I think you know that I am about to be an empty nester. My Daughter will not be living in her bedroom anymore- (yeah- breaks and all, but really- she will no longer be a full time resident at Chez LA)

A somewhat empty bedroom….

Hmmm….

I’ve been looking at her bedroom with an appraising eye- if I get rid of the desk which is mainly broken,and cabinet next to it, which contains school paraphernalia, I will have room for a piece of exercise equipment. A nice stationary bike. Or maybe an elliptical.

I explained this theory to a friend of mine, who happens to be a writer/editor. And his first response was “Are you sure you want to cut out your guaranteed outside connection to the world? You know, when you are inside writing all day…”  He was looking at it as being alone too much. Lots of me time without benefit of other voices. That maybe it wasn’t good to be by myself for that much time. If you’ve read me this week, you know I’ve been reveling in alone time. I had two weekends in a row where I had serious alone time. And I loved it. Unapologetically loved it.

Is my desire to be alone too much?

Is wanting to quit the gym and get a piece of equipment for my house too much alone time?

Here’s the thing. I don’t consider my gym time to be particularly social. I go to the gym, I work out, I come home. Period. True, I say Hi and briefly chat with the regulars who are there at the same time as me always, but honestly, I don’t hold any actual connection to these people: I don’t even know their names: I know them by what equipment they favor- bike guy, stairmaster woman, guy who grunts when he lifts weights, woman who preens to much as she stretches. This isn’t interaction. This is just seeing people who have the same schedule as me, like seeing the people who take mass transit the same time every day. My daughter recognizes her bus driver, but no one is calling that social.

So is getting a piece of home gym equipment a step towards turning into a recluse? Do I want to get a stationary bike so I can avoid social contact?

Well, in a word, No.

I am not thinking about exercising at home because I want to be alone.

I’m considering it because my gym fees are almost usurious. I shouldn’t have to pay a monthly fee because I want the ability to exercise indoors. This is really about cutting cost.

And of course, convenience and efficiency. It will be so nice to wake up, throw on sweats and walk across the apartment and just do a workout. No dodging raindrops, tramping through snow, getting annoyed if the guy opening the gym is late. I can make my own hours, I’m not tied to a schedule. I can throw in laundry, exercise, throw it in the dryer and exercise some more. It’s brilliant.

So sometimes there is no deep seeded reason to an issue. Sometimes it just is what it is.

 

 

50 thoughts on “Sometimes a Bike is Just a Bike”

  1. As someone who spends most of my time alone, writing, I’d say if you want to drop the gym and repurpose a room then go for it. You can always go outside and find some people to observe &/or interact with. It’s not like when you decide to be alone, you give up your right to talk with other people. It’s that you take control of when and how you’ll interact. That’s how I look at it.

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    1. You said that so well. That’s exactly how I thought about it. Getting home gym stuff isn’t about avoiding people, it’s about making things in my life more practical. And yes….as I’ve already thought about joining two new book clubs, I think I’m covered

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  2. I use to go to the gym but like you the fees were too high so I invested in a treadmill to use at home, although I think it may be gathering dust as I haven’t used it in a long time lol.

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  3. I have an exercise bike and rowing machine in our basement that I never use. Sometimes having a gym and making an appointment to exercise forces you to do it when you don’t want to. You are probably different, but this is how I roll. And the empty-nest thing: it’s not so easy, particularly in the beginning. There is a deafening silence when they leave. Sometimes, it’s nice to have a place to go just to escape it.

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  6. It seems like a lot of people are afraid of other people doing things on their own and having time to themselves. It always sounds like you are doing things with friends and family, so you are apparently a social person. How does wanting to exercise at home make you a recluse? I don’t understand people sometimes.

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  7. If you get a stationary bike, get a well padded seat, Mine cuts me in half 😖

    I have never thought of going to the gym as a social thing so saving the money sounds like a good idea to me. You can met other people in other ways

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  9. We had an exercise bike in our basement when the kids were small for 10 years. He bought it and used it once, until it caused certain discomforts. So he insisted on keeping it to ‘get back to it’ as the children grew and so did their mountain of lego and other plastic toys. It was used for:
    -hanging laundry
    -hanging towels
    -hanging hockey equipment
    -moved from x location to y location when it took up floor space for lego stuff and then to location z, a, b, c…etc. BY ME. (ask my how happy I was about that)
    -beating with random plastic toys for people who had rage attacks (who shall remain nameless) to relieve stress (lol)

    He sold it prior to renovations 4+ years ago. Finally. After I begged/forced him to do it for years.

    He has TWO bikes in the garage, one a modified one for his back issues (and twice as long as the other one) which he used exactly once since he bought it 6+ years ago.

    Ask me my opinion about exercise bikes… (LOL).

    Actually, I know you’ll use yours. I totally agree with its invasion to your daughter’s room. Frankly, with all the concerts/plays/exhibitions and other events you attend, I’m not worried about you spending an hour alone in your house exercising, steps away from your own bathroom and closet.

    I approve! 🙂

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    1. That’s how I feel. It will just make i5 more convenient! And back at m6 first job, when 8 worked 15 hour days I had a bike I used every day. I was able to exercise on my schedule.

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  10. You are right. Just having noticed outside people on your way to the gym and the bus driver your daughter notes is on the same level. A social relationship to relieve being alone and reconnecting takes a big effort.

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  11. I miss having my own treadmill. But I do find some benefit in going to the gym, since I don’t get out of the house much. So… I don’t know. But my gym is super cheap! You do you! And I am so looking forward to having that OPTION someday! Will my kids every move out??

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  12. I would probably go insane without my alone time.
    I set up my treadmill so I can write on my laptop at the same time. (I am doing it right (write 😳) now). 10k steps a day is pretty easy when I can multi-task this way. Everyone has to do what is right for them. So you should ignore me and everyone else. Frankly I am rather looking forward to the day when I can be a serious recluse!

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  13. What does your daughter say about it? Is she feeling that you are cutting her out? We/I moved a lot of my craft supplies into my daughter’s room when she went to college. We got a futon for her to sleep on when she came home for breaks but when she got a job and started staying up there the whole time, we moved the futon and I took over her whole room. After college she moved back home and I had to find another place for my crafts – hence my new studio in the backyard. I do think she was a little bothered by me taking over her room though. As far as exercise equipment, we had a bike that we kept in the living room so we could ride and watch TV. Collected dust.

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  14. I would look at this from a social perspective, at the Gym you’ll be exercising with others, swap to your daughters bedroom and you may lose motivation ALSO just imagine all that hot sweaty Male eye candy you’ll miss out on (Being serious I guess you would save precious time at home)

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      1. Yes! And very similar to our earlier flirting conversation, girls enjoy the fun and wordplay we guys have visions of getting into to bed together. Alas it’s in our ‘jeans’ 😀

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  16. You have to be comfortable with yourself in order to be comfortable with others. Just think of the time saved, you could go to museums, brink your writing to a coffee shop, I like to go to lunch by myself at times to observe people and jot up notes. You do you.

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    1. She’ll still have a bed. Just taking out the desk and supply shelf. And she won’t be home much. Thanksgiving. Winter break. My bet is she’ll be interning over the summers

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  23. This post reminds me of a VERY long time ago, when I went off to college more than half a century ago (seems like yesterday!). When I came home at the end of first year (at least not at Christmas time) my Mom has changed my room around; changed the bed, sort of redecorated. What I saw as my room, with my beloved stuff exactly where I had decided to put things, my Mom saw it as room in her house to be reconsidered. I actually never lived at home again after the summer following my first year, and having “my” room slightly changed certainly didn’t impact my life, I can still remember all these years later how hurt I felt that my Mom has changed “my” room. Of course, nearly two generations later I can see how my mother would have just been excited about changing things up a bit! It turns out that our kids are just “borrowing” our space while they’re with us. As kids, we don’t realize that. 😏

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