Saturday, July 16, 2016

Wink gif

My first ever gif: wink!

Thursday, July 14, 2016

Spinning & me

  Image courtesy of the internet
image courtesy of the internet

Three weeks ago, I ‘span’ for the first time. I’m not sure if you can use the past term for the word Spinning or not, but I’ll rock n roll with it!
Now, I think the main thing was that I used to cycle around Oxford, therefore I’m used to being able to free-wheel, have a comfortable seat and handlebars, and it was the bestest thing in the world.
Spinning is not cycling, that is for sure!
My first class went like this: there are far too many moving parts on the bike, the seat is the most uncomfortable thing, the pedal cages are impossibly uncomfortable and restrictive on your tootsies, and the momentum of the bike makes it impossible to ‘just stop pedalling’…you near break an ankle every time you try to stop peddling without using the brake. It's not natural to have the brake down the frame between your knees!
So, I'm in my first class, I've set the bike up accordingly, I think, I sit on my hard seat and start pedalling casually. Due to having ridden a proper bike, I set the resistance to a normal setting for riding around town...this was a HUGE error! Never do this, however it's not natural to cycle in a high setting with nothing to press against, it makes it impossible to actually cycle like this.
There am I cycling away at a normal gear, but wait they ask me to add, add, add, wait what? Add more?! Madness! It's like cycling through thick soup, a lower gear and lower again...fuck a duck!  This is awful!
Stand up? What?  I never stood up while cycling, unless I was free wheeling down a hill and then I wasn't pedalling...so I give it a go...nope, I nearly broke my leg, as I automatically stopped peddling as I stood up and my entire body nearly went round and round. If I was a cartoon, that would have happened. I check the clock every five minutes...this is horrid and hellish! 
Now, as I know that I'm a career gym quitter, I know that I need to give everything two chances and being spurred on by others is best. Therefore I book in again, this time round I love it!!! 
This time round, I find it easier. The session is more accessible, we get to go down the hill as well as go up, we get to decrease resistance, as well as increase, it's in lots of little bursts and some resting. I stand up and stay up, I increase the resistance and rock side to side like a pro, I am a pro! At the end of the class, I'm buzzing!  I love it! I want more! So much so that this week I went two days in a row and I'm still loving it!
I don't know how long this will last, I generally detest most exercise but right now...long may it live!