My alarm was screeching at 5 a.m., and despite desperately wanting to roll over and keep sleeping, after much deliberation, I finally got myself out of bed and rode my bike to SPIRE Fitness, located at 102 N. Water St., with no idea what to expect when I got there.

I walked in ready for the class. I went to the front desk and got asked what my shoe size was. They handed met these shoes with Velcro on them, then they had me go straight to the room. The instructor clipped my shoes into the pedals – yes, I did say clipped me in – and the class began.

45 minutes later, I walked out experiencing something like nothing I had before. It was very high energy and, honestly, kind of insane. Many thoughts ran through my head, but here are the ones that you too might have during a SPIRE Fitness cycling class:

Why do I have these shoes? And dear God, why do you have to be strapped in?

Before you even start the workout, you get your shoes clipped into the pedals of your bike, and for a first-timer, you can’t help but be freaked out by what you might possibly have to do to need to have your shoes clipped in. But once you've done the class for a while, you understand that you have to be clipped in or you will fall right off the bike. You have to do exercises that require to get off your seat and stand on your pedals. Meanwhile, you're cycling with such speed that you can easily just wipe out if you didn't have the crazy shoes on. 

This song is awesome, but why must it be so long?

The spin class plays such fun, upbeat songs that you will either know and love or not know and grow to love anyways. For instance, we got to exercise to "Hot in Here" by Nelly, an obviously amazing throwback tune that would completely pumped me up, kept me motivated and at least somewhat helped me forget that I was slowly dying from all the exercise. However, each type of exercise lasts for one song, making you hope and pray for when the song will mercifully end so you can finally catch a break. 

Yes, only one more left!

As you do each exercise, the instructor counts down your reps. Nothing sounds better than when you hear her yell out, "Two!" knowing you only have one left before you can collapse and rest on your seat for a little bit before the next rep. Every time she finally got to the end of her countdown, I shrieked with excitement inside. But it did feel quite good knowing I made it through.

Who knew my body could do this?

During this spin class, we did some crazy things on the bike I had no idea were even possible and had no idea that my body could move the way it did. For instance, we would do push-ups on the bike. I thought this was only a ground or wall kind of thing, but surprisingly, you can do it while on a bike (though not recommended when it's, you know, moving). We also moved our hips while out of the seat of the bike like we were dancing to "Apache (Jump On It)" by The Sugarhill Gang. It was all a pretty surreal experience.

I can’t do this!

As someone who doesn’t do fitness classes that much – and had never done a spin class period – there were many times I wanted to stop and give up because it was difficult. It's a lot of work to pedal fast while doing exercise with your upper body as well. I tried to convince myself I wasn’t able to do it. However ...

I can do this!

After having negative thoughts and telling myself I couldn’t do the class, I also had some positive, uplifting thoughts. I felt pretty good when I could get through a few reps and still feel amazing and not out of breath. It felt great to do this intense cycling and somehow not feel tired at all. I felt on top of the world.

I’m going to be so sore tomorrow

Like I mentioned, you do crazy new things with your body during a spin class. You know you will feel it in the morning and let me tell you, you truly do. I was sore in my legs, arms and abs. I felt like an old woman as I was hunched over walking around, and it was quite a process getting up and down. I was in pain pretty much any time I moved my body – but how else would you be able to tell you had a good workout?

Where do I sign up for more?

All in all, even if it is a painful, challenging and borderline horrendous experience for you, you will still want to come back and do the spin class all over again. It's a fun experience that will truly get you in shape while allowing you to still have a good time. It's worth your time and money and comes highly recommended.