I’m really not good at keeping quiet about things I like – which can be a problem when you like something that not a lot of people know about. After all, who hasn’t experienced frustration when something you’ve liked forever explodes in popularity and then all of a sudden you don’t have as much access to it?
Even knowing that, I still can’t keep quiet about my new favorite machine at the gym – the Expresso bike. The SCLA has 2 of these, sitting quietly next to the spin bikes by the stairs to the cardio loft. At peak times in the gym, when every elliptical machine is taken, somehow these bikes remain unused. Inexplicable. For anyone who has ever wanted an indoor bike that perfectly simulates an outdoor ride (including steering!!!), you need to find a gym that has one of these ASAP (which you can conveniently do here).
I have never sweat more in my life than I do on this piece of eqiupment – you are working. . .the hills feel like you’re riding up a hill outside, and you can shift gears using the buttons on the handlebars. My heart rate usually stays between 80-90% of my “max” during my workout. I think my favorite feature about these is the ability to track your workouts at Expresso.net - all you have to do is sign up for a free account (or you can pay $9.95/month for “Silver” membership – which unlocks additional routes not available to the general populace and keeps track of all your best times compared to other people). Expresso.net also has messageboards with member tips, comments and fastest times.
If you complete a course and then choose to ride that same course again, the system will have a “ghost” rider of your previous best time on that course, so you know how to pace to keep up with yourself. Each course also has a “pacer” – a biker in a yellow jersey who can goad more competitive riders into going faster. My second favorite feature is the ability to race your friends – if you sit down at the bike at the same time as a friend and choose the same course, you can see each other and “race” – who can finish faster? The one time I have raced a friend, I got the workout of my life and my best time ever on one of my favorite courses, “Wicked Workout”.
Which brings us to my favorite courses - two of them are the black diamond courses – Wicked Workout and Oh Mama (both take around 30 minutes to complete). The “Extreme” courses I like best are Vindicator (took me about 45 minutes) and Savage Revenge (75 minutes and my legs were shaking when I got off the bike). I am more a fan of biking hilly courses with high resistance and lower (but not standstill) RPM’s. When you are choosing a course, it will show you the mileage and the layout – so you can choose hillier courses, or flatter ones if that’s what you prefer.
Now, the seat on this bike is not the most comfortable – which is why I couldn’t be on it for more than 20 minutes when I first started using it. Maybe that’s why it’s not more popular. But if you are looking for a cardio workout on a machine that is also fun while getting your heart rate up, this is the best piece of equipment in the gym. I’ll race you there!
Tags: Cardio