ephesus when he said, “But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one, and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall” (Eph. 2:13-14).

Today there continue to be many dividing walls between people. Human nature is no different in the modern age than it was in the first century: power, pride, and privilege still dominate in the kingdom of darkness. Unfortunately, many dividing walls also exist in the Christian community. Yet the gospel of Jesus Christ is just as powerful today in “making the two into one new man, thus establishing peace” (v. 15). It doesn’t matter what the barriers are—we can overcome them by recognizing that we all have our access to the Father through the same Spirit (v. 18).

Conclusion: No matter how fast you run your race, or how great your skills are (on and off the track), we are all created for God's purpose and should humble ourselves in our gifts and not over shadow those with lesser talent in our excellence areas. Be of good fruit and shed the bad rotten fruit. Blessings to all!