Exercise

How difficult can it be to 'exercise' in front of the TV ? Surely a static exercise bike it is the answer.  Not having to go out in the cold, avoiding the trials of traffic and pot holes or the uneven surface and the jarring that pounding the streets brings if you want to jog.
And so I bought one of these exercise bikes after Christmas. Delivery comes as does most shopping these days packaged up in the back of a white van, delivered to the door. 

Not having seen the item but believing the blurb on the Internet and having completing the appropriate boxes for the financial transaction, a few days later the "thing" arrives. 

Usually, as with any purchase, there is the initial high. The packaging is torn open, and the "must have that" moment is briefly remembered, unfortunately the "need" having now subsided, the questions begin to surface. Where will I keep it and when will I use it.
If and when you get carried away, as I do ordering books, the fervour of 'placing the order' produces a blizzard of deliveries but as the parcels drop through the letter box you scratch your head and ask, "did I order this"?
If it's a book there's nothing more challenging than to open it and start on page one but when it arrives with a booklet telling you how many nuts and bolts are enclosed, 'fear for your sanity'.
I'm not one to read the instructions on anything ( I fact being instructed by anyone has been my Achilles heel ). Surely it should be self evident, simple common sense to proceed as you see it, it can't after all be all that complicated and we should have enough intelligence to do the job !!
Eventually, after a struggle you survey your handy work.  "Oh no", where does that bolt go, is it really necessary ?
Anyway it's up and running and I twiddle away quite happily for five or ten minutes but then the boredom sets in. 

I have a friend who has become obsessed with competing in the Triathlon. He buys all the latest gear from expensive carbon framed bikes to exercise programs which measure his progress and keep him within the limit of energy expenditure appropriate to his level of fitness. 

Such a contrast from the simplicity of our day.  A second hand steel framed bike, no gears (fixed wheel) a water bottle that never contained liquid, (we got our liquid at the pub either a pint or a mug of tea), no sense of the need to limit our Kilowatt output we simply pounded on until we fell off with fatigue. 

Of course it's far more scientific and sensible these days but is it as much fun ?