Schwinn for the Win!

 Hot on the heels of a latte/espresso machine, came the realization that my hips were never going to make it through the winter without a new wardrobe unless I found a ying to my yang.

We have a treadmill and I like it. But I'm also easily bored and way more motivated to work out if Mark is with me and we have committed together. Side by side. And that, is my best excuse for what is surely more of an exercise in spending disposable income, than an critical need. 

This Schwinn bike was highly rated and seemed similar to a beast that I have tortured my butt on, at the gym. Note: The gym is still open, but with America setting records 4x/week  for "most dead of COVID in a single day" I think my motivation to get in shape is becoming dwarfed by my motivation to stay infection free.

It arrived in the dark wee hours this morning. Transported off the back of a Penske delivery truck by two heavy-lifting chaps. I was, in that single moment, pleased that I had paid a bit extra for them to take it all the way upstairs instead of dropping it in the snow at the front door. 

Yep, it's snowing today. A perfect day to stay inside and engineer a box of heavy bits into a stationary bike. How heavy? Well, the flywheel is 40 lb alone and the frame seems to be made of lead!

The kids were immediately curious.

While themselves, not big on choreographed exercise, Wrigley and Rusty do enjoy watching me do anything that takes energy and requires movement. Machines that make noise are a bit of a bonus it seems. And well... if they come in a box, that is the jackpot!

Hey, want to see the assembly instructions? The whole assembly instructions?!

Uh-huh. One page. No steps. Just a bunch of pieces that apparently fly into the frame and ta-da!  :-(

Were the pieces at least labeled, you ask?  No. No they were not. Not even the washers and screws!

First step... coffee.... 

Hello my lovely!

Then I was good to go for a snow day project:

Zip-ties are the bomb, aren't they? Kitties thought it was Christmas come early!

And there you have it. A nicely defined picture of good intentions. 

I've pointed it at the TV and have Friday afternoon ambitions that involve an episode of Private Practice while pedaling.  Or maybe just meandering the country lane of my imagination, smelling the flowers that don't exist at this time of year and breathing in the warm fresh air - that also doesn't exist!

Ah 2020, bring me your worst. I'm resourceful and resilient. When you run out of steam, I will still be standing. Stronger!