the Get Rolling Orbit Biking ~ Fitness ~ Adventures ~ Inline Skating

Our instructor described the day’s route as though we would really be out riding the local greening hills: so many minutes of climbing, jogging and even sprinting to a finish line. Installed on a decent bike, I was ready to attack the course as she called it out.

I believe my body is finally beginning to adapt to this new physical challenge. Spinning along with the group, I checked my heart rate frequently, and was gratified to notice that as I worked the bike’s tension according to Erin’s directions, it remained in reasonable ranges. My legs were feeling better doing the work, with less burning. As we got near the “top” of a long, steep climb, I was able to keep my momentum and rhythm but began gasping for air. (Good thing the music is so darned loud!)

Visions of summit day on Kilimanjaro … With so little oxygen at 19,000 feet up, I accomplished that long climb with a rhythmic breathing strategy. A variation of that plus the pounding beat coming out of the classroom speakers motivated me to keep my spinning momentum. Remembering how I felt as I saw the first glimmers of daylight as we approached the top if Kili helped too!

On the final long hill, I was surprised to find myself “dropped by the pack.” For some reason–possibly not pacing myself properly–I lost my steam near the end of the effort and had to “walk” my bike as I imagined everybody elses’ backsides disappearing over the imaginary crest. Just wait until I get my new clip-in biking shoes!

My competitive nature was satisfied by watching my form in the mirror. I try not to bob up and down or side to side, keep my thighs parallel to the bike, my hands light on the handlebars, my ab muscles engaged, and my rear back over the seat when standing. We are constantly reminded of these points. When I compare my mirror image with that of others in the room, I recognize the character flaw that causes me to feel superior to my fellow bikers.

I still have lots to learn, and it’s not all related to Spinning!

Well, I may know what comfort items to bring to the Spinning class now, but that is only half the preparation necessary. I learned the hard way that there are many equipment-related things that determine my ability to spin aggressively.

Arriving 5 minutes before start time for my most recent class, I saw that 25 people were already mounted and rolling, with only a few bicycle choices left to me. The first available bike was in my favorite spot but missing toe straps, and I still don’t have clip-in shoes. I lugged that one away and moved in another that had a toe strap on just one pedal, better than none! I adjusted the seat to my body and installed my gel cover.  But it turns out that besides the missing strap it had a wobbly base and two bottle holders that couldn’t hold my water. D’oh! I thought I could deal with those issues but when I climbed up on the seat it was tipped too low in front and my rear kept sliding forward. Arrrrgh! I was getting more and more embarrassed at my frantic antics in front of all the others spinning happily away.

I went to the back of the room and sat on a third bike to check the seat. OK. Again, I installed the gel cover and my water bottle. I strapped my heart rate monitor on to the handlebars and my training zones chart onto that, put on my sweat band, and draped my hand towel on the bars. It was now 10 minutes into the class. Since this bike had absolutely no toe straps, I struggled for 45 minutes to keep my feet centered in loose cages that are too large for my shoes. Obviously there was no opportunity to work on my pulling up portion of the stroke. Meanwhile the handlebars screw kept loosening and I had to deal with the wobbling throughout class.

Sheesh. Now I know I need to get to class before the rest of the crowd to check for seat tilt, loose handlebars, and base wobble along with the existence of foot straps. And then spend 5 minutes installing my comfort aids on the bike I finally choose!

After making it through three classes total so far, here is the list of stuff I have to bring:

• Gel seat
• Towel to wipe streams of sweat
• Ear plugs
• Sweat band
• Water bottle
• Heart rate monitor
• Training zones chart

• Cycling shoes with clips (don’t own yet, but maybe after birthday or Christmas)

For a brief and shining moment on Tuesday, I was able to get a sensation in my lower quadriceps muscles of pulling up during a part of the stroke, but I didn’t know exactly how I was achieving it and couldn’t maintain the feeling. I was soon back to all pushing all the time. When I was able to pull a little, my legs felt a lot better. All push is so inefficient that it makes my heart rate shoot up and makes my legs feel deprived of fuel.  My goal is to maintain a steady spin by using my core muscles along with both pulling and pushing muscles. Only then I will be able to push my cardiovascular limits as much as I want during the interval sessions (hill climbs).

I still need to know the Spin definitions for:

• Jogging
• Walking
• Running

My day job requires me to be at work half an hour after the end of the Spin class. Even though I am taking as cold a shower as I can manage, I am bathed in sweat again as soon as I get dressed. It’s nearly impossible to put on makup when your face is that slippery! I may have to start my workday a little later, if they’ll let me.

Now that I am feeling committed to continuing the Spinning, the class is on hold for a week due to the holiday, d’oh!.

By the time I hit the shower after my second spin class, my legs were burning — but not so much as the first time! — and my mind was burning too, with conjectures and questions. Fortunately I have two experts to consult: Dan, my resident Tour de Danville expert, and Erin, our helpful Spin leader.

In my second class I learned a new definition for the word “recovery.” (In my day job as a technical writer, we require consistency in terms and their definitions.) Recovery does mean recovering from a sprint, but not necessarily at the percent I have identified as a Recovery heart rate on my training zones chart.  Apparently, when we sit down and ramp up the pedal RPMs with enough tension on the bike to simulate a flat road, even though the heart rate should be dropping, it will never get down to a real recovery rate. Erin confirmed this in the locker room.

Jogging and walking are other new terms to me. When we’re jogging, we are standing on the pedals (but keeping the glutes back over the seat) and spinning at a quick pace without a lot of tension. I’m still not sure, but it sounds like walking is the same stance but at the highest tension and with very slow RPMs. Or not? Erin does not use the word jumping (or at least I haven’t been able to pick that one up amidst all the noise), but I saw a classmate rising in and out of the seat.

This time, I was much more conservative with my heart rates. I did not increase the tension as much as I could have, and stayed out of the anaerobic interval zones until the last “hill.” My legs continued to feel engorged and sluggish most of the hour, but I did get some relief during recovery periods. I knew I could be working much harder, but I don’t want to overdo and then have to quit.

I cannot get any kind of pull up, even with my shoes securely fastened to the pedals. It just feels awkward and impossible to sustain both seated and standing. At dinner, Dan confirmed that it is possible, so I may have to wait until I get clip-in shoes. I believe that once I master a continuous push/pull stroke technique, the work will be more in my core muscles, with less weight on my feet, which will allow for faster spinning.  The best advice he gave me was to do long slow distance training to get my body used to biking in general. Going right into interval training as a beginner is not the wisest approach.

So today I’m headed to the upstairs row of stationary bikes to sit and read. I hope my legs will burn less as I get more bike time. Upstairs I can monitor my watts output, which is a great way to watch my body’s ability to adapt. The higher the watts compared to my heart rate, the more efficient I’ll be.