Cycling For A Cause (& GIVEAWAY)

I was contacted by Pure Indoor Cycling of San Diego a couple weeks back. They said that they were having a charity event for Earth Day and wanted to see if I would be interested in attending. I am all about raising money for a good cause so told them to save me some cycling shoes (is that what they're called?) and sign me up!

Source

Pure Indoor Cycling teamed up with Athleta to raise money for the San Diego Coastkeeper, an organization that is on a mission to protect and restore swimmable, fishable and drinkable water in San Diego County. If you know me, you hopefully know at least two things about me - 1. I love being active (so although a spin class is definitely outside of my comfort zone I am at least willing to give it the old college try) and 2. I love the environment (especially when I am able to help in a local and tangible way). So pairing the two not only is it awesome for exercisers and the environment, but it was sort of like a giant neon sign pointing to the event saying "YOU MUST GO! THIS WAS MADE FOR YOU!"

Apparently no one told the other riders that it was Earth Day and they should get decked out in their
"green" apparel ;) (Or maybe some one should have told me that I would have stuck out like a sore thumb
if I wasn't wearing more black and less rainbows ;))

The class was AWESOME! Like I mentioned, spinning is pretty far outside of my comfort zone (as in, I've only ever been to one class and it was one that a friend was teaching). It was a little strange that we were in the middle of the mall so everyone (and I do mean EVERYONE) seemed to walk by a little slower so they could gawk at the crazies sweating across from Annie's Pretzels, but once you forgot about the onlookers and focused on the task at hand it was great.

Some of my pre-class shots
Left: Sandwich board outside of Athleta / Middle: Bikes set up for class / Right: Garmin shot (the closest activity... even if we were outside)

Kelsey kicked our booties and left us a sweaty puddle (although she definitely gave everyone the option to take it as easy or difficult as you wanted). The class was 45 minutes long and although the temps were dropping because it was closer to sunset, the humidity or breeze didn't give us much of a break. She was kind enough to go over the basics before we started (like how to clip your shoes in and where your hands should be in different positions) so although I felt like a fish out of water I think played the part of cyclist spinner 'newbie-taking-a-spinning-class' decently ;)

Things going on in this shot: Me trying not to fall off my bike, spectators at the end of the row interested in what the heck we are doing,
everyone else looking like they've done this a million times before

Left: Me and Kelsey (the teacher of our class) / Right: Me and Maria (the owner of the studio)

Not only did we walk away with soggy, sweaty clothes and the good feeling of knowing we were helping San Diego County's environment at the same time, but Athleta and Pure Indoor Cycling teamed up for an awesome goodie bag. I wanted to rip into the KIND bar on the drive home but knew a "good blogger" would at least snap a picture first ;)

I love that Pure Indoor Cycling offers "Pay It Forward" rides (which is what the event I attended was a part of, but they have others on a regular basis as well). A portion of each Pay it Forward ride is given to local charities in the San Diego area. Not only do you get to focus on improving yourself, but also your community... it's a WIN WIN!

Source

And want to know what else is a win-win?! The fact that since you've read this blog post you now have a chance to win TEN FREE CLASSES at Pure Indoor Cycling (a $200 value). Yup, the super sweet folks gave me ten free classes at their studio to give away to one of YOU! [Please note - their studio is located in San Diego {401 W A St #140, San Diego, CA 92101}, so if you are not local you might not want to enter this giveaway... unless you're willing to travel ;)]

Truth be told, if I lived closer I would have totally swiped these classes for myself and this post would have been more of a review than a giveaway, but since the studio is about 40 miles away (and over an hour drive with ZERO traffic... which never happens in SoCal, #AmIRight?!), I thought I would share the wealth and give you the opportunity to win!

Entering is easy, all you need to do it use the Rafflecopter widget below and put your name in to win. This giveaway will last one week with a single winner being selected, winning the ten pack of rides. Easy peasy, so hurry and enter NOW!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
This giveaway runs through Sunday, April 30th at 11:59pm PST. The winner will be contacted via the email address associated with their Rafflecopter account and have 24 hours to claim their prize. All entries are verified, so be sure to complete them or a new, random winner will be selected (I don't want you missing out due to a technicality).

Good luck to everyone who enters and remember to enter early & often as some of the options are available daily!