Invisible Youth

I often sit atop my spin bike and several titles of the next entry cascade over the lens that is my brain, and today it whispered: Invisible Youth.  I usually don’t know what the content is going to be just like I am not sure what I am going to write about today, but I do know that today it will be about Young Atlas, Damian. I understand that he just traipsed through his twenties and hit the magic number of 30. Happy belated birthday, Damian.

I missed Svengali this morning and landed in #24 in the 830 session by the newest member of the fleet and he has never disappointed me, and today was no exception. You can see his desire to make each class the best it can be and he has adopted some of the exemplary traits we have come to expect from the elitists at Woodbury. He has his own brand that he stamps on his choreography,  his call and how he designs our flow in and out of the saddle. He takes charge, and there is no doubt he is the lion tamer and all that seems missing is the whip.  I like the fact that he knows what he is doing at such a young age, and he does it with aplomb, never bossy or arrogant but nonetheless firm and very vocal.

Again I was determined to take it easy this morning after a week that left me feeling like teenage wasteland. I don’t know what comes over me because I just can’t tin can it. I come in for a reason, and that’s to give it my level best and sometimes the level is tilted just a bit.  Great job Young Atlas, keep up the stellar work, your effort does not go unnoticed.

And Now For Something Completely Different

I knew going in this was going to be yet another test of my heart endurance, and as I looked around the Roslyn studio 15 minutes before 8 am, the feminine presence was overwhelming and their athletic prowess was unmistakable to the eye.  There was an air of politeness to the gathering unlike my earlier experiences. Maybe it was because it was Saturday.  It felt laid back, but as the music played, like to prologue to an adventure movie, I knew that I was in for it big time. I wanted to pace myself because I had The Heart of Stone for spin class at 9 am as well.  But for now, I tried to keep my concentration on the daunting prospect of Boot Camp with Pam Polestino.  

  Pam is one of the most charismatic group fitness instructors I’ve ever expeienced. It’s not only her stunning physiology, it’s the light in her eyes that seems to burn white hot and yet it she draws you in with her open and frank demeanor. When I found myself trying to put my finger on it in a deeper sense, I decided it that it would need two hands. She carries a language that penetrates you viscerally and I felt myself wanting to strap on an oxygen tank so I could stay up with her energy that rivaled a nuclear reactor.   I only knew her from intermittent chance meetings before or after classes in Woodbury, but today she was in her home base of Roslyn. She is of course the group fitness leader here and spin is not anywhere on her dial. She has her own resistance wheel and it’s turned up full tilt. I have been engrossed for the last 8 months religiously in spin class and the day of reckoning was finally upon me, and Pam provided it in spades. 

The Heart of Stone

Well, I didn’t think that it would happen three times in the same week.  First The Corso Zone, then Svengali and for the third time it was The Heart of Stone. Cathy Munzer-Stone. A diminutive star in the Equinox constellation, but nonetheless one that shines as bright as Orion. To hear her tell it she is old school, whatever old school is. There is not anything old school about The Heart of Stone. Some of the moves today were not only innovative but groundbreaking in my view. She changed how I look at the resistance wheel. It is a finely tuned little instrument that we learn to turn with precision, rather than something we crank up and spin down on. More on this as I can formulate the words to compliment this dedicated artist’s attention to detail and commitment to her riders.

 Cathy’s choreography is distinctively different from any of the other elite instructors here at our club. She doesn’t let the music play her, she plays the music. Too often I can get carried away with the visceral content that each selection brings to my ears and solar plexus. Most of the music that is played leaves me flat and when a particular song is played that I go ape for, it usually has me pedaling out of control and losing the focus of the intention of the ride. Don’t get me wrong I love new music from Flo Rida or older favorites by Pat Benatar but music is better served in the background not the foreground. Just my opinion, because I usually hate most of the music but I have learned to tolerate it and yes even ignore it. However, with The Heart of Stone I see the soundtrack as the supporting player rather than the star or costar.

The Heart of Stone, is another secret I am determined to uncover, just like Michelle Corso. We are lucky at Equinox not one of these instructors is the same and the selection is luxurious.

Treat Me Right

This is getting to be a habit. Monday in the Corso Zone. I can’t tell if the sessions are getting more difficult or I am just buying in to how hard she works and how I am compelled to follow suit? I at this point don’t know for certain, but no matter as I am realizing each time I enter her time slot, I am challenging myself beyond what I am currently capable of. That in itself is reason enough to keep coming back. Once you get hooked on this type of workout you have to experience another taste and another and another. 

More devotees are accumulating for this spin instructor par extraordinaire. She is not for everyone, because not everyone can make it through this  boot camp. My military background gives me somewhat of an edge, but Corso could easily qualify for the Navy Seals in my humble opinion. 

 Today as I write, I am feeling I gave it my all, but something tells me that if I keep coming, it is more I will be capable of. I was inspired today because of the music that harkened back to the 80’s when I lived that portion of my existence that I called, My life as a dancer. Whether it was Joan Jett or Pat Benatar, that genre of music will live on in me long after the deleterious lifestyle I put my body through with drugs and alcohol. It seems that after 21 years of being sober I can look back without the sting that often accompanied those years of being a lost boy. 

The Blue Sapphire

She cocked her head to the side flashed a blazing a baby blue topped by the white cloud above her iris and it was her check where we were in our Sunday ride with The Blue Sapphire. Resplendent in grey form fitting attire the athlete of Carolyn shone just like it does every Sunday, complete with a full house and our sense of knowing that we would be having great fun, but by rides end our collective asses would be kicked. And kicked they were.

A lightning bolt hit me during today’s ride and it came from two places. The first was the variable I was searching for; what is the salient difference between riding indoors and the outdoor version. Yes, we all know that the elements play the largest role, and the fact that we are moving over ground rather than staying on the same ceramic tile was the main difference, but there was something more I was so sure about it, but until today it was escaping my hard drive. I saw it in Stacie, yes the newlywed Stacie who has one of the brightest smiles this side of heaven and her nonchalant attitude about what she may look like when she is in the saddle of her stationary bike. She is not self-conscious. Not a speck exists in her, and she was not worried if some of her epidermis was showing as the rider next to her was clearly very concerned. This self-consciousness does not exist on the outside ride. And it was the clue I was searching for and Stacie showed me for the first time that the reason we don’t communicate as well as we could in the CS is because we are worried about what we look like. It’s not just the women that are concerned with what sweat apparently does to our good looks it’s the men as well.  Can we lose the “skin” that when we don’t look like magnifying mirror beautiful, we can get closer like our outside rider counterparts do? Just a question and I am not sure this is the singular reason but it happened in the usual way, it was nascent. 

The other major revelation came from The Blue Sapphire herself. As I noticed to my left, a young man was clenching his face for virtually the whole ride and I also knew that this doesn’t happen outside either. Tightly clenched hand grips have no place for us in the CS as well. Carolyn said, as she alluded to me about the Minnewaska ride that when biking outside we are loose not only in the hand grips and our face but how we plant ourselves in the saddle as well. It harkened back to my earlier in the week ride with The Corso Zone, that a tight physiology does not give us the results we are seeking.  Loose and flexible rather than tight and clenched. 

Thank you Carolyn it was indeed a memorable Sunday.

Next Up: The Corso Zone

The Apple Orchard

It was no walk in the park. And the class was not going to be easy as apple pie either. I arrived late, as I was chasing Svengali from Woodbury up to the Roslyn outpost and by the time I made adjustments and saddled, 15 minutes were already gone.  The house was packed and with a little help from my friend, I secured the last bike and I was off to the races. Have you noticed when you try to book Tripp's class that you are getting shut out like another one of our elite instructors? Kind of makes you go hmmmm.  

The thing about Roslyn is the darkness and with just a touch of sensory deprivation, the focus of my concentration weighs heavier on my pedal stroke, and in the mystical one’s class that is where the magic lies. And it’s a quiet group this Roslyn crowd, but that did not keep me from shouting my own exhortations, and I could tell that just a little energy in the CS goes along way in bringing the level of energy even higher. Fact or fiction, I have seen it often over the course of my 9 month excursion into this stationary sport that moves not only my body but my mind and spirit as well.  

There was something curious about being back on the stationary bike after my excursion with Tripp upstate and the outdoor ride in Minnewaska. The spinning sessions inside not only served me well outside but now after mountain biking at the Lake I could take that experience and take my indoor game to a new experience.  The sights and sounds outside of course fill all the senses and it takes much more concentration moving over the ground than standing still in the CS but now that I know I can do both and for me the circle is complete. I understand what my friend Gene Nacey means when he calls it Cycling Fusion. 

Oh and the apples from the lake were magnificent!

In the Near Distant Past

In the near distant past I started writing about Tripp Doherty. His popularity has risen meteorically and I am happy to be part of this sensational ground swell surrounding this most curious personality. He often carries on conversations in position #41 that I have come to understand now as if we were having a conversation sitting across a table at lunch. It wasn’t always that way from the start, but with familiarity there comes an understanding. And with this understanding I have come to know that Svengali is not only a trip but a unique experience as well. Not often do people come around in your life that not only inspire you but leave you with a residue of energy and unmistakable charm. Tripp does all of these things. Don’t take my word for it just ask any of the riders in the CS they’ll tell you.  

Wednesday in the 945 segment I was determined to take it a little easier having had a dose of The Corso Zone on Monday, but as is his wont Sven had me gasping for air and drenched head to foot. One segment had us at level 8 for 90 seconds and I had to count pedal strokes just to keep my focus. Not often does my desire wane for this sport but there are times quite frankly where I have to bring the body, hoping to mind will follow. When I go to Doherty’s class my spirit comes along for the ride too.  

Relax Jack!

Have you ever jumped out of an airplane or found yourself headed down a double black diamond slope at Killington Vermont? Have you ever felt that kind of pure terror?   That was my thought process just as Michelle spied me in position #3 and with a laser like look she said: Relax Jack! Because my shoulders were tighter than the skins on Gene Krupa’s drums.  I was tight because I felt like I was in a pitched battle trying to catch my breath racing in The Corso Zone. 

Michelle Corso pulsates to a different drummer and you can see it in her approach, as it is predicated on that she is amongst us rather than leading us. It is such an unusual dynamic that you have to experience for yourself as it is unlike any of the other instructors at Equinox.   And because she is so passionate about her craft, you feel compelled not to disappoint her and give nothing less than maximum effort. There were several times during the power intervals that I reached down and grabbed my will power from my marathon days to crank up just a little extra. 

 Today she had me so far up on the resistance dial, if I turned it a smidgeon more my pedal stroke would have been frozen. Needless to say, that by the half way point I was nearly drowning in the anaerobic zone. I could barely breathe and reverse peristalsis was threatening to rear it’s ugly head. I haven’t felt that way since a 20 mile run in Central Park back in the mid 70’s.  

I talked with two riders after the class by the stretch mats, and one exclaimed that she couldn’t understand why Michelle’s class wasn’t filled. Instantaneously I said it’s because the class is too hard. Plain and simple The Corso Zone is not for the faint of heart and breath.  There are absolutely no breaks, you grab water on the fly and you hope, you hope you make it through in one piece.  As I walked out I felt like I had a case of the bends. I needed to decompress because I came up from the deep too quickly. I challenge you to take Ms. Puccia-Corso’s class next time it comes around on the schedule. I challenge you because you have to have a ferocious like commitment, to make it through The Corso Zone. 

Frozen Core

We had a Blue Sapphire edition this past Thursday that was as challenging as ever. However I am always seeming to say that each time I spin with this superlative Equinox star. As fall starts to take hold, the setting sun virtually blinds us at the 6 o’clock hour and makes me wonder where did this year go. 

Thursday nights with Carolyn is one hell of a way to start the weekend early and fire up our metabolic oven and incinerate some of that extra caloric intake we inevitably find ourselves favoring ourselves with after a challenging work week or shopping week if your name is Nancy K.  

I was so certain that the resistance dial was the only adjustment I could make on the bike where I could improve my endurance and strength. Carolyn was the first to show me that that just wasn’t so. When she has us freeze our upper body and just use our legs, the burning in my legs is excruciating, even with little resistance in the pedal stroke. She tells us it strengthens our core and I love the idea that these short stints carry the impact they do even though my legs are on fire. 

Eye to Eye Contact

We had a few recognizable faces like Don and Stacy, but other than that, today in Roslyn kept me out of my familiar element of the friendly confines of Woodbury. One thing I do like in Roslyn, is the darkness as there are no windows. It lends sort of an ethereal smoke like atmosphere to the proceedings. Spinning in the dark is a version of sensory deprivation. Without the element of visual distraction the focus of our moving physiology takes on an even deeper precedent.  As long as I can see the green LED light on Kristen’s mike, sound is my guide.

Kristen does the lost art of direct eye contact. I absolutely love this because when two people’s eyes meet the energy exchange is nothing short of spectacular. She as the instructor gave me several doses of it today, and it was as if she let me top off with some nuclear power to move me through one strenuous session. 

 Eye to eye contact takes courage because in the gaze of another we find the depths of commitment absent the fear that often accompanies looking directly at someone. It’s like truth serum for the soul and in this climate of planetary isolation with Blackberry's, i phones and Droids we rarely subscribe to human contact unless it is with our significant other or immediate family.  

Refreshing to find a professional as bold as KG because she holds nothing back anyway.  

Eye to Eye Contact 1978  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9DKd9SZWE8&feature=related

The Anatomy of Corso

No, I am not speaking of her physiology, because I have waxed poetically enough about her stunning visible kinesiology. I am talking about that anatomy that is her class of instruction. Today I feigned the wait that KSC commands and opted instead for The Corso Zone. It remains the most treacherous of spin classes in my limited experience of what is now 8 months plus.  There is no ‘break’ in her class. I know that none of our spin classes has intervals of where we can catch our breath and relax, but in Michelle’s class the pace of power and effort is so daunting I have to stop myself at times from shaking my head no and just come to grips with the fact that I can only do what I can do and that right here, right now I cannot keep pace with her. That is not to say I won’t be able to at some point but I am relegated to the submission that I can do only what I can demand from myself. 

There were some light hearted moments, like when she said: “I need you to find it.”  I said to myself “it” ran under the couch and “it” is hiding. And when she asked at one point to crank up even more resistance, I told myself the dial was already broken.  

 Michelle was hampered with the new sound system as only one out of six of the speakers were working.  Not really anything to be concerned with, as those wrinkles will be worked out in time.  

I felt like it was the Inquisition today, and I found myself looking at the clock on several occasions, and when Michelle said in effect that we were headed back, and were half way done, my hope was that I had enough in the tank because at that point I was working on fumes. This might not sound inviting but I want to stress again that this woman is technically superb and this is a fantastic class but it is tougher than a bed of nails. 

Two Blonde Tendrils

I have been in Europe these past three weeks, and I have missed the Queen of Spin, Kristen Gagne. I haven’t been in Europe, but I might as well have been. Because I have forgotten many things about KSC. The first thing that jumps out at me is that I had forgotten just how long 15 seconds is. I know what the interval is like by way of watch time but this is KSC, and time stands still here and a clock is a guide not a timepiece. Next, is that I have forgotten that Kristen has her own form of hypnotic trance induction. It is quite different from my friend Svengali, but nonetheless the affect is the same. I notice it when she begins a sentence.....”If I were you”...I immediately find my hand cranking up the resistance.  Sometimes I can feel the instruction as she is inhaling to speak the words. Lastly, it is the direct interaction when she calls our name or gives her own spin on Zen. This exacting form of attention keeps our minds from wandering of what happened this past week or what might happen on Tuesday. 

My friend Debbie J. was immediately to my left today, and we were talking about the palpable energy in the CS. We are not alone here, there is an unspoken dialogue that travels like static electricity between each rider. We hear our thoughts being spoken and something snaps inside us as if someone just came in through the door without a knock.    It startles us. 

 Debbie J.  has a definite aura, it is pristine yet there is an unadvertised Debbie that is as avant garde and progressive as if she was a practicing yogin. Not exactly what you see when you watch her in focused concentration and breaking out in a glistening sweat.  As the class deepened in intensity, she brought down one of her blonde tendrils and when that wasn’t enough down came a second, to drive her powerful pedal stroke. 

I have been away too long Kristen, and I am glad you brought out the sling shot because it snapped me back to where this trip all began, Kristen’s Spin Class. There is no one like you. Thank you for playing my favorite song of all time today. There is another.  

Erasure: A Little Respect http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBR4EPBNI2A&feature=related

Svengali

It dawned on me today in the middle of a noon spin with Tripp Doherty, that I was compelled to change his nickname and his blog title. In another jam packed house in the CS, I got it from the faces I scanned.  Because there was nary a cyclist that didn’t seem mesmerized by our incantation specialist, now dubbed; Svengali. 

In one of his most inspired sessions, Svengali, (formerly known as the artist Mr. Mayhem) treated us to his eccentric version of spinning choreography that blends like my socks and shoes. It just clings and fits perfect.

It surprised me and didn’t that Svengali had a waiting list, as he seems to be growing from cult status to full matriculation of the mainstream devotees of spin. Even the hardcore aficionados of this art are flocking to this magician in short pants. 

Young Dana and I had a short discussion, and she gets up at 4 am to sign up for Sven’s 6 am session on the next day and then turns over to continue in somnolence. She told me in no uncertain terms that she only has a few minutes to tab her reservation otherwise she is shut out. Devotion yes, popularity definitely. Oh My God, 4 am? If you want it you have to go get it. Dana may have a heartfelt story to tell. 

So what do you think? Svengali? I like it. 

Stac(e)y Got Married

This morning in Mr. Fantastic’s class I got in last minute next to Stacy. She was beaming even brighter than the rings on her fingers. That man is one lucky guy, congratulations Stacy. The nuptials took place Saturday before last and the powerful spinner is back in our midst.  

I am looking for the word or words to describe how Tripp is able to inspire us the way he does. Every one of the Equinox stars does it in their own singular way, but Mr. Mayhem takes his cues from the man on neptune. (Is that still a planet?)  The whole front row had smiles glued to their faces as they plowed through one of toughest spins in my recollection, the Corso Zone notwithstanding. I had the bike that clicks only to be replaced by another that had play in the pedal stroke but it all matters little when I’m at the amusement park with Tripp Doherty. He is pure joy and he uncorks it every time whether he is in the saddle or he is in a trance with his own fandango.  

I am not always able to discern what he is saying, something akin to  my cell phone when you catch every other word, but that’s half the fun, because it allows me to fill in the blanks with the story I think he is telling or the one I want to hear. I looked up passion in Webster and it had just recently posted Tripp’s face and if you’re here you know why.  

e* excited, emotion, effusive or you fill in the blank. 

Regret

This morning as dawn approached the hypnagogic state played havoc with my determination to rise for KSC, which I have been absent from the past 3 weeks.  Fatigue got the best of me and my fall back plan included Michelle Corso at 945, daunting as that prospect seemed, the 2 hour plus prep for Kristen on a Monday was even more remote. Regret.

As my second chance approached, another prospect became apparent, because Damian had a new time slot at 430 and I quickly adjusted my schedule and made the commitment for the afternoon setting in the CS. And that is where I found myself today in the Young Atlas session.  

The studio was half full even at the odd hour of 430, probably a testament to this young man’s meteoric rise in popularity, as his talent is getting more airplay, rising to 8 sessions between Roslyn and Woodbury.  He shows the talent as if he has been teaching the craft of spin for more than a decade.  He has what it takes and Young Atlas is exacting in his call and choreography, which he mixes like the finely tuned keys of the glockenspiel, spanning the decades of music like the DJ he must have been in his other life. No regret. 

However, I do have one regret. It does not involve the Young Atlas, however. It was the 330 tuna fish sandwich that kept trying to reconcile itself with digestion and level 10 on the resistance dial. Gastric regret. 

The Borscht Belt

Jammed to the rafters in an 8 a.m. spin with Mike Borska. A somewhat esoteric choreography this morning, but nonetheless Mike had us synced perfectly to the rhythm of the road familiar song or not. 

As I have related before, Mike has the paternal gene that is so conspicuous when he approaches each rider checking on their progress. He has this genuine concern that lets us know he is certainly in touch with his anima. Borksa, with his reading glasses checking the sweep hand on his stop watch has an avuncular look that almost seems malapropos in the CS setting. But it all seems to work like the B side to a hit song. 

As I reflect on the House of Equinox talent, Mike stands alone mainly because he is more like the common man turned pro who has learned the craft of spin as his extracurricular avocation but is no less superlative than his full time counterparts. 

Plantar fasciitis has plagued me these past few weeks, and I have paid more attention to stretching my calves, but Mike had an on the spot remedy as it flared up today in class. He said to let your heel drop with each pedal stroke, and as if by magic the pain dissipated as fast as it arrived. One of the beauteous aspects of spin at least for me has been the relative absence of aches and pains that road running was sure to inflict on my body. Part due to me paying attention to form, and part due to the distinct lack of pounding, only swimming has less stress on the musculoskeletal system than any exercise I have engaged in.  

Napoleon Solo Part II

Today marked 8 months of spin class for me. I know many of you have been spinning for years and I am just an intermediate compared to most of you.  However, you all have made it so engaging for me and I want to thank you one and all. You know who you are. 

To all the instructors: Of course Kristen who has given me so much I cannot thank you enough, because you have changed my life. I have so many favorites now I don’t know what to do.  The Blue Sapphire, Carolyn Mellace, who has brought me great challenges on her Thursday nights and her Sundays with Carolyn has been a Godsend.  Tripp Doherty, who is my walking inspiration and truly an enigmatic young man that engages my imagination each time I suit up with him.  Mike Borska, who is a man near my age which is comforting, has such an affection for music of my time and brings a genuine empathic patch of blue when he is in #41.  There are my new favorites, Michelle Corso and Cathy Munzer Stone who I have dubbed The Corso Zone and Heart of Stone who I have just recently discovered have a technical expertise that is singular in nature. Our new young lion Damian, who I have nicknamed Young Atlas is destined for greatness at our club under the guiding hand of Kristen.  

And thank you all for the inspiration to write three different spin blogs. I have a total of 11 blogs and spin will always be my favorite because it is so easy to write about. 

Today I was working in the field, and missed class but took to spinning by myself but it just wasn’t the same without all of you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.