Cycling class
For several months I’ve been biking to work out. By biking, I mean pedaling on a recumbent bike with a built-in fan and bucket seat in front of 6 tv screens at the Y. I do pedal hard and push myself for 45 minutes and have seen good results, but I kept getting told I should try the cycling class. So I tried the cycling class. Here’s what I learned:
1. I need to wear longer shorts. Flappy breezy running shorts on a bike seat is just wrong.
2. Nalgene bottles are not any easier to drink out of while biking than while hiking. As a person who manages to choke on her own spit somewhat regularly and almost always during a church service, I need to take a water bottle that squirts.
3. I should have left my phone in the locker room. Selfies during cycling? Texting friends? Reading books? Ha.
4. The over fifty men were there enmasse, and they schooled everyone.
5. Lady bits do not like bike seats.
6. Whoever told me I could hide in the back and go at my own pace was a liar. Instructor Tom knew my name 5 minutes in and asked me, “and what’s your problem?” when he caught me sitting upright with a towel around my neck. He also called me out in the last two minutes to pedal harder.
7. There was a young girl in the front middle doing all kinds of things to her bike seat that shouldn’t be done, which Joe says might explain #4. I think backs are supposed to arch like a pooping dog and not a stretching cat. I could be wrong. I’m just a newbie.
8. I thought I was all tough, but my peak level on the recumbent bike was this class’s “don’t drop below” level. I also breathe like I am in labor when I exercise hard. It’s a little awkward.
9. Crunchy fruit has never been so delightful than it was after that class. Tom passed around a cooler for us, probably so we wouldn’t pass out on the drive home.
10. A cheddar style tray and milkshake from Cookout is a great way to end class!
