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When I walked into ZenRide Spinning Studio, I have to admit, I was a little nervous. It had nothing to do with the budding new Fairfield business, but rather the fact that I had never been to a spin class before. It was one of those things that I’d always wanted to try but had never gotten around to. But after contacting Jessica Gray, the owner and hands-on-operator of ZenRide, I was finally going to find out what spinning was all about! So on Monday October 20th, I logged onto zen-ride.com and reserved my spot in the 7 p.m. TotalBodyZen class.
When I arrived a few minutes early, I was greeted by Jessica and her two adorable children, Mason and Dylan. As she started telling me about ZenRide and her personal relationship with spinning (a very positive one, as one would guess), I couldn’t help but notice that she was able to greet and say goodbye to every person by name that walked through the door. To me, that’s something that’s really important, knowing that I’m not just a number, but a person worth recognizing.
When she was showing me around the actual spin studio itself, I was a little surprised to see that it had such a calm and relaxing environment; the lighting was low and there were candles set up around the room. All of the bikes were in the middle, facing the front of the room where the instructor’s bike is. Jessica brought me to the bike I’d reserved and showed me how to adjust the bike and also taught me all of the poses that would be referenced throughout the class. By the time 7 p.m. rolled around, I felt prepared (and excited and okay, still a little nervous) for my first ride.
I lucked out going to the class that I did because it was with Peter G., a wonderful spinning instructor who was very energetic and outgoing. He went out of his way to make the class a friendly and unintimidating environment. Throughout the 50 minute class, he would call out various instructions about poses and speeds, but always made a point to remind everyone to “do what is challenging and fulfilling for YOU,” emphasizing that everybody should have a personal experience, whatever their level of fitness may be. I was very happy to learn that it was “Mash-up Monday” featuring awesome song mash-ups that Peter had created himself. As somebody who relies heavily on music during a workout, I loved having some original and motivating music to pedal to- it really got me through some harder parts of the workout! Probably my favorite part of the entire class was when Peter belted out the lyrics to “Set Fire To the Rain” by Adele but changed the words to, “And I set fire…. to your legs!” The class definitely got my heart rate up and I was totally covered in sweat by the end of it, but I can’t remember the last time I felt so satisfied from a workout.
I highly recommend checking out ZenRide. Not only is it a relaxing yet energizing way to spend an hour of your day, but it is also a great way to spice up your workout routine! With the weather getting too cold to run outside and working out becoming more of a chore than a release, spinning might be a great alternative for you! Plus, it is so close to both the beach and campus (it’s located in the Bob’s shopping center right next to Village Bagel.) Not only does ZenRide offer some great student discounts (seriously affordable), it is also officially accepting StagBucks! Plus, your first class at ZenRide is free, so why not check it out? If you do, be excited for a great experience and make sure you tell Jessica and all of the friendly staff at ZenRide that I say hi!
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