Warning: Spinning Causes Exercise-Induced Euphoria

I love one of the spinning class teachers at my gym. She is definitely over 50, could in fact be well over 60, and she is the best motivator. I love watching her ride the stationary bike in her skimpy little outfits, mouthing the words of some disgruntled rapper set to a relentless digital beat. Why the hell not, I say!

There's always some point in that class (which I only recently revisited -- I was going a lot at the beginning of the year when I was training for the triathlon) where I feel moved almost to tears. She's shouting at us to "let 'em eat dust" or "don't give up" or "catch that mothersucker" while pointing at someone (afterwards the guy says, "Did she call me a mother*******?" "No, she said mothersucker!"). "How's the back row doing?" she yells. Some grunts come from a couple of 20-something guys who are obviously struggling. "Are you still with me?"

The song playing is a dance remix of What's Going On by Linda Perry. I am standing on the pedals dashing up an imaginary hill and belting "Hey yey yey eh eh, hey yey yeah, I say hey, what's going on!" I figure no one can hear me 'cause of the noise, but I find it impossible not to sing, even though we're working so hard. And inevitably at a moment like that there is a brief euphoria that I attribute to a rush of endorphins. Boy does it feel good. If I could just remember to get it every day somehow.