Yea, I have had a recumbant exercise bike (which looks the the picture below), for a number of years. It's only recently that I have begun to use it daily. I try and "ride" it for at least 1-2 hours at the hardest (#8) level. Shown below is the one that I would like to get. I have used this type at the gym a few times, and I really like it better. It seems more comfortable, and easier to use. But, that's just my opinion.

Yay! I'm glad to hear things are looking a bit brighter for you. Make sure you post some pics of your finds!

Nice to see a G-shaped kitchen on the GW. It's not the most common layout and it's one that may be helpful to people with certain needs. Thanks for posting! I remember when I first read about this kitchen style in a BH&G kitchens publication. It really captured my attention. Ours is also a working kitchen. We're gardeners and DH is a hunter and forager. Our G area has 12 x 16+ but the closet and nook are outside this. No island. Although one goal was for two cooks to work nicely together, the space is a glory for a single cook as well. We do not do quite the same kind of prep & storage & cooking as you but it sounds like you give your kitchen a workout as we do. We put the range at the bottom of the G, the double sink on the long side and the large prep sink on the short side alongside the plunk space from refrig, walkpath to garden and walkpath to dining room. Refrig on the tip of the top of G is close to the dining area and across from the end of the peninsula's plunk space adjacent to prep sink. I'm the one with all the pull-out boards to add work surfaces. One is in "cockpit" chopping station where I do much of my prep, seated on a stool (see photo) and where there is a temp compost receiver adjacent to the cutting board plus the trash pullout below that. Fabulous cutting situation! Another pullout board is wide and serves the baking area but also serves as receiver/launcher of items going to and from oven. This is especially helpful if the entire countertop area between mixer and oven is full of the detritis of battle. Another pullout board serves the microwave area at upperleft corner of G and has a good view of flower garden for morale. One pullout is next to refrig and serves as sandwich, coldcuts, toast, etc. prep area. It is also receiver for items going into and out of refrig. We pile all the returning refrig items onto it after meal, then open the refrig door only once. We have butcherblock either side of range--allows cooling of hot items, knives in a slit on one side of range and 3 canisters of utensils countersunk (pun intended) into area at back of the other butcherblock piece. We don't have to open drawers for knives or common utensils while working nor during put-away. Our entrance from garden is same as yours--lower left in your photo. Our G is flipped from yours but windows appear to be in same place. You might want to cruise our Flickr stuff--after looking at blueprint, go to the newest and ignore the in-process stuff. Not sure if I can give any more ideas but you never know. We also had a door in the hallway alongside the peninsula to deal with. We turned it into a pocket door so that it wouldn't interfere with the walkpath. Our major sink is a Kohler "Brookfield" double sink and our prep sink is a Kohler "Mayfield." Be sure not to stint on the size of your prep sink--a gardener can use it. Plus, if you find it to be too big, just use a dishpan or pot inside it. We've enjoyed splure on wire unit for bottom of prep sink--holds things like lettuces above the sand you wash off of them. Requires bother of removing and stashing it sometimes also, though. This prep sink is big enough for our regular pressure cooker to be wrestled with and definitely holds the blancher. Not sure if it would take the big canner. Here is a link that might be useful: G-shaped gardener's kitchen blueprint--flip upside down to compare

I would recommend selecting a dedicated exercise "area" that is pleasant to be in. Of the options you mentioned, I like #2 for a few reasons. It puts the bike in a place you won't feel like you need to cover it. Having it near a window (or sliding glass doors in your case) gives the exercise place a positive pleasant feeling. I find myself much more motivated to exercise when I get natural light. I often get very warm while exercising and nothing is more pleasant than being able to open up a window (or a sliding glass door) and bring in a nice cross breeze. What I'm doing while exercising all depends on the exercise. But if I'm running on a treadmill or elliptical machine or on a bike, I enjoy watching TV. It helps distract me from the exercise and allows me to do an otherwise very unproductive thing (TV) while doing something productive. I love the idea of reading while exercising, but I tend to exercise too vigorously to be able to read (might fall off treadmill or bike or make myself very motion sick). If you hate to exercise, choose an activity that you truly do enjoy (maybe it's TV, or movies, or reading, or knitting, or talking on the phone) to help pass the time and make the activity more pleasant.