Distraction

I am having to ride the stationary bike as part of my recovery. I have three options for riding. My favorites are, in order:

1. The University athletic center with the view of Lake Washington.
2. The YMCA. Today's view included watching someone across the street clean their bong on their front porch. (Welcome to a state with legalized marijuana!)
3. In my dining room staring at the neutral colored wall.

Given how much I need to ride, how pleasant I find the experience of riding makes such as difference in how much I do it. The bike in my dining room doesn't have a device to measure RPMs or estimate distance.

Unlike riding on a stationary bike, riding on the road is rarely dull. Even riding through the corn fields of northern Illinois, which I have done numerous times, the scenery always changes. There is the challenge of looking at the road to avoid bumps, holes, grates or broken glass, as well as looking out for traffic. There are none of these distractions on a stationary bike.

To make the stationary bike palatable, there needs to be an easy distraction. At the IMA, there is a view. At the YMCA, I can read a book. My dad watches movies on his bike in the basement. Without some kind of a distraction, stationary bike is deathly boring.

The upside of riding the stationary bike is that I can ride it any kind of weather -- rain, snow, sleet or hail--without needing any kind of special gear or clothing. Perhaps today I am grumpy on the stationary bike as it was sunny and eighty degrees in the middle of the afternoon. When I went to the YMCA's cardio room around three, there was one other person there. Never have I seen so few people there. In the morning at the IMA, there were people on the weight machines and people riding the ellipticals. A few people were running laps.

Why are you running inside on this beautiful day? I wanted to yell. Do you have a disease where you are allergic to sunshine and warm weather? 

I should be more patient and empathetic with these indoor exercise folks, especially since I am one of them. Maybe they don't own a bike, which would be even worse.

I was at my favorite neighborhood pho place, Bol,* for lunch, and the waitress asked if I had plans to be outside today. Grrrr, I thought. I might look normal--which is good--but I can't walk that far or bike outside. I am debating whether or not I can make it a half a block to the Whole Foods from here after lunch. 

Of course, I was being a jerk inside of my head. This was a perfectly normal and friendly thing to ask, and I should tone down my inner hostility. The more I thought about it, I probably would stay close to inside today even if I could walk or bike. I went out for pho--rice noodle soup--to tame my other affliction: seasonal allergies. Maybe that is why there are so many indoor exercisers today. They  might not be avoiding sunshine but pollen, as the Seattle Times discussed today.


* This place is super cute and reasonably priced.