Spin with me

A tribute to durability. We bought this spin bike from New Zealand way back before Zion was born – so its more than 22 years old. Darren got it so he could do low impact cardio back when he was training for marathons, but he never quite got in to being a person that is satisfied with being on a (boring) stationary bike for hours. So the spin bike became mine. Because hermits love staying inside 😉 When we moved to live in NZ for 3 years we took the bike with us AND brought it back again. It’s gone through seasons – when I spin religiously every morning, and then those times of DEEP DEEP hibernation when it’s only purpose is to be a holder of clothes 😆
Me and this spin bike we go waaaay back. We got #memories.

Like how do I know we first got the bike before Zion was born? Because I have vivid memories of spinning on it when I was pregnant with her. And no I wasn’t bike riding because I was a super dedicated athlete (ha). Nope. It’s because I was so so sick with hypermesis gravidarum plus first trimester bleeding plus depression and I couldn’t go to work or anything else. The doctor would admit me to hospital for the vomiting, for a night and a useful IV, then send me home with a useless pat on the back and some words about “this will soon pass…you’ll feel better soon!” For the bleeding? ‘can’t do anything. If you lose the baby, then that’s whats meant to happen. Just have to wait and see.’ Gee thanks. I spent my days in bed, alternately vomiting / bleeding / crying and then being too tired to do anything else.

I couldn’t take any anti-depressants but Google said exercise would help? I remember the few bright spots in that dark time would be when I tried to ride the bike and blast a Nelly Furtado song – and pretend for 10 minutes at least that I wasn’t drowning and possibly losing my baby at the same time. Then I would have to stop riding so I could throw up. Again. And again. While my sturdy reliable ever-constant spin bike waited patiently in the corner for the next time I tried to spin up some dopamine. Now that #baby is an adult and she rides this spin bike when she’s home and doing a warmup for her gym workout.

It’s a much older bike now. Darren has replaced the tape on the handlebars, and every so often it gets squeaky and needs some WD40 stuff. But otherwise, it’s perfect. Still sturdy, still going strong. I’m in one of my #spinInTheMorning seasons of life again so I’ve rolled it out of the corner where it’s been waiting for me. Hello bike my old friend…