Worked with my trainer on Spinning

I met with my trainer yesterday. I wrote this summer that I wanted to have my final two training sessions for the year before the holidays. I just love having sessions with her. She is so motivating and keeps introducing me to new routines which keeps me interested in working out.

My goal for these next two sessions was to learn how to spin. I want to work on my endurance as well as focus on figuring out how to burn more calories as I work on losing more weight. Why, you ask, might I want to learn how to spin? Ultimately, I have as a goal doing a 30 mile bike ride next summer. In order to do this I need to lose a little more weight (at least 10 lbs.) and continue to build up my endurance.

Here is what I learned:
    Bring a water bottle & towel
    Wear your biking shorts and your biking/cycling shoes (if you have them/I don't have the shoes)
    Adjust your bike both in the seat and the handle
        -The seat has two adjustments- up and down; forward and back. The seat should be adjusted so    
        the left leg is at 3 o'clock and the right at 6 o'clock without being hyper extended
        -The handle adjusts up and down as well and should be adjusted so you can balance off it but not
        so you really lean on it. The problem for me on this one is that the handles only extends so
        far...but I do need to avoid leaning so far forward that my sweat drips onto the wheel. That would
        be bad becasue it involuntarily breaks the wheel due to friction.
    You need to also test your resistance knob so you know where that resistence point is for you when
    peddling so you can adjust the tension up or down depending on the instructor is requesting you do.
    KEY THING TO KNOW: The resistance knob is also the brake.

I tried it out and liked it. The most exciting thing for me was seeing that I could stand and peddle without any difficulty. When I try to do this on my outdoor bike I am not successful. My trainer said that by doing the standing and peddling in class I should be able to translate this new ability to my biking outdoors. I am encouraged by this possibility.

My trainer said I should probably have as an initial goal completing only 30 minutes of the hour class t and then work up from there. Since I figure the folks in the class are undoubtedly already slimmer and trimmer than I am, I know this will be a challenge for me not to feel too self conscious. Most exercising I have ever done has be a lone. I don't tend to be a group participator. This will be a good new challenge for me.