Spin City

In the darkest part of the winter in 2005 I began attending Spin classes at a local bike shop.

Twice weekly a group of dedicated and quasi-dedicated cyclists and triathletes would troop into the shop, bikes over their shoulders, trainers* under their arms, set up in lines perpendicular to either sidewall of the shop and sweat buckets for 70 - 120 minutes. *Just so as not to confuse and Brits. that might be reading this – trainers are not running shoes; a trainer is basically a bike stand, with a fly wheel, that you attach your back tire to, which suspends the back tire above the ground (and on the flywheel); the flywheel generally has adjustable tension on it so as to simulate increased resistance – like hill climbing.

About 3 years ago, after a bad experience with the bike I bought from Shop #1 (I classify wanting to throw my bike in a ditch, due to technical issues, on each and every ride as a “bad experience”) I switched to Shop #2 (at which I bought my current bike) and THAT has made all the difference.

No, my cycling hasn’t improved scads – though with my current bike I quite enjoy riding now and I have never – not once – wanted to throw the bike in the ditch – though I often think I need to replace the rider somehow. But I have found a great group of people who help keep me coming to class. I know I have blogged before about the community feeling I get from road biking, but the support I get from the Spin Gang is more personal.

As I blogged last week about needing outside accountability for some things, I realized that for Spin I already had it. G, the weeknight spin leader, never fails to give me (good-heartedly) the gears (as it were) for missing a spin session to such a degree that I find myself going so as not to suffer his “wrath” (or seemingly disappoint him with my absence).

The owner and chief technician at the bike shop are also top-notch as they are both willing to tweak and fix and adjust on an as needed basis (generally free of charge) the bikes of any of the spin session participants, sometimes even having to stay late after work to accommodate the spinners’ needs.

I also quite enjoy the group in general – listening to the good-hearted ribbing that goes on between the long-time members, joining in conversations where and when I can (sometimes I have to opt for breathing over conversation) and the general spirit of the sessions generally pick up my spirits (while completely exhausting me physically).

I am always amused at one of the guys in the class who must set up his bike and trainer just slightly ahead of his wife’s and if someone were to come along at move it back slightly when he’s not looking, he notices it almost immediately and moves it ahead again – which never ceases to make me laugh.

Spin class challenges me to push beyond what is comfortable; be it doing hill climbing, cadence, or single leg drills; but it also brings out the competitive spirit in me when I get challenged by other spin members to go beyond what the workout calls for and forgo rest between climbing sets and just keep climbing.

I have learned I need to drink more water, compare myself to others less, stop the internal complaining altogether and just do the best I can and enjoy the music (which helps drown out the screaming in my head).

For me, being a not-so-strong cyclist, spinning is great – I can cycle next to strong and even elite cyclists & Olympians without getting left behind! Though sometimes it messes with my weak and feeble ego, I still go, I spin and I sweat it out with the rest of them – at the risk of sounding cliché, I give it my all!

The more I go the more I learn; about me, about my ability, about the proper cycling technique and not least of all, about what a great group of individuals I have to spin with.