Attend a Spin Class That Has a Leaderboard

Completed: 16. Attend a spin class with a leaderboard

I’m completely driven by competition and one of my favorite cardio activities is spinning. Add a leaderboard to it and I’ve found the perfect exercise — something I had yet to try.

Unfortunately, where I live, we don’t have a lot of spin studios, nor ones with any leaderboards, so I had to venture into DC to complete this goal at FlyWheel in DuPont.

Pros:

• Thry have a lot of classes. On the weekend, they have a class just about every hour.
• I was assigned to a bike. Unfortunately, my bike was right up front.
• The studio had 55 bikes (all taken).
• Great music. To me, that’s the best part of a spin class. If the music sucks, I’m not into it.

Cons:

• Required to wear their spin shoes. My feet kept slipping off off them. I definitely was not used to them.
• The instructor turned the leaderboard on and off throughout the the class. I hoped it would remain visible throughout the class. For a split second, I was first amongst the men (woohoo). Then I slipped to third and then all the way to 7th. I couldn’t get the right ratio of torque and speed. The leaderboard measures how hard your incline is and how fast you pedal and then pops out your score. I didn’t get that concept until close to the end.

I wound up finishing 7th. The instructor said if we did was he told us to do, you would reach the number 220 (a metric they capture). For a first-timer, it’s great to get to 240. The uber-experienced riders usually reach 300. I got 276. I was very happy with that.

I loved this place. I would go back in a second. It’s about an hour from my house, but it was worth it. Again, the music was great and the atmosphere was competitive. What more could you ask for?

-Kris