I outlined in my first post a brief overview of my efforts to rehabilitate my body following a fall in late 2018, in that hopes that I could once again complete every day activities like climbing stairs in the hopes that I can spend the next 30 years in good health.

I hit a low last spring while working from home during Covid 19 when I found myself with free time, but unable to even cut the grass. I looked at getting another surgery, but after talking to my wife, I made the decision to purchase an expensive exercise bike in the hopes that I could fix my broken knee myself. 

I didn't know where to start. Following many hours spent on the internet trying to narrow down the best bike that would fit into my budget, I looked at many options. At the higher end, the Peloton bike stands out as the hottest new trend going for in-home exercising, but the cost of the bike and monthly plan was prohibitive to me. At the low end, I made many trips to local Goodwill stores in the hope that I could get a nice bike at a low cost. Unfortunately, all the available bikes looked like they were from the 1980s. I finally settled on an Xterra SB2.5 R recumbent exercise bike as it offered the highest build quality available to my budget. 

Recumbent bikes have "old people" written all over them, but considering that I climb stairs like an 80 year old man, I wasn't going for the cool factor. For me, the selling points were a wide, flat seat and less knee stress. The bike itself is low tech as it doesn't come with higher end features, but for me, it worked.

The next question was where to put it. We have a small house (especially considering that there are 6 of us here), so needless to say, space was limited. I decided to set up a small area in my living room between a chair and a window. This 3' by 5' area may be small, but it works.  

Next on my list was to figure out how to keep my head occupied while pedaling hours on end over the next three months. Instead of loud music that seems to be the go to choice of most people, I decided to use this time to learn new things. I borrow my daughters Kindle for each ride to watch TED Talks and instructional YouTube videos. Sounds boring, but it helps to keep me distracted. 

In my next blogs, I'll cover my exercise plan and the problems that I've faced staying motivated.