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Showing posts with the label biking

The gynecologist’s; Milkman; Silver Blaze

I went with Karin to her gynecological exam. A lot of men were there with their WAGs. They looked as if they absolutely did not want to be there. I’m sure I looked the same. On the whole, though, the experience wasn’t too bad (from a spectator’s perspective). The doctor was very nice. “Girl power” music – Katy Perry, etc. – was piped into every room.

Also feminine is the newest Man Booker Prize-winning novel, Milkman by Anna Burns. It offers a taxonomy of men. Being categorized unnerves me as a masculine reader. The book is set in a nationally and religiously divided city in Northern Ireland, where the constant fighting allows men to behave in manly ways and turns the women into collateral damage. But I’m sure the narrator, “middle sister,” will overcome her powerlessness and invisibilty (or, rather, her undesired visibility). She’s a voracious reader, for one thing, which means she’s smarter than the other characters, especially the men (or is she?). And she’s quite a runner, which means she’s physically tough.

Inspired by “middle sister,” I rode Silver Blaze, the bike, yesterday, which was not so painful as when I’d try to run after months of inactivity. I endured moments after the bike ride when I was unable to stand, but I suffered no blistering, no aching of joints. Alas, I didn’t burn nearly as many calories as when I used to run, but one must begin somewhere.

Silver Blaze

We got a new stationary bike. When we aren’t pedaling on it, we store it between an armchair and a sofa.


A coupon lowered the cost from $89 to $77. Ordinarily, I’d mistrust such a cheap piece of equipment, but the reviews won me over.

We named it “Silver Blaze” after the horse in the Sherlock Holmes tale. Other names I considered:
  • “Orcrist the Goblin-cleaver”
  • “Glamdring the Foehammer”
The bike is supposed to weigh only 40 lbs. If you need to, you can pick it up and wield it like a sword.

The kitties were very keen. They wanted to play with all the different parts of the bike. After I assembled it, though, they lost interest.

I pedaled for five minutes, mostly on the toughest setting, and now I’m very sore. Karin pedaled rather comically for ten minutes. The bike’s pedaling mechanism seems quite good. The screen, which is powered by two triple-A batteries, gives the basic facts: distance, time, pulse, and kcals burned (I suppose this last measure is fallible).