As at 25 March I have raised £1,072 for St Lukes and Jeremiah's Journey. Thank you very much to those who have sponsored me so far. I know the funds are hugely appreciated. Here is the link for anyone wishing to donate:
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/StephenDilley
Next event is a sprint distance duathlon on 29 March followed by a sportive 2 weeks later. Need to up my game on the bike. This implies I have a game to up in the first place. I love cycling but it's my weakest discipline.
Road cycling isn't at its best during the winter months. Cold, wet, slippy and dark. I remember one Friday night in January on the long commute home forgetting my overshoes and my feet going numb . Chuffers. Bring on the Hut that Rocks, a spinning class put on by Plymouth Tri Club each Monday evening at Plymstock School and currently led by Dawn who cleaned and serviced all the bikes herself. Don't they look good? Indoors and weather proofed.
Spinning? It's high intensity exercise on a stationary bike whilst adding or subtracting resistance, to pounding music. There are three positions. Sitting down, standing upright and then bending forwards with your weight back just over the saddle - called the hover, aiming to activate your core. Hmmm.
After every class you feel exhausted, but there's a great camaraderie, because the whole class feels that way. Then there's the banter.
Why the Hut that Rocks? It started back in the day to rock music as an aid to what we were doing. So the chorus of Iron Maiden's Run to the Hills literally had us standing up and "running" on the bikes and that would be followed by tracks where we were climbing the hills we'd run to. Rage Against the Machine (Killing in the Name) was obviously a hills track. Tail end of last year, we diversified. Showadywady's Hey Rock and Roll put in an appearance. Controversial. Not ashamed to admit I appreciated that as it's quite...cheery, but whoever requested it didn't confess. This year, we're going in a dancy direction. Think All About the Bass or Eat Sleep Rave Repeat. I get a musical education and exercise all in one.
How do we start? Usually a bit of heckling for those who missed last week, or who are late. Don't be late.
Choose your bike. They've all got personalities, or may be tempers. Sort of. On some, you can turn the handle a fraction and it's like going from zero resistance to 100%. Try to avoid them. Then there's the squeaky bikes. More heckling for the squeakers. Stinky lubricant spray comes out to sort it.
Towel, check. Large bottle of water, check. Adjust seat. Get on bike and clip in. Warm up: left leg spin; right leg spin. Easy track finished. Temperature in the hut has gone up a notch. Strip off layer. Lean over to door and open it. Air.
Now for the serious stuff. 45 minutes. The tracks:
The standing up one with resistance. Relieved to sit down afterwards. Resistance off. Drink. Towel. The sprint track with low resistance. Fast spinning. Can't hold on that long. Towel. The seated hill climb, arms behind our backs. Slow legs. Load it on, one more click. "Put 2 more on Steve Dilley". What did I say? More drink. The one where we hover for the whole track. Not supposed to bear weight on your arms, but can't see how people don't (or may be my core isn't co-operating enough). Drink. Towel. The one where we stand up for 8, hover for 8 (a form of sports torture, please, make it stop). Imagine week 1 of Strictly Come Dancing where Bruno Tonioli does his wobbly impression of the weaker contestants. That's me on this track. Like some sort of deranged puppet. If this was a dance off, I'd be out. Drink. Towel. Then there's the one where you loosen the handle bars and wiggle them from side to side to work your upper body. Don't mind that one. Drink nearly empty. The "bit of everything" track. Stay with it. The "please let this be the last one track". Then there's one more for good measure. Collapse on bike, face down.
Love it, love it, love it.
Dawn "For those who aren't going running, you can warm down here. Everyone else, let's meet at the front gate in a few minutes. Who is running?" (We left someone behind once who got locked in the loo).
Running?
