How many times have you heard “I can’t do that” when it comes to trying a new fitness routine or piece of equipment? Okay lower your hands, we see you! One RealRyder studio owner and instructor is tackling the “can’t” and taking away the FEAR (yes, we said it!) many people have when it comes to indoor cycling. Posted on the walls of her studio: The only one who can tell you “you can’t” is you. And you don’t have to listen!

Lisa Flood Wisentaner opened Nantucket Cycling Studio in March of this year and is already being asked “When are you adding more classes?” and “When are you adding more bikes?” from her clients. Lisa’s approach is one of the many reasons her clients return and people continue to seek her out. She removes the element of fear from indoor cycling with her innovative 5-week Beginner series.

Many studios offer introductory classes, but Lisa wanted to take a slightly different approach, building a community for people trying indoor cycling or RealRyders for their first time.  Clients sign up for a 5-week program that breaks down the class, adding 5 minutes of class time each week, working together toward their first full length class.

The first and second classes focus on the basics – setting up the bike to their individual measurements, learning how to control resistance, finding balance on the bike and a few more concepts. The classes progress to the more abstract ideas that only an experienced, RealRyder® Certified Instructor, like Lisa, can provide: learning your rate of perceived exertion, how to build your relationship with the bike and progress into your “zone” during a workout session. Every class starts with a review of the previous class and builds progressively with each session. After their “graduation” from the beginner series, “fears” and “can’t” no longer exist in participant’s exercise lexicon.

There’s also the elements of camaraderie and the accountability created when people begin a program together. Lisa knows her customers from the beginning and they look forward to progressing their workouts with her. And for the Nantucket Cycling Studio Ryders, Lisa has placed an order for more RealRyder bikes and is adding a new instructor and classes to the schedule.

How do you remove the fear and take away the “can’t” for potential clients and students?

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 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)

RealRyder cycling is different. Our indoor cycling program is different. Our bike is different. No other indoor bike has our “Ryde”! RealRyder Cycling adds a level of excitement through innovation that can energize any existing cycling program. There are unlimited programming options for offering a unique riding experience that will be enjoyed by people of all fitness levels, interests and backgrounds.

One of the questions we often receive is from our teachers and studio owners is “How do I find or make the elevation maps for class?”. We enlisted a few of our instructors to answer this question. After putting our heads together we came up with three great sources for inspiration.

Ryde it Real Tool #1: Map My Ride, a division of Map My Fitness

Screenshot: Map My Ride

Ryde it Real Tool #2: Velo Routes

Screenshot: Velo Routes

Screenshot: Velo Routes

Ryde it Real Tool #3: Use Your Favorites Races!

The major races, like the Tour de France, offer comprehensive imagery and profiles for each stage of the race. CYKL, a RealRyder studio in Canada, simulated the entire Tour de France last year, complete with leaderboards, jerseys, footage of the race, and of course celebratory champagne! Use the tools found on race websites to excite your class participants and offer them an experience they will never forget. Some of our favorites to get you started are the Tour de France, USA Cycling, and here in RealRyder country we have SoCal Cycling.

Tell us about your inspirations for riding indoors! A parting shot from CYKL in Canada, to get your creative juices flowing!

CYKL's Tour de France Leaderboard

Ryde it real. Teach it real. It’s time to take the training wheels off!