I had kind of forgotten that this happened, probably partially due to a
subconscious self survival mode my brain went into and blocked it out,
but yesterday I was talking to a long time customer turned dear friend,
and my clumsy tendencies got brought up, and I remembered the reason I
can never go to Star Cycle ever again. Since its been long enough, and
I can now laugh at it - I'll share it here, and maybe you will get a
laugh, too.
A new spin studio, Star Cylce opened up here in town, and everyone was
going...it was like trying to get into an elite club - there was
literally a waiting list because every class was booked, with a list of
names in case someone canceled last minute. I've never even done spin
class, but this was THE place to be, and I had to check it out. I
wanted this to be my new thing. The studio is just across the street
from Melange, so I was fully ready to become addicted to this, go every
day, get super strong, and make a new community of friends. Luckily,
while I'm not cool enough to get myself on the list, I do know someone
who is. I'm still shocked that I even know this girl - she is
perfection, and everything she touches just glows. Her style is
perfect, her skin is what everyone wants, she doesn't take a bad
picture, and has a heart of gold. And, of course she knows all the
right people, and doesn't know a stranger. Everywhere she goes,
everyone is her friend. One day she texted me saying that she is
friends with not one, but two of the Star Cycle instructors, as well as
the receptionist, and can get our names on the list (not even the
waiting list! the actual list) for a class if I wanted to go with her.
UMMM yes!!
I don't think I can emphasize enough how clumsy I am. I just think that
needs to be really clear. ;) Todd has grown to tune out most of my
falls, or sudden gasps of pain as I trip on the last stair, or run into
a wall. I literally can - and have, on a regular basis - tripped
walking down an aisle in a grocery store. Sometimes I can blame a fall
or trip on an even sidewalk, or unexpected rock in the way, but walking
down the center of the freezer aisle, there are no excuses. I've been
extremely clumsy my whole life - I guess its "my thing"? Everyday, my
family is shocked I've never broken a bone or had any serious injury -
although I did land myself in the ER just once. Anyways, very VERY
clumsy. So much so that when we were looking for a house, we sought out
mostly one story houses. Something about mitigating risk (from my very
safety conscious husband). I'm sure its only a matter of time before
something does break, but until then, I just have a lot of great
stories. ;)
So, we go to this class. I'm VERRRRY out of my league - everyone is in
shape, has their own shoes, knows the routines, and knows my friend.
I'm just this out of place tag along, not wearing a brightly colored
outfit (wore all black as to not stand out, but it ended up working
against me in a sea of hot fuchsia and sea blue), and renting shoes. We
go in to the room, and luckily I get the bike in the very last row, in
the corner. The setting its actually really cool and I like their take
on a spin class. The music was poppy and fun, but not obnoxious. They
turned off the lights (another saving grace for me), and only had a ton
of candles up around the instructors bike. You really did feel like you
were almost the only one in the room, and with the dim lighting, it did
feel oddly relaxing. I mean, as relaxing as it could. The class was
insanely hard - I totally underestimated how hard it would be, but
there was a sense of calm about it with the way the mood is set.
Anyways, we're about half way thru the class-- maybe? Time was a hard
thing to keep track of - it seemed to pass so quickly, but go on
forever at the same time. Adjusting the tension on the bike, standing
up, sitting down, single pedal, double pedal, using your arms, doing
push ups, not using your arms. I was just trying to hang on for the
ride and kind of keep up. The way too in shape instructor told us to
increase the resistance on the bike, and then stand up on the down
beat. So I turned my knob quickly (felt like I was FINALLY getting the
hang of that) and go to stand up, but I had turned the knob the wrong
way, lowered my resistance by accident, and stood up. I was braced for
increased resistance, and as I took my first stride (? pedal? what's it
called on a bike?), my foot went around way too easily, I totally sent
myself forward, lost my balance, and FELL OFF OF A STATIONARY BIKE.
Yep. I fell off of my bike. My feet were clipped in, and my left foot
popped out, but my right foot was still locked in. I had fallen to the
left, so I'm on the ground, the bike is completely on its side, and my
right foot is trapped in the clips. At this point I'm so glad the music
is loud, I'm in the back corner, and there is just enough light to be
one level lighter than pitch black. I'm on the ground, with my bike.
Not ideal to say the least. I know adrenaline kicked in, and all I
could think about was getting up and pretending like nothing had
happened before anyone noticed. The instructor would make rounds thru
the aisles from time to time to encourage and motivate people, so I
knew I didn't have long. I don't really know how it all happened, but I
do know it took everything I had to get that bike back into an upright
position. I pressed on thru the rest of the class, sweating even more,
and praying super hard no one saw that.
As we got to the end and cool down portion, we were told to grab the
hand weights that were on our bike. Because of the darkness, I had no
idea those were even there, but felt around and found one. It took me
too long to realize that the other one must have came loose in the fall
and was somewhere on the ground in the dark abyss. As we did different
arm exercises to the music, I tried to switch the weight around from
one arm to the other at whatever felt like the halfway point of each
exercise. I didn't realize how poorly I had done at that until the next
couple days when my right arm was considerably more sore than the
other. ;) Ironically when it came time to get off the bikes, I couldn't
get either of my feet unclipped, and was the last one off their bike.
When I was walking out to my car, and took what felt like my first
breath in an hour, my ankle started throbbing. By the time I got home,
it was almost twice the size as the other. It was defiantly sprained.
I've never sprained anything before (again, very shocking considering
my track record), but it's not joke! For weeks I limped around, reminded
of the horror.
Overall, the class was actually really great - I loved everything about
it!! The vibe was cool, the instructor was empowering, and it was a
great work out - I so badly want this to be my new routine, get monthly
passes, and be a Star Cycle gym rat. It's just a bummer I can never show my
face there again.
Signed, ME {AT}
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