San Francisco - August 22, 2006

Sit and Spin

Connect18 Cycling Tours

Texting complicated relationship advice to your best friend while downshifting to avoid oncoming rush-hour traffic isn’t easy.

In other words, if multitasking were an Olympic sport, you’d be the next Jesse Owens.

And the folks behind Connect18, a new high-concept cycling studio, would be lining up to endorse you. Based on research that shows the brain absorbs knowledge better during exercise, the classes turn a regular sweat session into an opportunity to learn.

Facing a projector with images that change speed according to the pace of the instructor — so you actually feel like you’re going somewhere — riders tackle basic courses, like Spanish 101. Take a group tour through the Mexican barrio, meet the nice village people, and brush up on your vocabulario all while burning off that burrito you ate for lunch. The twelve-class beginner series features a new lesson each week.

Next up is a tour through California’s wine country, where riders learn the ABCs of wine while cycling through Napa, Sonoma, and the Central Coast.

Putting a positive new spin on riding under the influence.

Connect18, 1360 Bush Street, at Polk Street (415-355-9755 or connect18.com).