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Cycling is a trend in the fitness world. But, I’ve never cycled before. I’ve seen it in movies a few times, and it seemed cheesy. However, I was excited to try it.

The first ride with CycleBar is free, so I went online to book my ride. The website was easy to operate, and they didn’t require me to put in my credit card, which was a pleasant surprise to me. I picked the day that I wanted to cycle and saw the available classes and times. I decided to go with the classic 45-minute class, with Josie as my CycleStar instructor. The website even let me decide on what bike I wanted to ride. I chose a front-row bike.

The day before my ride, I received a call from a CycleBar employee. She told me to make sure I arrive 15 minutes early.

On the day of the ride, I made my way to the Jordan Creek location, which is about 30 minutes from Grand View. I didn’t account for the five o’clock traffic, so I got there about five minutes before the class started.

The woman working at the front desk was super kind and upbeat; she didn’t seem stressed that I didn’t arrive 15 minutes early. I checked in at an iPad station, and she got me my cycling shoes. I had chosen to wear a tank top and leggings, because my roommate and I thought it would be a safe bet. We walked together to the back locker room area as she asked me if I had ever cycled before. I put my coat and tennis shoes in a locker, then she led me into the cycling studio. 

The room was dark, tiered like a movie theater and had a huge mirror in front. The music was very loud, so it was hard to hear the woman as she explained how everything worked. I got the gist, so I clicked the shoes in and adjusted the tension knob according to Josie’s instructions. She also made sure the bike fit me and adjusted the seat before I started. I noticed there were about 15 other cyclers in the class.

Josie got the class started with a light bike ride to the song, “Look at Her Now” by Selena Gomez. At one point, she even gave me a shout out for doing a good job. Throughout the class, she shouted out to several riders, which I thought was really encouraging. All of the songs they played were pop, rock and upbeat. 

Josie had us riding on high resistance to simulate riding uphill, then during the next song she would have us turn down the resistance and simulate riding downhill as a reward. Throughout the entire 45 minutes, she would tell us encouraging things such as, ‘this is your time for yourself; get in the zone and make the most of it’ and ‘you’ve gotten so far already; don’t give up now.’ I found that riding to the beat of the music with the other riders made me feel even more encouraged, like a sense of teamwork even though we were all working separately.

Once the ride was over, I found it hard to get off of my bike. I asked the girl next to me how to get off, and she was very friendly and told me to just leave the shoes on the bike. When our group walked out of the studio together, all of us chatting, we were greeted with cool, wet towels to wipe our sweat. I took one, and it felt great. 

It also had a light, pleasant woodsy smell – as if they put essential oils in the water they soaked the towels in. Then I put my shoes and coat back on, chatted with the Josie and a few of the other riders for a bit and left. The woman at the front desk asked if I would like to sign up for a membership on my way out but didn’t pressure me when I said no.

Once I got home, I felt very accomplished and proud of how I did. I checked my email and found that they sent me my CycleStats. I had biked for 11.1 miles and burned 250 calories. After thinking about it though, I don’t think I would recommend cycling as the only form of exercise for a person. 

It is very cardio heavy and is a leg workout. Not to mention, my legs were sore for about a day afterward. Cycling definitely doesn’t offer weight-bearing exercise, nor does it balance out all of the other muscles. I looked online, and it seems to be a pretty expensive membership as well. Riders receive four rides a month for $69, and for unlimited rides it’s $109 per month. For only offering cycling, that seems like a lot of money. 

While it is a fun form of exercise, I’m not sure how practical it is financially or as a stand-alone workout program. I would rate CycleBar a four out of five stars because of those two things. However, it was very fun, gave me a good workout, and the people there were great.