You’ll usually find Tom close to the front of the studio. He looks like a serious cyclist and spins like one too! He won the power to weight challenge, showing the bigger lads a clean pair of heels and is fiercely competitive with a cheeky grin. By 
day he is a Quantity Surveyor but from a young age his love has always been bikes, dabbling in most varieties of two wheeled sports. He regularly competes at trials riding and more recently started racing Mountain Bike Enduro. On the odd occasion he’s not on two wheels, you’ll find Tom out in the countryside, bouldering, hiking or just enjoying being outdoors.
How long have you been at R1DE?
I’ve been spinning at R1DE for about four years now and thoroughly enjoy every session. I first started after my turbo trainer broke and never looked back! The atmosphere and camaraderie at R1DE is far better than being alone on a turbo trainer in the garage!
What’s been the biggest benefit / improvement you found from spinning?
For me, spinning at R1DE is beneficial because it gives me the opportunity to train maximum efforts, which help towards racing on my mountain bike where we have to maintain maximum efforts for periods of about five minutes. It’s a fantastic way to improve cardiovascular performance.
What do you enjoy the most about it?
I’m not sure what I enjoy most, I think I’m just wired wrong and look forward to pushing my limits every week, testing myself and accurately tracking improvements with the sophisticated keiser bikes.
What do you find the hardest about spinning?
The hardest thing about a spin class for me is going from a low rpm to a really fast rpm. My legs just don’t want to co-operate no matter how hard I try!
What advice would you give a new starter?
My biggest advice is to concentrate on your own performance and effort and not get put off by other people’s performances. The leader board is great for providing that extra motivation to try and beat your friend/compatriots, but the main thing is that you put in the best effort you can.
Why is R1DE unique?
One of the unique things about R1de is the bikes. They are top quality and accurately measure your rpm and power, two of the most vital numbers to measure your performance and improvements. I also like how the sessions are very well structured and replicate true riding, rather than other generic spin sessions that do all kinds of crazy movements that you’d never do out on your bike. To keep things interesting the R1de team often put on different events / challenges which add an extra spice!
What’s your favourite track to spin to?
The sessions always include some banging beats to keep you occupied, but my favourite by far is Perfect Replacement by Example. The track comes on and you know what you have to do. Three short efforts at maximum power. Get the gear on and smash it for the chorus.
Hills or sprints?
Sprints
For one night only, who would be your dream spin buddy?
My dream spin buddy would be Chris Froome, just so I can see what numbers are actually possible!
Thank you Tom, we love that you enjoy our spicy challenges…watch out on the blackboard for more to come very soon.
