Tucked into the Hill Country Galleria, a modern, minimalist storefront leads to a room packed with 41 stationary bicycles. At RIDE Indoor Cycling, founder Kim Dowling said there is almost always a cycling class going on, filling the room with music and a choreographed workout routine.
After more than three years of business in downtown Austin, Dowling opened the Bee Cave location in April.
“We had a lot of people driving [from West Austin] all the way to downtown for classes,” Dowling said. “When we opened here [in the Hill Country Galleria], the reception was great. It started spreading so fast through word-of-mouth.”
With three locations and a fourth opening soon in the Houston area, Dowling said she believes it is the social aspect of the exercise classes that keeps people coming back for more.
“It’s a different type of workout,” she said. “It’s fun; it’s social; and there’s great music. It’s an intense 45 minutes.”
Dowling described the class style as “dancing on a bike.” With a background in dance, she said she understands how to engage the entire body in choreography. She said the class uses a lot of arm and upper- body movements as well as cycling.
Dowling said she participated in a similar style of workout when she lived in Manhattan before moving to Austin nearly five years ago. After she could not find the same style here, she said she was inspired to start it on her own.
Though Dowling does not teach any classes, she oversees the entire business, including an intense six- to eight-week training program for the company’s instructors.
“Each instructor brings [his or her] own style,” she said. “They all go through the same training, but one [style] might be more intense than another.”
The Hill Country Galleria studio offers 25 classes each week, though Dowling said she expects to see that number grow in time as classes are already filling up.
Dowling said guests can take their first class for free and rent cycling shoes at the front desk. She said the instructors show first-timers the motions before the class starts and help them pick the ideal bike.
In addition to the classes, RIDE features a fashion line from tank tops and leggings to headbands and socks. Dowling said the studio carries hard-to-find apparel and accessory brands, such as Koral, Splits 59 and Gold Sheep.
“We have everything you need to get uniformed up,” she said.
12800 Hill Country Blvd., Ste. G-110, Bee Cave
512-284-9888
www.ride-indoorcycling.com
Hours: Classes held 6 a.m.-6:30 p.m.
