the boy from ayawaso bikes freely again! ch. 1 - afrospin, afrospin, afrospin!
🎶🎶🎶
Omo, walahi
Omo, your ringing tone no wan comot for my—🎶🎶🎶
The bass from Young Jonn's "XTRA COOL" was blasting about the studio when I walked into SPINCO Burnaby that evening. "Just who we were waiting for!", Mo exclaimed, catching me with an open hug as I rushed into the dimly lit room, hopping awkwardly on one foot, trying to put my spin shoes on.
Almost everyone was already clipped into their bikes, doing warm-up pedalling, bopping to the background music or whispering in anticipation for the special-themed ride ahead.
I scurried towards bike #29 on the flanks, but before I could hop on, Chelsea, the other spin instructor for the night, tapped my shoulder, "Naah". I looked at her confused. "Huh?" She quietly reached for one of the two podium bikes and patted its seat loudly. "Wait—what!?" My eyes beamed. My spot tonight would be under the spotlight, co-leading the studio's first AFROSPIN class. "OMG!"
But this beat had been building for months. Rewind with me...
It started over sushi with my neighbourhood friend Racheal, and warm tea to thaw us after walking in the freezing pre-snow winds. We were both looking for an indoor winter activity—she wanted to get out of the house, and I needed something to replace mountain biking during snow season. Spin class seemed perfect: close enough to cycling for me, and just 2km from her place. Win-win.
That first class? Pure chaos. "Stomp right!", "lean left!", "tap backs!", "dip-pump-dip!"—I had no clue what any of these meant. Thank goodness we picked the back row, where our uncoordinated flailing could blend into the shadows. A beautiful mess, really.
But something about that dark, sound-proofed box just clicked. Thirty-something people moving as one, whooping, screaming and stomping to the beats for 50 straight minutes—if you'd told me before that SPIN would become my thing, I wouldn't have believed you. Yet here I was, immediately signing up for a membership.
The transformation snuck up on me tbh. One day, I realised I'd gone from dying by the third song to powering through full classes. The gift they surprised me with for my 100th ride felt good, marking how far I'd come from that fumbling first class.
That's when it hit me—maybe it was homesickness—but I started imagining SPIN classes to the music I'd listen to back home. Sure, I love stomping to Taylor Swift, Kendrick, Calvin Harris and co, but what about riding to Rema, Pappy Kojo (afrobeat), Shimza, Nitefreak (afrotech) or Swizz Panache, Dbn Gogo (amapiano)? The rhythms, the energy, the pulsing BPM…the name came instantly: AFROSPIN.
That's when my casual rides turned into a mission: "Make AFROSPIN happen." I started cranking up the resistance, determined to match the instructors' stomp for stomp. Front row became my spot—to the point where if I didn't get a front seat, the receptionist would offer a free spot if there were any. Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!
My dedication caught my attention. Fellow riders praised my form, and instructors started dropping hints: "You should be teaching, ya know". Perfect timing too—SPINCO Burnaby had just opened instructor auditions.
I signed up immediately, ready to bring AFROSPIN to life…until a work promotion forced a choice. Adding instructor training to my already full plate felt like tempting fate. I withdrew.
But sometimes dreams find different paths. Mo and Chelsea, two of my favourite instructors, reached out on IG with an idea: why not make AFROSPIN happen together? Just like that, a door I thought had closed cracked open again. The first couple weeks of 2024 became about getting even stronger at spinning (matching instructors toe-to-toe with intensity and choreography). The dream was finally becoming reality!
The playlist creation was eye-opening. As we bounced ideas in the group chat, I learned that a spin playlist wasn't just about stringing bangers together—songs had to flow like waves, matching precise BPM ranges and patterns. A 50-minute ride needed its peaks and valleys: warm-up tracks at 130 BPM building to sprint-worthy beats at 150+, then easing back down. Getting this behind-the-scenes look at something I'd enjoyed for so long was fascinating.
The first AFROSPIN class was set for a rainy evening in early 2024. When the booking opened, the seats filled up in five minutes flat. No pressure, right?
When the evening finally came, that's when Chelsea surprised me with the podium invite—the moment that started this whole post.
We kicked off with Skales' Shake Body, and the studio erupted. Thirty bikes stomping in perfect sync, voices rising with every beat drop, the room practically vibing with energy. Usually, I'd steal moments to catch my breath, but that night? Pure adrenaline carried me through. Vibes were so immaculate that folks were asking about the next one.
And we did! AFROSPIN 2.0 was even more hype than the first. This time, we knew exactly what we were creating together.
The classes ended with everyone stomping, screaming "AFROSPIN!" and panting through every beat. From fumbling newcomer to co-leading themed rides, I'd found my rhythm both on and off the bike. Maybe I'll hop back on that instructor podium when the time's right.
But that erratic beat from my yearly theme wasn't done with me yet. After mastering rhythm and group choreography on stationary bikes at Spinco Burnaby, it suddenly pulled me in a different direction…to the mountains!