3 Things I Have Learned After 3 Weeks Riding with CYCLEBAR Columbia Pike

After spinning at Cyclebar Columbia Pike for a few weeks now, here are things I have learned:

1. Ride your own ride! Everything is optional when you're in the Cyclebar studio: you don't need to use the weight bars. You don't need to sprint for 60 seconds. You don't need to grind in high gears. You don't need to dance or do bike pushups and calisthenics. A young mom came up to me after she heard me talking about Cyclebar and told me that she tried it out but never went back because it was too tough, too hard, she didn't know what to do, and it was too competitive. I reassured her that Cyclebar is a huge proponent of riding your own ride. As long as you have fun. The reason it is also so challenging and so competitive is that some people want that level of challenge to have fun. They want the boards, the challenges, the burn of the lactic acid! If you're not having fun, adapt until you have fun. This isn't PT or gym class: nobody's monitoring your workout for intensity (the instructors are monitoring you to make sure you're safe).
2. Life's too short to be embarrassed about your body! I turned the modesty corner and drop the over-sweats at the bike before the ride and just wear my bike shorts. That's what they were designed for. Heck, the ride is in the dark and nobody cares anyway. I only turned the bend because I was wearing a pair of long fleece sweats and they just kept falling down and impeding my ride. I needed, at that point, to drop trou, leaving only my t-shirt and my XXL Pearl iZUMi Men's Escape Quest cycling bib shorts.
3. Drink lots of water before, during, and after your ride. If you work really hard the whole time through, especially during the hour ride, you might get a dehydration headache or a dehydration hangover the next day.

I will come up with more advice as I think of it. I am trying to keep a list.