So here I am in Dalton, Georgia, the town where I was born and raised. Asyou probably know by now, my life was thrown into turmoil last April whenIcrashed in the opening stage of the Circuit de la Sarthe.

It’s been a tough, tough year, but I count my blessings every singleday. After I began to emerge from the coma, I eventually learned that Ihad been within minutes of dying last year. I was lucky to be in one ofthe world’s greatest hospitals, with one of the world’s best neurosurgeons,who was not only on staff, but in the building when it counted. You can’tget much luckier than that.As I recovered, doctors in both France and at the Shepherd Center, thebrain and spinal-cord hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, told me that I neededto prepare for the possibility that I would never walk again and that Imight suffer from the complete paralysis of my left side for the rest ofmy life. I told them that I wanted to do more than walk, I wanted torun.At the Shepherd Center, I told my mom that “if I ever ride a bicycleagain, I want to help people like me.”I live and stand by this today and, at this point, I am doing a wholelot more than just walking.I just got back from the Tour of California, where I rode every stageof the race with the message of “Raisin Hope.” It was a new effort, butI quickly realized after I rolled to the start of the prologue that mymessage was quite apparent. No matter if it was brain injuries, spinal-cord injuries or cancer, I had countless people come up to me and thankme for coming.One mother, whose child is currently fighting back from a brain injury,came up to me in tears. She told me I was an inspiration to her son, andthat I give the entire family hope that he can get back to a normal lifesome day as well. To me, making someone smile is when you make a smallimpression in their life. That’s what drives me to get back to racing.I want to make people smile and give them hope, showing them you can doanything you set your mind to. Never give up, and fight to the finish.I am still fighting. Even if I was 100 percent mentally and physically,the doctors were not really ready to release me from the hospital, letalone see me get out and ride like I did before my accident. Nonetheless, I haveto be able to prove my independence and show them I can live at the levelof a professional cyclist. I am going to take the necessary steps to getback to racing, and the first big step for me is to go back to France for10 days next month, by myself.I called my coach Jim Lehman (at Carmichael Training Systems) last weekand I told him that it’s time. “Jim, I want to come back this year, solet's get the ball rolling.”This past Wednesday I did my first effort and time trial up Fort Mountain,here in north Georgia, just to see where I am at physically.After the test, I downloaded the information from my PowerTap and calledJim.“Jim, you need to put little Luke in front of the computer first whenyou open my file,” I told him.“Why is that?” Jim asked.“Because your little boy still wears diapers,” I answered. “He can poopin his pants and you can’t!”So what’s the verdict? I managed to hold around 400 watts for30 minutes. Hey, that’s not bad, considering that I almost died last yearand it was my first big effort since my accident.“I want to come back for the U.S. professional championships,” I toldJim. “And I want to come back in a big way. I want to win."With that in mind, I started my first official day of trainingon Friday. I did six 15-minute hill repeats at a comfortable 320-350 wattaverage each time.At the moment, 350 watts feels about like threshold.I have a lot on my plate right now. I am starting up training again,I have my Raisin Hope ride coming up here soon, and an auction. Not to mentionI am falling in love with the most beautiful girl in the whole world.During all this I am going up to New York on the 17th, then back to Francein April and out to Colorado Springs for some testing in May.What can I say? I am truly blessed.I invite everyone to come out to my Raisin Hope ride March 31 herein Dalton. Help me give back hope to many good people that need help. Youcan find out more about my Raisin Hope and ride here.Come out for a great day in the north Georgia mountains, for many greatcauses and a "true celebrationof life."