this class is for cyclists

i figured i'd kill some time with a blog post seeing as kai is at daycare and poor sick teia is asleep in my arms. i tried napping with her cuz i'm sick too but she needs to be upright. poor peanut has an ear infection as well as our latest viral interloper.

so eventually you knew i'd have to blog about something other than our kiddos. i swear though, this one handed typing is affecting my creative juices. seems i need both hands tappin' to bring both hemispheres of my brain together and feel the writing groove...or maybe i just have a head cold!

so lately i've taken every free moment (and there aren't many of them), to work on getting back into shape. i've lost a ton of weight but still have a ways to go. in hawaii i had 2 hr+ weekend bike rides with kelley, ryan and jo to whip me back into shape, as well as lots of opportunity to swim and run. its a wee bit harder this time with the wintry weather and 2 kiddos. breast feeding also adds its own unique challenges. so needing a little added structure, i've spent some money and committed to a 2 hr indoor coached training session at a local bike shop on saturday mornings. i was a bit apprehensive at first about the early morning and the workout itself but so far, its been all good.

we ride in the attic of a bike shop amongst gazillions of dollars of racked bikes. our coach is a former nat'l track champion from south africa with lots of experience in different disciplines. he's a friendly guy who takes his cycling seriously. one day he lectured the class on the appropriate way to wear arm and leg warmers (not a concern for our hawaiian readership). he leads a tough work out and i know i'm in trouble when he says "breathe" and instead i hear "three" as in "3, 2, 1 we're finished that interval." he is always good for at least one good quote per class, like the day he said if we were weak we shouldn't be there, or told the guy next to me that his groaning "better be singing!" last week he said "if you want a spinning class to lose weight or get fit, go to gold's gym. this class is for cyclists!" LOVE this guy!!!

did i mention he teaches this 2 hr work out on rollers? at first i was extremely impressed by him and the 3 or 4 others who do the class on rollers. i show up with a rusty relic of a wind trainer every week b/c i'm sure i'd never last on rollers for the entire class. but i've learned that while my focus has been turned away from cycling, huge advances have been made in roller technology. these rollers don't look like mine and i've been assured that doing one-leggeds and getting out of the saddle is easy on these babies. i've yet to give it a try.

the class is a mixed crowd from serious racers, folks training for their first century, triathletes, and the male species of cyclist seen often in these parts known as greyhaired-potbellied-eurogear-rides-litespeed-b/c-have-too-much-disposable-income. Can't wait to kick those guys butts come summer. my favorite is a guy called mr. stinkbomb. i suspect he is new to the sport. he drives a tricked out element (yes, you can trick out an element; he's proven it). greg alluded to him in an earlier post. we were newbies to class on the same day. we get a 1 minute break mid-class to go pee, or fill up water bottles, or just to rest da bum. first day me and my fellow newbie (mr. stinkbomb) headed down to use the facilities...him first. i cannot begin to describe the stench in that room after mr. stinkbomb relieved himself. so, every class since it seems he has a weaker bladder than a postpartum mama b/c he always scoots down to the restroom during break. as for me, i've learned how to hold it.