RealRyder Testimonial

Here is a great testimonial from a girl who tried out the RealRyders for the first time in New York City. She obviously blogs a great deal and is quite raw in some of her language.

Word on our RealRyders, they are currently being held in customs awaiting entry to the US so they can continue on to Dartmouth to the Core Essentials Studio. The room is ready and waiting! I'm hooking up the stereo system this week!

Oh, don't worry you won't need cycling shoes to ride but if you have them you are able to clip in as well.

Here's Rachel's account of her RealRyder/NYC visit from her blog Shedding It & Getting it.

Feeling Classy: Ride the Zone
Nov 13th, 2009 by Rachel

Good afternoon! TGIF everybody!!

So, it’s my last day in NYC, and I’m looking forward to getting home tomorrow. As you have surely noticed from my posts, this week, I’m struggs! But I should explain a bit more. Yes, boy drama sucks, but the major reason I’m such a mess is because I’m trying to decide where I want to move! I had planned to stay home in Michigan for a few more months, probably until the spring, but this week, I realized I want to move, like, now. I’m a big fan of Anderson Cooper, and his book he talks about being a journalist, and compares his life to a shark’s: “I learned that they have to keep moving in order to live. It’s the only way they can breathe. Forward motion, constantly forcing water through their gills…I sometimes believe it’s motion that keeps me alive as well. All you want to do is get it, feel it, be in it. The action flows right through you. Keep moving, keep cool, stay alive. Force air through your lungs, oxygen into your blood. Keep moving, keep cool, stay alive.” I just love that image, and that’s how I feel right now. I just want to move — literally, physically, emotionally. Run, pack, move.

It’s hard because I have the kind of work where I can go anywhere and, despite the economy, I do have a resume that gets interviews. So it’s really a matter of where. But after moving a few times already, I’m trying to be careful. I don’t want to go somewhere where I don’t have at least one “person” — I’ve learned that while I’m seriously independent, I really don’t want to start over building friends and a social life from scratch. I want to go someplace with a scene and overall attitude that makes me happy, and I want a job I really like. Trying to figure out which city will offer that (I’ve narrowed it down to three, I’ll write more about each later) is just really overwhelming. So yes, I’m having the quarterlife crisis, and yeah, it’s making me want to crawl in bed and hide. There you have it.

Anyway! That is my state of mind this week, and it’s making me eager to be home, to my stable base, where it’s easier to just think. But I had to do one more thing before I left the city, and that was take a class at Ride the Zone!

Ride Studios (three locations in the New York area) is one of the few places where you can take a class on the new RealRyder bikes. Basically, it’s a traditional group cycling bike, with a new, major twist: the frame is unstable, so you can actually steer and lean with it. The side-to-side motion requires you to constantly engage your whole body, making it a better workout than a traditional spin class. It’s supposed to really challenge the core and improve your balance.

That video (apparently shot in someone’s basement) should give you an idea of how it works!

Anyway, since I am OBSESSED with spinning, I have wanted to try this since I heard about it a while ago. It was the major To-Do on my trip to NYC! This morning, it was time!!

Due to the schedule, I ended up taking the “Endurance Zone,” which specifically says, “Not recommended for beginners (though we will help you out if it is your first ride!!) Pushing the Zone is the next level of isolated core muscle training for serious riders. Riding to longer advanced intervals up rolling hills and steep climbs. Steven’s creation, you will burn more calories while PUSHING THE ZONE then in any of our other rides!!!”

Mmmkay….I know I should have taken the beginners class, but I’ve been spinning for almost two years, and I’ve taken some pretty ass-kicking cycling classes (like with the black Lance Armstrong at Equinox in NYC). Additionally, I’m in pretty amazing shape right now. I feel like I’ve taken quite a few classes when the gym lists them as “sooooo hard” and I’m kind of like “Yeah, it was hard, but I liked it.” So I figured I’d risk it, because it just worked best with my schedule!

So I reserved a bike online — love that you can do that — and then I headed across the park to the UES location. As I headed to the studio, I got a little apprehensive. New York is just so filled with these ana, Botoxed trophy wives, and I knew that a private studio on the UES was going to have many. Meanwhile, I was rocking the high pony and my black/multicolor Shox like the twentysomething black girl that I am! I was more nervous I wouldn’t fit in and less nervous about death by bike.

Anyway, when I got there, I was delighted to find out that your first class is on them! Like…best moment of my week, thankyouverymuch! The studio is on the third floor of a building, and even though it’s not a huge space, there are changing rooms and cubbies for your stuff, as well as a lot of cool gear for sale. I went in to the studio, which was just what I expected, and went to set up my bike. It was then I realized that you had to have spinning shoes! Ugh. I didn’t pack mine for this trip and it didn’t say on the Web site you needed them.

I went and found the instructor, “Steven,” who was, by the way, hot. I told him I didn’t have my shoes with me. He seemed to be impatient/get a bit of a ‘tude that it was not only my first class, but I was also taking the non-beginner class, and I didn’t even have shoes. But he was cool and hooked me up…I guess they do have shoes to rent, but they didn’t charge me. Awesome!

Steven then came and helped me set up my bike, which, when you’re setting it up, feels totally similar to a regular bike. He talked me through a lot of the hand positions and explained to me how my body should be when leaning. This immediately makes him awesome. A good instructor should always do that, but in this class, trust me, it’s even more essential. He said that I could go at my own pace, and mentioned a few things I might not be able to do. He said I might not be able to stand up on the bike, and to not worry about it if I couldn’t. I really don’t think he thought I was going to handle it.

Oh, but, Steven…if there’s one thing I can do, it’s fuck a spinning bike. Even an unstable one.

So, we were off! One of the first things that’s different, is that when you’re seated, you ride with your hands in a different position — straight out in front of you. This forces you to use your core right away. During the warm-up, we did a few leans to each side, which engages your core, but also your upper body. (Though you want to be careful not to use your upper body too much.) It was a good warm-up, I was feeling OK.

Then he had us stand up. This is where, for a few minutes, I was thrown off. The sensation of standing on this bike is like…it’s like being on ice. The bike slips from side to side, and all your body wants to do is stabilize it. It is a crazy feeling! I had to slow way, way down as I got used to it. The other people were sprinting maniacally, but I was definitely just pedaling, and getting used to it. Also, as I moved side-to-side, there was something on the bike (a pedal? a knob?) that kept knocking into my leg, which was kind of annoying and painful. After a few minutes, though, I got the hang of it, and was able to take it up to a much faster pace. That solved the knob-knocking, and it was almost easier to move faster — for a few minutes anyway. But then you realize that fighting the side-to-side motion is all done with your lower body and it’s just brutal. Amazing. But brutal. My thighs were sizzling.

Within minutes, sweat was literally pouring off my body like water out of a shower. Insane.

The structure of the class is similar to any good spin class: climb, sprint, intervals. There are no jumps, but about midway through, we did do what I think of as “horizontal jumps.” You are leaning to the left; then you switch your hands and lean to the right, quickly. That’s intense; all core and upper body.

Another thing I loved was that the music was amazing. That’s one thing I can say about NYC…their classes are NFA and their music is always baller. That helped a lot.

Steven was a really good instructor. He was out on his feet, getting in our faces to push us. He kept an eye on me and came over and corrected me once, but wasn’t an asshole about it. There was one other beginner, and he complimented us both midway through, which was a good feeling. I mean, when I had time to think about it. Really, I was so, so focused. You have to be. This class requires good body alignment; you have to be sure your head and neck and hands are in the right spot, or you could really throw things out of whack.

About halfway through the hour-long class, I finally felt like I was “riding the zone.” It was during the Michael Jackson song “They Don’t Care About Us” and I just realized, “Oh my God, this is the shit. I am tearing the shit out of this bike!!!” I felt so fierce and so intense, and it was the best feeling! It was hard, but most spin classes are hard, and honestly, I think I was getting off on the new challenge of it all.

Later in the class, I found out Steven just happens to be an ex-Marine. Oh. Is that all? Hm. At the end of the class, he said he had really pushed us, that it was like boot camp today. O RLY?

After the class, I was soaked through, but I felt great. I like to run, but I just love spinning. Nothing makes me feel sexier or more powerful. And I think it was good for my mood too; I was so focused on attacking that bike, I couldn’t worry about my future.

One of the regulars came over at the end of the class and complimented me for keeping up. (And I really did. I couldn’t sprint as fast when standing, but other than that, I had it together.) She was really, really nice and said that Steven’s class is the hardest and I did really well for a first-timer!

The biggest downside is the price: $30 per class (less if you buy a package). Like I said, the first class is free, so you should absolutely take advantage of that. I liked it so much, if I still lived here, I’d consider scrapping my gym membership and just doing this full time.

If you live in NYC or are visiting any time soon, you absolutely must try a class here! Honestly, I’m bummed I didn’t do it earlier in the week because I’d have loved to do it again before I go home. It’s so sad to me that the bikes aren’t widely available yet! I wish I could buy one to just own so I can do it whenever I want to.

On the way home, I grabbed some Hale & Hearty three lentil chili for lunch and had it with a salad, slice of Nature’s Pride bread with Sabra, and a green apple!

I’m still just so thrilled from that class. I need to be moving, and that was the exact motion I needed today.

Have a great afternoon!

5 Responses to “Feeling Classy: Ride the Zone”
 Dori says:
11/13/2009 at 3:06 PM
Those “horizontal jumps” were actually turns – like, turning to the left, turning to the right! One of their instructors also teaches at my old gym and she had us do turns on the regular bikes. I am dying to try it out and don’t know why I haven’t yet – thanks to you, I think I will soon!

 Rachel says:
11/13/2009 at 3:21 PM
Seriously, I will be mad if you don’t try it! You have to take advantage of it, it’s right in your city!! 

 Becca says:
11/13/2009 at 6:38 PM
The residence/apartment building I stayed in in Italy while studying abroad had those so it’s great they’ve made it across the pond! I was intrigued, but the communication barrier was too much to try and figure out when there was a class (not to mention trying to follow the instructor) unfortunately, but now knowing how much a session is makes me wish I had!

 Michelle @Eatingjourney says:
11/13/2009 at 8:41 PM
why have I not read you earlier? I could f- a spinning bike…omg dying of laughter. you go girl.

 Sean Harrington says:
11/14/2009 at 11:33 AM
Hi Rachel,

There are a number of new RealRyder Studios opening in Michigan near the first of the year. So you can find a place closer to home. I’m glad you enjoyed the ride with Steven he has a great reputation and Ride the Zone is a great place for your first real ryde!

Sean