Cyclebar opened roughly two weeks ago on Columbia Pike in Arlington. I have lived on or near Columbia Pike for five of the seven years that I lived in the DC metro area. I have a special attachment to Columbia Pike, but most people know it as an area that is "up-and-coming," rather than filled with a ton of amenities. It is also sometimes known as that road in Arlington that spent way too much money on one bus stop. Neither of these descriptions scream destination spot, but regardless, I love the Pike.
In the last few years Columbia Pike has worked to "arrive," or at the very least, be more than an overpriced bus stop. Columbia Pike has acquired a wine bar, a donut shop, and a little to my dismay, a Chipotle and a Starbucks. As mentioned above, the Pike has most recently acquired a cycling studio, Cyclebar! I'm pretty sure a cycling studio means you've you've made it. I like cycling quite a bit, so I was excited to see the cycle studio pop up right next to my bus stop (I mean, I still have to use the bus stop even if it makes people bitter).
Since opening the studio has offered up free classes, which is awesome. I arrived for my free class on Thursday evening. A man who appeared to be the owner, John, welcomed me back as I walked through the door. I have never visited the studio, but I can only imagine that he has had a ton of women roughly my age cashing in on the free classes. After I let him know that I was brand new to the studio, he asked me if it was my first time cycling. I responded that I have cycled quite a bit and am particularly fond of Flywheel. This may have thrown John from his script because he proceeded to tell me how to work the bike. I listened politely, because he was obviously very excited (he should be - the studio is pristine). He told me that I should keep my handlebars low because it made for a great abdominal work out (while motioning to an ab-filled poster). This tip will end up impacting the class more than I expected.
Much like I have my father's blue eyes and my mother's stabby chin, Cyclebar is a hybrid. It has the screens in the front of the room tracking your performance like Flywheel, but the lights and beats of SoulCycle.
As I was warming up on the bike right before class started, the girl next to me informed me that my handlebars were too low. I thought this was a very bold comment given that we hadn't said a word to each other. I politely told her that I was keeping it low due to the tip I received out front. She told me that she has never left a workout where the quality of the workout was dependent on the height of the handlebars. Although I wanted to say, "hey, don't shoot the messenger, I am just trying something new," I kept it to, "thank you. I am going to stick with it." I think she would have continued with her unsolicited advice, but the instructor made the announcement that there was no talking in the class. Point for Cyclebar.
The bike room was very spacious. Now when I'm in Flywheel, though I can see the scores (speed, power, etc.) of the other riders on the board, I never sign up to have my scores on the board. I prefer to see mine on my bike and afterwards online. I quickly learned that keeping your scores to yourself is not an option in Cyclebar. You can give yourself a nickname if you want to remain more anonymous, but your bike number is also on the screen. So, I was sitting next to "Serendipity," or Judgey McHandlebars. Also like Flywheel, there was one song where we used a weighted bar for arm exercises.
Naturally, having the scores on the board and knowing where I ranked (very low at the beginning of the class) incited some competition. In retrospect, I don't think forced competition two days after rather divisive election was a good idea. That said, I think myself and Serendipity were biking quite hard due to the screen and our differing opinions on handlebar height.
Now, the SoulCycle aspects thrown in were the lights and the musically synchronized movements. I'm not into a multicolored light show when I cycle, but that is just me. I have nothing against studios that do it. If your're into that kind of ambience, you will like Cyclebar. The instructor also got off and on the bike and danced and acted like a disc jockey at times. He was very proud of his playlist. He said we would get the playlist at the end of class. I did not follow-up on how that was done because I didn't have any interest, but I guess that is a cool option. I don't know if that is a Cyclebar service, or just a service of an instructor who is really proud of his musical selection. Also like SoulCycle, we did some bike push-ups to the beat.
Cyclebar also threw in a touch of Zengo. Specifically, we took one song to close our eyes, sit in darkness and reflect.
Cyclebar was truly a blend of everything. If you want to smattering of all the different major cycling studios in the DC area, then this might be a good class for you. And according to the owner, 300 more are opening nationwide, so chances are you will have the opportunity to try it if you live remotely near any city in the country.
I will return the Cyclebar because I think it is a nice facility and the class was a good workout. Most importantly, it is close to where I live. I would say the class is most similar to Zengo or Soulcycle and least similar to Flywheel. My favorite cycling in the area will probably always be Flywheel, but I encourage everyone to give Cyclebar a try. While the classes are free, it certainly can't hurt.
Also, Serendipity beat me, but only marginally, and it was probably not due to my handlebars.
PS my perpetually out of storage phone didn't have space for a ton of pictures, so check out the website https://cyclebar.com/
