you are too funny...i can see you in the back of the class with your face all red and eyes about to fall out of your head....but no way in hell are you stopping!!!

Butt pads should be standard in all clothing

That is hilarious. I can't believe nobody laughed. They were probably just holding it in.

I <3 spin class. And cycling in general - I do spin classes when the weather is bad outside.

I feel your pain though. I remember when I climbed on my first road bike. I thought my butt was going to fall off and I'd never find it again.

Yeah, totally needs to be your next masthead. "I'm Special and Don't Wear Butt Pads".

Heather, I know this wasn't your intention, but you've inspired me to try a spin class!

My co-worker and I have this idea that we are going to start going to the gym every day after work, and when I suggested maybe we try a spin class she wondered why you would take a class to ride a bike, since you already know how to ride a bike? I tried to explain.

Maybe I will just point over here. And then explain that it was a stupid idea and apologize for suggesting it.

and @bouched, I used to take a water aerobics class in which we rewarded ourselves for a successful class by all going out for pie afterward. It was great excercise.

Don't you hate it when you just can't stop yourself from being determined to finish something. Some of our best attributes are also our biggest weaknesses.

I bet you crawled out of the room and down the stairs to the car.

Have you even stood up yet? :)

This is hilarious! Spin class is brutal.

Here's the thing, please don't use "special" that way. Don't take special education and special needs and use that term derogatorily. Don't be Obama cracking jokes about the Special Olympics.

I'm not a hater, I just know you have a huge voice and I'd hate to see it spreading mockery of our most vulnerable.

This is my first comment ever... I even signed up just to leave it...

I took my first spin class several years ago and also had no idea what I was getting myself into. It was two days before my annual OB/GYN checkup, and when I went in, my doctor actually said "Oh my God, what happened?" and refused to do the exam because I had bruising, small tears, AND A BLISTER. I was afraid to look at the damage myself beforehand, and I guess I should have because it was horribly humiliating. A blister? Really? I have never taken another spin class.

Omg! I almost burst out laughing but couldn't 'cause I'm at work.

My DH bought me a bike a few years ago for Mother's Day. He thought it was something we could do together as a family. And without telling me he signed me up for a Ladies' Night ride. Hah! It started two days after I got said bike. But I did it. I went and my butt didn't fall off. And I've signed up again this year.

But your spin class brought back memories of an aerobics class that I was forced to take back in the day before I had kids. I hated aerobics to begin with but the BF forced me to go. So I went...once. Never again. And surprisingly, neither did she.

This is why I keep coming back here; you are just too hilarious! To take a mundane thing like an exercise class and make it funny is truly a talent.

And Stimey? Not a blast; just a comment - until I read your response, I didn't put together "special" with any of the groups that you mentioned; I took it mean something altogether different, that the trainer was sharing with the class that Heather was somewhat of a rebel :) I think folks take things too seriously these days. I'm really disliking things having to be "politically correct" all of the time. No wonder high blood pressure meds are doing gangbuster business!

Oh Heather, I feel your pain. I have also signed up just to leave this comment.

Last Tuesday, I went to the gym I just joined for the first time, and immediately did the same thing you did without thinking at all. Just like you, I thought I was going to die. I also have epilepsy, but I figured it would be ok. After all, I had my medicine, just in case there was a problem, right? Totally, completely wrong. I managed to finish the class, stepped off the bike and collapsed. I woke up 20 minutes later, after having a seizure, and I have since decided that if I get over the shame and actually go back to the gym, I won't even look at that spin class.

There are still bruises, because no one in the class said a word about butt pads. In fact, this is the first I've heard of them.

Also, get off Heather's back about the "special" comment. My son has autism, and is in special education. Learn how to take a joke.

So funny! My husband took his first spinning class last week because he was talked into it by his friend (the gym trainer). He said he almost died and he's in excellent shape....I can't imagine what would happen to me.

So glad you made it through and brought us a funny story!

Five minutes into my first spin class I asked for a SAG wagon (on a street ride it's the minivan that picks you up when you are too tired to go on) and the instructor laughed and said in this class we call the SAG wagon an AMBULANCE! Is that what you need? I put my head down in shame and said NO! and under my breath...not for another thirty seconds or so.