spinning class

I thought you might like to know, that resolutions-wise, I plan to keep my end of the bargain today by taking the 12:15 Endurance Spinning with Peter. This will be a new experience. I have never taken a spinning class with Peter. I hope he is not like a certain other instructor, we shall call A. I don't think she has ever ridden a real bike... The way she has us change gears going up a hill just doesn't make any sense. And there is no groove to the music she selects. I think it was Whitney Houston! An exercise class for me is all about the music timed with the exercise. If there is no crescendo, there is little point.

Now John. He is a sensitive soul, totally in touch with all his students as we pedal along together. You can tell by the way John choreographs his class that he is a rider. And the music he selects really makes you feel elated as you work harder to climb the imaginary hill. I can even picture the landscape. It is in Western Massachusetts, near where I went to college. Pretty tree-lined winding roads. I can smell the evergreens. I wish I was free tomorrow to take John's class. I hope Peter is anything like John.

the Specialized Dolce, click to enlarge

We passed by the TOGA! Bike Shop on 1st Avenue and 63rd Street last week, and I was lured in by all the amazing triathlon bikes in the window. I love looking at all the flat tubing. The Specialized Dolce in black with pink accents caught my eye, probably because I imagined riding it with my black and pink sneakers.

If I were to buy a new bike, I think it would be from this shop. They go out of their way to fit you properly on your bike. The only thing I didn't love about the Dolce was the bent top tube. To me it screams 'girls bike'! But the components and click shifting are certainly quite an upgrade from my current one-up-from-bottom-of-the-line mountain bike which I converted with slicks for the road.

My bike is too heavy. And not so high-performance. But I personally sawed down the handlebars with pipe cutters at the Broadway Bike School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. And added shiny anodized blue bar ends for more hand positions. In the end I love my bike, held together with stickers which I have collected from fellow fashion designers during the years of trade shows I have done. I just can't upgrade. My bike is my friend. Um. I can't find my key to unlock my bike from the railing. Well, off to spinning.

my bike. sure the tires are flat and it is potentially locked in the hallway forever,
but that doesn't mean I am going to upgrade.