No, I’m not dead. Sadly, I’m still not zipping around the woods yet, either – the left knee is still decidedly wonky, and needs some strengthening. Unfortunately, cold weather doesn’t do my joints any good, so there is only one solution…and it’s now sitting in our living room.
Yes, thanks to the Toast in-laws, we are now the proud owners of a very nice exercise bike. Unlike the previous pile of crap I bought from Argos, this one is magnetic, the pedals actually turn (smoothly, and with decent floor clearance, if you can believe it!), and it doesn’t feel like it’s going to fall over if you go hellbent for leather on it. So, I’m hoping that I can use it to build up the muscles in my legs, strengthen my knees, and generally improve my fitness, so I can throw myself into proper biking when the sun eventually emerges.
I’m still looking to get a full-susser this year. Apparently full-sussers are less jarring on the joints, so I need one for medicinal purposes. It’s not so I can have an easier time of it and compensate for shoddy technique with extra travel. No sir.
Got a few demo days coming up and marked on the calender for this year. I’m not sure what to try. My hobbit-like stature continues to infuriate me – I’m too small for the majority of ‘small’ bloke’s bikes, which severly limits the brands available to me, or to women-specific bikes. And although I’ll confess, I tend to prefer the look of lady bikes, I resent having to pay more for a smaller frame and a prettier paint job – there’s just less choice, and less competition.