CrossFit is more than cycling a barbell. A LOT more. I first heard the word “CrossFit” in the pit area of a local triathlon. I was a bike marshal (aka tire-pumper) and one of the kids asked if I’d heard of CrossFit while he was putting his shoes on. I said, “What?” He made a little cross sign in front of his face. “You know–like a cross. Plus ‘Fit’. You might run a mile carrying a rope, then tie the rope to a tree and climb up ten times, and then run back.” I said–and I’ll never forget this–“That sounds like bullshit.” He ran away, laughing. That was 2006. Ten years into being a CrossFit affiliate, I can now afford to broaden the definition of “fitness” for my clients. But even when I couldn’t buy more equipment, I was always drawn back to the bike. I used to ride MTB (and ride a roadie to train for the trails). On my first visit to HQ, Greg and Sevan showed up on bicycles. And Greg’s first speeches compared gymnasts, weightlifters and cyclists. The bike has ALWAYS been part of CrossFit. For the last year, I’ve been thinking, “How do I get people outside more, and still keep them as members?” When I visited HQ last fall, I asked some of Greg’s original clients about doing bike workouts. Sevan and Bruce shared a couple of them, and I asked Greg himself when I visited him at home in Portland. He described one workout something like this: “I took a bunch of bikes and stashed them at the bottom of a big hill. Then I drive my dumbbells to the top in my truck. I told people to ride the bikes up the hill, do 50 thrusters or something, and then ride back down. I’m surprised no one crashed.” We laughed, but really–you probably wouldn’t do that ...
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