Thirty minutes of deliberate ease — the ride that makes the hard rides work
Recovery Ride
- Indoor cycling
- All levels
- 30 min
- Works for 8–25
- 1 instructor
- Effort 2/5
- Spin studio
- recovery
- low-intensity
- endurance
- technique
Kit: Bikes, towels, water. No extra kit.
Arrive Slowly
Setup: Lights half up, music low and warm. Members roll in at whatever resistance feels like nothing. Walk the room and check saddle heights — recovery rides are where you finally have time for bike fit.
How it works: Easy spin at chat pace. Name the point of tonight out loud: this class is training too, and the job is to finish fresher than we started. Anyone chasing a sweat is doing a different workout. Two gentle position changes — hands wide, hands narrow — just to settle the upper body.
What to say
- “Tonight the win is restraint — the slowest rider is doing it best.”
- “Drop the shoulders, unclench the jaw, loosen the grip.”
- “If you can't hold a full conversation, take resistance off.”
Easier
Legs only — skip the position changes and just turn the pedals.
Harder
There is no harder tonight. Hold that thought for Thursday.
Flush the Legs
Setup: Light resistance — a road you can feel but never fight. Everyone seated.
How it works: Four rounds of 90 seconds smooth pedalling with 30 seconds at an even lighter road. Use each round to coach one part of the pedal stroke: scrape the mud off the shoe at the bottom, lift the knee to the bar, quiet the upper body, level the hips. Keep the room at conversation volume — you should hear talking back.
What to say
- “Pedal in circles, not stamps — smooth is the whole workout.”
- “Knees track over toes, hips still as a shelf.”
- “Breathe through the nose if you can — proof you're truly easy.”
Easier
Ignore the technique cues and just ride relaxed for the full eight minutes.
Harder
Single-leg focus: 20 seconds letting the right leg lead, 20 the left, without changing the road.
Cadence Waves
Setup: Same light road for everyone. This block moves the legs, never the effort.
How it works: Three waves of three minutes: one minute at a lazy cadence, one minute lifting the legs slightly quicker, one minute back to lazy. The resistance never changes — only leg speed. Cue the lift as a pour, not a jump. If breathing changes pitch anywhere in the room, bring the wave down early.
Rounds: 3 waves
What to say
- “Faster legs, same breath — if the breath rises, the wave is too tall.”
- “Let the beat carry the legs; no chasing, no racing.”
- “Check your grip again — knuckles should never go white in this class.”
Easier
Ride the whole block at the lazy cadence and enjoy it.
Harder
Middle minute of each wave at a genuinely brisk leg speed — effort still capped at RPE 4.
Roll Home
Setup: Resistance down another notch. Lights can start their slow rise.
How it works: Four minutes of completely unstructured easy riding. Invite them to close their eyes for ten seconds if they're steady, feel the pedal stroke they built tonight, and let the week drain out of the shoulders. This is the block members remember — protect the quiet.
What to say
- “Nothing left to do — just turn the pedals and breathe.”
- “Notice one thing that feels better than when you walked in.”
- “This ease is what lets Thursday's hills happen.”
Easier
Stop pedalling for 20 seconds any time — the class does not mind.
Harder
None. Rolling home is rolling home.
Off-Bike Unwind
Setup: Resistance off, members off the bikes beside them, music at its warmest.
How it works: Calves on the pedal, quads holding the saddle, forward fold over the handlebars, slow neck circles — 30 seconds each. Finish standing tall with three long breaths, in for four, out for six. Send them off with the promise that the next hard ride will feel the benefit of this one.
What to say
- “Stretch to a sigh, never to a wince.”
- “Longest exhale of the day, right now.”
- “Recovery is training — you just did the session most riders skip.”
Music: Keep the whole playlist under ~115bpm — warm, melodic, nothing that begs for a sprint. If a track makes you want to push, it is in the wrong class.
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