Ridgefielders Amy Pal, left, and Corey Londoner at their new cycling studio, JoyRide, located at 62 Danbury Road. The business will have its grand opening today, Saturday. —Steve Coulter photo
Sometimes things are just meant to be.
That’s the case with JoyRide, Ridgefield’s first indoor cycling studio, which opens its doors on 62 Danbury Road this weekend.
Co-owners Corey Londoner and Amy Pal — both returning to their Northeast roots three years ago — fell in love with Ridgefield, moved their families here, and met each other rather serendipitously through their sons.
And the rest, as they say, is history.
“Corey was one of the first people I met in town,” recalled Ms. Pal, who grew up in Farmington before studying journalism at NYU, moving to Seattle with her husband, and earning a master’s in international marketing in London.
“We met through our sons’ tae kwon do class and I noticed how fit she was and she told me about this spin class in Westport called JoyRide, which got us talking, because I loved spin as well and couldn’t find a studio in town after moving back from London.
“I went to check it out with her, and when we did, I was like, ‘Oh, my god, this is what we need,’” she said. “As soon as I saw it, I fell in love with it, and shortly thereafter we had a lease on this place and we were moving right along with the construction process — it’s pretty unbelievable.”
The lease was secured in July 2013 and the pair began licensing talks with the founders of the Westport business, who have another studio in Darien.
“From there, it really created a whole mind of its own and there was no stopping it once we got started with the licensing agreement,” said Ms. Londoner, who grew up in Bergen County, N.J., before attending college at the University of Southern California and then beginning her real estate career with the Corcoran Group in New York. “It was really just something that was meant to be, and I kept finding myself telling that to Amy.”
They had kicked around the idea of starting their own business — free of the JoyRide brand — but ultimately decided the original owners had done such a great job with their business that it wouldn’t be worth it to create their own brand.
“We thought, ‘Why reinvent the wheel?’” Ms. Pal said. “They’ve done it right — they have warmth, they have community and they give back — and they were so generous with their time in helping us get started that it was a no-brainer; it was really a group effort and they couldn’t have been more supportive.
“We really liked the feel and the whole charity aspect that it’s more than just fitness and health,” she added. “For a town like Ridgefield, this represents everything we stand for.”
Although the grand opening for today, Saturday, from 7 a.m. to noon, the owners have already rounded up a healthy stable of partners who will help launch their vision for making JoyRide “more than a studio for spinning.”
Todd Ruggere, who raises money for Yale Children’s Hospital through traveling to and having a beer in all 169 towns in the state as part of his “CT Pour Charity Ride,” will come to town on Feb. 7 at 6:30 p.m.
Mr. Ruggere, who traveled to every town in Massachusetts last year, will ride at the JoyRide studio, where all proceeds from the class will go to his charity, before making his way to The Hideaway for a few beers.
“We’re honored to partner with The Hideaway,” Ms. Pal said. “We think these fund-raiser events, made possible through our partnerships with other places in town, are going to be a big deal.
“It’s going to be a fun and different way to raise money that will only benefit the town.”
JoyRide has also partnered with neighbors Parma Deli for a “Cycle Lunch” service that provides members with a pre-selected lunch right after they work out, and Buddhi Mat, for a six-week program that features 30 minutes of cycle and 60 minutes of yoga.
SPHERE and Adam Broderick have also been lined up as partners, while JoyRide has agreed to be one of the sponsors for the high school’s track team.
“We’ve been in touch with the RHS track coach about cross-training for teens in the off-season and we really want to launch a teen-theme night, which they’ve had in Westport and it’s been really successful,” Ms. Pal said. “Westport paved the way for us and gave us some great ideas.”
But Ms. Londoner and Ms. Pal have created some of their own, independent of the original studios, such as a lounge area for members to gather and talk with one another, which they believe will give JoyRide a “real fitness boutique feel.”
The gym itself comes equipped with 35 bikes and eight structures and a variety of membership packages, ranging from one class to a “50 pack” to a year’s membership.
“There’s deeper discounts for the more classes you sign up for,” Ms. Londoner explained. “Annual members get to see the class schedule two days beforehand and get to reserve which bike they want to use.
“This way when you get to the studio, you know what bike you’re going to use, which takes that free-for-all element out of it,” she said. “We want our customers to be as comfortable as possible and not be intimidated to come in whenever and try out different types of classes.”
The two plan to expand classes at JoyRide. Two examples include “tabata,” a Japanese training method where the rider goes on the bike for 20 seconds and then has a 10-second recovery, and triathlon training.
“There’s different kinds of people: Some want just a normal exercise, but some are in their off-season training for outdoor bike riding or something else, and they’re searching for a killer workout,” said Ms. Pal, whose favorite class is tabata. “What’s important is that we get people to understand the concept of spinning before we bombard them with all these other courses and methods of fitness.”
“We want to be able to bring in people who have never experienced spin and bring a happy workout to them,” Ms. Londoner said. “We want it to be a special part of people’s day and have our studio lobby be somewhere where people can come gather and spend time here.”
The studio has a locker room area with showers for both genders. A merchandise boutique will feature shirts, shoes, towels, and water bottles.
“The concept is that it’s a lifestyle, not a gym,” Ms. Pal said. “We want to provide the best exercise possible for the customer, while have them excited about coming in here — make it real special for them.”
JoyRide will be open seven days a week and will feature 40 classes to select from, starting as early as 6 a.m. and running the morning until noon, and picking back up around 5 p.m. when people get out of work.
The schedule isn’t set in stone, however.
“We’re going to see what works best for the customer,” Ms. Londoner said.