[caption id="attachment_6528" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="You don&#39;t want to see me first thing in the a.m. without a stitch of makeup. Trust me."]<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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Secondly, spin classes are touted as being the Hardest Workout in the History of Man and Womankind.  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.  These suburbanites obviously all have 2.2 kids and are early weekend risers.

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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, 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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Christy Jo looked over again with an appalled expression.  “Do you sweat???”

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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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He he he.

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

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