"Let's buy the farm"

Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Here’s the business plan in a nutshell.  There’s this farm for sale on Mulberry Road just south of County Line Road with 65 acres, a sweet barn, small lake, pavilion big enough for 10 picnic tables, wonderful wrap-around porch on a beautiful, old farm house and plenty of open range for animals and gardens.  So I’m thinking I’ll use the barn, which is probably 30 feet high, to create my workout facility.  It’ll have all the things in the barn you’d expect to find for a Survival Workout...a calf to lift, a rope climb, wood chopping, bailing hay, rock holds up the side of the barn for climbing, a pull-up bar, logs and rocks to lift, wagons to pull...that kind of stuff.  There’d be running/hiking/mountain biking trails on the grounds with more Survival Workout stations.  Oh...and there’s a small lake where we’d swim and kayak, too.  Naturally, we’d be able to take great bike rides on some of my favorite routes by simply hanging a left out the driveway.  I’d run weekend retreats for individuals and families trying to change and improve their lifestyles to be more fit and well.  Cooking classes with a nutritionist, food from our gardens, and how to eat healthier would be part of the program.  Assessing fitness levels and creating programs to take home would be part of it, as well.  Kind of a ‘bed and breakfast’ fitness retreat.  Some folks would just come to work out...like a gym membership...but it would be a barn membership instead.  I also envision a ‘Leave No Trace’ camping program...teach folks the outdoor skills to become good backcountry stewards and then condition and plan for trips to the Adirondacks or other wilderness destinations.
Anyway...with the right lottery ticket, I’m buying it.  I’ve ridden by it with Kim and Marie and told them the plan and we’ve all agreed it’s a good one...including the financing.  I can dream if I want to.


Speaking of riding, I took Kim out for our first ride together in a couple of years.  I remember our last ride distinctly.  She hammered from the moment we started and never let up.  It was all I could do to stay with her then, though I was 20 pounds heavier at the time and I hadn’t been riding 250 miles a week.  I didn’t have ‘The Rocket’ under me, either.  Still...she’s an amazing cardiovascular machine and 30+ years my junior.  She claimed she wasn’t in cycling shape, but a year ago she’d ridden about 3,000 miles across the country.  I was leery, to say the least.  I decided we’d do my favorite course through Waite Hill, hoping the lack of any huge climbs would keep her from obliterating me, but after 30 minutes of riding and a couple of modest climbs, it became evident that my current cycling conditioning was ahead of hers...thank God.


“You’re in good shape and my legs are killing me,” she said as we climbed towards Hobart Road in Waite Hill.


“Well...you rode yesterday and you haven’t been riding.  I, on the other hand, have been riding too much...according to my surgeon.  I don’t think I’ve been in this good of riding shape since my triathlon days twenty years ago,” I said.


We rolled past ‘the farm’ as I told her my plan and then screamed down Wilson Mills at close to 60 mph.  We entered the park to climb our final hill and as we neared the top, I mentioned that this was the second time today I’d done this hill.


“Seriously?  You rode this already?” she said, incredulously.


“Rode 20 miles before I picked you up,” I said.  It nice at my age to be able to impress a true stud.

Bike Duration: 3 hours.
Training Heart Rate: 120 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 2550.