A few weeks ago, I was invited to try out Spokehaüs – Toronto’s newest spinning location. Spokehaüs (I love the word play!) is located at 70 Dan Leckie Way in in Cityplace, Toronto, which is not the most convenient location for me to get to from my office (King/Bay), but it was a really nice 30 minutes walk!

I’ll start this off by saying that I’ve never done spinning of any kind and I can barely remember the last time I was even on a bicycle. So this whole fitness thing is very, very new to me. When I arrived at Spokehaüs they had me sign a waiver and had me fitted for a pair of shoes (the shoes fit neither large nor small and were consistent with normal running shoe sizing, although I would say they were slightly narrower than most running shoes. For reference, I wear a running shoe size 7, and that’s what I was in the spinning shoes). The shoes are necessary because you end up clipping into your stationary bike. You can bring your own, but I believe the clips have to match their particular bike system.

Thankfully, I wasn’t doing this alone! My friend Shawna of Spill the Beauty was more than willing to try out Spokehaüs with me. Hooray for strength in numbers!

The first thing I noticed was that the layout of the studio was not my favourite. Class sizes are about 30 people or so and the bathroom/changing area gets very, very cramped with even only six people in there. (Plus the door pulls into the room, basically hitting any and everyone in the immediate vicinity.) However, there are handy lockers that you can program with your own code free of charge (and easy to program too!). We were in the early class (5:30) so we were able to change in peace, but once our class let out we were suddenly bombarded with everyone for the 6:30 class waiting to get in and the change room was totally packed.

Anyway, on to the spinning itself! We were assigned bikes and lead into a dark room. A towel and our name tag was on our assigned bikes (super nice touch!). We were shown how to clip our shoes into our bicycles and asked what kind of weights we wanted to use. Not knowing how much we’d be doing with the weights (or even WHAT we would be doing with them), I opted for 3 pounders (this was a good option as there was a small weights segment but it was predominantly shoulder work, so don’t go crazy with the weights). The room was dark and lit by candles on the floor surrounding the center area where our instructor would be.

Once it was time to get started, the doors behind us were closed and the lights were totally turned off (there may have been a single dim spotlight on the instructor, but I can’t quite remember). I really, really enjoyed this aspect because it was enough light to see the instructor, but if you’re someone who is self conscious about how you look or how you feel about exercise, this will alleviate a lot of your anxieties.

The class was incredibly well lead. I can’t remember our instructor’s name, but she was motivating and effective. Even getting off her bike at times to jump around the room and encourage us. Especially helpful when you felt like you were struggling a little bit with the moves! And I have to say… I was totally drenched even halfway through the spin class. I have never felt sweat pouring off my entire body like I did during this workout. I wasn’t necessarily out of breath (I had a little bit of trouble hearing when to turn up the resistance), but I was just totally soaked. We’re talking sweat trickling down your lower back and butt crack, pouring off your face in buckets… to the point where I swear I actually felt my earlobes dripping as well. I run a significant amount of distances every month, but I have never sweat like this before in my entire life. Not even on a run in 35C heat, or at a soccer game in (no, I’m not joking) 49C with humidex.

You can’t really tell from these terrible phone photos I took (sorry, I forgot my camera at home!), but my hair was soaked through. To the point where my soggy ponytail was actually whipping me during the workout! I was sooo drenched!

You might ask if this is something I’d repeat doing, and for me, the answer is that it’s not quite my cup of tea (there’s something about cycling that doesn’t really get me going, you know?), but I can assure you that I was motivated to work hard throughout my Spokehaüs session. I loved the instructor, I loved the atmosphere (although it could’ve done with a little air conditioning in that room!) and I think it’s a fantastic workout. If you love spinning, I’d encourage you to check out Spokehaüs!

If you’ve tried spinning, tell me what you’ve loved or not loved about it. I know some people are head over heels for it while others feel very differently – but there’s no denying that it’s a hell of a workout!