Joined a fitness centre...

One thing about cycling is it's relatively stress-free, you go into the garage, get the bike and ride off. You can ride anywhere and any distance and you don't have to worry about parking tickets and the like or that you've forgotten you need a one pound coin to lock the lockers.

Joining the gym was easy enough. I went online, filled in my details and hey presto! I was a member of Waddon Leisure Centre. Great! So today with Storm Darragh in full swing I decided not to get the bike out but instead go for a swim, how much of a hassle the whole thing could be. Actually, it never used to be a hassle at all. Parking was free back in the day, you didn't need an app to book, you could simply rocked up at the front desk, stated "one adult swim, please" and off you went. And back in those days it was always good to have some cash in your pocket because the so-called cashless society didn't exist.

Swimming is quite pleasant. Today I swam half a mile!

So I booked myself in for a 1000hrs swim and around 0940 I drove to the leisure centre full of the joys of spring, even if it was tipping it down and there were strong winds. 

But, of course I was going to be hit with a tsunami of shite, first in the shape of Ringo Parking, a company that doesn't give anybody the chance to actually call them, it's all automated. Somehow I managed to do it, booking one hour of parking and then headed into the leisure centre. 

"Hi, I booked in online for a swim and here I am, but how do you know I'm me?"

He asked for my name and I told him and he said it was fine. He said something about giving me a card on my way out but I forgot and so did he, perhaps I'll pick one up the next time I'm there, but I'm not sure there will be a next time, it all depends on whether I get a parking ticket.

The next problem I had was not having a one pound coin for the locker. To be honest, I forgot all about the need for one, but hey ho, the problem existed. I'd already spent a little time in a blizzard trying to listen to parking instructions and now I was faced with not having the necessary coinage to secure my locker. I decided to put everything in the locker except for my phone and bank cards, they could come with me and wait by the poolside, no problem. Now, at last! I was ready to enter the water.

I swam for God knows how long, but I counted 32 lengths, which is half a mile, and then I got out, picked up my towel and my phone and headed for the changing rooms. I tried a shower cubicle so that I could "get my kit off" and have a proper shower, but there was no hook on the back of the door and floor was wet so I headed for the communal showers that faced the pool and stood there for around five minutes, not really thinking about the time, which, perhaps, I should have been.

Changing after a swim is a hassle I'd forgotten about: drying my feet and then standing on a wet floor and having to dry them again, it's a right balancing act. Eventually I was ready, or almost, so I checked my phone. There was a text from the parking people: I had under 10 minutes before my parking expired. What the hell do I do? I hastened the process of drying and dressing and probably got out of there around 1100hrs. My parking ran out at 1057hrs. I figured cameras would tell them I was over by three minutes and I'll be really pissed off if I get a ticket. In fact, if I do, I'll cancel my membership and possibly reinstate it in the new year. I've thought about riding the bike to the leisure centre, but that kind of defeats the object of signing up in the first place. The idea was to avoid getting a soaking during winter storms and bad weather. Ironically, of course, when you go swimming you DO get a soaking. You get far wetter than if you were on a bike in the rain, but that's not what it's about. Who wants a cold wind and rain on the road, it's not only unpleasant, it's also unsafe. So that's why I signed up. The gym is good too, I took a look and there's a load of kit in there, I'll try that at a later date.

On riding the bike here, well, would be defeating the object, especially if it rained on the way there or back. The whole idea of signing up was to avoid getting a soaking in the cold weather but if I'm going to get a soaking on the bike because I wanted to avoid the parking fiasco, well, there's something not right about that and why the hell would I cycle to a gym to use an exercise bike when I could just cycle back home and get the required exercise without using the gym. So many conundrums, but I'll be well pissed if I find I have a £60 parking  for being three minutes over my allotted time and if I get one, then I'm kissing goodbye to the membership I purchased the other week, I'm just not having it, I'll put up with the wind and the rain and the cold, get myself a decent front light and make do, but let's see. I hope I don't get one.

I'm quite pleased with my half-mile swim of 32 lengths. Swimming is supposed to be the best exercise you can get and it felt good.