2012 is here. Let's exercise

I know it is cliche, but thought I might as well start the year with a post. It is amazing the things you learn poking around. I was concerned that I wasn't getting the exercise I needed to keep up my knee rehab being away from home. Just before Christmas I stumbled onto a 5-speed light cruiser type bike at the "permanent" Flea Market on main street in Gas City, Indiana...Boy do they have stuff there. If I didn't already have way to many caps in my closets, I would have picked up some real unusual ones.Electric guitars and amps galore... Just lots of "stuff".... But I found this nice bike. The only problem I saw was that the shifter cable was frozen (rusted solid). So I walked it down the street about a block to the local "Do it Best" (Owens) hardware that I frequent when doing small projects here, thinking I would pick up a cable an replace it in Nan's garage with Moe wagging his joy with my presence in his lair. As I walked the bike into the store and told the guy... I'm so embarrassed that I don't know his name as often as I have been in there..... walked me to the back of the store where they actually have a bicycle repair shop. Since the weather wasn't all that nice at that time, I decided to have them replace the cable. You see, although our boys can disassemble and reassemble a bicycle in probably 15 minutes flat, I never got past the old big tired cruisers with coaster brakes. In late summer while I was trying to elevate my bike riding beyond our housing addition, I picked up a 10-speed for $15 via "Dealing with Jim Lewis" on our local Saturday morning radio. Everything seemed fine except the guy had turned those curved handlebars around. I couldn't ride it like that, so set out to turn them around. All the time I was beating on the handlebars to get one of the brake levers off to remove the bars, I knew..... I knew.... there was some simple way to loosen the lever and I knew.... I knew... where it was supposed to be. However I didn't have the patience or sense to compress the lever to expose the screw to loosen it.... So I finally got it off by breaking the band that held it in place.... So had to go to the hardware to get a new lever, which of course, ruined the integrity of the bike. I got it going with the bars correctly placed, but just never felt safe riding it, so kept looking for something more suitable to me. Now I'd found it, but was hesitant to dig into the repair process again, given my recent experience. When we came back, the weather wasn't really conducive to outdoor riding and Nan mentioned that there was a local exercise facility. That's the real subject to this post.
Nan told me where the facility was located, which was in a part of town I had never frequented in all the years I had come to Gas City. On the outside is an "Ironworks" sign. Inside, I found an open floor, most likely for the zumba, etc. with a rather messy counter on the right and a room packed with exercise and body building equipment on the left. There I found the owner Dave Turner. Meeting Dave is an experience in itself. Here is a guy who seems to enjoy life as he finds it and loves to tell his stories. In that little meeting, I found that the exercise facility was only a sideline (hobby) that came to him because he wanted to buy the building for his real business; Ebenezer's Personalized Embroidery. Part of the contract was that he had to keep the exercise business there for some set amount of time. That was about 30 years ago and the "gym" is the longest continually operating exercise facility in the country... And I didn't even know it was there. Dave mentioned that there had been a couple of national lifting and bodybuilding champions who trained there. So what is the embroidery business? Although I couldn't find a website, (Dave said he doesn't advertise either of his businesses) Manta had this: Ebenezer's Personalized Embroidery is a Health Club facility and is located at 109 E South D St in Gas City, IN. (765) 674-3360. After talking with Dave, I understand this strange description. His Embroidery business is primarily making and repairing company and school jackets, etc. I think his best advertisement is word of mouth..
Back to my purpose. I went to the equipment section to be sure they had what I needed. I found several stationary bicycles which were my primary target. There are also several elliptical stairstepper trainers. I remember this as that dratted machine Noelle introduced me to in my initial rehab back home. That sucker will give you a workout. Finding they had what I needed, I signed up for 10 sessions. I have since used 2 of them. While I was there both times, I was a little out of place in my jeans, Keens, and T-shirt with those buff young musclemen walking around in their gym shorts, athletic shoes and torn off sleeve muscle shirts. They were also huffing and puffing more than I as they hoisted those bars with large steel wheels on the ends. If I get to the treadmill at some point, I will also be walking while they jog and run as they cycle between lifting, pressing and jogging. I did get a reprieve last time, however because a couple of ladies came in to use the Stairstepper. The "guy" showed me how to program the bike for various courses. The first day, I did the level course and the second, I did the "rolling hills" course... Now that was interesting. I set the elliptical for a bit too long and that nearly wore me out. We how have a few days of nice weather, so I will probably be using the "real" bike, saving my "club" visits for more severe weather days. In riding the bike I discovered some other parts of town that I hadn't seen before. I think I have now seen the far northeast to the far southwest corners of the town. I think I have seen the 4 corners of Gas City now.