[caption id="attachment_6528" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="I do many things for this blog, but I am not revealing my rolled-out-of-bed look. I draw the line. :-p."]<a href="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/P70900341.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-6528 " title="OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA" src="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/P70900341-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a>[/caption]

In two months, I embark on an adventure of a lifetime.

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I arrive in Florence and meet up with my beloved cousins.  We will then join <strong><a href="http://vbt.com" target="_blank">Vermont Bicycle Tours</a></strong> and cycle our way through the hills and seaside of Tuscany to Rome.

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I am fit and ready for the challenge!

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Sort of..  I don’t own a bicycle.

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Which, now that I think of it, is really sad considering that my parents couldn’t get me<em> off</em> of my bicycle when I was a kid.  I need to rethink this in the near future.

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In the immediate future, I need to regularly get my tuckus on a cycle pronto.  Since it’s currently 110 in the shade, I will need to get my tuckus on a cycle indoors.

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Mindlessly sitting on an exercise bicycle holds zero appeal for me.  I therefore asked Christy Jo if I could accompany her to my first ever spin class at her gym.

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<span style="font-size: medium; color: #800080;"><strong>She’s only been asking me to do this for a few years.  But now with my tuckus at stake, I thought it was time.  </strong></span>

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I was a bit daunted by the whole thing.

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First of all, the weekend spin classes start at 8 a.m. which is suitable for Christy Jo because she is a mother.  Mothers awaken early with their children.  Childless women enjoy the luxury of rolling out of bed at 8 – 8:30 a.m. to walk their dogs.

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<span style="color: #800080;"><strong><span style="font-size: medium;">Secondly, spin classes are touted as being the Hardest Workout in the History of Man and Womankind. </span></strong></span> At least “spin people” refer to it this way.  I’m fit, but I’m no Olympian.

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Thirdly, I was stepping foot into a gym for the first time in 3 years.  I could not show up in my old, dingy workout clothes worn during my home workouts.  <strong><a href="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/2011/07/07/day-280-need-inspiration-shop-for-a-sports-bra/" target="_blank">Luckily, I remedied this problem at Lululemon one week prior.</a>  </strong>Whew!

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Bleary-eyed and less-than-bushytailed, I arrived at the gym between 7:45 - 7:50 on Saturday morning to find an ultra-chipper Christy Jo and her cutie pie of a kid.  They obviously had been up for 3 hours and had eaten their Cheerios.

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We entered the CROWDED tiny room packed full of spin bikes.  <span style="font-size: medium; color: #800080;"><strong>These suburbanites obviously all have 2.2 kids and are early weekend risers.</strong></span>

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After 5-10 minutes of Christy Jo fine tuning my bike to adjust for my 5’2 and ¾ inch frame, we started pedaling.

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The music was LOUD.  This boded well for me.  I am the typical GenXer who undoubtedly suffers some sort of hearing loss from blaring their Sony Walkman through early adulthood.  I like my music to rattle the windows.  The louder the music, the more motivated the Late Bloomer.

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AND!!!!  <strong><a href="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/2011/07/12/day-284-listening-to-more-recent-and-i-use-that-phrase-loosely-music/" target="_blank">To suit my penchant for pre-1987 tunes</a></strong>, the first song was Michael Jackson’s “Black and White” which graces my list of Top 10 Favorite Pop Songs.  I was ready to tackle my imaginary hills and SPIN!

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My enthusiasm at the start dwindled during the warm-up.  My legs started to feel like toast approximately 5 minutes in.

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<span style="font-size: medium; color: #800080;"><strong>I looked over at Christy Jo and asked, “Am I going to die?”</strong></span>

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She simply laughed at me as she always does.  I guess she thought I was joking.

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And then the strangest thing happened…

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I started to feel ENERGIZED and like I CAN DO THIS!  This spin rebirth occurred partly from the uber-bright-eyed and bushy-tailed instructor with The Most Sculpted Arms in the State of Arizona (how could you not feel motivated?), and partly from me remembering that I always feel winded for the first 5 minutes of a workout.  After 5 minutes, I am set and raring to go!

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I pedaled.  I surged.  I sprinted.  I was up and down, up and down. I got down low to go "through the tunnel".

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[caption id="attachment_6529" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Reenacting the Famous Tunnels of Tuscany"]<a href="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/P70900351.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-6529" title="OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA" src="http://www.diaryofalatebloomer.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/P70900351-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" /></a>[/caption]

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The instructor shared with us newbies that there is no shame in taking a break.  Break schmeak!  I kept spinning my little heart out.

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<span style="font-size: medium; color: #800080;"><strong>Christy Jo looked over again with an appalled expression.  “Do you sweat???”</strong></span>

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Now <em>I</em> was the one laughing.  “I’ve never been much of a sweaty person.”

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Heh heh heh.

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After cycling through what I am sure was the equivalent of 20 miles of Tuscan hills, Ms. Sculpted Arms AZ congratulated us for showing up early and starting our day with a challenging workout.  With this jump start, we were now guaranteed to have a fantastic day.

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You know what?  She was absolutely right!

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Coasting on my endorphin high, I stopped by the front desk to inquire about month-to-month membership pricing.  It might not be a bad idea to continue spinning my way towards my Italian adventure.

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The young woman (I’m guessing around 18) at the front desk pointed out the pricing for the various age brackets.

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<span style="font-size: medium; color: #800080;"><strong>She then pointed to the first age bracket labeled “18-27” and ASKED IF WAS 27!!!!</strong></span>

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That’s it!  SOLD to the 18 year-old at the front desk!

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If spinning shaves 14 years off of my life after one class, then I am in for LIFE!

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*****

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Have you ever taken a spin class?  What did you think?

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