Belting out karaoke songs and playing intense games of “Family Feud” sounds more like a fun night out than anything else.
For Handlebars, a new cycling gym and health bar in Naperville, it’s just a typical workout session.
Handlebars, created by Katlyn DePace and Kevin Millar, officially opened in January of this year, but has already seen success in a crowded Naperville fitness market. Both DePace and Millar noticed that there wasn’t a prominent cycling gym in the area, and the idea for Handlebars was born.
“We noticed that there’s not really any cycling places around Naperville,” said DePace. “We both wanted to do something that was fitness related, and we both weren’t loving our jobs, so we decided to just go for it…we quit our jobs and opened a studio.”
The risk has been worth it for DePace and Millar, who are currently the only two employees who run the business and teach six classes a day from Monday through Saturday. Their goals are to make the classes both fun and beneficial, no matter what level of fitness cyclers may be at.
“We only have 12 bikes so it’s a more intimate setting, so you’re not in like this huge group class where you’re like ‘Ok, I’m going to go sit in the corner and nobody’s going to know who I am,’” said DePace. “We want to get to know our clients and to make it fun and active and make that time pass really quickly, so you’re like ‘An hour’s gone and I just kicked my butt in a workout’ and you didn’t even know that you did it.”
One of the perks that Handlebars offers for North Central students and staff are discounts. First classes are free for students and teachers with the code NCCFREE when you register online, and if you choose to purchase a package ranging from three rides to a month of unlimited sessions, students and teachers can find deals on those as well.
“I graduated last year, so I get it,” said DePace. “I want people to be able to have that experience and get a great work out and be able to afford it.”
The hour-long sessions are intense but accessible for every participant, no matter their level of fitness. The classes are based on effort: easy, moderate, hard and sprint. Each participant sets their own level of resistance, which means that each person is responsible for how intense their workout is. It’s a system that allows for cycling newbies and hard-core bikers alike to get an intense workout in the same class.
The instructor breaks up the monotony of an hour of cycling by constantly encouraging the class and cracking jokes, and once the session really gets going, breaks out some games to make the time pass.
During the session that the Chronicle attended, the room was divided in half for lightning rounds of Family Feud. If one side got an answer right, the other side had to add more resistance on their bikes. If they got the answer wrong, their own side had to increase the difficulty.
“They kind of brought me out of my comfort zone a little bit and broke up the workout a little bit,” said Caitlin O’Brien, a student at North Central. “It was fun.”
This session ended with a karaoke session, where the more people sang, the faster a song played to finish up the class. If nobody sang, the tempo slowed to a crawl, giving cyclers a bit more motivation to give their singing muscles a workout, too.
“People think that they’re very intimidated by cycling classes, they think ‘Oh I can’t do it,’” said DePace. “Coming here, it’s up to you to decide what you want to do and add your own resistance, make it fun and give you a good workout, but not to be intimidated.”
Handlebars Cycling and Health Gym can be found at 175 W. Jackson Avenue, above Egg Harbor.
