I actually started an exercise routine today in an effort to be in better shape when I make it to Guatemala, and I realized, I’ve gotten pretty soft here lately, it’s probably a good thing that I’m exercising now, otherwise I might not be able to keep up when I get to Guate’.

So far my routine consists of: walking about a mile, and bicycling about 2.5 miles, I should incorporate some other exercises, and I plan to in the next week or so, but I’m notorious for being unable to maintain an exercise regimen, but I figured out a few things that might help me with the things I’m doing so far:

I fear that I really enjoy gadgets, especially mechanical things, and I always have, ever since I was a kid, and some gadgets keep me occupied indefinitely. One of the gadgets that’s always been interesting to me where bicycles. I haven’t had a decent bike in about a dozen years, but I had one all but given to me a few weeks ago, and I suddenly remembered how much I liked bicycles. that bike had some relatively major repair issues, and I decided that I couldn’t fix it on my budget so it had to go.

About a week ago, another bike popped into the picture, a very well maintained, and very small, Schwinn road bike with a lot of racing type gadgets installed. I was instantly interested, thinking to myself “Well gee, those parts ought to fit my road bike frame at home” and I haggled my way to a very reasonable price for the bike (less than a tank of gas, and I have a small tank!) and brought it home, thinking I might would swap all the nice gadgets onto another frame and ride away into bliss.

Unfortunately, I quickly realized that my old frame was set aside a dozen years ago for good reason; it was bent beyond repair. Sad day, right? Well, here I was with a very small road bike, in fact, the frame is at least six inches smaller than the size that’s recommended for someone my height! Well, after a bit of research online, I discovered that it was a lot less about frame size, and a lot more about the fit to the rider.

Well, if you saw a picture of me standing next to my new (30 year old) bicycle, I would appear to tower over it, and I guess I do, but it’s actually pretty comfy to ride, and hopefully the tires will last a few more weeks before I have to replace them, by then I should know if the gadget factor will be enough for me to keep up with my riding.

Still no sign of that photo backpack, which is admittedly a little disapointing, but hey, I only paid like $25 (yikes! thanks Ebay) in shipping on a 6 pound item, so what can I expect, right?