• Amazon adds the Tread and Row to its offerings.
• Peloton wins Health & Wellness Webby.
• Refurbished Bikes are back on sale.
• Peloton App is on sale too.
• Peloton Guide has new bundle options.
• Jenn – How to find the right therapist.
• Jenn Sherman to host first-ever class celebrating Jewish American Heritage Month.
• Mayla Wedekind is back on the schedule.
• London Marathon recap.
• Your chance to ride with Christine D’Ercole.
• The latest artist series features Fred Again..
• Best Buy changes focus to the health & wellness market.
• Stages Cycling lays off entire workforce.
• TCO Top 5.
• This Week At Peloton.
• Peloton celebrates Earth Day.
• Peloton adds New York City Marathon scenic run.
• Peloton Roundup including Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Ally Love partners with TJ Maxx & more!
• Peloton Apparel partners with Ford & Wyatt.
• Birthdays – John Foley (4/28), Chelsea Jackson Roberts (4/30)

All this plus our interview with Bonnie Smith!

—

Watch the episode here

 

Listen to the podcast here

 

Peloton Treads & Rows Added To Amazon, Plus Our Interview With Bonnie Smith

Do you want to talk about guests?

Let’s talk about guests. We got some feedback regarding our guest Dana Wexler. It turns out that a lot of you had some very strong feelings.

She was a bit polarizing for some people.

We heard a lot of things that were not available to us before the interview. One thing that I want to make very clear is that two groups were said to have kicked Dana out for “no reason.” After hearing from numerous people, I want you to know that that is not true. There are two sides to every story. Mileage Maniacs in particular had a lot of feedback. Some steps were taken, changes were asked to be made, but those changes were not made, and Mileage Maniacs needs to keep things safe for people, as does the OPP. It takes quite a bit to get kicked out of the OPP. For you to have broken rules on numerous occasions to get kicked out is pretty egregious.

We don’t want to disparage the past guest either but some people were hot about that, and seemingly for valid reasons. We hear you. There are certain things that we don’t have a way to know until we know them.

On to happier topics.

For things that are less polarizing, this episode’s guest is Ben Shapiro.

I appreciate that so many of you still listen. Have not had my inbox lit up like that in a long time.

Feel free to say hi about things you like too.

That’s okay. You can send me a message about things that you enjoy. I love those.

It’s like anything. Nobody stops by customer service to say, “That checkered did a great job.”

I will also say that 99% of the people who reached out to me were very nice. It was not blaming.

They weren’t like you’re a piece of shit. It was like, “Did you realize?” which is very nice.

Thank you for being so kind and nice and we appreciate you. We have a guest this week who I thoroughly enjoyed talking to and I believe you all will enjoy it as well. We are talking to Bonnie Smith and I very much enjoyed this conversation. I think you will as well.

What pray tell else do you have in store for people?

We have a lot. It was a busy day. We will talk about what Peloton has added to its Amazon offerings. We will talk about the Webby Awards they were up for. There are lots of sales going on. We also have a visit from Dr. Jenn. She is going to talk to us about how to find the right mental health therapy that you need. We also have bunches of instructor updates, a London Marathon recap, and an artist series. There are some competitor news that I don’t think you’re going to want to miss, very interesting things that I haven’t seen in a while, and of course, content.

Before we get to all that, shameless plugs, don’t forget we’re available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart, TuneIn. Wherever you find a podcast, you can find us. While you’re there, be sure and follow us so you never miss an episode. Maybe leave us a review. That is super helpful. You can find us on Patreon at Patreon.com/TheClipOut. What do you get for your $5 a month? You get an ad-free episode. If we get it early, you get it early. You get a whole other show every week. We do another 20 to 25 minutes about topics that we didn’t have time to get to in this show. Sometimes we’ll give you some behind-the-scenes, scoop, and things like that.

We will tell you about the next big celebrity guest that we have coming up. We will reveal that in the Patreon. It helps the show. There’s a lot of expense that goes into things like this. All the articles help fund that, That also has a cost attached to it. We appreciate the people who are kind enough to throw $5 a month in our way to help underwrite some of that stuff. You can also find us on YouTube at YouTube.com/TheClipOut, where you can watch these shows. Don’t forget our Facebook page, Facebook.com/TheClipOut. Like the page, join the group, and you can sign up for our newsletter at TheClipOut.com. There’s all that. Let’s dig in. Shall we?

We shall.

—

For a year or more you’ve only been able to purchase the bike and Bike+

First, it starts with just the bike and then it goes to the Bike+.

Could you get the Guide on Amazon?

Yes, you can.

You could then get apparel, accessories, and stuff, but you have not been able to get a tread or a row, and now you can.

A couple of things were interesting about this. Number one, we still don’t have the Tread+ on Amazon.

Why do you think that is, because of its size?

It’s ginormous. I think the delivery aspect is a lot more complex because it’s so heavy. I also think that there is a potential that maybe these Tread+ are not necessarily in locations that would make it easy for Amazon to distribute. I truly think it’s more about the size of it than anything else, but I could be wrong. It’s also interesting that Amazon will put it together for you.

When we first saw Amazon go on board, we listened to the earnings call and Barry had said specifically that it would be a little bit before the tread and the row will be on Amazon because they are trying to figure out a way for it to be delivered and to have a video for people to be able to put it together themselves. It seems like they have bypassed that option because delivery is included with your Peloton tread and with your Peloton row, which I thought was very interesting. Also, there are only a few reviews up on Amazon thus far, both products had excellent reviews as far as the delivery experience and the assembly experience.

How do they already have reviews?

I’m not exactly sure.

Did they sneak them on there and not announce it and people bought a couple?

 

They did. The other interesting thing is they don’t appear to be available in every city. People have been telling me that they’ll go in and try their ZIP code and it’s not coming up. I don’t know that Peloton expected or wanted the whole world to know about this yet. Sorry. They should tell me they don’t want people to know.

They know that we exist.

The other thing is when they put it out on Amazon, it was a little hard to find. It’s only because I searched for things right at the time that I found them. When you went to the Peloton store, these products were not listed.

Amazon does that a lot. I see that a lot with music releases. I don’t know if we’ve ever talked about this on the show, but I’m a big fan of The Monkees. When The Monkees put out a new record for the first time in 30 years, the way The Monkees fandom found out was Amazon listed it for sale and got out in front of the record label. People were like, “What is this thing called Good Times,” which is the name of the record. People were like, “This is a new record coming out this year and it’s not a best of.” Nobody recognized any of the tracks. We’re like, “What the holy hell is happening?” It is not uncommon for Amazon to do that.

It could just be a little bit of a timing issue. I’m not sure. I didn’t go back and look again to see if that had changed at all, but it is possible. It’s also possible that they had some tests where they put it out there. They had some people try it out and then went from there. Either one of those two things could have occurred. I don’t know, or they could be putting up reviews from people who have already bought one.

If you have $3,000 worth of Amazon gift cards burning a hole in your pocket, this is your time to shine. We talked about how Peloton was nominated for a Webby Award in the health and wellness category.

They were up for two, and they got one, which is not bad. They got the award for the Shaunta-Mae video that they had done. Congrats to Peloton. It’s called Feel the Wind: the Shaunt-Mae Story, presented by Peloton. It’s the People’s Choice Voice winner.

Everyone voted.

It’s Peloton, so we do. I don’t think we ever said the Bingo.

You’re right. Let’s say the Bingo here.

Bingo number one is Bradley Rose.

There we go. Refurbished bikes are back on sale.

There is so much inspiration on the Peloton platform. You can do anything that you want to do. Share on X

When you say back on sale, that’s for a lesser price. Peloton threw out some sales.

They are sale crazy.

It’s like $400 off to buy a refurbished bite. It’s $995, and if you want the Bike+ for a refurbished amount, that is $1,595. Both of them are excellent prices.

I wonder how many people are like, “I could use a second bike,” or just like, “Let’s get a refurbished one.”

Obviously, you don’t ride the bike, but if you did I would be down for that because then it would save us from having to constantly change the positions on the bike. I think that would save a marriage. I think it would.

That’s why I don’t use Peloton. I’m saving our marriage. You’re welcome.

You could use the row. You could use the tread. Neither of those has any settings that you have.

What if I’m using it and you want to use it? Save the marriage. I save the marriage three times, four if you count the Guide, but nobody does. Speaking of the Guide, it has new bundle options.

First of all, I have to talk about the app because the app is now on sale. You can get three months for the price of one. That is on all new subscriptions. It’s a limited-time offer. This offer is going to end on May 14th. If you have anybody in your life who is looking to do it, do it now because it’s going to go away.

Of course, there are new bundle options for the Guide.

This is all about the weights. The Guide remains $195, but then you can add on weights. When you do, those weights are on sale. It’s the bundle. Coming up after this, we’re going to talk to Dr. Jenn. We’ve had Dr. Jenn on the show now for years. Years and years of licensed therapeutical advice. Maybe you thought, “I’d like to get myself one of them therapists, but I don’t know where to start.” She’s going to have tips for you on how to find a therapist for yourself, what you should look for, and the steps you should take. She’s going to tell you all about that, coming up next.

—

Joining us once again is Dr. Jenn Mann, licensed marriage, family, and child therapist and sports psychology consultant. You may know her from VH1’s Couples Therapy with Dr. Jenn or VH1’s Family Therapy with Dr. Jenn, or her long-running radio show, The Doctor Jenn Show. She’s written four bestselling books including The Relationship Fix: Dr. Jenn’s 6-Step Guide to Improving Communication, Connection, and Intimacy. It’s Dr. Jenn.

 

Hello.

Welcome back. We have a question from one of our listeners who wishes to remain anonymous. It’s a good question. This person says, “Life has been a whole lot to handle lately. I work a high-pressure full-time job. I’m an active parent to kids who have tons going on and my partner recently went through a health crisis that has required a lot of attention. I’m having constant and serious anxiety about forgetting things and dropping balls.”

“Since keeping up with my house and family schedule is exhausting me, I’m ignoring some of my own nagging health issues, physical and mental. I’m very close to having some sort of breakdown. I know I need help but I’m not sure what kind or even where to start. The thought of figuring it out makes it. Psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists, counselors, mental health coaches, what steps should I follow to get myself the help I need?”

She read my mind at the end. The thing that jumps out at me on this is you need to have your own support. You need your own therapy. You need your own person. I think a lot of moms will relate to this. The irony is when you’re so overwhelmed, you have so much on your plate, and you’re so stressed out, there’s a tendency to be like, “I don’t have time for therapy. I don’t have an hour to spare.” If you’re not doing it virtually, then it’s also the drive there and the drive back, which is a whole probably a half hour either way. That is also why I like virtual therapy. It’s not just for COVID. Virtual therapy kills it when it comes to convenience and privacy. You can do therapy in your car. You can escape your family that way. I’ve done therapy with people in bathrooms, closets, floors, you name it. You have to be creative.

I would think therapy will help them come out of the closet.

That said, I think that therapy is going to be important. We’ll call her Jane Doe. Jane Doe needs to get therapy. I understand why it’s completely overwhelming to think about like, “How do I find a therapist?” I happen to have a host or two on my Instagram specifically about how to find a therapist, but I’m going to give some tips right here now to keep it simple. First of all, I do not recommend life coaches. They are unregulated. They are unlicensed. They don’t have to take specific classes in law and ethics or dealing with suicidality or all kinds of things that are important, especially when you’re dealing with very significant life issues.

I recommend a licensed person. If she has a cost issue, then I recommend an intern. An intern is someone who to get the license, you have to do 3,000 hours under supervision. During that time, you are generally not paid. You work with someone who has at least two years of experience and that person supervises all your cases.

For a way lower fee, usually based on your ability to pay, you’re getting the eyeballs of someone new who’s studying the stuff and is excited and enthusiastic about it, and someone who’s been licensed for two years or longer and has the experience to oversee your case. It’s a great way to save money. If you want to know how to find a person like that, google whatever area you are living in and mental health clinics. You will probably have a lot of options. A lot of clinics do virtual sessions now which makes it a lot easier especially if you’ve got a cost issue and a time issue.

In terms of therapists, it can be very confusing. Clinical social worker, marriage and family therapist, and psychologist, to me it matters less about the title because any one of those kinds of people can help you when it comes to therapy. Interview them. You do that on the phone. You don’t have to pay to talk to someone on the phone to get a sense of whether there is chemistry. Come up with a list of questions about what their specialty is and how much experience they have. Do they offer a sliding scale fee? Are they willing to reduce their rate for certain kinds of clients? Anything that’s specific about your life and what you’re dealing with, do they have experience with that? Those are important questions to ask.

I would recommend meeting with three people if you can to see which feels like the best fit. Sometimes you walk into someone and you’re like, “This is the perfect therapist for me. I felt so comfortable. They challenged me. I opened up.” It’s a great match made in heaven. You can cancel the other two appointments. There are times you walk in and your best friend is like, “This is the greatest therapist ever,” but you don’t feel the chemistry. There are a lot of good therapists out there. Unfortunately, there are a lot of bad therapists out there too. Even within the realm of good therapists, you’re not going to feel the vibe with every one of them. You need to make sure that that person is the right fit for you.

I would think it’s a lot like dating. Just because they’re not a good fit for you doesn’t mean they’re necessarily bad. It’s just that not everybody is for everyone.

Just like dating, someone can be great on paper but the chemistry is not there. Therapy is no different. It is like a date in that way. Sometimes they’re something that you can’t put your finger on that it’s like, “I don’t feel comfortable in the room. You have to trust that instinct. You have to trust your gut on that. Regarding the feeling of overwhelm, I don’t blame you. You have a lot on your plate. You’ve got a demanding job. You’ve got kids who need you. You’ve got a partner who’s going through a medical crisis.

As an instructor, you want them to have that experience of great workout. Share on X

Regarding the organization of it and your anxiety about forgetting something, I’m obsessed with to-do lists. I have them everywhere. I have little pieces of paper. Everywhere you can possibly look in my home. I have a to-do list. I have a specific to-do list. Coming up with a system that works for you when you’re overwhelmed is hard to do. I love paper. A lot of people love electronics. Ask your friends, “How do you keep track of things? What are the to-do apps to use? What are the to-do lists you use?” Ask around because you need to experiment with different things because that can also affect your sleep.

I remember reading a study a number of years ago where it said that people who keep a pad of paper and a pen by their bed at night get better quality sleep because we have that tendency to wake up and be like, “I have my to-do list. I forgot. How am I going to make sure I don’t forget it tomorrow? If I go to sleep, I might forget it.” Write it down. Make sure that you write things down. I think that’s important. I also think that coming to terms with when you have a high-pressure job, multiple kids that need you, or a partner with a medical crisis, you’re going to feel a certain level of anxiety and overwhelm that’s normal and expected.

You do want to manage it and figure out what you need to do in terms of therapy, self-care, and exercise. Be sure you have nutritious food and you get enough sleep of course, but there’s going to be a certain amount of anxiety. It’s probably not going to go away completely unless you start using some serious drugs that you shouldn’t be using to numb out and not be present at all, but then that creates a whole other host of problems that you don’t want. You’re human, of course, you’re going to be anxious and overwhelmed with all of that.

Don’t do that part.

Do not do drugs or drink through this or act out in that way. Understand that a certain amount of this is normal, understandable, and expected. We have to almost embrace. It’s like when you’re going through grief, you can’t be like, “I’m sad. What do I do about that?” Sometimes you have to be sad to go through it.

If she does do drugs, we will have a question for next week. Thank you very much for all of that. Until next time, where can we find you?

You can find me on all social media @DrJennMann.

Thank you.

—

We have the first-ever class type and I am stunned that it took this long.

You and a lot of other people, but it’s happening.

I don’t mean to complain. I’m glad it’s occurring but I am surprised it took as long as it did.

It is on May 7th, 10:00 AM, Eastern, a 30-minute Jewish-American Heritage Month class with Jenn Sherman.

 

Here’s the other thing I feel weird about. I’m familiar with many Jewish holidays. I’ve never heard anybody talk about Jewish-American Heritage Month.

Neither have I. I don’t know if that is because it’s been celebrated and I’m not aware of it, or if it’s because the Jewish people that I know don’t talk about it. Some people will be like, “Whatever,” so they don’t mention it, or if there’s some other reason. Could it be that it just started? That can’t be a thing, right?

It seems unlikely. How have I never seen anyone share that? We see all sorts of Black History Month or whatever. How have I never seen that? That’s great that they’re finally doing that and hopefully, we see more of that.

I hope so.

Mayla Wedekind is back on the schedule.

She will be back for the London Calling event that occurs on June 29th. She will be back in the studio after having her baby. She’s also having a book event. Don’t forget, she just released a book only in German. All of that will be taking place during the London Calling event at the end of June. Welcome back to Mayla.

Becs Gentry has joined the New York Road Runner’s Set The Pace podcast, their official podcast, as their permanent co-host.

This is a big deal. Their last co-host was amazing, a runner, and a huge deal. She’s now going to be on there all the time. I don’t know if it was his time to leave. I don’t know the goings-on that occurred behind it. I shouldn’t even speculate because I don’t mean that it’s a bad thing. Regardless, it’s awesome news for Becs. Congratulations to Peloton. That partnership keeps paying dividends.

If you want to ride with Christine D’Ercole, you can do that.

Christine is doing a cool event. That is a special opportunity that you can ride with her. It’s called Ride United. It’s the 2024 event. It takes place May 17th and 18th in Michigan. Christine is participating in a 100-mile ride. You too can see Christine while she is there. After her speech that she will be doing on one of the nights there, she is going to have dinner. You can have tickets and you can register for those tickets if there are any left at this point since it’s already been up for a few days.

You also can be part of the ride itself. You can do the ride. If you’re like, “There’s no way I can ride 100 miles,” that’s okay. You can also ride the 25 miles, the 50 miles, or of course the 100 miles. It’s cyclists of all skill levels from novice to seasoned professional. Can you keep up with them? Probably not, but that’s okay. It’s your chance to do something for an amazing event. I think it’s cool. Also, the entire community is going to have a chance to be part of it whether you’re taking the ride or not. There’s going to be a special Power Zone training that will occur. It is going to be CDE and Jackie Cincotta teaming up to put together a four-week training plan specifically for your selected mileage in the ride.

There’s an article over at TheClipOut.com, recapping the London Marathon.

I try to inspire other people to live their best life, go out there, and do it. Share on X

It was a cool and very special day. Five of our instructors participated. Four of the instructors were from London, and one was from the US. Kristin McGee also ran but she lives in the US, Hannah Frankson, Jeffrey, and then Ben and Leanne all ran. It was a pretty special day. That was Kristin McGee’s first-ever marathon that she completed. All of them finished in less time than I will. That was Jeffrey’s second marathon of the week, the second one in seven days. It was Leanne’s first marathon.

Ben and Leanne were raising money for breast cancer research. They raised over 50,000 pounds themselves. It’s not everyone at the race but those two. Hannah Frankson decided to share with us last minute that she was doing it. She seemed to have a great time. As you might remember, she was the face of the London Marathon Prize and this was her first time running it. All of them did amazing and I have to say that my favorite moment of the day was Susie Chan posted videos of all the instructors when they went by. There was a very touching moment when Leanne ran by and they saw each other. Susie gave her a big hug and they were both crying

Coming up after this, we’re going to tell you about the latest artist series. It’s somebody who’s back for the very first time.

—

The latest artist series features Fred Again. Whatever that is. He has two periods after his name.

What is that about? I thought it was a spelling thing the first time I saw that.

I think he just likes to see a red squiggly under his name whenever he types it.

I will be honest. I don’t know much about him. I do know that we are going to see his music among thirteen different classes including three new Lanebreak classes. It’s going to be a walk, a run, and a ride. In addition to that, I also saw here that there is a little playlist we inserted in our article on The Clip Out. If you haven’t heard his music, here’s where you go to check it out. Apparently, he’s a big deal.

If they’re doing thirteen classes with him, then one must think he’s a big deal to somebody but I’ve never heard of him. I’m an old guy now.

Me too. I’m not a guy but I’m old.

Best Buy has been facing a lot of challenges as shopping habits have changed over the last 10 to 15 years. People buy more and more of their technological equipment from Amazon and things like that. They’ve been doing a pretty good job of navigating that storm, unlike Circuit City. They also have something called Best Buy Health, which I was unaware of until this article.

That’s why we wanted to include it. Helper Bee Nikki brought this to my attention. I thought it was super fascinating. Best Buy purchased a company. This company has a lot of health things going on. The biggest thing is that the company that they bought now has become Best Buy Health. It’s like The Geek Squad, but for health. The idea is people who can’t leave their homes for all kinds of reasons can still get health care.

They said it targets people who are aging in place. I think the thought process is that instead of maybe people who are getting near to needing some sort of assisted living community, trying to stave that off for a few years by using technology. Maybe they come in and help you set up blood pressure monitoring or they’ll also do things so you don’t have to call your kids all the time like help you set up your iPad or know the difference between posting something on a Facebook wall versus sending someone a message, but all sorts of things like that. It’s fascinating.

 

I love this concept. The specific thing that the article says is that it consists of solutions geared towards helping customers with age-related issues, fitness technology, and even prescription fulfillment, and medical-device-related tech. They have been working on this for the last three years. This is amazing. Given that Best Buy has been going through a little bit of a redirect, it’s a good thing that we haven’t heard about this because it means they’re growing slowly and steadily. They need to be healthy.

This sounds like a very complex thing to take to scale. You probably do have to take some baby steps or crawl-before-you-walk sort of thing.

I was intrigued.

Yeah, I’m not getting any younger. Stages Cycling has laid off its entire workforce.

I was so surprised.

What’s the difference between laying off your entire workforce and going out of business?

I think that they are probably. It says that the company appears to be edging closer to seizing operations. I think that’s the plan, but I don’t know. Either way, the big difference would be you’re getting paid versus you’re not getting paid, or you have the option for the company to still do some package with you versus the doors being closed everywhere. I’m not saying what will happen because I have no idea. If you just close your doors and go away and never talk to people again, then nobody is getting anything. The fact that they laid everybody off means people could come back. Maybe they file for bankruptcy and they do a refresh, and then they bring some of those people back. It gives them options.

What is Sstage Cycling? That means nothing to me.

I think it was another Snapchat. It’s another one of those cycling places. They had their little boutique places all over.

Bingo number two.

Bingo number two is Ally Love.

It is time for the TCO Top Five, where you tell us your favorite classes of the week, and then we categorize them and tell them back to you for people who want to try something different. Number one, favorite Peloton ride.

Find someone that you relate to and have a good time. Share on X

May 30th, ‘21, we’re going back in time, a 45-minute Power Zone endurance ride with Christine D’Ercole. Karen Smith says, “This is a perfect class for days when you need to take it easy, but not too easy. She says she used it as a long-active recovery. It was entirely in zone 2 outside of warm-up. I loved it. Get it before it’s gone.”

Number two, favorite Peloton walk.

This is from April 11th, ‘24, a 3-minute At The Club walk with Jon Hosking. Our very own Helper Bee Nikki took this class and loved it. She said, “It’s so much fun. He’s built it around a hen and stag party. There’s an imaginary baby with a pacifier involved, but he’s having such a good time. He skips on the treadmill. Not the baby Jon Hosking. This is a preview of what Ben’s stag party is going to look like because Jon will be involved in that. He’s in for a heck of a night. This class is a guaranteed smile, and spoiler alert, it’s listed as a walk, but you can run it. Hosky gives call-outs to support both walking and running.”

Number three, favorite Peloton outdoor walk-run.

Also on April 11th, a 30-minute outdoor walk and run drop with Andy Speer. Sonia Norman loved it. She said, “The playlist was fun. The walk intervals were 80 sing-along-type songs, and the run intervals were EDM mixes of ‘80s music. I have been able to run for a couple of months due to an injury. This workout was a great way to get outside and back into running.”

Number four, favorite Peloton row bootcamps.

A 20-minute tag team row bootcamp with Adrian. 4050 is loving them. She says that she’s enjoying the tag team row-plus classes. She did Emma’s and Tunde’s classes. She’s looking forward to Coach Matt’s class in her stack today, and Andy this Wednesday. “The classes are fun and effective and it’s a great intro to the bootcamp style classes. It’s nice to see the instructors interact.”

Finally, your unstackable of the week.

Featuring Olivia Amato from April 12th. It was a 45-minute Classic Rock ride. David Timber says, “Unstackable, unwalkable, unmovable, anything-able to slowly die while pedaling for 45 minutes, stare at a wall, and sit in a cardio buzz for the next three hours. Holy cow. She looked so kind.”

If you want to research so you can submit to next week’s TCO Top Five, let’s take a look at This Week at Peloton.

First of all, we have a 60-minute Groove Ride with Emma Lovewell. I don’t know that I’ve seen a 60-minute Groove Ride. This takes place on April 24th at 5:30 PM Eastern. There’s also a full-body stretch with Hannah Corbin. It’ll be a 20-minute full-body stretch. That is already on demand. I’m excited about this new class type, the Intervals and Arms. Katie Wang is the instructor for these classes, or at least the first one. The first one is happening live on April 25th at 6 AM Eastern. Yes, it’s that early.

It’s been a long time since we’ve seen 6 AM classes, isn’t it?

 

I don’t take bike classes anymore. That could be why, but we do see bike classes at 6 AM, but not every day, and they’re not they’re not always 45 minutes. It used to be every day at 6 AM. That has not returned, but we have rowing at 6 AM. That’s good. I don’t know that we’ve ever had a row that early. Oh, we definitely have because that’s when they do the row bootcamps with Adrian. Those are at 6 AM.

Finally, there’s the Earth Day one.

There are going to be new English, German, and Spanish Earth Day classes with Charlotte, Dennis, Jermaine, Kira, Mariana, Nico, and Tobias. They are all on demand.

We had a new scenic class added. This sounds pretty cool, but not cool enough for me to do it. Calm down. They’ve added a scenic run for the New York City Marathon.

There’s a total of seven classes. There is one class that is dropping that you can take uninterrupted. That’s 150 minutes long over the entire New York City Marathon course. That is the longest class that has ever been on the Peloton platform. That’s number one.

If you finish the marathon in that time, then you’re Matt Wilpers.

I guess so, okay. You’re better than Matt Wilpers because he finished it in 302 or something. He finished the Boston. I shouldn’t say. I’m not trying to besmirch him in any way. If you finish in less than three hours, you’re amazing. That’s the bottom line. They have broken these up into separate classes. Each instructor is breaking out a class. They’re 30 minutes long and they’re different pieces of the New York City Marathon that also dropped. In addition to all of that, they have these ones that you can do in distances. There’s a 1-mile and a 5-mile piece of it that you can do. There are different ways to break down these scenic runs. I am so excited though to see the 150-minute run.

Could you conceivably do the entire marathon as a scenic run, or is it compressed somehow?

It’s not compressed. I think they had a drone or something. I don’t know exactly how they did it, but they filmed the entire route. In theory, the scenic run is going to end, and you will be done, but you’re not moving as fast as the camera. You’ll do the whole route but not at your. You can run it however fast you want and you’re not really doing 26.2 miles.

If you did, you might watch it 2 or 3 times. I’m just curious how that works, but that’s cool. Especially since you’re going to do it, you get an idea of what you’re going to see when you’re out there. Some people want the surprise, but you don’t.

I’m a little bit on the fence. I want it but I also don’t want it. I’m a little scared to know too much. I think it might be helpful to see what the hills look like and things like that to be able to mentally prepare for it since I live nowhere near there. Some people like to run the course over and over again. I can’t do that.

We introduced a new article type. A little bit of this and a little bit of that. It’s a roundup of smaller stories that don’t necessarily necessitate full articles, but we still think you should know it. We’re going to pound through those quickly for you.

 

First of all, Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month is kicking off on Friday, May 10th at the New York Studio. There’s also going to be a special event that day, where Emma, Katie, and Aditi are going to be there sharing their heritage and cultural experiences. That’s pretty cool.

We also have Ally Love doing some TJ Maxx.

She is now prepping at TJ Maxx I guess. You can buy her outfits there.

There’s a sale and a sunkissed apparel?

It’s stuff from last year. That’s what it looked like to me.

Matt Wilpers has a post-marathon recovery. I guess if you recovering, then it would be post-marathon, by virtue of definition.

I don’t know that you can call it surfing recovery. Most of us would call that a workout, but Matt’s like, “Yeah. Of course, she recovers with surfing.”

If you can run a marathon for three hours, then yes.

That’s fair.

We have Peloton and some university spirit stuff.

Collaboration is still going. There’s a new reel that dropped. There are University of Michigan athletes doing athlete things. Maybe another partnership. I don’t know. It was weird that it came out of nowhere.

We also have a murder mystery adventure.

 

At the London summit for all of the different Peloton London instructors, they had a murder mystery. They had one over in the US as well. They did one in London.

Finally, we have some more Peloton nutrition stuff popping up.

Kendall is doing an event with that Dan Churchill guy. I still don’t know who he is, but they are going to be doing a live nutrition event, and you can make a reservation to be part of it. He’s a chef. I do know that much, but I don’t know anything about him.

We have a new Peloton apparel collaboration this time with Ford and Wyatt.

I’ve never heard of them. Not shocking. They’re probably fancy.

It sounds like a law firm.

It’s cool because it’s in time for the American Mother’s Day. I don’t know if we’ve already passed up the London one or not. This is in time for the American Mother’s Day, but it’s like Raising Legends, Peloton Mama, and things like that. It’s very much like the shirts that say Mama Bear on them. That’s what they remind me of, like the same font and everything. If you’re into that stuff, that’s totally up your alley. I also want to mention though, Peloton announced that for this weekend, there will be a 40% off sale on the entire site. It’s called a friends and family discount. If you have your eye on some things, this weekend could be the weekend.

—

It’s been a few weeks since we had a birthday. They are roaring back with founder and former CEO John Foley who celebrates his birthday on April 28th, followed by Chelsea Jackson Roberts, who celebrates her birthday on April 30th.

Happy birthday to both.

Coming after this, we’ll have our interview, Bonnie Smith, so sit tight.

—

Joining us is Bonnie Smith. Bonnie, how’s it going?

I’m so good.

 

Bonnie Smith’s Introduction To Peloton

Thank you so much for joining us. How did you originally find Peloton?

Right before the pandemic. My father-in-law is a huge cyclist. He cycled across the United States. He comes up to us and says, “You girls need to try Peloton.” We’re like, “We cycle and stuff.” Corey, my wife, bought one for her birthday. We got it here. She took a few rides and was like, “You’re going to love it.” I’m still skeptical. I was like, “Let me try it.” I get on there and I love EDM music.

The first person I find is Ben Alldis. I love him. He has all the bangers. I started riding with him. What happened was I wanted to be on it every day. We had 1 bike and then 2. I had to wait but I couldn’t wait. I was like, “Let me find out.” I started researching other instructors who had the type of music that I liked. That’s how we got our first bike in the family.

How many bikes do you have now in the family?

I have two. How I got the second bike, I was using this bike a lot. I had a road bike because I used to love to ride on the road. I said, “I’m going to sell it and get my own.” Here’s my own with my headset and everything because I want it loud. I got some lights in here so I could get that whole seal. I got my bike. I started trying different ones out. We found the Turkey Burn. We got the bike in November. We started riding with Robin and Ben. Corey liked Cody a lot. I liked him but I prefer a different style of music. He’s upped with it for sure, both of us.

Do you have two bikes, two Bike+, a Bike+ and a bike? What’s the configuration?

We have two bikes and a treadmill. There’s a story behind the treadmill. We had the bikes. The pandemic came and I got injured. When you get injured, it changes your life. I had to have back surgery. I couldn’t walk. I started to walk around the house, used the app, and started walking with people. I never had used it before because I had the bike. I found some of the same instructors were on the treadmill, so I started walking with the app first and then asked for a treadmill for Christmas so that I could train.

I found that Marcel was doing the Shamrock and she was going to be in Virginia Beach. I started training with her. Also, Matt Wilpers. It’s the long runs on Sunday and then Olivia. I did run with Jess King because of her music. When I was getting serious about running, I went more for the runners in the group. I trained for that and I got to meet Marcel and she was amazing.

When I went to go run, I felt like, at the starting line, she knew who I was. It made it so fun to be able to run, knowing that she was going to be running behind me once she got everybody started, so you know you had to pick up that pace. I ended up doing a PR for myself. I will credit Peloton for the training and the overall “go out there and do it.”

They get 20% of the credit. You get the rest.

You still did the work.

I did the work, yes. I use that incline because, in Virginia Beach, they have this sneaky 4 to 5 mile where you go up. It’s not up but there’s a wind tunnel, so I was ready for that because of the resistance training. I wouldn’t go under a two and a half, but having that moment of meeting her, and it was her birthday, it was a lot of fun. She was everything that you want when you meet an instructor.

 

She’s super nice in person. She’s doing the Shamrock again, isn’t she?

She is. I already bought the run. However, I opened a studio. Have I been training? No, but if she’s there, I might have to go out there. I might not get that PR but it’s always fun. Jess King was here in Virginia and I had to make a hard decision. Do I do my business ride or do I go meet Jess King in Tysons Corner? I had to do my business, but there was a fine line right there on that decision. Do I shut the studio down so I can meet Jess King? She came pretty close.

Opening CyclePath Fitness

You’ve casually dropped in there that you opened your studio. I understand a whole story behind that and Peloton was at least somewhat involved from the standpoint of inspiration. Tell us a little bit about that.

That transpired pretty quickly. We’re riding our bikes on. I thought, “Let me go see what it’s like to ride with people again once the pandemic lifts.” I used to spin ten years ago. I found my spin instructor at the Y that’s still there. I asked her if she’d be willing to let me shadow her. When you’re on the Peloton platform, there’s so much inspiration. You can start your business or do anything that you want to do. I even have my oven there on the hustle that I use.

I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to manifest or write down things that they need to do. You’ve got all this positivity coming at you. You can do anything. I was like, “I can do this. Let’s see what it’s like.” I went with her and then a Schwinn certification came up close by in DC. I went up there, got Schwinn certified, met some people, checked out the bikes, and then became an instructor at the YMCA while still working corporate jobs.

I would do the Tuesday morning ride. It was more of an endurance base because I liked that. At this point, we weren’t coming off the bike because I created a bike bootcamp there. It got big for me. There was an opportunity to do a Wednesday evening at 5:30. I started with a 30-minute HIIT, which turned into my CrossFit background and lifting. “Let’s see what it’s like to come off the bike and lift some weights.”

Fifteen minutes in, we’d come off the bike and then we’d get back on. That grew into where I wanted more, so it was a 45-minute ride with coming off the bike, and sometimes twice. I had this whole platform at the Y that allowed me to create what is now CyclePath Fitness. With the timeline on that, that was pretty quick. In 2023, I ran the Shamrock. I started the program before I ran the Shamrock.

Once I had the injury, I realized that I needed to figure out what I wanted to do with myself, which was huge. Do I want to stay in the corporate world? What do I want to do? You need to figure out what you want to do. I got certified and then did the Y program and that kept building. Corey decided that she wanted to go back to CrossFit in April 2023.

She went to CrossFit and ended up meeting up with one of the CrossFit coaches that we had named Matt Shannon. When we trained with him, he would love good playlists. I’m building playlists. I said, “Why don’t you come to the Y?” Everyone thinks of the YMCA as a fun community but I can’t say that they have quality bikes. It’s still a good time.

He ended up bringing the owner of CrossFit Huey to the ride and she did it. They both enjoyed it so much that we started talking about how we can put that into the CrossFit community. How can we get spin in the CrossFit community? We’re talking about June and July. I was like, “I met the guys from Core Fitness so it’s wind bikes.” He told me all I needed was four walls and a good sound system. She had a space. I decided to rent it.

We’re talking about August now. I decided that we were going to make this plan of opening a studio. She came and we figured it out. I’m renting a space inside of a CrossFit box, which is wonderful because I have different types of athletes who come. You get your CrossFit athletes that love the endurance and then you’ve got your people that love spin but we do come off the bike. We opened in December 2023.

You have the built-in foot traffic of people who are fitness enthusiasts. That’s got to help from a marketing standpoint. You have a captive audience coming through all day, every day.

 

CrossFit Huey has been wonderful. She invited me into her world and gave me this opportunity. I train with her and she rides my metal rides on Tuesday nights. I get to move her and then she moves me differently. It’s a wonderful relationship and one that I’m very grateful for.

Balancing Peloton And CyclePath

Now that you’re teaching spin, does that have any impact on your enjoyment or usage of Peloton itself?

When I walk my dog, I do enjoy walking with Jess King because she has EDMs. Yes, I do try to ride at least once a week because that’s training for me. I need that because even though you’re the instructor, there are so many endorphins going on. There’s time and music. Whatever we’re doing is different than getting your butt kicked on the Peloton. I do try to make a point to continue to ride once a week. There’s a Justin EDM hard playlist that she did. I’m looking forward to maybe doing that.

That’s fun. Does the coaching and taking Peloton classes change how you teach your spin classes?

No, because I do bike bootcamp. We come off the bike either 2 or 3 times. We either do upper body, lower body, and then core or mix those two in. I do CyclePath fitness. I have a ride called Placebo, which is the endurance space. It’s 45 minutes of hell. I do moderate hard and hard. On the metal night, it’s moderate, hard, and hard AF. It’s one of my biggest classes. The harder I push people, the more they love it. You got 45 minutes and you want them to have that experience of a great workout.

I do credit Peloton for the inspiration and maybe how I may come across as “If I can do this, you can do it.” I try to inspire other people to live their best life, go out there, and do it. Once you take that step, it is life-changing. My whole life has changed. I will always go back to Peloton when I need to get my ass kicked.

You should classify the intensity of your metal classes. Instead of hard and hard AF, you should be like AC/DC, Metallica, and Slayer.

I should. I started to say that turning the right is rougher instead of heavier. My new nickname is Brutal Bonnie.

What about other classes on the Peloton platform? You mentioned that you do the walking. Do you do any of the other classes at all?

I’m a big Rebecca Kennedy fan for stretching. She does amazing things with cats and all the things that I need for what I do. I’m a huge fan of her.

You have two bikes and a tread. Is there any interest in a rower?

We have a concept rower.

 

Integrating Spin With CrossFit

You got all the things. All the boxes have been checked. It’s interesting that you’re doing that in a CrossFit studio because it seems like in some elements of CrossFit, there are CrossFit people out there who are purists that they don’t want anything else or they frown upon it. Did you meet any resistance in that community locally?

Absolutely not. My biggest fan base is incredible. It’s the CrossFit athletes from Huey. She has been great. Her husband comes to the metal ride. My first original founding member is John Henry. I love him. He has incredible energy. You look at him and you would never think that he would take a spin class. He loves it. He antagonizes me and it works out great for everyone. No resistance and they continue to come. I’m going to add a zone ride on a Saturday. On Saturday, CrossFit has its open gym, and then there’s an opportunity for them to flush out from the weeks. We’re going to do crossover events together as well, where people can ride and then CrossFit. There were lots of support.

Favorite Peloton Instructors And Classes

On the Peloton side, who is your favorite instructor? Should I guess Jess King? Is that your favorite?

Absolutely. I love her. When I first saw her, red hair. She’s fun but she creates this atmosphere with her Jess King experience. You want to be on there and be live on that. Has she called out my name yet? No, but that’s my fangirl fantasy. I’m trying to wait until I get to a milestone and then I look for the ride, just like everybody else does. I missed my walking milestone and I wasn’t live but it’s okay.

What is your leaderboard name?

@04TheBeatDrop. I know when she sees that, she’s going to be like, “That’s my girl right there.”

She’s going to be like, “That’s my people.”

Jess King, if you’re tuning in, I’m a huge fan. If you would like to come to ride two bikes, you can DJ for me while I instruct. You’re always welcome. Tunde is welcome too. Tunde gives you that smirk in the camera and you know you’re about to die.

That’s true. She lets you know.

I would think you would have Kendall in the mix because of your metal love.

I do. I have taken her metal rides. I love her metal rides because it’s intense. You’re at a very high resistance. By the end of that, you probably do feel like Brutal Bonnie has gotten you.

What is your metal of choice? Is it classic metal like Metallica or Megadeath, that era, or is it drifting into the newer stuff?

 

Rage Against the Machine. We did a ride and it was so popular that another group made it at the Five Fifteen and asked to do it again. I’ve gotten to do it twice. If anyone out there wants to ride Rage, I’m your girl.

It would be hard to teach a class of Rage Against the Machine fans because they won’t do what you tell them.

Let me tell you something about that. It’s an endurance-based ride. We’re mostly in the saddle but about 15 or 20 seconds, I tell everyone, “We’re going to turn that resistance that we’re coming out. I know what you all are going to say out there. I feel it.” Trust me, but I don’t give them that opportunity. I have the resistance turn before they can say, “I won’t do what you tell me.”

You could always play the radio edit but that’s so lame. I worked at an all-rock station in the ’90s. Whenever that came up as the radio edit, I was like, “That’s such a dumb version of that song.”

It takes all the bite out of it.

I did a lightning ride. There were air guitars and drums going. The difference between working at the Y and having my studio is I can say the F word and play all the songs. I did test it at the Y one night. I was like, “This is the night I’m going to be fired.” I told the group before. I said, “Here’s some explicit lyrics.” Once those words were dropped, I tried to say, “Turn the resistance.”

You’re going to be saying that a lot. I can’t even imagine what the resistance would be by the end of a Rage Against the Machine song. That’d be almost as bad as increasing the resistance every time he makes a political statement.

What about music licensing when you own a studio? Peloton has had so many issues and they’ve had to do so much work with licensing. I know it’s different when you’re in your gym but I also know there are still things you have to deal with. I’m curious if you have any words of wisdom for anyone out there who is looking to start their gym.

You can get a Spotify account and then pay for that. I build most of my playlists on Spotify. I feel safe with that and I pay the fee for that music. Everybody’s getting their credits. Spotify is wonderful for people who aren’t creative with playlists as well. I’m living for The Beat Drop. It’s who I am on Spotify. I love a playlist.

Advice For New Peloton Users

Do you have any advice for people entering the world of Peloton?

You want to make the ride your own. Get on and have the resistance and cadence. You find someone that you relate to and have a good time. You cannot not have a good time. Either you enjoy the music or you want to laugh. There are rides for everyone. There are recovery rides, emotional rides, mental health rides, and women empowerment rides. Just do it. It’s so fun and addicting. I know. I have two bikes and a treadmill. I highly recommend them.

Where To Find Bonnie

Bonnie, thank you so much for taking time out of your day to join us. Before we let you go, remind everybody where they can find you on all the social media platforms.

 

You can check me out at CyclePathFitness.com. It’s @CyclePathFitness on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. Come unleash the cycle path that you have deep down inside with a live ride and a great workout.

If people are unfamiliar with the area, where can they find you locally? What area is it geographically?

I’m in Newport News, Virginia, in the city center area, which is Virginia Beach. If you got Richmond and Virginia Beach, I’m right in the middle. Please come and check me out. It’s a lot of fun.

Thank you so much.

—

I guess that brings this episode to a close. Until next time, where can people find you?

People can find me on Facebook at Facebook.com/crystaldokeefe. They can find me on all the social and the Peloton leaderboard @ClipOutCrystal.

You can find me on Twitter @RogerQBert or on Facebook at Facebook.com/tomokeefe. You can find the show online on Facebook.com/TheClipOut. That’s it for this one. Thanks for tuning in. Until next time, keep pedaling, and running, and rowing.

 

Important Links

• Bonnie Smith
• @CyclePathFitness – Instagram
• Facebook – CyclePath Fitness
• TikTok – CyclePath Fitness
• Apple Podcasts – The Clip Out
• Spotify – The Clip Out
• iHeart – The Clip Out
• TuneIn – The Clip Out
• Patreon.com/TheClipOut
• Facebook.com/TheClipOut
• YouTube.com/TheClipOut
• Dr. Jenn Mann
• The Relationship Fix: Dr. Jenn’s 6-Step Guide to Improving Communication, Connection and Intimacy
• @DrJennMann – Instagram
• Facebook.com/crystaldokeefe
• @ClipOutCrystal – Instagram
• @RogerQBert – Twitter
• Facebook.com/tomokeefe