Mary Eggers

I am super happy and excited to be back on the “teaching indoor cycling” bandwagon. Teaching at Cycledelic feels good, it feels great to be back up there as the instructor and to be able to do what I love. I am able to take what I learned from the old school spinning and blend it into the new and evolved style of what is now called Cycling Fusion. It’s literally the blend of both of the world of indoor and outdoor cycling.

I have seen a lot in terms of what is and isn’t done in the indoor cycling world. And I believe this to be the perfect blend of everything that I love when it comes to cycling in general.

I am also excited to announce that I will be teaching there twice a week!

Tuesdays at 5:45 pm and Wednesdays at 5:30am. Yes AM. You know I am an early kind of girl. Come… ride…. shower (the studio has two showers) and get home before the bus arrives.

Here are a few frequently asked questions that I have had regarding Cycledelic:

1. What kind of bikes do they use:

The bikes are Freemotion bikes, and honestly the best “spinning bike” I have ever ridden. They are equipped with power, the ability to monitor HR, cadence, and you can even take that information home with you. This is what the bike looks like (in this picture the power console is not pictured….)

This is what the power console looks like. This cyclist has some mad power!

You can stick a USB flash drive into the top of the console there, and save your stats from your ride. You can also as you can see and track your averages, and even separate the ride into “stages” indicated by the “stages” button. For example I separate my warm up, ride and cool down into stages. If you use a Garmin it’s exactly the same as hitting lap.

2. How accurate is the power and how do I even know what it means?

I have been riding with power for several years now and I find it highly conducive to understanding how you are riding. It’s the window into my ride and frankly the way cycling has headed in general. Track progress, identify limiters….. power is amazing.

I find the power on the Freemotion bikes to be incredibly accurate. The powermeters are recalibrate frequently, which is really important.

On my tri bike I have been riding with a Quarq for a few years now and love it. It’s plug and play and user-friendly. I find that my average wattages to be incredibly consistent within 10-20 watts on the Freemotion bikes. I don’t worry about 10-20 watts in a general ride like this. As long as you know those differences you can easily work with them
.

We teach using Functional Threshold Power as a guide (and this is DIFFERENT from how I coach at QT2), which is also known at FTP. We determine FTP by performing a test. The test goes something like this:

15-20 minute warm up

5 minute hard effort

10 minutes easy

20 minutes hard effort

cool down.

We take the average power and HR from that 20 minute effort to determine your HR zones and FTP.

Check out our events page for upcoming FTP testing dates and times. Click here for that. You will get a printout with your power zones and HR zones all in one convenient place. I recommend testing every 10-12 weeks. But it’s worth it to get in there and get those zones all figured out and nailed down, even if you don’t ride outside. Give yourself something to shoot for and measure.

3. What are my class payment options?

Our payment options and prices are very similar to local yoga studios. A drop in class is $16 per class and just like anywhere else we have options that include monthly packages, annual … etc. We frequently run grupons and such so keep your eye out for that.

Click here for the complete list of class package options and don’t forget that your first ride is FREEEEEEEE!

4. Do you teach like a spin instructor or as a cyclist?

I teach a combination of both. My philosophy about indoor cycling is this…… this bike is not set up as your road, time trial or mountain bike would be. It will always be a different position. However being able to ride in different positions helps you become a more rounded athlete. Some of the best cyclists and triathletes in the world ride different bikes all of the time. Being able to adapt is part of your ability as an athlete and the positions on an indoor bike can absolutely lend to an enhancement of how you ride outside.

I don’t try to mimic the road inside. We are inside. I can’t mimic the road. What I can do however is use positions like the standing run or standing climb to help build strength for outside.

For example we might do a long standing climb in class with resistance set to allow our cadence to be 70-75. We would never try to do that outside. In fact outside we would stay in the saddle and spin up the hill (not to be mistaken for going easy up the hill…..). But…… we can use the standing climb inside….. to build our strength to spin up the hill outside. I focus highly…. highly on form, which makes or breaks the deal.

My classes are structured differently each week. The first week the profile was really a mixed bag of terrain. We did everything. Week two we focused mostly on long steady climbs. There is always a plan and always a profile.

So I teach a combination of styles….. because I am both.

5. What if I don’t like to be out of the saddle?

The rule in all of our classes at Cycledelic is this: it’s your ride. You need to make it work for you. If you have taken my yoga class….. the same idea here. I have sat in Matt’s class and done a recovery ride (HR and watts less than 100) while he was doing an FTP test. We welcome that here.

We want you to honor what’s going on in your body. Some people shouldn’t be out of the saddle or just don’t want to be. I give options for how to make it work. This isn’t my ride….. it’s your ride. The beauty of indoor cycling is that you can again, really make it yours.

6. What’s your music like:

When it comes to music I like EVERYTHING. I am Dave Matthews, to Bond, to U2, to Metallica. Here are the playlists for my last two classes…. I do share them on Facebook too.

Remember when we used to make spin TAPES? I still have 60 tapes. So much work went into making them! But here is the iPod list!

I do take music suggestions, but the music does have to resonate with me in order to “sell it”. But feel free to pass along some good music….. most of what I have on my iPod comes from what people have recommended to me over the years.

Cycledelic is the first exclusively indoor cycling studio in Rochester. It’s like a yoga studio but for indoor cycling. These are all over the place on the East and West coasts….. and they are a great place to be. It’s a small atmosphere. It’s cozy. I have been asked if I would consider teaching at a larger gym in the future……. right now I don’t know. Anything could happen. I am open to anything.

What I will say is this… for as long as I teach yoga I will teach yoga at Breathe. For as long as I teach indoor cycling I will teach at Cycledelic. I thought I was done teaching but Kathy and Matt are persuasive and have a great place. If I did teach anywhere else it would be in addition not instead of.

But one thing at a time!

Right now I am pretty psyched to be restarting my indoor cycling career at Cycledelic. I believe in the studio, I believe in the amazing owners Kathy and Matt and I believe this is the strongest indoor cycling team I have ever worked with. They are all amazing.

Come in for a ride! first ride is FREE! Located at the 12 Corners in Brighton! Reserve a bike HERE!