Well, I did it. I bought an Elliptigo 8C. I figured that if I was going to get one, this weekend, before the knee surgery, was the time to do it. That way I would have it all ready to help with rehab when the time comes. Rather than order one online, I drove to the nearest bike shop distributor – Performance Bikes, in Woodland Hills. I took one for a test drive up and down the alley way behind the shop and it was quite fun! Of course, I had already pretty much decided on getting one, so I brought one home with me. It is red- like my road bike.
I was expecting it to be a cross between an elliptical trainer and a bike….. I am going to call it a cross between an elliptical trainer, a bike, and a scooter. The wheels are 20 inches so the handling is not quite road bike like. Once I got it home I took it for a ride. I thought I would go to Hillview and back as a comparision with my morning road bike commute. However, right now we have 28 mph winds with gusts into the 40s. I got up Date Palm okay, and even the westward route on Elizebeth Lake road to 25th. I was heading up P8 – Bulldog Lane, when it got really gusty. I was able to downshift and easily progress forward but I could feel the effort and I figured that I would just loop back home. So I rode behind Highland and back home.
At home, my body is feeling like it did something different. Nothing is particular sore, but my biceps might be tomorrow. I posted the GO ride on strava, curious about the one and only segment – 15th West uphill to Date Palm. My time of 1:27 was well off of my 1:01 record, but it is in the middle of the pack of other efforts.
My main plan for the elliptigo is to commute with it. A couple of years ago, when I was running my best, I would commute 1 or 2 days a week. Sometimes my weekly long run would be the run home on a Thursday. I tried to do a commute run a few weeks ago and it did not go well. Of course, once my knee is fixed I could resume these commuter runs but I am thinking I should minimize road miles. I will be able to get lots of leg strength work and cardio work on the elliptigo supplementing my key track, trail and occasional road workouts…..
