Spinning Class

Yesterday I took my first spinning class at a fitness center just 5 minutes walking from the office. The class was taught in Chinese but that was no problem as I just could copy what others were doing. Of course I had no clue what was coming or how long we were supposed to climb or sprint but those are minor details. I’m getting pretty good in body language anyhow. The music was a mixture of Chinese pop/techno with popular English rock songs. I did recognize some of the songs so that helped figuring out the duration of the climb or so. The bikes are great (Lemond Revmasters , see pic) and we have the instructor on a podium with a microphone, so I could eye him form the back of the room. The guy talked constantly and had us do a lot of jumps but overall I had a great 45 min work-out and for sure will become a regular. Classes are only taught in the evenings from 7-8 pm but that fits perfectly my schedule. There are 31 bikes and only three were left over, those were the ones around me. I guess being the only foreigner in the room scared some people but I got quite a few compliments from the other students at the end of the class because several came to me and said something (don’t know what) and showed me their thumbs up and big smiles. I guess I made some new friends (?). I was also the only one with proper cycling shoes and cycling short so I made quite an entrance. Even the teacher has regular running shoes that he had to strap in but he had at least a fancy spinning jersey. And in case you wonder, nobody had a heart rate monitor. At the end of the class a cleaning crew came in right away and cleaned every bike with disinfectant and dried them with towels. The room is hot without fans and that gives the work-out a nice extra dimension. I’m sure you get the picture. Unfortunately they close the room after the class so you cannot stay longer. They also open the room only 15 min before the class starts. The fitness center is pretty big and they seem to have more than 20 fitness instructors and personal trainers at the place ( pictures are hanging in the entrance hall) but only William could speak some English. Yes, all personnel have an English name. I asked William if he would be interested in me teaching a spinning class in English, especially in the morning. He looked at me with a puzzled face so I’m not sure if he understood what I was saying. I’ll have to bring one of my local colleagues from the office with me one evening and ask them to translate for me. I could probably fill half the spinning room with people from the office but again I need first to get the message through to William. As you can imagine, the lack of communication can lead to hilarious moments. William tried to say something about Lance (Armstrong?) but again I was lost, so I blurted out “Eddy Merckx ?” and he gave me a big smile and a high five. I was left wondering if he actually knew Eddy ? He also said that I need to ask for him every time I visit the fitness center and he will help me out. I told him that he was my man and I would certainly do that, which led to another high five and big smile. Not sure if we understood each other but does it really matter? I'm having tonnes of fun here :)