The stationary bike

Exercise is wonderful. Yes we all know it, we all are supposed to do it, but a surprising number of people (upwards of 33 percent in the US) just don't. While i could go into how these people will die early, are unhappy, have low self esteem, this blog is not for that. It is for the people who do work out and have ever used a stationary bike of the electric variety (no fan or moving handles). I myself just completed my last season as a competitive swimmer and would be considered elite among the world in physical capabilities. However, as i sat down to test out this particular staitionary bike, i quickly discovered that these electronic bikes are clearly not meant for people like me.

it was simple enough to get started, move the seat to a comfortable location, start peddling, and follow on screen directions for selecting one of the various automatic workouts or pick a manual one. since i didnt know what to expect, i elected the automatic workout titled sport training. next i entered a time, and finally a level. i started out in the middle of the level ranges, but quickly ramped up to the max which i assumed would be difficult for me. Not exactly.

The correct description of what happened would paint a picture like this. As i increased the level of difficulty, the resistance increased as well, however as i began to maximize the setting, the machine started to 'slip'. that is if i was on a real bike it would be the equivalent of peeling out. once i was all the way maxed out, every time i pressed into the peddle with the force necessary to turn the pedals at 60 revolutions a minute, the machine slipped. if i lowered the difficulty, the machine stopped slipping, however i was not able to get my heart rate up to the recommended cardio training level.

My only question is, why did they put a level on the machine which would cause it to fail (and eventually break completely as i continued to try to max it out). Did the makers not expect someone like me to come along and actually be able to do it? While i mentioned that nearly a third of the people in the United states could never do such a task, there are still 200 million people that could potentially reach the same place i did. at least i had hoped so, but as i looked around at those other people on bikes, i realized how much of a minority i was representing.

All the other users were at level 5 (of 20, where i wanted to be) or lower. most of them were actually above the recommended heartrate for their age group, and all of them appeared to be content. Perhaps i will just bring my complaints to the manufacturer and request an advanced machine. Or maybe from now on i will just get on a real bike and find some nasty hills.