Page 6

Well, it’s happened I have missed the TMW. Non coincidentally, I had the intuitive hit as I approached the doors that I had just waited too long leaving my house. No worries (gulp) I am now #11 and I am trying to keep my finger on the magic button on my droid hoping for a cancellation. I am relaxed because I do have a gym, duh. 

Remember fans that on a Monday the guilt factor carries a deeper impression on our psyche. At least for some, because when one over indulges on the weekend, the compulsion to purge as Kristen puts it, weighs heavily.  I am okay I tell myself I have been in the CS 8 out of the last 9 days. No, I want in, next time I will bring my tent. 

So do I have a story to write? Indeed I do. The love bug has hit one of our instructors and although I was blind to it, Cindy our Sherlock Holmes  whispered the secret. Do I dare reveal my Page 6 information? No wonder the class on Sunday was well let’s say just a little bit off it’s usual intensity. I am glad for her and him. Have you guessed? Not rocket science,  the answer is right here in this paragraph. Someone’s blue eyes are sparkling just a little bit brighter.

P.S. I got in. And I found out who the lucky guy is. 


P.P.S. I am thinking about writing an inside edition to KSC. It will be frank and provocative. However, one caveat will be that I will need you to e mail me for the link. 

More Powerful Than a Locomotive

It’s 925 on a Sunday and I wait on the TMW* for the Blue Sapphire’s edition of Hello Sunday.  As I love to write about it, and this gemstone in particular, it never seems a bother to sit and wait for the 30 minute sign in. 

The Blue Sapphire is beyond superlatives, but I will do my level best. Some have accused me of having a “thing” for the Blue Sapphire the way I wax poetic about her. I am not sure where that comes from but she is a fantastic motivator and I just flat out admire her. 

Another packed house, and Hello Sunday is fast becoming one of my favorite classes here at Equinox. One of the ingredients that make Carolyn so unique is her gesticulations. I really took the time today to watch her hands and arm movements. Like coupling rods to locomotive wheels, she moves piston like as she directs us toward speed and effort. It is a pure art form in itself.  When the Blue Sapphire beckons we all follow in UNISON. The appeal she exudes is irresistible. Whether it’s her smile, voice or just innate talent, I can’t miss Sundays with Carolyn Mellace. 

That was the week that was wherein I found myself spinning 7 days in a row. Just two months ago I would have cringed at that prospect. I made a concerned effort to sample more of the instructor base than ever before and the talent is very deep at Equinox, very deep. 

Louis, a  recent addition as membership advisor, refers to this club as our “Third Space.” Home then work and then Equinox. An interesting premise that is literally very true because we don’t arrive, workout, shower and leave.It is this sense of belonging and having virtually every staff member knowing your name that makes entering and leaving like a second home.  I have belonged to so many clubs in the past including Bally’s where my deepest concern was spending only the briefest intervals and always being concerned about locking my belongings,  and just how sanitary the environs were. Never have I been concerned about  cleanliness or  possessions here, and when I leave something here like shoes, they appear on my very next visit.  Equinox has this  three pronged approach of Greet, Train and Maintain which is why it will remain the premier club at least in my mind. 

Gee I sound like a P.R. man. Only speaking what my heart tells my mouth what to say.

*TMW Ten Most Wanted.  

A New Star Has Appeared On the Equinox Sky

  

His name is Damian Vella. A young man groomed with all the rudimentary skills and then more some.  I was impressed how I could hear every word of his call and how he had the music working for him as his  supporting cast instead of it trying to take the starring role.   The selections were recognizable and  diversified. And when an instructor plays Billy Idol and Dead or Alive, he gets the check mark in my column.  I thought he was a diamond in the rough on my first ride with him several weeks ago, apparently his karat is shining brighter now. There is tremendous clarity in his style and with this kind of start his online bookings will be filled in moments. 

Extremely fit and with a shining countenance he is on his way to capturing his own devotees and will (I predict) admirably take his place among the talented staff that Kristen has assembled. 

What impressed me too was how he worked the room. He had the presence of mind to get off his bike and make eye contact with everyone in the CS, no easy task when all eyes are on you. Yes I think another star will be taking his place among my favorites. Good luck Damian, I don’t think you’ll need it. 

This week had me spinning 7 days in a row. Am I crazy?  3 KSC, 1 Mr. Mayhem, 1 Blue Sapphire, 1 Borska and finishing with...Now I need a nickname for him.....

Open Rebellion

My fears have been confirmed. The KSC line is assembling earlier and earlier. A full 75 minutes before and I am 4th on the TMW*.  Stacy with no e and laser like green eyes was off to kickboxing as she just could not find it in herself to ‘wait’. Let’s face it unless you have found  a constructive use of the time before, it becomes a difficult rationalization than if you just sit here and ‘stew’ and you have no potatoes. 

Oops I was asleep at the switch and  Sharon with the ‘o’ casually absorbed in her crossword and a hair like trigger finger got in to 830 with a cancellation. Ouch! It’s okay I have my computer and since I have now an even dozen blogs there is plenty to do. However getting in would seem like winning at “Take Five”, but a little bit o luck is probably not in the offing this morning. And while I was playing that option the 745 minute passed me by and left me out of tomorrows class as well.  My wife is getting suspicious asking what “woman of spin” was I meeting this morning?  Yikes and ikes. I do have plenty of witnesses but she would be horribly mortified if I had one of them call her but I will have to work this bit of TMI (too much information) by myself. So what’s a middle aged bald man to do?  My Jack the lad past has come back to haunt me and so far off from Halloween too.  

*Ten Most Wanted

The Anaerobic Lounge Chair

For the first time I heard Kristen talking about entering the forbidden zone. No not the quarantined area in the Planet of the Apes, It’s the anaerobic zone. Now entering my 7th month of my rebirth I have been living in the anaerobic zone since I started. In fact I was wondering if anyone would show up here, ever.  I was sure I was alone in my lounge chair getting comfortable being out of breath. Now to be true, I have made advancements in breathing on a conscious level but for the most part I still lose control and resort to mouth breathing when the going gets really tough. And I am in KSC not in lollipop land. Since lollygagging is strictly taboo, I pant rather than trying to catch up on my reading as some of our members beyond the glass doors do. 

In any case I am curious as to where our Queen leader is going with this new premise. She talks about the hard zone, and breathless but never did she  even whisper the word anaerobic. I know that world well especially since I was a sprinter back in High School and later in life  when those long distance races were nearing the finish line not only had I gone anaerobic but I was retching as well.  I don’t think reverse peristalsis is part of this equation. 

The anaerobic lounge chair, open yours and tell me how it feels because I still can’t catch my breath.  

Drop Everything, It's Mike Borska

Why did I wait so long?  That’s a question that might haunt me as I enter my 7th month of spinning.  A man near in age I suspect to my own and with a musical taste to match. When he played Strange Brew by Cream, I thought to myself that it must have been 40 years since I heard that tune. I am sure I was a teenager and that’s when music was played on vinyl with a needle.  

The selections were  conspicuously minus hip-hop but did include some present day music like Coldplay so it wasn’t entirely musty.  Mike has a little Bob Fosse in him as well because I noticed he had the spinning choreography down just like Kristen and Carolyn do.  Added to the mix was him coming up to each rider checking their form and tightening of the screws when the handlebars seem to be rocking. 

I noticed something else singular to the session with Mike and that was riders mouthing the words to the songs. Sharon in particular over to my left was perfectly in lip synch with a Crosby Stills and Nash cut from the 1970’s.  There were several other would be singers as I glanced around the studio and by rides end a spontaneous applause broke out and I for one was sad this hour had concluded so quickly.  

A rubenesque woman to my immediate left might have left me in the anaerobic zone had I stolen more glances in her direction. She was a Borska devotee and so much told me so as her smiles throughout the session accentuated her eye candy like form.  I can’t help but notice God’s creations after all I am still a man.  

Mike Borska is definitely in my future, and with a playlist like his I can luxuriate and kick my ass as well. 

The Blue Ferrari With the Lavender Interior

That was the image that descended on me as I started my climb with the Blue Sapphire.      

The sports car to end all sports cars is Carolyn . She’s sleek, compact, powerful and with the design right out of the  Fountain Head.  Fine architecture is what God had in mind when he designed this woman’s physiology. A work of art. 

Never one to quibble as to  what we are in her class to do, she  had us  negotiating  the steepest of mountain climbs today. And for minutes at a time I might add.  A full house which tells me the phenomenon of Mellace increases by the week. We have our own little cult with the Blue Sapphire. It’s an exclusive club too because she’s only here two days a week. So there is a limited amount of tickets available to this inspirational hour complete with smiles and torture.  

This blue Ferrari has two pistons that almost whirr when you watch them fly through the pedal stroke.  Just a marvel of biometrics and  when you watch her move, she leaves her DNA all over you.  I couldn’t help but notice how her tendrils became her windshield wipers and helped her keep a clear view of each and every one of us and our efforts. We put out for the Blue Sapphire and the boys are included. 

Post Script 

The population is very animated this morning. As I sit here,  75 full minutes before class,  with the Ten Most Wanted there is civil unrest. I think that the membership is asking for change in how the bookings are processed. I put some suggestions in the black box and maybe if you want to have your voice heard and not just complain add your comments too.