StarCycle Is Lights Out

When a friend invited me to help her celebrate a milestone birthday by going on a cycling tour of Italy, I accepted without hesitation. Our itinerary called for us to ride 20-35 miles a day, and even though we’d be renting e-bikes in Italy, I decided a little training was in order. After hearing a co-worker rave about StarCycle, I headed to La Cumbre Plaza to check it out.

As a veteran of other cycling programs like Spinning and RPM, I figured I knew what to expect, but the StarCycle experience had several surprises in store for me.

First of all, the room is dark. A spotlight and candles illuminate the instructor, but otherwise there’s no light in the studio. Unlike Spinning and RPM, in which the instructor gives cues that provide a simulation of road cycling (e.g., climbing uphill or racing on the flats), StarCycle classes feature choreography — a style that franchise co-owner Kayla Neal calls “rhythmic.” Instead of picturing myself pedaling up the Alps, I found myself doing combinations that involved getting in and out of the saddle, lifting my arms out and overhead, and moving my hands to different positions on the handlebars, all to the beat of the music. Those hands-free moments provide a challenging core workout, and StarCycle incorporates more upper body work than other cycling programs I’ve tried, with lots of push-ups on the handlebars and a brief but demanding weight workout at the end of each class.