I got an email about a week and a half back that went something like this:

Hey all,
Burr, it is cold and snowy out there. I’m loving it, but if you want a great opportunity to help you stay fit on your bike so that when the snow melts you can still pedal with the best of ‘em, then come check out my new spin class, beginning on January 31. Thursday nights from 5:30-7 pm I’ll be teaching a class that is designed for real cyclists, not just aerobics fans. We’ll alternate between the spin bikes and core and strength work the whole time. Don’t expect a super high intensity spin class, at least not for a couple months. Right now is the time to work on efficiency and strength, not top end, so that is what we will be doing. The location is a new studio called Synergy Total Fitness, located in the Safeway shopping center on Cedar and West street over near Brandy’s (on the east side of town). Email me with questions: dmmfast (at) gmail (dot) com. I think I will also be teaching a
more traditional spin class on Tuesday mornings at 7am, if you are in to that kind of thing. Prices are as follows: drop in class $12; 4 classes $40; 8 classes $72; unlimited month of classes $99. The studio also offers yoga classes as well as many other spin classes, so come check it out!
Oh, and bring your spd shoes if you’ve got them!
Dara

As I have never done a spin class before, I was intrigued. So, tonight was the night. I went down and arrived at the new Synergy studio, donned the spanditos, swapped out the pedals on something resembling a bike (with a bad-ass flywheel instead of a front wheel) and got my spin on.

Dara had warned that it wasn’t going to be a high intensity workout, which was good, because she proceeded to beat us up with some ‘core strength’ exercises in between the three 15-20 minute spin sessions. If you don’t know what core strength exercises are, they are designed to build all those little muscles that keep you balanced and everything in line while you’re doing other exercises. Translation: exercises that look deceptively simple but will snap you like a tightrope with an elephant on it. I think every one of us was shaking at some point during the workouts trying to hold some seemingly simple position.

It was awesome.

I felt a little beat up after it, but not too bad. I have a feeling once Dara gets to know everyone in the class after a couple weeks, we’ll probably ramp things up a bit on the bikes as well. But, then again, what do I know, she’s the one with the coaching business and I’m just some chump with a couple bikes and a penchant for pain.

Speaking of pain, I decided after the APC that my morning roller workouts were getting kicked up a notch. I was at about 30 minutes every morning, and I’ve sacrificed another 15 minutes of sleep in order to bump it up to 45. That extra 15 minutes seems huge because I was already using 5-10 of every workout for warm-up, so the actual workout time just got a LOT longer each morning. We shall see if this pays off.

If anyone is interested in the Synergy classes here’s their website.

In other cycling news, Dave just posted a sneak peak at the Kaibab Monstercross Flyer. It’s looking like a departure date of June 14th. I’ve added it to the calendar, so ya’ll can keep track.

Although, Dave, if you’re reading this, that’s the same weekend as the Cochiti 100. You might want to see if anyone was planning on that instead. Just a thought if the date is flexible.

I’m planning on being there because when I saw him at the APC, he dangled a carrot in front of me to the effect of “Nobody’s finished it on a singlespeed. . . yet”.

Was that the gauntlet I just heard hit the floor?

In some non-cycling news, if anyone out there is a climber with an interest in access issues in Northern Arizona, Gina from Voodoo Holds just posted about the re-emergence of the Northern Arizona Climbers Coalition. Looks like their site is up and running, and they’re starting to solicit help/donations from people who have an interest in northern arizona climbing access. Good stuff.

I’ll also throw out there a quick blog link for anyone who is interested in the climbing community as well. I just got an email today, and found out a friend of mine from middle school (how’s that for blast from the past) is now a marketing person for Mountain Hard Wear and manages their blog. Check out what a ‘professional blog’ looks like. Pretty cool stuff.

And on that note, I’m outta here. Gotta get my 5.5 hours of quality sleep before doing it all again tomorrow.