Getting my groove back

In non-political news, it seems I'm finally finding my footing again in the world of spinning. It had been puzzling me for weeks because I felt as if I was in a funk following the loss of my hard drive and spinning music collection (rendering me temporarily unable to create new rides) and the Christmas/New Year's holidays (rendering me without my usually Mon/Tue night classes two weeks in a row). I spent that time taking classes elsewhere, reminding myself what it is like to be a student in a class and, quite frankly, trying to steal ideas I can bring back to my classes.

To no avail.

My first several classes back in the saddle were disappointing. For me. My classes didn't complain and they were all just in that New Year's "burning off the damage" mindset. Indeed, I had dozens of new students, who required various amounts of coddling and hand holding, as well as adjustments to my usual rides. Maybe that threw me off too.

But it continued. Was my confidence shaken from my performance review? Perhaps. I was more irritated than disappointed that it was obvious that my fitness director didn't know she was seeing a Madd Dogg ride as opposed to 80s high hair aerobics on a bike. The fact that I wasn't doing sprints (unsafe) or jumps (unsafe) or using faster music (on a slow hill climb?) really seemed to nag at her. But I couldn't convince myself that I still knew better. I'm a 4.0 student in every other aspect of life, this was really getting under my skin.

So, I did what any other desperate woman would do and I wrote to the woman who inspired me to do teach to begin with. I hadn't talked to her in a while and wasn't sure she'd remember me. When I told her what I was up against, she wrote me a lengthy missive back, and in short said "Stay true to yourself, you know the right thing, and if you give them that, they will come...it will come." But also, she got me a gig subbing classes where she teaches now.

And so I have subbed there twice. Both times I subbed, I presented rides I had done before. Both times I knocked it out of the park. They were a phenomenal group to teach, which is just amazing to me given that I'd never met them before; usually it takes time to build a rapport to the point where it is emotionally inspiring. But I walked in confidently, presented my ride the best I knew how, and had them in the palm of my hand faster than you can say "that was your warmup".

And with those rides at a club that is totally unknown to me, I was reborn. I know I still have it and I can deliver it and I can have people leaving with that happy glow. For me, that's what it's all about, sharing with them what made me love this spinning thing to begin with.

Road shock

Somehow I managed to spend the entire summer riding indoors. Between the amount of classes I covered for other instructors and my own scheduled classes and then my inclination to only ride outdoors on days between 65 and 78 degrees and no humidity, my days outside this summer were few and far between.

So this weekend, with Saturday giving us a glorious 77 degrees, light breeze and blue skies, I hit the pavement on my hybrid. Outdoors of all things. It felt so good Saturday, that I suffered the slightly colder, darker and damper Sunday as well. And I realized that after two days and nearly 60 miles logged, I am suffering from road shock. Much like culture shock, road shock brought me to the realization that, no matter how hard we try to simulate an outdoor ride in our spinning profiles, we will always fall short in a few basic areas, yet, indoor riding also has its benefits.

First, we will never be able to effectively instruct how to find a flat road. I found about ten types of flat road on my short excursions this weekend. None of them required no work. Too often, we let our students get away with what I call "free-wheeling" that is, pedaling with virtually no resistance and indeed, pedaling to no where. I've tried to tell them that riding with so little resistance is akin to pedaling if your chain has fallen off. But if you've never ridden outdoors and never had your chain fall off, you'll never get it. Advantage outdoors.

Too, it's virtually impossible to explain the work involved in riding into a headwind or riding a false flat (looks flat, needs some legpower) without having them launch themselves into a full blown hill climb. I suffered about 5 miles of headwind yesterday, never felt as if I was on a hill per se, but my legs were jelly by the end of that stretch. Similarly, I also found about 5 miles of flat with the slightest bit of descent on it. I hit it in a big gear and took it at about 24 mph (amazing on a hybrid!). That's such a liberating feeling that I wish I could convey in my profiles! Advantage, still outdoors.

Hills are not so forgiving either. When you reach down for the resistance knob to make it less of a hill, there's no knob there and you're stuck with said hill. Yes, I did reach for it once outside and was dismayed to find it missing, perhaps a sign that I've spent a little too much time inside! Advantage, indoors if you're not into suffering.

The whole balance thing, you know, keeping the bike upright? Completely underestimated. Arms, shoulders, back and abs are all feeling it this morning, something they rarely do after weeks of spinning inside. Advantage, outdoors.

Concentration is a might bit different as well. Instead of being able to zone out and find my special place for the duration of the ride, I have to watch for traffic, dogs, potholes, gravel, automobile traffic and traffic patterns. Not quite as relaxing as on the inside. Advantage, indoors.

Doing my loop ride in reverse and laughing at myself when I realized why I always went the other way (it was much easier the first time around!) is something I can more effectively communicate in out and back profiles now. Advantage, even.

And snakes? Never a good thing, even in the roadkill form. Advantage, indoors, definitely indoors.

Finally, the soundtrack is missing. On particular stretches of flats, climbs and everything in between, I wanted to reach for the remote and turn up the music, or switch it to something more agreeable for the effort. But like the resistance knob, the stereo is missing too, leaving me with whatever melodies I could conjure up and stick with in my head. Advantage, indoors.

I'm hoping that in the coming weeks I'll be able to squeeze a few more weekend rides in before the temperature falls below my comfort threshhold. I'll keep looking for ways to share my joy and my pain found outside with my classes. After all, that's where the challenge lies for the spinning instructor.

A great time to be a spin instructor

Those of you who don't do it don't know this...but summer is the worst time of year to be a Spinning instructor. Inevitably, as the weather gets nicer in April, May and June, your classes are decimated as people turn outdoors to ride outside, take up jogging, go out on the boat, stay late at the beach. It's understandable really, but my job goes on. As a result, I can have classes as small as 3 students, sometimes less!

That makes it hard to stay fresh, put together new rides, seek new music and stay on top of my game. I stuck with it through June and July but in August I did nothing but repeat rides. I didn't design anything new and even slowed down with the music acquisitions, legal and otherwise.

But last night, with the cool dampness settling in over Beverly and darkness coming at 7:00 p.m., I had a class full of familiar faces who hadn't been around since the spring. Personally, it was certainly good to catch up with them again, but as an instructor, it was stimulating to have a nearly full class again, to be able to work with their reactions and feed off their energy. It was a great feeling to deliver a solid ride to a group that appreciates it, get some of those "what, are you crazy lady?" looks from them as I put them through their paces and hear the feedback after a long, slow summer.

So it's back to getting creative and pushing the envelope with my terrain and my music. I like to keep them challenged and off-guard, but within the bounds of being safe and sound. Sure, their form has dropped off during the break, but it's giving me a starting point from which to rebuild. Today it's pouring buckets, which I hope translates to another capacity crowd in tonight's class.

Cheers to getting back on the indoor road.