Where: Flywheel Sports - Flatiron, 39 West 21st Street, New York, NY

Holly + Live Drummers + Class Full of Nutcakes = Happy

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I'll just reiterate that Holly is the awesomest ever. This lady is straight-up infectious. She had a massive smile plastered on her face from minute 1. I brought a friend who was new to Ms. Rillinger, who was obv blown away.

Holly.

Don't make me reiterate my feelings about Holly. Just read here.

The class.

Holly blasted music through the class, calling for the drummers to come in strong during the sprints, or to build a solid beat through the hills. A smart strategy - since the drumming was so intense, it was a good call to have the intensity ebb and flow instead of going balls-to-the-wall throughout.

Standard docket of kick ass spinning songs. Nothing crazy creative, but I was totally happy with the tracks (have you ever heard RiRi sing about diamonds to live African-style drumming? Intense).

Flywheel was sensitive to the volume, and earplugs were offered because "this is going to be a REALLY loud class" but I wasn't bothered by the sound at all. There was a lot of sound, but the loudness of the sound didn't pass into that "unbearable" threshold.

The drummers.

Three dudes that Holly found on the subway. ARE YOU KIDDING ME THAT IS AMAZING. Their name: The Harlem Drummers.

One was (appropriately) wearing a colorful Dashiki; all were wearing funny hats. Their drums were pretty cool, too - different shapes and sizes with various noise-making attachments.

My friend Mizzfit saw photos and commented, "what are Rastas doing at flywheel?" it was hilarious because these dudes were so out of place, but somehow it totally worked. They all sat on the platform in front of her bike, hunched over their drums, and just jammed out.

The group.

A HUGE shout out to the group of riders in this room. Amazing. If this site was called "RateTheBurners" you would have gotten 5 fat stars. This group was revved and ready to holler ... one dude in the middle of the room was just screaming like he had Holly-induced Tourette's. Having live drummers really brought us down to rowdy town.

Holly gave a special shout out to all the newbies, and even got a cheer out of them.

The cause

Proceeds from the event went to the Georges Malaika Foundation, which is building a school for girls in the Congo - and has partnered with Holly to design their PE program. Very cool, and very Holly.

What time is it? It's groove time

This class absolutely flew by. As a reminder that everything is mental, the only reason I knew I was working hard (despite the fact that I was blasting the pedals) was the massive sweat puddle below. It felt like a total breeze; welcome to endorphin-city. Fun fun fun.

All in all

Everyone should make a point to get these little Fly events on their calendar. I've never been to a theme ride (or a Holly ride) that I didn't adore. Bonus that it's for a rockin' cause.

From Holly’s website: Holly’s passion for fitness is rooted in her professional and collegiate basketball career. Driven by a competitive fire that was ignited at the age of 6, Holly decided early on that she would one day be a professional basketball player. At 5’4, the odds were stacked against her, yet with heart, discipline and belief, Holly’s collegiate and professional career became a reality.At the age of 18, Holly was named by USA TODAY as the #1 freshman point guard in America. She went on to be James Madison’s All Time Leading scorer (men or women) as well as a Strength and Conditioning All-American.As a pro, Holly traveled the world playing for teams in Germany, France, New Zealand and finally making a cameo appearance with The WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury.Holly uses her life’s journey to help inspire and motivate people to achieve their fitness goals. Holly is currently a spin instructor, personal trainer and group fitness instructor in New York City.

Find out about Flywheel Sports at www.flywheelsports.com

Find out more about Holly Rilinger on her website 

Check out Holly’s video channel here 

Find Holly on facebook  and check out her fan page 

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