What to wear (and not to wear) in spin class

When I first started working out, I wore anything, and by "anything," I mean shorts and a cotton T-shirt. Over the years, I've started dressing for the specific activity (running clothes for running, cycling clothes for cycling / spinning, yoga clothes for yoga, etc.) and the reason isn't so I can single-handedly support the makers of athletic apparel.

Take running and cycling (or spinning), for example. You'll notice there is a significant difference between running and cycling tops (for women): running -- and other tops for random cardiovascular activities as well as your everyday tank tops -- are designed for the wearer who remains upright, while cycling (or triathlon) tops are cut very high at the neck, providing coverage for the user who is bent over handlebars. On the left, a running top, on the right a cycling (technically a tri) jersey:

It doesn't take much of an imagination to figure out what happens when a woman wearing anything but a top cut high at the neck leans over. In spin class where there are mirrors around the room, it doesn't, in fact, take any imagination at all.

Which brings us to shorts. When you're riding on a saddle that's getting up in there (and that's been up in a lot of theres as is the case in spin class), you want a little something between you and the saddle. Thus, bike (or tri) shorts offer a lot more coverage on the thigh compared to running shorts -- good for preventing chafing as well as separating church and state -- and they're also fairly high cut on the back so they don't gape and leave you with a breezy derriere as you lean over. Running shorts on the left, bike shorts on the right:

Lastly, shoes. Granted, a 45-minute spin class isn't exactly a stage of the Tour de France, so footwear isn't of paramount importance, but a stiff-soled cycling shoe will still give you a more efficient pedal stroke than a (relatively) floppy-soled sneaker. (Again, running on the left, cycling on the right.)

Also, cycling shoes clip in such that the pedal is under the ball of your foot, which generates more power than if the pedal is under your arch. Many people erroneously jam their sneakers all the way into toe cages so that the pedal lands under the arch of the foot, not realizing that it's more efficient to pedal with it under the ball of the foot. (Incidentally, the cycling shoe above is a mountain-biking shoe because I left my spinning shoes in the office. Because MTB shoes are quite heavy, most people prefer to spin in road or triathlon shoes -- not that it matters all that much since you're not exactly going anywhere on your spinning bike.)

In New York City, stores like Jack Rabbit and Paragon sell both running and cycling gear. Paragon also sells their goods online and Sierra Trading Post also sells a lot of running, cycling and triathlon gear at a discount, although they are absolutely the king of junk mail, so if you order from them, be prepared to get a zillion catalogs.

Why runners should appreciate cyclists

In addition to the whole tri thing, runners should feel a kind of kinship with cyclists, our fellow endurance athletes. After all, who else knows what happens when you eat too many gels? Come to think, who else eats gels that look like snot and taste worse? Unfortunately, many runners never get past the whole but-he-tried-to-run-me-over thing.

Runners never tire of complaining that cyclists "deliberately" speed up, for example, upon approaching the Columbus Circle entrance to Central Park, ignoring the fact that the approach is a decline and if you were rolling down a hill, you probably would, well, speed up ... gravity and all.

The key, really, is learning the rules of the road. Here are a few:

1. When running on a cycling path (yes, this is permissible since pedestrian paths are often solid concrete while bike paths are constructed of the much softer and foot-friendly asphalt), hug the right side (except on the Central Park loop and the reservoir loop in which case it's the left side), allowing faster runners and all cyclists to easily pass you.

2. If you must wear head phones, listen to the music at a low volume and be alert for bells, whistles, gear changes (that crinkly noise) or someone yelling "passing," "on your left" or just "left." If you hear any of these, do not stop to look -- make like Pavlov's dog and just automatically move right, out of the way.

3. If you're running on the road, i.e., with cars, run *against* traffic. Ostensibly this is so that you can see the cars coming towards you (and hopefully have at least a few seconds to get out of the way if someone is out of control). Ladies -- the added benefit of running against traffic is that you don't have drivers scoping out your derrieres. When you have the driver of an 18-wheeler honking behind you, you'll know why this is important.

4. If you do have the right of way, and the cyclist(s) is not paying attention, yell "Heads up," preferably at least one bike length from the cyclist so they have time / room to react.

5. Always look both ways before crossing a cycling path / road.

In exchange, you will discover:

1. Cyclists follow rules. After all, when you can reach out and touch someone while riding wheels the size of my finger, you tend to be a little more careful about things like rules. Thus, cyclists ride in the proper lanes. They know signals (voice and hand). They use signals (voice and hand).

2. Cyclists know when they're wrong. This morning for example, running along Hudson Terrace in Englewood, I snapped an annoyed "Heads up!" to an oblivious cyclist. Rather than responding with something along the order of "F- you," he instead mustered a cheerful, "Morning!" I almost felt guilty for my impatience.

3. Cyclists make way for others. This may seem hard to believe, but I've had riders at the heads of pelotons signal to other riders to move aside for me.

You will also discover that the loneliness of the long-distance runner is not quite so lonely when you have cyclists whizzing by (or giving you a thumbs up as the case might be).

P.S. Tourists are not cyclists. Have fun with them.