The Treaddesk

Even though I'm getting regular rides in, one can see the writing on the wall.  Or as they say in Game of Thrones, "Winter is coming."  To combat that season of weather-enforced curtailment of acequia riding, we've converted the treadmill to a treaddesk. 

NordicTrack treadmill with desk

The small plexiglass shelf and hardware cost about $30.  Designed and installed by my friend Kent, it comfortably holds a Kindle, an ASUS tablet, or the Toshiba netbook (pictured). 

Toshiba netbook on the treaddesk

It's very functional, enabling one to read and respond to e-mail, pay bills online, and check-in with social media while getting some steps on the ol' pedometer.  I use it at about 0.6 mph, but expect that to increase as I get more comfortable with the setup. 

Installation detail

A small hole inside the plastic cupholder of the treadmill allows adjustable mounting brackets to hold the plexiglass level.  A touch of SuperGlue locks things in place--we were concerned about vibrations from the treadmill loosening the screws over time. 

The only other adaptation was to get a small Logitech cordless mouse.  Neither the touch pad nor a touchscreen is particularly good for fine control of the cursor while you are moving. 

With all this in place for the season, I was pleasantly surprised to see that this afternoon was warm and sunny.  Instead of a walk, I took a quick ride down to the Rio Grande Nature Center. 

Along the Griegos Acequia heading towards the Nature Center

Fall colors are warming up and some trees are amazing against the bright New Mexico skies. 

Cottonwoods in the Nature Center

 I took a moment to walk in to the viewing area for the pond near the Visitor's Center and saw a few ducks and over a dozen turtles.  The turtles can just be made out sunning themselves on the foreground logs in the full-size version of the photo. 

The pond at the Nature Center