Fears I Had After My First Peloton Bike Ride

You’ve ordered your Peloton bike and have taken your first ride – Congrats! But maybe you’re feeling a little hesitant wondering if this was a good decision…I’ve been there!

Once my Peloton bike finally arrived, I could not wait to hop on and take my first ride. My very first ride was a 20-minute beginner ride with Kendall and even though I had been to spin studios before, I wanted to take it “easy” on myself for the first go-around at home.

Just being totally transparent, only 10 minutes in, I wanted to get off. After 20 minutes, I was terrified. What had I gotten myself into?

I had a couple genuine concerns after my first ride that had me questioning such a big purchase. Today I’m sharing it all in hopes that it helps someone feel a little less alone if they aren’t head-over-heels for their spin bike yet. In fact, after my first ride I was like…oh my gosh…maybe I’ve made a colossal mistake…!

Fears I Had After My First Peloton Bike Ride

Is my knee always going to hurt like this?

Before getting my own bike, I had taken spin classes at gyms (in the Before times) where we were provided shoes and/or I used my own sneakers. I wasn’t familiar with cleats, but I followed Peloton’s video on installing the cleats on the bottom of my cycling shoes when they arrived and didn’t think anything else about it. 

After my first ride, my left knee was aching so badly I had tears in my eyes. After poking around some of the Peloton Facebook groups, I realized this was a common problem and that I should adjust my shoes and/or my seat. Pay attention when installing your cleats and make sure they are not only placed correctly, but not crooked!

As soon as I got the cleats situated, my knee pain disappeared.

How is she able to reach for a water bottle?

During my first ride, Kendall mentioned grabbing some water. I thought to myself ‘I can barely keep my body on this thing while both hands are attached to the handle bars – how am I supposed to grab water?’

Turns out, as my core strength grew (and I found a bottle that fits nicely in my cup holder), this is not an issue anymore.

I am going to be stuck in these shoe clips forever.

I’m sort of ashamed to admit that clipping out of my Peloton bike was one of the hardest parts for me at first. Thankfully, Dane was home at the time, because I would have just peddled until he could come help me. Those Peloton shoe clips can be really tight.

I’ve since found the best way for me to unclip is to make sure my right foot (dominant leg) is down, hold down the brake, point my toe toward the bike, and kick out with my heel. Once that is done, the left side feels manageable. 

How are they sitting up straight during rides moving their arms?

You will notice in videos that many of the instructors start dancing or sitting upright and moving their arms around. While riding in Kendall’s 20-minute class, I had no idea how this was possible. I felt like I had to hold on, but trust me when I say…this gets easier! You’ll get stronger and feel more comfortable on your bike in no time. 

OMG – will I always stare at the clock and hope the minutes pass faster! I’ll never do a long class!

1. You can remove the time on the clock. This has been critical for me! 2. I have worked my way up to 30 minutes without issue and I LOVE it. 3. When you know the songs and can sing along that makes it so much better IMO. I also really love that when I only have 10-15 minutes, I can still take a class that makes me feel the burn and I don’t feel guilty about not cycling longer.

Will it always hurt my groin so much?!

Ouch – that was pretty much my first reaction to getting off my first ride. But the next day I felt like my groin area was bruised. YIKES! Admittedly, since gyms have been closed, I hadn’t been on a spin bike in more than a year. Once I had a few rides in, I didn’t feel the soreness at all! But at the time, I didn’t want to believe that pain would EVER go away…it was painful!

6-ish weeks in, I am fully one of those people that cannot stop talking about the Peloton bike (I have the Bike+) and Peloton app. Everything I was initially really worried or hesitant about (would I even use it daily?!) has worked itself out. I’m happy to share that Dane and I both use the bike and/or app daily!

Peloton Discount Code

If you are considering one yourself, you can get $100 towards bike accessories using my referral code and I am happy to email it directly to you. In full disclosure, when you use my code I get a gift card to buy gear, which…I really want a tank top! 

If you liked this post, you might also enjoy What I Wish I Knew Before I Got My Peloton and My Honest Peloton Bike Review After One Month