RateYourBurn | Class review of Danny Kopel at SoulCycle

Hey GaGa, Are You Looking for a Cycling Instructor? I Found Him

Holy shit, I am obsessed with Danny. And I can’t stop grinning like an idiot.

On Danny:

Oh, did you guess? Yes, he’s my favorite kind: a total weirdo. I love my weirdo instructors. First of all, he has bleached and chopped his locks  and he has this crazy cut where there’s one big flop of hair on top of his head and nothing on the sides. Also, his spin pants may or may not have been bejeweled.

I am so excited to write this review, I don’t know where to start. How about a list?

- Danny went on and off the bike quite a bit – and every time he dismounted, he
  accentuated it with a pointed-toe HIGHKICK.
- When he got off the bike, he generally strutted up and down the aisle,
  exaggerating a shoulder shimmy with each step.
- During a hard standing sprint, he pranced around pretending to be some kind
  of sadistic fairy and manually pumped up the resistance on the bikes of
  random riders, announcing “I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU, and I LOVE YOU” after
  each ‘gift’.
- Once the class got sweaty, Danny whipped his soaking wet hair around
  rocking out to the music.
- I looked over at one point and he was yelling at us to get crazy – and he was
  EN POINTE.
- He asked the women to take their ponytail holders out at one point. He wanted
  shit to get crazy. And it did.
- At one point, he demanded, “SHOW ME YOUR GUNS!” and literally made us
  pedal while doing the muscle man flex. LOVE
- He actually “brushed his shoulders off” mid class and asked us to do the
  same.
- I could not wipe the stupid grin off my face for the entire class.

Follow up:

I saw Danny in another class, as a cyclist (not instructor) and him just BEING there was enough to pump up the energy. He was smiling like it was the happiest ride of his life… and screaming, and generally doing other goony things.

Lighting:

Danny has mastered lighting as a motivational technique. He switched it up multiple times per song, and during a particularly excited sprint he flickered them on and off. And, here’s a new one: at one point he turned on every single light in the room for a sprint. I never would have thought to do this – but the raw exposure was so motivating!

The lights in SOULCYCLE shoot up from the instructor platform (instead of being in the ceiling), and this creates that crazy blue-man-group drumming effect when you have an instructor like Danny who is sweating profusely and whipping his body around. It was really cool actually. I’m surprised he didn’t put the candles out.

Music:

Possibly best music in a class, ever. And he loves his music so much that you can’t help but love it that much more. There was one song that he claimed as his theme song, and the regulars went batshit when it came on… and I asked him what it was at the end of class. “Oh, I’m so embarrassed,” he said, covering his head with his hand. “It’s the Dubstep remix … of a song called ‘N*ggas in Paris’.” OF COURSE IT IS (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQnKWw04VEI).

In Conclusion:

How could you not love someone who has a facebook album titled "Wall Photos" that includes photos like this (http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.521435961277.2035324.28601165).