They Saw It All

It was an exciting night at the YMCA in spin class. I had my two friends seated on bikes - my friend next to me with her daughter on a bike in front of us. We were pushing hard, doing sprints, climbing hills, listening to some rather punky music. Drink water, stand up, sit down, push push push. A painfully delightful class.

I have a hate/love relationship with spinning. The day of class I go through this dread state, even to the point of possibly being a bit snappy with my husband. As the time to leave arrives we put on our gym clothes and head to the Y, still with an edge because I KNOW what awaits! Yes, spinning hurts in a strange way that both terrifies me and makes me proud to be considered "in shape" enough to complete this rigorous exercise.

Ours is a semi-serious class - I think my friend and I are rather cavalier and joke around a lot before and sometimes during the spin, probably much to our coach's disapproval.

So we begin class - it takes some time on the bike but finally the second wind arrives and now it is all mental. I try to psych myself to the end of this "torture" by counting the number of songs, watching my mileage and vowing to stay until only I reach ten well-earned miles but know I'll actually stay for the entire session. Mind games - doing and imagining anything to get through class.

A couple weeks ago we were pumping away in a steady, long and steep climb when all of a sudden, I felt this funny feeling in my legs. My outer shorts snap had popped and my shorts fell down to my knees, quickly. I grabbed at them as my friend's daughter looked back at me over my exclamation. She smiled in a perplexed way. You see, we face a wall of mirrors so the entire class could see I was struggling to pull my pants back up. After I had secured said garment - my inner chuckling made the rest of the hour a blur, a fun time. I was silently singing an old song, the words are unsure but goes something like: "mommy had a baby and her head popped off." Now why did my wardrobe malfunction remind me of that song, I have no clue. Of course, after class I believe I was the first one out the door!