By Chris Battaglia
I haven’t owned a bike in years. I’ve always preferred walking to biking — I don’t have to keep an eye out for Michael Bryant when I’m walking and I can arrive at destinations without the sweat.
See, stamina’s not my thing. I can lift heavy things, but don’t ask me to run anywhere. I’m a walker for a reason.
So when choosing a fitness class to attend, a cardio class involving bikes would seem like the worst one I could pick. But the Eyeopener editors loved the idea and so I went.
It’s called spinning, which is an odd choice because the weighted flywheel on the bike is the only thing spinning. You’re pedaling. Why name it after what the machine is doing? You don’t pick up your car keys and say, “I’m going for an internal combustion.”
Spinning is essentially a stationary group bike ride through an imaginary countryside, set to ambient pop music. Leading us on this fantasy was Cherilee Garofano, who was quite understanding of the fact that this wasn’t exactly my thing.
The class felt like a tight-knit community of supportive people, the type you want beside you while you ride over pretend hills and race to the pretend finish.
But the workout is far from pretend. I was worn out by the end of the warmup. My legs were hurting after five minutes. And to top it off, I had buckets of sweat seeping into my shirt.
Somehow I made it to the end of the class, but that’s not to say I kept up with everyone. Good thing the bikes were stationary. Once I could walk again, I noticed what hurt the most was not my legs but the severe wedgie caused by the bike seat — yet another reason I don’t bike.
Spinning class is great for a high-intensity, low-impact workout in a welcoming group setting, but for now I’m going to stick to walking.
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