RealRyder: Spinning Gets Real

by Lisa Johnson (Subscribe to Lisa Johnson's posts)
Oct 19th 2009 12:00PM

Categories: Fitness

Group Cycling is one of my favorite things to do. Want the biggest calorie burn in a short amount of time? You can't get a better bang for your buck than Group Cycling. I've been teaching classes since health clubs first started offering them in the mid-'90s and have sat on a lot of bikes in that time. So when I heard about "tippy bikes," I knew I had to give them a spin.

RealRyder has come out with a group exercise bike built with an articulating frame that allows the bike to "turn." What this means for the rider is that you can lean from side to side to get the more realistic feel of riding a road bike.

I went to Ride the Zone on the Upper East Side of New York City and met my instructor, Steven Little. He asked if I'd been on a RealRyder before and advised me to stay seated until I got the hang of it.

The throbbing music started, and the six of us in the class were off. Even with my years of experience, I was a newbie, and the others clearly knew what they were doing. We leaned to the right, and with a gentle cue from Steven, I figured out where best to put my hands to support myself. I could feel a bit more of a burn in my obliques, but overall, it didn't seem too much harder than a standard bike. We leaned to the left and I thought, "I'm cool; I can handle this."

We rode faster, leaned some more, and I was still keeping up with the experienced riders in the class. Then Steven told us to stand up. I came out of the saddle, flailed around for about 10 beats, started laughing and plunked back down. When standing up in the pedals, my bike rapidly shifted back and forth underneath me. Completely disconcerting! But this is the way the bikes are supposed to move, handlebars whipping right to left underneath me, and all the other cyclists were standing and pedaling away. I tried again.

It was exhausting, even though I couldn't stay standing as long as the others. And because it was a new feeling for me while riding on a stationary bike, I kept getting nervous that I was going to somehow catapult off the bike. But I kept popping up with the others and kept getting better and more comfortable on the bike through the rest of the class. At the end, I was a big, sopping, drippy mess, as was everyone else.

Afterward, Steven told me that RealRyder bikes can provide a 30 percent increase in calorie burn. When he teaches a class, he burns 700 to 800 calories during a 45-minute ride. He also said it can take between five to seven rides to truly get the hang of standing and staying out of the saddle for longer periods of time.

If you like spinning but want to try something new, check out Indo-Row, a group exercise class with rowing machines.

Comments (0)