Welcome to another post about my quarter-life crisis.
No, I did not purchase a high-end sports car… I can’t even afford to lease a car.
Nor did I drastically change my hair, join a dating app or book a last minute trip to Las Vegas.
Okay, so I did do two of those things but that’s beside the point.
With the intention of attending graduate school in May, I have been looking for part-time work to occupy myself. I currently work as an administrative assistant at a law firm 30 hours a week so I was seeking another part-time position to earn a few bucks.
A friend of mine has a sister who works at a spin studio so I was able to take a few classes for free.
Having always used running as my main form of cardio, I have taken multiple spin classes to cross-train. I even enrolled in a spin class for credit my senior year of college.
Because that class was at 9 AM twice a week and it was my last semester, my class attendance was not very consistent.
This was a class of 12 so my lack of attendance was evident. With only a few classes left in the semester, the instructor approached me and said I would have to teach a song in order to not be failed.
Yeah your head me, I almost FAILED a spin class. Who even does that?
So I took her up on the offer and selected my song and it was show time, baby!
Of course I picked “Who Let the Dogs Out” by Baja Men.
I crushed it!
“This is SO something I can do!” I reluctantly thought.
So when my friend’s sister said that they were hiring instructors at her studio, I obviously jumped at the opportunity based on my minimal experience as a spin instructor aka one song.
I applied online and filled out a questionnaire.
Receiving a quick response from the owner (and Instagram follow) I figured I had this in the bag!
We exchanged a few emails and I attended one of his classes. I felt pretty confident in my preparation until I started talking about it with my dear friend, Chandler Rich.
Chandler is an avid spinner and a follower of the infamous cult, Soul Cycle.
She asked me a very basic question that put my stomach in a knot, “Do you know how to clip in properly?”
My response was, “Holy shit… I do not.”
I also don’t even own spin shoes. Why the hell am I auditioning to be a spin instructor when I don’t even own the proper equipment or know how to get into the bike?
I started to feel like an amateur rider entering the damn Tour de France.
It was too late now. The audition was in two days and being ever so competitive, I couldn’t get myself to not try.
The criteria for the audition were to pick out two songs. One song had to be 85 bpm standing with tap-backs while the other was your choice.
I picked “Royals” by Lorde as it was a song that was 85 bpm and then of course “Who Let the Dogs Out.”
I strategically practiced my choreography for the songs in the comfort of my bed as I pretended like I was riding a bike (this indeed was as pathetic as it sounds) then went to my local gym where there was a spin room to test it out.
I presumed myself to be ready after a few days of practice. I even rode around the local neighborhood in my car with my speakers blasting the songs as I shouted out the commands and used my steering wheel as the bike handles.
This was probably not the safest thing to do now that I think about it.
I strolled up to the studio a bit nervous as I thought to myself, “How am I supposed to clip in?” and “Will they let me borrow shoes?”
They did let me borrow shoes. The owner and his wife were present and incredibly warm and friendly.
I entered the spin room and immediately felt timid. My legs were shaking as I thought about clipping in.
With my left leg to go in first, I adjusted my foot into the pedal and heard a *click*.
I did it! Thank the Lord!
Now if I could just get the right foot…. Nope. It was not happening for me.
I awkwardly asked the owner for help. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what was going through his mind. He probably thought I was the biggest idiot on the planet at that moment.
That wasn’t even the worst part.
The worst part was he gave me a microphone to clip onto myself… which I broke.
I accidentally snapped off the plastic clip and it fell to the floor.
Knowing that if I unclipped myself it would be a huge ordeal to clip back in, the owner got off his bike to help.
Only he couldn’t fix it. He had to go and get a new one.
That actually wasn’t the worst part.
The WORST part was that I prepared for my audition entirely wrong.
I misread his email where he stated that the song had to be at an 85 bmp. I thought he meant the song itself (which is rather slow for a song) not my rpm. So I was automatically fucked.
The song started and it was a complete disaster. I stopped before the song even entered the chorus.
I profusely apologized for the confusion. The owner was very nice about the whole thing and offered to have me come back to re-audition.
Come back? After all that? I assumed he was just trying to be nice.
Regardless, I was beyond embarrassed.
I left the studio red-faced and flustered. Once I settled into my car, I reached for my phone only to realize…I had left it in the studio.
Reflecting on all that happened in the last twenty minutes, I sighed and headed back.
The door was locked with the lights off and I was mortified that the owner left and I would have to return the following morning.
Luckily, that was not the case.
The owner came out and was confused as to why I was back. I explained that I had left my phone and quickly went back in to retrieve it.
Talk about a disaster.
I thought about emailing the guy back about rescheduling my audition. Even though it went horribly wrong, I am not a quitter.
But I do think that there are some things that should be left alone and that was one of them.
Although I completely embarrassed myself in front of people I will probably never see again, I am still glad I did it and that I can laugh about it.
More importantly, I can share it with you! The few who read these stupid posts about my chaotic mishaps.
Now go out there! Get out of your comfort zone! Conquer the world!
And if you have access to free spin classes, let me know! Because I will never show my face inside of that studio ever again.
Cheers!
Erin
Overwhelmingly Erin 