About a week ago my friend Pam emailed me. "Do you want to take a cycle class. It's outside". Of course I said yes.
The class is held by CSS Group Fitness. It's a gym in a 18-wheeler. They pull up to a location, set up, run class, and then put everything back in the truck and go to the next place. Their website describes this class as "An intense but low-impact workout, it’s suitable to all fitness levels, as participants may ride at their own pace. The classes are lead by certified group cycling instructors, who take you through an energizing ride filled with various drills and music to keep you fired up! Our cycling class is adaptable to both indoor and outdoor settings." This class is held every Saturday morning, I'm guessing until late fall.
Now in all fairness this was not the first time I was on a spin cycle. I did it once as part of the Tri-To-Help in 2014. At that event I was thinner, my knees worked better and we only did 30 minutes without instruction. I picked a speed and stuck with it.
This time we varied the speed, as well as the amount of resistance, and we altered between standing and sitting.
Pam arrived first and picked out two bikes. We were in the pavilion at the Promenade Lifestyle Center. Sadly, the sun moved and it was in Pam's eye the whole time. She couldn't move her bike because it was packed.
I sat on my bike and it was adjusted for my height. Your elbows need to be at a certain spot, as well as your knees. I must remember #1 for the handle and "H" for the seat if I'd go again.
We set the gears at 2 and found our base level. I picked 8. And then as we did stuff she'd yell "base +5" or now "-2". Then we started standing during segments. Great relief for the butt and your lady parts because the seat is really uncomfortable, and mine was digging in. I couldn't stand using the left leg and actually came to a complete stop trying. By the time I got going we were sitting again. Next time I tried with my right. It was better. I didn't stop. But every time she called "stand" I wanted to stand with my left. Ultimately I gave up standing. I just did faster and slower and changed the gears.
The class lasted 45 minutes. There was a warm up and a cool down, maybe five minutes total. I have to tell you by 15 minutes after I was done. My knees were starting to hurt. Especially after the attempts at standing. I could hear Coach Tif from Fit Camp yelling "You can do this. It's easy to quit". I kept moving. Having a clock on the cycle was probably not a good thing for me. I watched the minutes tick by. But I was still going.
I never got my speed or resistance where everyone else was. I think the highest gear I tried was 16, but it hurt less at 14, so that was as high as I went. The instructor had you working as high as 90-110 RPMs. I was in the high 60s for my lows and low 80s for my highs. Once and only once did I cross 90. At about 35 minutes my knees were screaming stop. I just pedaled the last 10 minutes of class.
It's been about 4 hours, my knees have almost stopped hurting.
Miles/Steps: 1 according to the machine. 2 according to my fitbit on my shoe.
Weather: mid-70s, sunny, breezy.
$ Found: 1 cent
Extra: This organization also runs a "Pound" class. Basically they combine drumming with plastic sticks, and a workout together. It sounds dangerous. And interesting. I didn't kill myself with Zumba, so maybe this should be on the "try" list. Maybe Pam will come along.
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