Glenwood
Springs, Colorado – February 28, 2013 – Nestled at 6,000 feet above
sea level, in the mountains between Aspen and Vail, sits the small campus of
Colorado Mountain College – Spring Valley in Glenwood Springs. There are 782 full-time students on the
campus, and over 200 of them use the weight room and cardio room
facilities.
Colorado Mountain College got their first Expresso Bike from Interactive Fitness in early January – and it has become so popular
that there is a wait list of students, faculty and staff to ride the Expresso
Bike.
“We have one Expresso Bike and people have been
lining up to ride it, and now we’re really working at winning another one
through the College Interactive Cycling
Challenge,” said Abbie Kroesen, the college’s Coordinator of Student
Life. “We have a really small fitness
center but we have about 200 people who use the center. When the Expresso
Bike got here, everybody was amazed – this is a really cool bike.
People are complaining that they can’t get on it – they can’t find an open time
to get on it – there’s a waiting list to ride! It is right outside my
office – people call me and ask me if it’s open. We’re open 24 hours a
day, and it is in almost constant use.
“We’ve got about 200 students, faculty and staff that use
our facility, and over 140 people have ridden the Expresso Bike in the first two months,” Kroesen said. “Everyone on campus is aware of the new Expresso Bike. I sent out an
e-mail alert to staff and faculty, we had a campus-wide meeting in which it was
discussed. The word started spreading – I started with one of the groups
I lead, the Peak Performance Wellness Group, and they all started riding, then
it spread to the Women’s Forum, and then the Women’s Forum challenged the Men’s
Forum – if they lose they have to buy the women’s forum facials – our student
activities office had a challenge, with a movie pass as the prize. We’re
very close to the world’s largest hot spring pool, and we had a challenge where
the prize was a pass to the hot spring pool. Our fitness instructors have
let students who miss a workout class make up for the missed class by
substituting a ride on the Expresso Bike,
and because they have to register to use it, the instructors can track whether
or not they made up for the missed class.”
Throughout the month of February, Interactive Fitness has sponsored the first-ever College Interactive Cycling Challenge. Competition has been heated nationwide as
riders across the country compete head-to-head and virtually with each other. The
College Interactive Cycling Challenge
began on February 1st, and continues through February 28th. Students, faculty, and staff from around the
country are representing their colleges, and conferences of all divisions and
sizes. There are thousands of riders
from 71 colleges and universities riding on Expresso Bikes and competing in the College Interactive Cycling Challenge. They have ridden 113,350 miles and burned
3,984,505 calories, and have shared 2,236 rides through Facebook and Twitter.
The competition is divided into two divisions – Division
I, which is competing for the most “Total Miles” plus bonus points, and
Division II, which is competing for the most “Total Miles per Bike” plus bonus
points. Each competing school earns
one point for every mile ridden on their Expresso
Bike, the world’s best and most motivating cardio experience, connected by
the Internet for virtual competition anytime, anywhere. All teams can compete
in both divisions, and riders can earn bonus points by sharing their workouts
through Facebook or Twitter. The winning schools from each division will each
win a brand-new Expresso Bike – a
$7,000 value.
Colorado Mountain College is leading in Division II – “Total
Miles per Bike” plus bonus points – with 4,297 points as of February 27th.
“People really like the Interactive part of the bike, you
get to steer, you get to change gears, and it’s something that keeps you
engaged. Other equipment you see people reading magazines or listening to
music, watching television. The Expresso
Bike keeps them engaged while they are working out,” Kroesen said. “It’s amazing to see, there are people who
don’t typically work out who are working out now because of the Expresso Bike. We have people
riding it who have never worked out here before. Once they do a
mile, they are hooked.
“People also like the ghost concept and racing against
themselves,” said Kroesen. “It pushes
them to work out harder than they otherwise would. Also, I know I personally
get a better workout on the Expresso
Bike because the routes force me to do more interval- type training.
On other workout equipment I tend to just set it to manual and stay on
one setting while reading a magazine or book. The routes also make the
time go by faster because I am paying attention to the scenery, when I need to
shift for a hill, where the pacer is, where my ghost is, and other factors. “
As utilized at Colorado Mountain College and dozens of
other colleges across the nation, the Expresso
Bike from Interactive Fitness is
an exciting new way to engage students and members. Well beyond a stationary
bike, the Expresso Bike from Interactive Fitness is the one product
that does it all. It enables riders to
experience full virtual reality, as they ride through over 40 different
“worlds,” ranging from a one-mile speed course to a 20-mile mountain climb.
And it keeps the riders “social” -- every Expresso Bike is connected via the
Internet, enabling riders to share their rides, and compete “virtually” with riders in other
locations around the country, instantly.
The Expresso Bike features state-of-the-art
electronics and features designed to stimulate the mind as well as the body,
and enable riders in one location to virtually race against another rider or
group of riders in another location.
These “Virtual Races” are stored and remembered, tracking progress
automatically as the rider becomes stronger and healthier.
The Expresso Bike
from Interactive Fitness will be
exhibited at the upcoming National
Intramural-Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA) Annual Conference &
Recreational Sports Exposition (Booth #640), from Monday, March 4th
through Thursday, March 7th in Las Vegas.
For
additional information on the Expresso
Bike from Interactive Fitness,
visit http://ifholdings.com/College?r=jim.
---##---