Returned home from a six-week tour of Germany late on Monday the 12th. On Wednesday, Joe Robinson stopped by the house (and isn't that some kind of service?) with the new battery and my old console.
Just to recap, I pretty much ruined my BionX battery pack, but they accepted it as a warranty fix. Also I'd turned in the little console computer because a light touch on the throttle lever, or just road vibration, would make its screen blank out.
Joe said that BionX had sent back the same console, saying they didn't find anything wrong with it. Well, that was a communication failure on one of our parts, but it doesn't matter because as Joe was installing it on the handlebar... it blanked out on him.
I couldn't have been more pleased. He got a good demo of how just a gentle wiggle of the throttle lever would make the screen go blank. So he took it back to the shop with him.
Friday he stopped by again with a new console. He'd been able to duplicate the problem on another bike, so it definitely wasn't the wiring on my bike (I never thought it was; I was and am sure it's either a cracked circuit board or a bad solder joint) and now the bike was complete again.
Saturday morning I spent some time cleaning and remounting the fairing, which had been gathering dust in the garage all these weeks, then went for a 12-mile, flat ride.
Exactly as I expected and has happened after prior vacations, I've got no lungs and precious little leg. But also, the BionX motor does just what I hoped it'd do: assist level 2 makes it possible to ride at what feels like good speed, even if I'm out of shape. So I will be riding.
I have a plan for a new exercise regime, one to please my cardiologist: MWF do the 40-minute ride to the gym for a short workout; and tuesday and thursday mornings do a 5K jog. That will get me the 5x40-minutes of aerobics per week she wants me to have. (And when I see her and can report doing this program, I will be able to needle her for being a couch spud herself, which she looks like.)
I like the jogging because I can listen to podcasts on the ipod, usually the Skeptic's Guide or the Geologic podcast. One drawback with real cycling (as opposed to jogging or sitting on a stationary bike at the gym) is that it really isn't safe to have the ipod in my ears while doing it.
In aid of this plan I went to the Nike store and bought myself a pair of the almost-barefoot running shoes: a segmented rubber sole with light canvas uppers, they weigh almost nothing and feel good. On Monday and again today (Wednesday the 20th) I stuffed them into a pannier and rode the bike to the gym, as planned. They fit the pannier a lot better than the old running shoes, which by comparison look a lot like feet for the Sta-Puft marshmallow man.
Tuesday I did the jogging as planned. So the quest to recover fitness begins anew.
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