pel·o·ton/ˈpeləˌtän/ noun

1. the main field or group of cyclists in a race
2. an exercise bike streaming indoor cycling classes to your home live and on-demand.

Mr. Twitchy and I acquired a Peloton bike a couple of years ago. A Peloton Bike is essentially a spin bike with a subscription service of unlimited live and recorded classes, accessible through a large touchscreen. The classes vary in length and difficulty. I try to get on the bike at least once a week, but it is not enough for me to really feel the benefits of it. It seems that the rides are getting harder and harder for me. Maybe it is just that I am getting older and all of the riders are younger than me? Or can I blame it on PD? I needed to find out how other Parkies do with the Peloton bike.

I thought that there must be some other Parkies out there who ride Peloton bikes. About a year ago, I started a Facebook group for Parkies who have Peloton Bikes so that I could find others and compare our experiences. So far we have 32 members in the group and we would really like to increase our numbers.

I loved when Hannah said to us ‘Parkies with Pelotons, YOU lead this ride’.

Amy

One of the women in the group, Amy Montemarano, proposed that we find a live class with Peloton that would be good for our group to join. Amy contacted Peloton and gave them the information about our group. The instructors always call out people and groups that are either in the studio with them or have signed up to join the class live, on-line, so this was a good way to get some publicity for Parkinsons at the same time. On Monday morning, 4 of us joined the 9:55 am class. We were all able to follow each other on the Leaderboard. One rider, Alice said: “That was fun doing a ride together! Lori , I broke a personal record trying to catch up with you.” Lori also broke a personal record because she was so excited to be riding with a group.

Loved riding with other strong Parkies

Lori

We hope to do this again, maybe on a regular basis. If you want to join our little group, go to our Facebook page Parkies with Pelotons. We are a closed group, so you must answer two simple questions: Do you have Parkinson’s and Do you have a Peloton bike? If you answer yes to both, we would love to have you join us.

Other exciting news from Twitchy Woman!

If you missed the PMDAlliance Inspire Me session last week featuring Twitchy Woman, you can watch it here.

And even more exciting, Twitchy Woman is one of 5 finalists for the WEGO Health Awards Best in Show Blog! Winners to be announced next week. Click on the photo for more information.