Taking gym for a spin

Gyrating upside down and side-to-side inside giant metal rings at Corona del Mar State Beach, members of Sam Tribble’s weekly, open spinning class turn heads as well as tricks while they work out.

“Do you have insurance? What if someone gets hurt?” a volleyball player practicing nearby scolded Tuesday as one spinner practiced an upside-down move called a “coin drop.”

Tribble, a Corona del Mar resident, assured the man that, yes, he does have insurance.

“It’s just like if you saw someone spike a volleyball into the net for the first time — you’d think that was dangerous, too — people just aren’t used to seeing it,” he said.

A gymnastics teacher, Tribble got hooked on spinning after a friend introduced him to the practice about a year ago.

“I fell in love with the whole movement. At first it was just something I was doing on my own for fun,” Tribble said.

Now he’s teaching classes from Long Beach to Newport.

Spinning inside giant metal hoops still hasn’t caught on in the United States, but it’s gaining popularity in Canada, where the French-Canadian circus troupe Cirque du Soleil has used the giant rings in past performances, Tribble said.

There’s no way to get the 7-foot-tall hoops called “Simple Wheels” outside of Canada unless you order one from Tribble, who began manufacturing them himself earlier this year. The metal hoops are covered in a clear, rubberized material and can be taken apart for easy storage in a car trunk. Made to order, the hoops start at about $1,000.

“It’s a really good workout and a unique skill to have,” said Anaheim resident Josiah Elkins, who has been practicing spinning for the past two weeks.

A gymnast, Elkins used to work doing flips for Disneyland’s Parade of Dreams, which was canceled in November. He’s thinking about pitching in with a few friends to buy a Simple Wheel to share among them.

“This is something new to keep my mind learning,” Elkins said.

Spinners used a plastic broom to sweep the sand off a portion of the sidewalk in front of the Fuji Grill at the Big Corona on Tuesday before beginning their workout.

Fighting for space on the crowded beachfront walk, the spinners occasionally had to move aside to make way for a flock of school children on a tour to the beach to learn about tide pools.

“I like the ‘wow’ factor of it,” said Corona del Mar resident Morgan Heatis, who discovered spinning through Tribble, who also is her gymnastics teacher.

With its emphasis on balance and turning in cartwheel-like movements, many gymnasts are drawn to spinning, but you don’t have to be Mary Lou Retton to try the sport, Tribble said.

“A lot of it is so internal, you never know who is going to excel at it,” he said. “A gymnast might get the hang of it faster, but long term, you will catch up.”