Nate Boozer leads a spin class at StarCycle Eugene. Photo courtesy StarCycle.

Get Moving, Go Nowhere

Cycling and spin classes are a low-impact, high-cardio opportunity to get active

Running isn’t the only form of cardio available to those in TrackTown USA.

Cycling, or spin, is a cardio exercise that has a low impact on your joints — unlike running — while still ensuring you get a solid workout in. Doing all that on a stationary bike removes the risk of icy roads and unaware drivers, too. Throw in a spin instructor, and now you’re rolling.

Julie Kollmorgen, owner of StarCycle Eugene and franchisee of StarCycle, opened her studio in 2018. She grew up running track, she says, but grew to love cycling because it’s “low impact but high cardio.”

“You still get that endorphin rush, adrenaline rush, that you get when you run,” Kollmorgen says. “As we age, honestly it hurts to run. I love running — big advocate for it — but I can’t do it like I used to. This has been my substitution.” 

Nearly as important as the impact on your body is the ambience in the studio, and StarCycle achieves a nearly meditative effect by keeping all screens from the room (sans the instructor’s dimly lit monitor for music control) and lighting the studio with candles rather than LEDs.

Don’t let the concept of a candlelit room make you think you won’t be working hard.

Nate Boozer, studio manager of StarCycle Eugene and director of training with StarCycle, went from riding in StarCycle classes to teaching them and training new instructors.

One especially appealing aspect of StarCycle, Boozer says, is the lack of competition amid the students.

“We’re technology free, so in the studio, we have no leaderboards,” Boozer says. “There’s no computers on the bikes telling you what RPMs you need to do. There’s no competition, no cell phones.”

The dim light also fights off competition. Just wait until the candles get blown out — you can’t compete against your fellow cyclists if you can’t even see them.

If you’re not interested in cycling in the dark, check out the Eugene Family YMCA Don Stathos Campus instead. While in college, Danielle Ragan, a cycling instructor at the Eugene Family YMCA, was introduced to spin by her mother. 

“Initially it was a really soft landing space for me,” she says. “I was going through a lot of struggles at the time. So it was a great opportunity to be physically active without having to move anywhere or think too much.”

She fell in love with the classes, she says, and started teaching her own at the YMCA in January 2024.

While the cycle studio at the YMCA is brightly lit in comparison to the candlelight of StarCycle, Ragan still manages to tamp down the competitive spirit in other ways, such as teamwork. One may not expect to be working together on a stationary bike, but when Ragan divides the studio into teams, they’re not competing — they’re pushing each other.

“The highlight is when ‘Team 2’ cheers for ‘Team 1,’” Ragan says. It’s not uncommon for passersby to close the door of the cycle studio because the cheering gets too loud.

Spin classes are known for their messages of personal growth, empowerment and, frankly, getting through the day. 

“You can go, and you can sit, and you’re still working out,” Ragan says. “You really can just focus on yourself and just be in tune with where you are at a given moment.”

Visit StarCycleRide.com/Studios/Eugene-OR for more information on StarCycle classes. Find it at 535 High Street call 541-600-8860 or email Eugene@StarCycleRide.com

Visit EugeneYMCA.org for more information on YMCA cycling classes or go to 600 E. 24th Avenue, 541-686-9622.