YOU GOT SOUL
ON A RECENT MONDAY EVENING, AROUND 60 OF THE MOST FORMIDABLY FIT AND RELENTLESSLY UPBEAT RESIDENTS OF WASHINGTON, D.C., FILTER INTO A WHITE-WALLED STUDIO SPACE AND HOP ONTO SHINY ROWS OF YELLOW-AND-GRAY EXERCISE BIKES. THEY INSERT THEIR CLEATED SHOES INTO THE PEDALS with satisfying little snicks, and soon the whirring sound of dozens of spinning flywheels fills the grapefruit-scented room, one wall of which is emblazoned with a long mantra that includes the words CHANGE YOUR BODY, TAKE YOUR JOURNEY. Women (in spandex capris and tank tops, their hair gathered in topknots) outnumber men (muscle tees and shorts), and almost everyone sports a logo in the shape of a wheel or a skull-and-crossbones on at least one item of clothing. Laurie Cole, a veteran instructor who has flown in today from Los Angeles to lead the ride, plunges the studio into candlelit darkness and cues up Sia’s “One Million Bullets,” the first song of a playlist she stitched together during the flight. It roars from the speakers at nightclub volume.
This sweat-inducing, self-actualizing, multisensory experience is, of course, SoulCycle, which, after beginning in a single makeshift studio on New York’s Upper West Side a decade ago, has expanded to cool urban neighborhoods and affluent suburbs from coast (the Hamptons) to coast (Malibu). SoulCycle will offer 160,000 classes this year at 62 studios, but this one is a little special. Not only is SoulCycle CEO Melanie Whelan here—crushing it in the coveted first row, which is always reserved for expert riders—but she’s not even the biggest VIP in the room.
Alongside her is a woman who pretty much everyone at the company refers to as simply “her” or “FLOTUS”: Michelle Obama, whose world-renowned biceps, can-do attitude, approachable stylishness, and regular attendance at SoulCycle basically make her the personification of the brand. SoulCycle is a beloved form of exercise for an Oscar
