I got a little behind on my blog posts so I decided to cover a variety of topics that I really wanted to talk about in this post.
First off, I went up to Sparta and Cashton Wisconsin last week to visit my family and I also packed up my bike to try to hit a few bike trails while I was there. I was most interested in riding the 2 trails that connect to the Elroy-Sparta Trail to the west ~ the Lacrosse River Trail and the Great River Trail,
This turned out to be a total bust for 2 reasons. First it was cold and snowed while I was there but I also wanted to mention that, after I got there, I called Speed’s Bike Shop, which is right on the Elroy-Sparta trail to get the trail conditions and discovered that these crushed stone bike trails do not open until some time in May. The trails are still soft and moist and they try to keep them in better condition by keeping bikes off of them so early in the year. So the lesson that I learned here was that if you are planning a bike trip in Wisconsin in early spring you should call first.
The Gazelle: The next topic seemed appropriate for the cold, snowy weather on my Wisconsin trip but a little out of season based on the weather that we had yesterday (Easter Sunday). Since I have ridden and reviewed so many exercise bikes for this site and have also used and reviewed a number of treadmills on my new treadmilll website, www.treadmillereviews.com I am always interested in the various aerobic fitness equipment that I am able to check out. 
It turns out that my brother got a Gazelle workout machine recently and I saw it parked in the corner and decided to check it out.
These workout machines are very economical ~ they usually only cost about $130, new, for a basic model ~ and you can get a pretty good aerobic workout on them.
I only did about a 10 minute workout and, since I had my bike computer and heart-rate transmitter, I checked out my HR and saw that I got it up to about 80% of my max HR in that 10 min workout. What I noticed the next day is that my calves were sore so it seems like this machine gives your calves a pretty good workout.
The main downside to this machine, like almost any indoor fitness equipment, is the repetitive motion and that it can get pretty boring if you do not have anything to keep you entertained. My brother had some music playing on his PC so that helped and I usually like to have a tv around to help with the boredom factor too.
Although most indoor aerobic fitness equipment has pretty repetitive motion, I think that I like the motion of exercise bikes, treadmills and elliptical trainers a little better than the motion of the Gazelle (which seems a little like cross country skiing). The advantage that the Gazelle has is that it is so economical and it does not take up much space when it is setup for use and even less space when folded up and moved out of the way.
Divvy Bike in Chicago (and our car in the background)
Divvy Bikes in Chicago: My final topic for today has to do with those light blue Divvy bikes that you can rent in Chicago. As I mentioned earlier in this post it was a Beautiful Day yesterday here in Chicagoland and my wife was in the city, rented a Divvy bike (for a 24 hour period) and took quite a few trips around the city for just $7!!!
The Divvy bike rental system is really designed to be used for commuting and quick trips around the city but if you know how to work the system (as my wife discovered) they can also be used for some economical touring and site seeing.
If you do not have an annual membership then the minimum time that you can get a pass for is 24 hours. This costs $7.00 as I mentioned above. The problem is that you must return the bike to one of the many docking stations within 1/2 hour or pay an additional fee ($2 for 60 min, $6 for 90 min). The additional fee is not even all that bad but the costs could add up if you kept the bike out of the docking stations for too long.
Chicago Lakefront Trail downtown
The 30 minute time limit for the docking stations can be a hassle but since there are so many docking stations it is possible to check in to a docking station after 30 minutes then just check the same bike back out again and move on to the next station.
My wife even took a little ride on the popular Chicago Lakefront Trail. I am not sure, however, if you would be able to cover a lot of ground on this trail using a Divvy bike.
Overall, the Divvy Bike System seems like it can be a pretty cool option to have when you are downtown and if it meets your needs at the time.
Well, that’s it for my blog topics for today. Sorry for the blog backup and long combination topic post. I’ll try to keep these posts coming more regularly ~ especially now that we are fully in outdoor riding season!