Noticing Newbies

Hello everyone! I am very new to the Writing.com community and just "completed" the first submission to my portfolio. I would greatly appreciate anybody's feedback on if they like (or dislike) my first work and any improvement that can be made in my writing. Any pointers on how to use this site better are much appreciated as well as I noticed some formatting issues when I copied/pasted my stuff from MS Word.

I started writing for leisure a short while ago as a way to get in touch with my creative side, and to also blow off some steam after work when the local mountain bike trails are too wet to ride. I love to read and have enjoyed writing so far, so any recommendations for my work and the work of others to read is very much appreciated. As far as reading and recommendations, I like anything that's based in reality and is witty and sarcastic. Among my favorite books are those written by J. Maarten Troost and Bill Bryson.

My portfolio can be found at http://Writing.Com/authors/mikerothrock.

I hope all of you out there have a wonderful and restful holiday. Thanks,

-M. Rothrock