John Gurney was once an avid runner. He ran with a group of members on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, but because of knee problems and minor surgeries his knees didn’t like to run anymore! John began attending indoor cycling classes and found that he liked the music, the instruction, the exertion, and noticed the indoor training carried into road riding cardio endurance and overall greater strength. “What doesn’t translate well from studio to road cycling,” John shared, “is technique - knowing how to manipulate gears, and general awareness of your surroundings required to be a safe road rider.” John enjoyed the spin classes so much that, like many of us, he started to overload on them, attending classes 5 times a week. “Some of us hard-core indoor cyclists will do back-to-back classes,” John confessed. So when he cut back on every day classes he noticed the road riding helped combat the fatigue he felt by the end of the week of spinning every morning. He also incorporated swimming to allow his cycling muscles to recover.
This Spring John participated in the Tour de Parkpoint, three road rides with Team NorCal (Red Peloton). These rides offered an opportunity for members to ride with skilled and experienced amateurs from the NorCal Cycling Club. Their rides began at the three club locations and were open to riders of various experience and skill level. “The first couple of rides had about 20 participants, half amateurs and half club members. NorCal held a workshop prior to the three rides to go over basic technique,” John said. Although he wasn’t able to attend the workshop he was encouraged by the fact that it was offered and hopes the “Tour” continues in the future. There were rides in March, April and May and the weather cooperated given all the rainy days during those months. Many of the roads were familiar but they also covered new terrain. “From Sonoma to Healdsburg we rode back through Spring Lake, over the dam, which provided new exposure to routes and the area. From Santa Rosa to Sonoma we encountered some traffic, but we tried to tighten it up, formed up and once out of downtown there was less traffic. Warm Springs Road required more attention to road hazards. It was a real benefit to ride with the amateurs to learn hand signals and other methods of communicate and safely ride together as a group.”
As if this wasn’t enough, John and his wife Phyllis earned their indoor cycling coach credentials and are now substitute cycling instructors at Parkpoint! On a recent business trip to Texas John had an opportunity to attend a cycling class. “Obviously I enjoy doing this quite a bit. I’ve taken many spin classes outside of Parkpoint as well. I just want to say that Parkpoint members have great cycling instructors who provide quality programs compared to many classes elsewhere. Members should check out Parkpoint indoor cycling offerings.” Awwwww…!
Thank you for sharing your story, John. We all are inspired by your enthusiasm and who knows – we might jump in the saddle and join you!!