Rockin' Dino

I arrived at El Camino Y a few minutes even earlier than last week, and I was still no. 22 out of 28 cyclists. From the chatter from the people waiting to sign up for Dino's class, it sounded some bicycles were added to meet demand.

Today's class was full. I've noticed that a lot of the participants are regulars, and they are Serious Cyclists. They're all decked out in cycling gear (clipless pedals of course) and banter with Dino about rides they've done, are about to do etc. I think some of them actually cycle WITH Dino both on the road on on trails.

That's what I love about Dino's class. It's no-nonsense, and he focuses on providing a workout that helps one become a better outdoor cyclist. No tricks, no gimmicks, no cutesey crap that looks cool but has no functional value. It helped that he played a lot of dance music today, rather than rock.

I saw the strange lady with cycling-shoes-sans-cleats. I first met her last year, December maybe? At the time, she said she had bought those shoes over two years ago, and hadn't gotten around to buying cleats. So she pedals wearing cycling shoes in toe cages. Well it's three months later, and she still hasn't bought cleats! I overheard her talking to the woman beside her and it was exactly the same discussion we had had, "Yeah, I've been cycling forever but I just haven't gotten around to buying cleats. Does it really help?" etc.

Tonight's class was officially 70 minutes but I cycled an extra 10 to warm-up. You'd think that it'd be a lot easier than the 90-minute class, but there's no break in the shorter class, and Dino pushes us harder. I hope all this indoor training will pay off when I'm out on the road!