December 30, 2003. This was roughly the date of my very first indoor cycling class. In my never ending quest to get in better shape and lose weight, I joined a gym that was on my way home from school and I had worked up the courage to take this type of class. It seemed like it would be fun. Though, should have known that the day I chose to go was probably not the best day to go.

It was the day before a holiday (New Year’s Eve) and needless to say I don’t think that the instructor thought any one new to this type of class would show up. However, I blew that notion out of the water by showing up. I did arrive early (something I cannot recommend enough to people trying things for the first time) so that I could get set up on the bike.

I wish I could say I fell in love with indoor cycling that night, but I didn’t. In fact, I walked out of the class about half way through. It was not an enjoyable experience. Why? Because i was not set up on the bike properly so that I could have a good time. However, I went back to another class. That second class I went even earlier to try to get my bike adjusted so that I would be comfortable riding.

The second class was better but I still wasn’t in love with it. I still needed to do more bike set up adjustment. And there was the matter of the seat really making the rear end hurt. So, I got a gel seat cushion cover to make things better. That helped a bit, but it turns out that I was never going to be comfortable on these bikes because they were crappy bikes. The gym I belonged to did an extremely poor job of maintaining the bikes. The instructor did his best to get the gym to take care of the bikes, but apparently management was more interested in other things. And charging members out the wazoo for shoddy equipment. Continue reading →