Rush Cycle La Jolla

Located in the heart of Bird Rock on La Jolla Boulevard, Rush Cycle La Jolla is the franchise brand’s founding location. Walking into this studio as spin class veterans, our expectations were high. While we left feeling as if we got a tough workout in, our overall sentiment about Rush Cycle La Jolla is that it’s just average. There was nothing overwhelmingly bad about our visit, but also nothing that blew us away and would convince us to switch from a neighboring, competitive spin studio in the area with comparable pricing.

RUNDOWN

WORKOUT

Rush Cycle La Jolla offers two types of classes: a 60-minute interval ride and a 45-minute rush ride. We took the 45-minute rush ride with Alisha Molina, a workout the studio website describes as “a part of a bike.” The 45-minute class was comprised of hill climbs, fast leg work, weighted arm exercises and some choreography synced to music.

Alisha’s routine was tough, but for some reason it didn’t give us that post-spin high we’ve come to expect after completing a really challenging but endorphin explosive ride we’ve experienced many times in the past. A more diverse use of choreography and moves would have added some flavor to the ride and while the music selection wasn’t awful, it also wasn’t the type of soundtrack that allows you to really drop into a class and makes you feel like sassy, stomping spin babe. The studio also lacks the dynamic lighting systems of other, newer indoor cycling studios (the options were either totally off or with the black light on), which may have contributed to the workout feeling less dynamic as well.

It also seems as if the studio’s class structure is centered on pacing the workout and songs to an ideal gear range and target RPM — a philosophy we don’t love. While we understand that this is just a benchmark measurement, in our experience, we become fixated on hitting a number rather than tuning into our bodies and FEELING the workout and the energy in the room. The perspective shifts to the number and when that number doesn’t feel achievable that day (because every workout is different), it’s often accompanied by a sense of defeat — and this is coming from us as fitness experts and enthusiasts. We can’t imagine how a newcomer to the workout must feel. Thankfully though, it did seem as if Alisha was aware of exactly what we’re talking about as she encouraged the class many times to just set the bike to the gear they needed in that moment, whether it be more or less.

INSTRUCTOR

Alisha is a high energy, personable instructor. From what we could tell, she is experienced and teaches at many of the brand’s other locations.

In our Sunday morning class, the room’s energy was a little low and the riders a little quiet. But Alisha really gave it her all, encouraging the class to come out of its shell and trying her best to compensate for the room’s lack of energy with her own positive mood and motivational words (sometimes bordering the line between cheesy and inspirational for our preference).

We would have loved more cueing to help everyone ride to the beat of the music, though. When we looked into the mirror, it was obvious that many riders were off beat and people were swaying side to side at their own pace. There’s something special and electric about a class that comes together to ride as one, and unfortunately, it just wasn’t there that morning.

SPACE

At $20 a class, we were expecting a bit more of out Rush Cycle La Jolla, especially in comparison to its competitors. The space is clean, but a bit cramped and lacking the glitz of other big name spin studios.

Shoe rental and towels are included in class – both may be picked up at the front desk upon arrival. It seemed as if the studio could benefit from having an additional staff member work the front desk, especially during high traffic time in between classes. We needed some assistance getting a different pair of shoes and purchasing socks (forgot ours at home – ugh!), but ended up waiting at an empty front desk for some time before anyone came back. This left us feeling frazzled and rushed trying to get ready for class despite having arrived plenty early.

The spin room itself is a tight room with Keiser bikes — not our favorite — arranged in a square shape all on one level around the podium. At times it felt a bit too tight as we hit elbows with our neighbors on push ups.

At the end of class, the chilled eucalyptus towels we’ve become accustomed to at other studios (talk about spoiled) were absent and riders were expected to clean their own bikes. Don’t get us wrong – we are more than happy to clean up after ourselves, but at a premium price point, it seemed strange that some of the “white glove” services were missing.