Spinning with Spartacus

The first image that comes to my mind when I think about bicycles are those old yellow parchment posters of the Tour de France race, hung on the wall of a hipster pop-up store somewhere in a big city. The spinning class organized by IWC was, however, a resolutely more modern version of the races we used to watch on TV.

Imagine arriving in a fitness studio full of indoor bikes – people are already excited and highly motivated to spend one and a half hours with their favourite racer and you, you miserably struggle to adjust the bike, having absolutely no clue which bicycle position to adopt for the class. The warm-up session starts slowly though, giving the participants time to get acquainted with the machine.

After 15 minutes of training, Fabian Cancellara, aka Spartacus, steps into the arena – on a bike of course. Although he doesn’t seem very familiar with indoor spinning, we all know that this will probably be a very relaxing ride for the champion from Berne. On my side, it is quite the contrary. The rhythm is intense (I mean it!), and I realize that spinning is all about intervals and cardio. My leg muscles are constantly on the move and absolutely no break is allowed. Wow! After only a few minutes, the cool professional racing shirt that was given to me at the beginning is completely soaked with sweat and my bottle of water is half-empty. Looking at today’s teachers and the constant smile on their faces (even when they’re cycling at full pelt), I slowly start to understand why Cancellara’s nickname is Spartacus – not only for his well-known mental strength and endurance, but also for his ability to adapt to any kind of (new) challenge.

With the class coming slowly to an end, I must admit that I felt my body and soul were more energized than before. The result was the same as after a full yoga session, and I ended up very satisfied and proud of my recent effort. What a contradiction, knowing that this was probably the first time my thighs suffered that much in such a short period of time. A well-deserved relaxing moment was then more than welcome, and I had the chance to take in the fabulous panoramic view from the fitness studio’s rooftop as a sportive rest.

Fabian Cancellara wore the Aquatimer Chronograph Edition “Galapagos Islands” (Ref. IW379502) during this event.