My buddy Ryan sent me an email with instructions to sign up for a free CYC class last week. Since I like Ryan and I like spinning, I was all over it as fast as my hungover brain could process the sign-up process. I had never heard of CYC (maybe because I've become mildly obsessed with CrossFit), so I did some brief internet research to see what I had gotten myself into.
What the website has to say:
Personal Trainer Designed
The signature Cyc Method, designed by Keoni Hudoba, an Under Armour-sponsored athlete, offers an exhilarating beat-based 45 minute ride that activates the whole-body, the whole time.
Sports Specific Sectors
By incorporating weights through sectors inspired by more than 20 different sports moves, the Cyc experience takes the boutique indoor cycling studio concept beyond the bike.
Social Fitness
Cyc is a collective of fitness-minded people who just so happen to be on a bike. We connect people inside and outside the studios through our lounge space, events and social tools.
Ride for Change
When you ride at Cyc, you ride for change. For every mile you ride, we donate to the Cyc charity partner of your choice. We also hold private charity rides and pop-up ‘Cyc-ling’ rides at cultural events such as SXSW.
Keoni Hudoba, the creator of the CYC Method, is hot, Hawaiian, and drops the eff bomb more often than I do, so I immediately loved him. He lost 100 HUNDRED POUNDS to go on to become an Under Armour sponsored athlete, a Master Trainer for Barry’s Bootcamp, and the creator of the DRENCHED method. I love me a good success story.
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New York's (first?) CYC studio has opened in DavidBartonGym at Astor Place. While my friends who were spinning instructors at DavidBarton aren't so pleased that they lost their jobs, many New Yorkers looked thrilled that CYC had moved in. I'd never been to DavidBartonGym before, but it's as swanky as I had heard. It was like Equinox if Equinox hired Tim Burton as its interior designer. Everyone who worked there was really nice but I missed the box immediately. It was just really weird to walk into a space where no one knew me or welcomed me to their community. It might have been my imagination but I think quite a few girls in the locker room gave me the side eye.
The ride was awesome. From the moment we got on our bikes, I knew we were not fucking around. The warm-up included an introduction to the different positions, which includes a 4th and 5th position I hadn't heard before. We rode in and out of the saddle for counts of 4 up to 32 beats and then we were split into three groups for a round robin of movements. I'm trying really hard to remember the order of this ride but I think I was just overwhelmed by the fun. Or the combination of sweating in a basement with great music and black lights brought me back to college and I blacked out out of habit. (Latenight!) Who knows.
What I do remember is some seriously difficult 2 lbs weights. Yup, 2 lbs. I can fucking clean and jerk 100 lbs and 2 lbs of sand in a beanbag just about did me in. I've actually had this conversation in the locker room with the ladies at CFHK. Our arms are sore after lifting heavy all week so when we go to Flywheel, Soul Cycle, and now CYC, we're looking for an active recovery day. Then we find ourselves next to women who can pulse that 4 lbs bar/dumbbell/beanbag for 8 straight minutes while we're shaking after two. It's frustrating. Keoni jokingly called out some of the guys for half-assing their weights by calling them Hercules. This was all in good fun but I was definitely felt more like part of that group than the pack of ladies I was riding with.
We had a few weighted songs - one with the Fly/Soul pulsing, one with punching, and one with some type of simulated backstroke targeting the triceps. I'm not really into any of that but I did enjoy the punching, mostly because I have a nice jab. I felt like an asswipe with the fake swimming. I'm not coordinated enough for that shit.
Then we grabbed our towels and pretended to row. First off, Anthony has spent so much time trying to teach me to row correctly on the Concept2 that I felt horrible creating any type of muscle memory that might interfere with my progress. Second, try holding a towel taut and make a circular motion with your arms and tell me that doesn't suck. Third, I may have been working at a liberal non-profit for a little too long now that I find microaggressions in every spin class, but when the drumming started in a pitch black room, I immediately thought of galley slaves being forced to row across the Atlantic. That was awkward.
BOTTOM LINE
What I do remember is some seriously difficult 2 lbs weights. Yup, 2 lbs. I can fucking clean and jerk 100 lbs and 2 lbs of sand in a beanbag just about did me in. I've actually had this conversation in the locker room with the ladies at CFHK. Our arms are sore after lifting heavy all week so when we go to Flywheel, Soul Cycle, and now CYC, we're looking for an active recovery day. Then we find ourselves next to women who can pulse that 4 lbs bar/dumbbell/beanbag for 8 straight minutes while we're shaking after two. It's frustrating. Keoni jokingly called out some of the guys for half-assing their weights by calling them Hercules. This was all in good fun but I was definitely felt more like part of that group than the pack of ladies I was riding with.
We had a few weighted songs - one with the Fly/Soul pulsing, one with punching, and one with some type of simulated backstroke targeting the triceps. I'm not really into any of that but I did enjoy the punching, mostly because I have a nice jab. I felt like an asswipe with the fake swimming. I'm not coordinated enough for that shit.
Then we grabbed our towels and pretended to row. First off, Anthony has spent so much time trying to teach me to row correctly on the Concept2 that I felt horrible creating any type of muscle memory that might interfere with my progress. Second, try holding a towel taut and make a circular motion with your arms and tell me that doesn't suck. Third, I may have been working at a liberal non-profit for a little too long now that I find microaggressions in every spin class, but when the drumming started in a pitch black room, I immediately thought of galley slaves being forced to row across the Atlantic. That was awkward.
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| Ryan and his friends from work |
You will leave drenched in sweat. The music and energy are great. I'm not totally sold on this CYC as night club meets spin class, but I've been riding with Darryl Gaines for years so I'm spoiled as shit. (If you want to feel like you're in a club, high as fuck, and ready to take on the world, go take one of Darryl's Flywheel classes.)
The classes start at $25 per ride. Shoe rental is available for $2 and they charge for water. You have access to the rest of the gym at DavidBartonGym within 2 hours of your ride.
I'm trying to figure out how to make Keoni my best friend.
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| I don't look pretty after I workout. Sorry I'm not sorry. |
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