Pedaling a Bicycle to Nowhere
Maybe it was watching the pre-Olympic trials that inspired me, or was I running out of every excuse why I had no time to get back to our apartment’s fitness center? My two Pfizer vaccines at Benz in mid-February were completed. Covid restrictions were lifted. Doctors gave the green light to get me back on a stationary bicycle. What about it getting too close to dinner time when I thought about it? ‘Manana’ – there’s always tomorrow.
Excuses ended on July 4th. I dusted off the headphones, made sure my cell phone was charged, took the plastic swipe card to get into the gate area, and headed off to the fitness center.
I forgot how the floor-to-ceiling windows inside overlooked the pool area and lush landscaping. Name an exercise machine, mirrored walls, hand sanitizer stations – it’s all there. At 12noon, this fitness center became my private club. One other resident lifted weights on the far side. Other than trying to remember how to plug in my favorite Pandora playlist on my cell phone, getting back on the stationary bicycle while listening to Michael Bublé, Frank Sinatra or Nat King Cole felt good again. I’ve read that it takes three weeks for a good action to become a habit. Other than a totally unpredictable circumstance, I plan to return pedaling a bicycle going nowhere at least a few times every week- while singing “I did it my way” to myself along with Sinatra.
