How much sporting equipment does one need...?

 Well, as a retired consultant I would say "That depends" and it wouldn't be wrong.

Currently, to feed my cycling addiction (because that's what it's become), I have two bicycles: 1x mountain bike (MTB, for trails and gravel roads) and 1x road bike (for tar roads and serious speed).

But then what do I go and do but crack a few ribs and disable myself from riding for up to eight weeks. No, sorry, can't do that... I need my bike fix regularly, like daily. I need a bike trainer that I can keep in the house, in front of my Man Cave desk monitors where I can either play and listen to loud music while "riding" or I can have YouTube videos or movies playing for the duration.

I had a look at some of the decent trainers which are "smart trainers" and hook up to your home network and one of many online training site apps, and which control the trainer so that you feel resistance on your pedals when you are going "uphill" and you can "ride" in virtual groups or solo...all routes and pretty scenery (real life videos of the place you are "riding") visible on a computer monitor or Smart TV.

But.....they come at a cost. Quite a hefty one at that. Try a starting cost of close to ZAR10,000......many are much more expensive than that.

Nope. My pension, as decent as it is, doesn't allow for that kind of extravagance. I need another plan...

Enter the relatively cheap options in the Trojan brand of exercise equipment. Enter the even cheaper options of hundreds of people selling theirs on FB Marketplace, for whatever reasons (too many to mention, and too many to mention because I might insult some fat bastard that's just too lazy to use it).

I've been watching FBM for some time now, waiting for the right option for me. I found one today. It's an elliptical trainer that also has a seat, so I can either stand up and hold onto the long bars and get an arm workout at the same time, or I can unbolt those bars and use it as a type of exercise bicycle. It even has a computer of sorts where I can set my goal for the session (time, speed or distance). It also has a knob I can turn to adjust the tension on the flywheel making it a harder ride, thereby working muscles more vigorously.

And why did I go for that unit? Well, it came down to economics. I saw the unit advertised and thought "Hmmm, R1,500...not bad" and sent the seller a message saying I'm interested. Then I scrolled down, literally five lines, and saw the same unit (same photos in both ads), but this one is priced at R1,200... Huh?? So I sent this different seller a message too.

Within ten minutes Seller 1 pings me back and the unit is still available. I say great... I'd like to view it. It's in Mossel Bay, an hour's drive from home, but it looks in good nick and the price is good. I ask about the price and get told it is R1,200. Excellent.

I swap phone numbers with the seller, though it turns out that its actually her daughter who is selling the bike. Fine, no problem.

Then she tells me that the price is R1,000......... Huh? Okaaaayyyyy.....

I bundle the Nephewmonster into the bakkie to go for a drive (he likes the new sound system as much as I do) and off we go. An hour later, I pull up at the given address and a young, slightly overweight lady comes out to meet us. She had a baby a year ago and hasn't lost the weight gained before birth. (Well, hello, you are selling the exact piece of machinery you need to help with that, but whatever).

I give the bike a lookover, it's a bit dusty but so what, I've got cloths at home, I sit on it and give it a go and it works fine, so I tell her "Sold". She smiles, I smile, both of us are happy.

I detach the long bars and between myself and the monster, we manoeuvre the bike into the bakkie. I say to the young lady "Your mom said R1,000. Is that right?" She gets a weird look on her face and I say I have a message that shows the price from her mom, but she also phones mom to confirm what she told me...probably kakked mom out for her stupidity.

Anyway, she agrees the price is R1,000 and we conclude the deal. I think I was happier than she was. I certainly got the better deal.

So now I have another piece of sporting equipment placed in front of my desk,waiting for a quick wash and it's first use in its new home. If the pedometer on it is correct (which cannot be reset) this bike has only THREE kilometers on it!!

Hopefully I won't do damage to the ribs by using the long bars, but I could use the arm workout.

Look after yourselves out there, folks...