My early days of bike riding were not particularly auspicious. My parents love to tell the stories of how I was the last kid on the block to master a two-wheeler. I wasn’t particularly coordinated and I think I was terrified of falling! I eventually figured it out and spent many a childhood day blissfully riding around our neighborhood.

And then I just stopped. Somewhere around the time I got my driver’s license the bike just lost its allure and I took a long (really long) hiatus from riding. I have friends who ride, my husband rides, and of course my kids ride. But not me.

Until this weekend. Now before you get all excited I did not go buy a bike nor did I hit the open road. Instead, I eased back into the saddle on a Real Ryder spinning bike. Have you heard of these?

Not your ordinary spinning bike, the Real Ryder brand allows you to shift from side to side mimicking the feel of a turn on a road bike. Like this.

This engages your core and provides another fitness benefit to the workout beyond the intense cardio you’re getting by pedaling. The leaning takes a little bit to master – I’m definitely still learning! (And in full disclosure my seat is S-O-R-E after years of being out of the bike saddle. Ugh. I hear that resolves after about 3 rides.) They even build in some arm conditioning near the end of the class so you really get a full body experience.

I took two 45-minute classes this weekend at the Power Ryde Studio in Loveland where I live. This studio, operated by a mother-daughter team, Meg & Casey Hilmer, has been open for about a month and they have great introductory specials (e.g. 3 classes for $15 or an unlimited summer for $225!). Casey is a competitive marathon runner who was introduced to RealRyder while a student at the University of Michigan and was the genius with the idea to bring these bikes to Cincinnati. (You can imagine how much I love the story of a young entrepreneur following her passion to get people healthier!)

I also loved that while I was riding, I pushed beyond what I would have done left to my own devices – something about the room full of people, the music, and the vibrant instructors stoked my competitive fire making me work harder. Even as a non-cyclist, I loved this workout. But if you ARE a rider, then you have to check this out.

Why? Here’s a little bit of insight from the Real Ryder website, “RealRyder® International is the only indoor bike maker on the market that focuses on one thing, and one thing only: Making the best indoor bike on the planet. Ever see a kid ask to put the training wheels back on? We haven’t. We’ve taken the training wheels off the indoor bike; once you’ve experience our ride you will join the legions of riders who adamantly state that they’ll never ride a conventional stationary bike again.”

If you live in Cincinnati, check out the Power Ryde studio. If you live elsewhere, tell me about the studio near you. You can use this link to find one!