Learn a little more about Jen...

JENNIFER: Yesterday I learned that my husband owns eight guitars, not just the three that are leaning against the wall in his study. Most recently he went over to a friend’s house to play music with some guys and everyone had nicer guitars than his, and the next morning he came home from Guitar Center with a new Martin acoustic in his passenger seat.

To his credit, Matt wakes up early to play his guitar while I snooze, and often I’ll come home from work and find him playing guitar again. He writes his own music and played in a local band for the past two years. He recognizes the importance of supporting a hobby, and he was more than willing to make me a deal:

As soon as I ride my current bike three times a week for 12 weeks, I can buy the new road bike I’ve been eyeing since December, a couple of months after I rode in my first-ever cycling event.

Last summer my birthday was coming up and I wanted to do something special to celebrate turning 30, so set myself a goal to train for and ride in the LIVESTRONG Challenge 40-mile ride. I hadn’t ridden a bike since I was 12, but I trained up and down Shoal Creek on my light blue hybrid for a month, and when I mustered up the nerve, I started riding in circles around the three-mile veloway and then the eight-mile loop on the nearby highway.

Lauren and I began riding together when she decided to do the Challenge, too, and I was comforted to have a beginner cycling partner who rode as slowly as me and would push me as I pushed her when we felt unsure of ourselves.

Once I had my first cycling event behind me, I was hooked. Cycling was going to be my new hobby. But I didn’t want to stick with 40-mile rides, and my hybrid can only take me so far. So I decided I needed a new goal – and a new bike.

That brings me to today. My new personal goal is to train for and ride the 70-mile course this October at the LIVESTRONG Challenge. I’m working on my fundraising goal, too. Last year I raised more than $4,000, and I just don’t know if I can raise that much money again.

But first things first: I have to get out there on my bike and prove to myself that my 40-mile ride last year was not just a one-time event, that I have the dedication and the discipline to ride enough to make it 70 miles in October and earn myself a new bike in the process.

Will I do it? Stay tuned to see.