“This bike was a gift I didn't ask for,” says Peloton Member Cynthia Cambell about the Peloton Bike her daughter, Dejanaya, gave her for Christmas. “To be honest, I told my daughter initially to take it back,” she laughed, “but, for once, I'm so glad she didn't listen to me.” Cynthia had never clipped into a cycling class before and hesitated at first to try a class on the Bike, but once she did, her workout was on another level. “I was 7 minutes in and I was exhausted, but in a good way,” says Cynthia.
Eager to find something to keep her accountable to the health goals she’d set with her doctor to manage a thyroid condition, Cynthia did her research and eventually found the Peloton community through the Official Peloton Member Page, where she joined a group of women who were committing to a ‘30 rides in 30 days’ goal. “I used that numerical goal as a motivating factor,” says Cynthia, “but little did I know that the community itself would actually be the thing that kept me going.” Before she knew it, Cynthia was nearing her 100th ride and seeing progress physically and mentally. “The Peloton bike is my hype man!” she says. “It’s helped me get through so many struggles. I’m an empty nester and I’m home by myself, but with the community, I never feel alone.”
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Her favorite instructors--Alex Toussaint, Robin Arzon and Cody Rigsby--also consistently remind her to give it her all and get out of her head. “Sometimes I get on the bike and I don’t feel like working out, but then one of the instructors will say, ‘put everything else aside’, and that’s always a great reminder for me.” The intensity that she feels in class is something she says is unique to Peloton. “There’s an emotional connection I’ve never felt with anything else, and it’s a game changer.”
And while the community and the instructors keep Cynthia going at home, some of those connections have come to life in person, too. “I’ve grabbed dinner with friends I’ve met through the bike when I was traveling through their city, or met up with another Member who needed some extra support for one reason or another,” says Cynthia. ”It’s so amazing how a bike that goes nowhere can actually take you everywhere, in every way.” She now looks back at her first classes and admits that her best decision was to keep going--and yes, that her daughter was right. “She gave me the gift of health,” and that’s a gift that never stops giving.