RealRyder is hard at work on its installments featuring studios across the United States that have taken their indoor cycling studios to the next level (see our first installment on Real Ryder Revolution in metro-Detroit Michigan). What is their secret to selling out cycling classes, creating waiting lines and leaving their customers hungry for more? Watch the second part of this installment, featuring Qi Ryders, to learn more about the secrets to their success!

“Every month has been better than the last.”
“In 5 months I’ve never had one class not sell out.”
“Customer retention has been easy. We just put them on the bike.”
“RealRyders provide 100% more benefit – to everything.”

Qi has an incredible story in terms of its business success, but the classes featuring RealRyder® ABF8 bikes have also changed the lives of their participants. Below we have the story of how RealRyder changed the life of one of Qi’s top trainers and their Boxing Director, Nick Spinosa.

Nick has been on his feet for most of his life, growing up working his family’s restaurant in Pennsylvania. As an avid athlete, Nick played many sports – baseball, football, basketball – and continued to play baseball at the collegiate level at Penn State. He also developed a love and passion for boxing, which runs in his family. Nick’s grandfather was  a professional boxer.

Nick’s love of sports and time spent on his feet caught up with him. During his collegiate years, while playing both baseball and boxing, Nick had to undergo surgery for damages to his feet, also dealing with arthritis pains from being on so many surfaces. Surgeons had to fuse the bones of his feet together in a series of surgeries. Three surgeries, in fact. Not an easy thing to swallow for an active person. And that wasn’t the end.

Following college, two additional surgeries (for a total of 5 surgeries on his feet!) the newly-minted kineseology grad headed out west to live with his brother in Denver, Colorado. Nick said he could barely walk or bend over when he arrived in Colorado in early 2010. It was time to get back in form. His brother proceeded to introduce him to Chris Lindley, one of the co-owners of Qi.

The two hit it off immediately, bonding over boxing and the Army-style workouts Chris provided at Qi. Enter the RealRyders at Qi. Nick was re-learning to walk when RealRyders arrived at Qi, and with the RealRyder® ABF8′s, he was able to accomplish his goals of walking again, becoming physically active and shedding weight gained over multiple surgeries. Nick is now 60 pounds lighter, teaching at least 13 filled or sold out classes a week and directs the Boxing programs at Qi. Nick’s personal triumph is one of the many stories we are proud to highlight and share. Qi continues to make an impact in the Denver community and on the lives of its participants and employees.

Do you have a story to share? We would love to feature your story on RealRyder’s blog!

We are looking forward to one of the biggest fitness industry events in the world. The International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association, IHRSA, was our topic in an earlier blog this week, and we’re ready to roll out details on why this trade show is going to be so much fun! Adding to the excitement of IHRSA is the release of our brand-new promotional video (RealRyder Indoor Cycling 2011) and collaborations with some of the biggest names in the fitness industry.

RealRyder is teaming up with big names -  Motionsoft, Total Gym and Gatorade for amazing giveaways and experiences at IHRSA. RealRyder will be giving away 2, AFB8 bikes in conjunction with the Motionsoft, via text message. You can stop by their booth (#1026) for the details on entry and ways to win. Each day, a random winner will be selected to win a RealRyder Indoor Cycle or a Total Gym.

If you’re interested in going to IHRSA but haven’t committed yet, we have two ways for you to save on the trade show passes. Our promotional partners, Motionsoft have passes to offer! IHRSA is also offering an exclusive promotional code for their Facebook fans.

We only have one question … a Are You Ready for our Ryde?

• Thursday, March 17th: Beginning at 11:00am, we will be offering 15-minute classes on the only indoor cycling ride that moves you!
• If you complete one of the mini-classes, you will receive our RealRyder Messenger bag, perfect for the conference or on-the-go wherever you are!
• Friday, March 18th: We’re up bright and early at 6:00am! The RealRyder Performance & Hydration Station, Fueled by Gatorade – G Series Fit
• Ryde Real every 30 minutes, with classes ending at 8:30am. And no need for extra gear – we’ve got you covered with the brand-new G Series Fit drink and Gatorade towels, as well as a brand-new RealRyder t-shirt!

We wish we could bottle up and sell the excitement that comes with trying RealRyder for the first time! The smiling faces tell the story – check out these photos from the past weekend’s SCW Fitness MANIA in Philadelphia!

RealRyder + SCW's Philadelphia MANIA

RealRyder + SCW's Philadelphia MANIA

RealRyder is relatively new on the fitness block. Our history stems from the stationary bike – a rigid, locked-down pedaling machine. And its basic design still hasn’t changed much after twenty years. Enter the RealRyder® ABF8: you get a true sense of the road with its unique, articulating frame that allows it to steer, lean, and feel like an actual road bike.

We know how difficult it is to go back to your stationary bikes after you’ve tried RealRyder! That first time you try it and you feel yourself moving beyond pedaling; the steering, the leaning, the balancing, the mental involvement, and the emotional excitement. You’ll want to replicate that experience in all your indoor cycling classes!

Our mission is to share RealRyder with as many people as we can! Maybe we should put the bikes on a bus and tour this great nation, calling ourselves The RealRyder Rockstars! Or maybe we’ll just stick with what we’re good at – trade shows and fitness conventions, where we get to interact with rockin’ fitness professionals and club owners!

RealRyder will continue to be at great events all over the country this year! Check out some of the great events we’re participating in, like SCW Fitness’ Mania Conventions and the The International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association (IHRSA), just to name a few!

Have you recently tried RealRyder? Have you been teaching for a year? Or more? We would love to hear your experience or memories with RealRyder (the title of the post!). Please share your thoughts and stories!

Have you heard the buzz about our RealRyder® Indoor Cycling Certified Instructor Training Program? We could tell you about it, but we’d much rather you hear (and see!) a few words from our recent indoor cycling trainings.

2011 is a BIG year for RealRyder, as we roll out the education program, bringing a new level of excitement to indoor cycling with our bikes and instruction. We have over 20 trainings scheduled this year alone, in both the U.S. and internationally. Our Certified Instructor Training Program sets that stage for club owners and instructors to “lead the pack” with one of the hottest pieces of fitness equipment on the market!

The RealRyder Indoor Cycle Certified Instructor Training Program builds on the history of indoor cycling, using a teaching system that eliminates guess work, so that planning intelligent and creative workouts is easy. Join a pack of enthusiastic RealRyder ambassadors and become part of a new era of indoor cycling today!

Have you taken the training or are you participating in an upcoming training at one of our many locations? Please share your thoughts and/or what you’re hoping to learn from the RealRyder® Indoor Cycling Certified Instructor Training Program.

Check out photos from some of our recent trainings at studios throughout the U.S. and Canada! RealRyder Cycling Studio (Los Angeles), Body-n-Mind Ryde (Miami), Equilibria Fitness (Doral, FL), Execl Fitness (BC, Canada)

There are many different reasons for incorporating stationary bike workouts into your training program. Typically we think of cyclists supplementing their fitness with indoor cycling, but a good stationary bike workout is also great cross training for other sports.

We got a really good example of this recently from Douglas Brooks who heads up RealRyder’s training and education programs. Douglas wears many other hats, including being Director of Athletic Conditioning at Sugar Bowl Ski Academy and has probably forgotten more about fitness and cross training than most of us will ever know!

The following video shows SBA student athletes training and to set the scene here is a quick intro from Douglas who is leading the session to give you an idea of what is going on:-

“About 37 seconds in the video switches from the USSA testing to the SBA training center. This is an afternoon recovery day, as the kids headed to Colorado camps the day after…working at 80, 90 and 100% of lactate threshold heart rate (LTHR)! Off-snow season, we do two workouts per day, mix the strength and power with agility, cardiovascular, anaerobic energetics, regeneration/recovery etc. Our morning sessions are much tighter and hard hitting, but you can see how the RealRyder stationary bikes match to what we’re doing in a big way!”

Two things immediately struck me when I watched this video. Firstly, these kids are obviously having fun! Secondly the fitness equipment choices represent some of the hottest in the industry – TRX, Bosu, RealRyder! Competitive skiers need to be fit and if you go back and read that intro again, the language Douglas uses makes it very clear they are working on ALL aspects of fitness. This makes it more relevant to do the stationary bike workouts on the RealRyder Indoor Cycle to maximize the cross training benefits.

Are Stationary Bike Workouts Effective Cross Training for Skiers?

Clearly the stationary bike workouts are only one piece of the jigsaw, but earlier this year Sugar Bowl Ski Team skiers claimed 9 of the top 15 spots at the men’s Giant Slalom race at Squaw Valley!

We will be looking at other sports where indoor cycling training can help.

Remember to get the full cross training effects from stationary bike workouts; you need to do them on a bike that leans and works your core and upper body.

Only one stationary bike has these capabilities – the RealRyder!

More about SBA – quoted from their website:-
“The focus of SBA’s athletic philosophy is to provide the very best opportunities for each and every individual to reach his/her full potential. By limiting the number of student-athletes enrolled at SBA, we provide a private coaching experience supported by a strong community. We provide a comprehensive, year-round program that develops world class athletes in alpine, freeride, and Nordic skiing.”