Simple Hobby Homesteading

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So I innocently opened my dresser drawer while getting ready for church this morning and I saw them… spandex. It hit me like a ton of bricks that in five short months I would be spending eight straight days in spandex. At the same moment I realized that five months is also the gestation period for a Nigerian Dwarf Goat and Sebastian would certainly need to be separated from mama Ariel as he was unmistakably coming into his own in the buck department. Get ready for a new guy in Buckville boys! We don’t want any babies born on the farm while we are cycling down the California coast.

I think Kevin and I are officially calling this ride our honeymoon. We never had one after we were married 16 years ago and I think I even went to work the next day (quite possibly that same day… I can’t quite remember).

So I thought the night I went pig wrastlin’ (Read about that little escapade here…) I had started my training because I ran and ran and ran some more after that little pig racing champion (seriously, I think she won gold in the Olympics) but alas my drive thru McDonalds trip on the way home probably was a sign I wasn’t quite serious about training.

Add that to the fact that I’ve had my bike almost two weeks now and haven’t been on it yet may tell you that I’m procrastinating with this whole “stop eating Warm Delights cakes, start the cycling exercise program, and quit fooling myself that hobby farm chores keep me in “good enough” shape.”

Warm Delights… yum! Wait I mean BAD, so very BAD!

Incentive… I need incentive. I need some instant gratification (bad on me, I know. Save the lecture for when we are enjoying a nice piece of chocolate cake together as I will surely be more receptive to what you have to say at that point). The ride itself… the 550 mile ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles to be specific, serves as motivation but five months is SO FAR away.

Raising money for the Arthritis Foundation is motivation but I hate asking people for money (hence my soap making and selling… I love making soap!) Wanna give me incentive and more motivation? Donate here for the Arthritis Foundation and make my California Coast Classic ride a reality. If I do all this training for nothing you all are in trouble… just kidding… or am I?

Back to the spandex. I saw it in my drawer… I didn’t put it on… yet. I will need to, and soon, but not today. I may scare the horses.

So I did find some incentive to this whole bike ride (the kids keep caling it a race and I keep correcting them that it is most assuredly a “ride.” They reply, “Dad is so gonna beat you in the bike race.” Ugh!) with the recent purchase of new bikes for the boys.

Our youngest son is nine and has never wanted to learn how to ride a bike. We got him one years ago and he put his foot down, no bike riding for him. However, with all the talk in the house about our big bike RIDE (not race) both boys are excited to jump on some bikes and do some family riding.

On the way home from getting the bikes our youngest son kept going on and on about how he was going to learn as soon as we got home. We had about 45 minutes of daylight when we pulled into the drive and he used every second of it to practice. Kevin and I took turns holding on to the back of the seat and running along, helping him to steer when he got nervous and refused to look up or straight ahead. He’s learning. He doesn’t have it down yet, but he’s learning. My heart was and is soaring. This was one of those “I can’t wait for it” moments… watching my husband teach his son to ride a bike.

Kevin teaching our youngest son to ride!

So, I’m calling it… training starts today. Eating right, training, spandex wearing… all today! Well, the spandex may wait for tomorrow but the rest starts TODAY!

So my question is… do you all want to hear how it goes? Daily installments, weekly, only highlights/lowlights? Let me know 🙂 I think I’m actually excited about all of this, love it!

Goat pic… because I can

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