Quote Originally Posted by pooks
So "spinning" is something you do on your bike when you're riding, not just in a spinning class?

Pooks -- I'm also quite new to this sport, and I've gathered that this "spinning" means that instead of coasting along, you keep on pedaling. (calorie-wise, I have a feeling that coasting is about as good as sitting in my recliner, yes?) What I've gathered from my reading is that it's a good thing to keep the pedaling easy and do lots of it, rather than having the gearing set so that you're pushing hard on the pedals. Seems I've seen in several places that the hard gears are hard on the knees.

So, I'm not sure if I've got it right yet, but mostly I use the middle chainring on the front, and I shift back and forth on the back gears to keep from having that goofy spin that happens when there's NO resistance on the pedals, but it's also not difficult to pedal. It seems to be a good thing to "spin" fast, but if I happen on a stretch where there's either nothing for resistance, or a little more than usual, then I just pedal a little slower through that area.

I'm starting to think I need to find a cycling mentor to ride with now and again for learning all this new stuff that "didn't exist" in biking when I was a kid and we just rode!

I'm looking forward to seeing what our more experienced spinners can tell us about this spinning stuff too, Pooks, cuz I'll get to learn more too -- thank you for asking!!!!

Karen in Boise