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Business & Tech

Cycling 'Sanctuary' Opens

Velovoom debuts in Bethesda.

Lady Gaga pulses from under the doors of what Mark Caputo calls the non-denominational sanctuary in his new cycling studio, Velovoom.

Inside, about 15 men and women spring from the seats of their bicycles at instructor Grant Hill's command. They strain against increased resistance before segueing into push-ups against the handlebars and a short free weight routine. Then comes the slower "personal change" song.

"It's when I step back and let each individual to use that moment for whatever they need it for," said Hill, a personal trainer from Germantown. "As a rider, you want to be reflective."

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And Velovoom, which opened with test classes last month at 4866 Cordell Avenue, is reflective — of Caputo’s distaste for typical gyms. So he designed a studio and worked with trainers and physical therapists to create a cycling program that would give clients a full-body workout, “a mental, emotional, physical release… a 45-minute escape from everything.”

“It’s a time thing,” Caputo said. “We’re all living longer but not healthier. It’s 45 minutes of you-time.”

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Caputo estimated that 115 people — who ranged in age from 13 to 70 years old — participated in the first three days of classes, which he said are nothing like trademarked Spinning classes but instead have a more communal feel and involve “everything you wouldn’t be doing on a bike” outside.

Heidi Broadsky, of Bethesda, has taken other types of cycling classes but said the 45-minute Velovoom classes offer a great low-impact workout that is over before she knows it. And dim lighting creates a Zen-like atmosphere in which she can focus inward, Broadsky said.

The 45-bike studio now offers two classes every day, but Caputo said there will be five or six classes per day within six months, including one for teenage girls that also will tackle self-esteem issues. Caputo said he later wants to expand Velovoom with studios in the District of Columbia and northern Virginia.

Classes follow the same basic format, but instructors vary the feel based on their own styles. Hill said he calls on his music background when he synchs class routines and songs.

“The bike’s your dance floor,” Hill said.

Caputo started cycling more than two years ago, when he was struggling to lose weight but hated other forms of exercise. A friend invited Caputo to a cycling class, and though the first class was painful, he had discovered a workout he enjoyed and one that helped him lose at least 55 pounds.

So Caputo and two mostly silent partners founded Velovoom. “Velo” means “cycle” in French, and “voom” serves as an action word, Caputo said, for a studio focused on changing minds, bodies and lives.

“The person you see when you walk in is different than the person you see when you walk out,” he said.

Clients sign up for classes online, where they choose where they want to sit in the studio, and they can pay for classes individually ($24 apiece) or in packages of up to 30 classes ($600). Clip-in shoes are required; clients without shoes can rent a pair for $3 per class.

AVIP night marked the grand opening of the studio earlier this month.

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