Image Cycling® in the News:
Element Magazine
The Vanderbilt Takes a Spin
There are more than just celestial bodies being cast on the dome of the Vanderbilt Planetarium at the Suffok County Vandervilt Museum. Every month, a Long Island company called Image Cycling® takes over the Sky Theater and transforms it into what may be the most heavenly setting there is...for a spinning class.
The idea of taking spinning classes out of the local gym and into the Vanderbilt is the brainchild of spinning instructor and personal trainer Jahn Hinrichsen of Centerport. A typical spinning class mixes music with motivation, but Image Cycling® adds a third element: visuals. "Riders hear the poinding music along with the motivational coaching. But now they can see images projected on the dome.The three stimuli really motivates them and takes the doredom out of riding." Hinrichsen says.
The class is equal parts physical workout and theater. When the ride begins, the lights dim and stars fill the faux skies. "Then, the music surrounds you like a robe and creeps inside you." Hinrichsen says. "When the ride is over, it's hard to go back to regular spinning classes at the gym."
Image Cycling® currently offers seven rotating theme rides. The most popular is the Rockin' Ride set to a driving classic rock soundtrack. Another high-demand ride is African Journey, performed with a live drummer and featuring video Hinrichsen shot himself during a trip to Africa.
How does a ride go from concept to completion? It begins with the music. "The music has to tell a story in itself. It has to start out gently as a warm-up, and then it has to creep up behind you and drive you with its rhythms." Hinrichsen explains. "Once the music is laid out, we add in the images." In African Journey, for instance, riders take a virtual tour through the continent's dramatic landscapes, from Cape Horn and Kilimanjaro to the Great Plains of the Serengeti and the Valley of Kings in Egypt.
P.J. Frankel, a Dix Hills freelance producer and mother of three, spins at her neighborhood gym six days a week but takes part in the planetarium rides whenever she can. She calls it more of a "mental experience rather than tust another exercise class. At the gym, the idea is to work out, to get stroner, healthier, fitter and burn calories. The planetarium ride has all those benefits, but the connection your mind makes with the theme of the ride adds a healing and spiritual aspect. I still work hard, but my mind is taken on an imaginary journey."
