My New Pony!

Today was a crazy busy day for us. Mike and I got up and headed down to the orchard to finish the fencing. Basically, Mike built Shadow a pen about a year ago and today he finished the pen for me. :) This one is 6 feet tall and hopefully keeps the deer away from my apple, apricot, orange trees and my artichoke. He made it big enough that I could expand the orchard, which I just might do! We spent some time uncaging the trees in there (they each had fencing wrapped around them, but it made it hard to do any pruning).

After that we showered and headed down to Mike's Bikes in Sacramento to look at a road bike for me. This store was absolutely fantastic! The customer service was excellent and they had really great prices. I came home with a Specialized Dolce Elite Apex Compact. It's a size 44 - apparently the smallest women's bike that Specialized makes!

My New Pony On The Trainer

The pictures don't do it justice - this is a beautiful machine! I bought the clip in pedals and all of the goodies that go with it (including the nifty biking shoes!) and my personal mechanic helped get the whole thing set up:

The Blankenheim Household Bike Mechanic

The other big purchase I made today was a new little cycling outfit. They make all sorts of nifty pants and while I balked at the idea of paying $100 for spandex shorts, Mike assured me that I would be super satisfied with my well padded posterior. He said that while I was at it, I should get a jersey, so I chose one that not only makes me very visible, but also reminds me of the beach! I think Shadow likes it...

My New Bike Outfit

Finally, once I was all dressed up, it was time to get on the trainer and test it out!

First Ride On The Trainer

For those of you who don't know, "clipping in" basically makes your feet stuck to the bike pedals, which then allows you to pedal more efficiently. The one downfall is that it takes getting used to when it comes to clipping and unclipping. Every experienced rider tells me that you will fall over with your bike at least twice because you can't get your feet off your pedals and that this almost always happens at a busy intersection where lots of people can see. I can't wait... I also took it for a little spin out on the driveway - and managed to clip and unclip on the hill. Tomorrow morning we're going to take it out for a real ride - I can't wait!

Our other big adventure for today was taking a trip over to Shane Co. to look for wedding bands. I have to say, I've been nothing but impressed with their service. The sales people are not paid on commission and there is absolutely zero pressure to buy. The guy that helped us today was funny and very patient. I'm so happy with the bands we both picked out, but you'll have to wait for the wedding to see them!