I’m trying to get in shape.  For me, that sentence conjures up an image of the blobby GAK product from a decade ago.  You could mold it into any shape you wanted, but, eventually it turned into a blobby slab and there was really nothing you could do about it.
I need to think more like kinetic sand. Â That stuff is amazing. Â It looks like regular sand but you can mold or sculpt it into any shape and it stays put. Â 
So in an effort to transform my GAK self into Kinetic Sand, I went to LA Fitness to take whatever ‘the next available class was’ last Sunday afternoon.  It was a cycle class, also called spinning.  There was one beginning in fifteen minutes and the current one was about to end.  I watched through the glass doors as the nice looking young girl hollered things to the cyclers in the room, motivating them to work harder.  I rehearsed what I would say.  “Hi my name is Helen, and I’ve never done this before.”  She would say, “Great! Newcomers are always welcome.  I’m Nancy, I’ll show you what to do.”
What happened instead was that Nancy left and the next instructor showed up. Â His name was named Tyrone. Â Have you seen The Rock?
Okay he wasn’t The Rock but he may as well have been.  So  at this point I’m not at all happy now about bringing my GAK body over to The Rock and explaining that I was new.
“Are you the teacher?”
“I am the instructor.”
“Oh.”
“Why?”
“I was going to take this class.”
“Okay.”
“I’m new.”
“Okay.”
“Ummm….”
“Pick a bike,”
“Are they all the same?”
“Yes.”
“This one?”
“No, you better use this one here, right in front of me.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll show you how to adjust it. Â What’s your name?”
“Helen.”
“Where are you from?”
“Middletown.”
“Okay Middletown, hop on.”
Well… how did it end? Â After 50 minutes of cycle time, I had a sore butt and a burning sense of victory. Â I thanked Tyrone when it was over, and despite my embarrassment, when over the loud pulsing music I heard Tyrone call out “How you doing Middletown?!” Â I have conquered the spinning class.
Yesterday, after my sore “bike butt” was feeling better I showed up again.  But this time there was no Tyrone.  I know I didn’t imagine it because on the class list that is taped on the door of the spinning room,  in the space where it should say Nancy, Cyclezone 2pm.  It says, TyroneZone and nothing more.  He’s not listed as a regular teacher anywhere on the schedule.  I know that I could ask at the front desk, but for now I’m just going to think of him as my guardian exercise angel because I really could use a little magic if I’m going to make  Kinetic Sand out of GAK.
