And speaking of the gym...

Back in the mid- 90s, one of my cousins moved to LA and visited at Christmas. At the grandparents', she asked if people in Seattle were into spinning yet, and if any of us knew a gym where she could take a class. Then she described what it was, and my sisters and I, along with our grandparents, were like, "Oh, a stationary bike? Yeah, all gyms have those. Grandma has one downstairs if you want to use that!" We didn't get why this was a group thing. Clearly the LA trend had yet to influence the hicks up north.

And since then, I've never gone to a spinning class at the gym. Until yesterday. Nae sae bad, either.

There was, however, a key learning moment 10 minutes into the exercising: if literally everyone else in the class is on a bike that is facing a mirror, take the hint and don't get on a bike facing away from the same mirror. Because if everybody else is facing the mirror behind you, it means yours is the only ass reflected and projected to everyone staring ahead for the long duration of the class. And there's a lot of standing up and bending involved in spinning.... the instructor didn't help anything by calling out frequently "Newcomer! You're doing great! Work it!" so that the 20 others (all really skinny people) would glance over. And in the mirror. So cruel.