The Tour de France 2009 at the Homestead Court Club, Edwards, Colorado

The Tour de France begins tomorrow morning!

I have just put together the schedule for my club, the Homestead Court Club. We have four 6 am classes per week that will be participating in the Tour de France program. Todd teaches Monday, Amber on Tuesday and I teach Wednesday and Friday. I've created the weekly schedule, selecting 12 stages. My goal was to offer a variety of types of stages, while also giving each instructor variety, and at least one big mountain stage. (Those are my own personal favorite!)

I want to give you, my readers, the flyers that I've created. They are in a word document so that if you want, you can modify them to meet your needs - or you can just use them as ideas to create your own. I have tried to keep them very simple.

This is the flyer that we are posting around the club announcing our Tour de France program. Last year we did a contest with prizes, but that's not in the budget this year, so it's very simple.

This is the schedule of stages, which will be posted in the Spin room.

Then for each stage, I'll have a separate flyer posted on the Spin room (and sent to the instructor in advance by email). Those I'll give you in the next few days. The first stage we'll do will be on Monday. I've chosen stage 2, from Monaco to Brignoles. Below is the profile, taken from www.letour.com. It will be up to Todd, the instructor, to put together his own profile to fit this course.

Amber will do the Team Time Trial on Tuesday morning (a very fun stage to simulate), and my first one will be on Wednesday, which will be a fairly flat stage with a definite sprint finish.

More coming soon! Allez, Allez!

4th of July Spinning Profile - Kareoke Spin! And the Tour de France

So many things happening at once!

First, my profile from this morning. For the first time in my long Spinning career (13 years) I had a sing-along! It was only one song, but we had a taste of Kareoke Spin this morning! My Friday classes usually focus more on climbing, and today was no different. I did three separate hills. Intensity? Whatever they wanted - staying below threshold for much of it, some of the surges and really hard hills will take them higher. Use the downhills to recover heart rate.

Warm up:

Coming to America, Neil Diamond 4:19

American Made, George Thorogood, 4:07.

Begin raising the HR, slightly faster cadence, around minute 6.

Flat: R.O.C.K. in the USA, John Mellancamp. 2:55

Fun, fast song. Standing flat surges of 10-15 seconds, then sit with high cadence (95-100 rpm) for 30 seconds. Alternate.

1st Climb - about 7.5 minutes.

It's the 4th of July, Big Jack Johnson, 2:56. What's more American than Blues? Great start to the climb. Stay seated, adding resistance every minute.

Born in the USA, Bruce Springsteen, 4:41. Stay seated another minute, then stand for 2 minutes, on a harder hill. Sit to the top.

downhill/flat

Rock'n America, The Catholic Girls, 3:21. "Downhill" for 90-seconds, high cadence 100-110 rpm. When you reach the bottom, take away "gravity" by adding resistance to simulate a gear increase. Continue to work a fairly high cadence on a seated flat, 95-100 rpm.

Living in America, The Sounds, 3:28. 10-15 second surges on the flat, similar to the last flat before the 1st hill. This gets the HR up towards threshold. Cadence slows down slightly (slower song).

2nd Climb (1st song is fast, 2nd is a slow hard climb)

Remix- - If You're Going to San Francisco, Hanima Hightechwell 7:06. VERY cool song, I can't tell you where to get it or if it's available anywhere - I got it at a Spinning conference 3 years ago, it's their "MySpin #4" CD. (Email me if you want it). Great fast climb, concerted cadence of 75-ish rpm. Mostly seated, with a few standing surges on the "If You're Going to San Francisco" refrain.

America, Mike Musick 4:22. Slow hard climb. Cadence 60 rpm. Mostly seated, stand to finish.

Downhill - fast and short.

America, Agent Orange, 1:21. A little punk rock anyone?! I told them this song is mercifully short...and then we'll slam into the next hill hard and fast, and let the steepness slow our legs down.

3rd Climb - this time the first song is slow and hard, then it gets less steep and faster

The Hands That Built America, U2, 4:59. Ugh, this hill is hard!

America, Bigod 20. Standing switchbacks of 30 seconds, every 45-60 seconds. Seated in between.

Recovery

American Pie, Don McLean 4:09. Starts slow - still climbing until the song picks up at minute 1:30. KAREOKE! Yes, everyone started singing, I mean really singing! No one doesn't know the words to this song. Now, I wouldn't do a Kareoke Spin on purpose, but this was a fun way to end the ride.

So did I pull off my practical joke? (In case you missed it, read the edit at the end of this post). Well, sort of. I couldn't find an empty bottle of Jaegermeister or Rumplemints (another favorite shot liquor in the mountains) - I even went to 4 bars, but this isn't "shot season" (bet you didn't know there was a season for that kind of stuff). So I dug through our limited liquor cabinet and brought a small bottle of Courvoisier (just for show - I didn't open it)! First, as the song started and everyone had a smile on their faces, I asked them, "So, what does this song remind you of?" And sure enough, they started naming the bars in Vail: "Pepi's", "The Red Lion", "The Club"! (Yes, my students no doubt have lifted a shot glass or two at an Apres Ski party in Vail while singing American Pie with the drunk tourists!) I told them I cannot hear this song without thinking of Apres Ski...and then I pulled the Courvoisier from the bag and held it up and said, "Anyone care to have a shot with me?"

A few shocked looks....and then I said, "nah...just kiddin!" Yes, it was a fun morning....

Oh yes, my cool down songs: Down There, Fury and the Slaughterhouse, and America the Beautiful, Ray Charles.

And now, I am really, really excited......

THE TOUR DE FRANCE IS COMING!!!

The Tour de France starts tomorrow in Monaco. I am doing a Tour de France program at my club and will share with you my profiles. I've also got some fun new French songs to share with you (I'll post those tomorrow so you can start collecting them - many are available on eMusic, so if you're not a member yet, click on the icon on the left side of this blog to join and get your 50 free downloads). This afternoon, I'll go into the Spinning room and post posters and other TDF paraphernalia on the walls. I've contacted the two other instructors who will be doing this with me and will email them their profiles. I'll also be posting the profiles with a description of the stage on the walls of our Spin room so students know what to expect.

In the meantime, go to the left side of this blog under "Labels" and click on Tour de France. You'll see LOTS of posts from last year's tour. Peruse those for ideas on how to put together profiles based on the different types of stages: flat stages with sprints, rolling hills, big mountain stages, time trials. Read about attacks and breakaways, tour strategy, how to cue switchbacks on climbs and more. Get racing lingo and music ideas. It's all there for you to learn and have fun in your TDF classes. Start here by downloading the TDF handbook I created.

Please post any comments about your programs, music you find, or questions you have about anything to do with the Tour de France. And come back often to see my commentary about this year's tour, which promises to be highly intriguing, exciting and potentially, uh, rife with conflicts! (Let's hope the drug scandals stay away!)

For the stage information, go to www.letour.com. To decorate your cycling room, go to a bike shop and purchase a Tour de France calendar if you can find one. Great photos.

Vive Le Tour!

Spinning Retro Interval Profile: 80's Tribute with a little Michael Jackson

If I had taught my class last week, playing a lot of Michael Jackson would have been a lot more welcomed, but since radio and TV have waaaay overloaded the nation with Michael Jackson tributes, I "saved" my students the torment of too much MJ!

Nevertheless, I still wanted to play some MJ, since I missed out last week. Right before I started my iPod, I said, "please don't kill me!" and someone said, "why, are you playing all Michael Jackson?!"

But I focused more on 80's music, used only one original MJ song, and three MJ remixes. [Where to get the remixes? Someone on Pedal-On posted a blog called Salacious Sound that has Michael Jackson remix downloads available for free. Some are good, some are not so good. Check it out.]

Here is my playlist and the profile. I used my Dueling Intervals profile format (alternating flat road efforts with climbs, with recovery in between), which I am finding is a great profile to tweak to just about any music or intensity you want, so it seems like an entirely different profile to your students. In other words, you get a lot of bang for your buck out of this one! You can take the intensity to any level you choose, based on your objectives for the class. This morning, I asked them to go the Threshold, or just above.

Retro Intervals

Warm-up

Thriller, Michael Jackson (5:58)

Don't Stop Till You Get Enough (Cookin Soul Jay-Z Mashup), MJ (3:28)

1st interval - flats. Start out of the saddle, 30-40 sec, raise HR, then seated flat.

Dancing With Myself, Billy Idol (3:20)

recover - down to 65-70%MHR (same for all upcoming recoveries - easy seated flat)

Tainted Love, Soft Cell (2:34)

2nd interval - climb. Begin as a standing climb to raise HR to target, then sit the rest and hold HR and cadence.

Oh Yeah, Yello (3:04)

recover - I Want Candy, Bow Wow Wow (2:47)

3rd interval - standing flat to raise HR (30-40 sec), sit for 1 min with a quick cadence 95-100 rpm, then jumps with a high cadence when standing (surge).

Walking on sunshine, Katrina and the Waves (4:01)

recover - There She Goes, The La's (2:42)

4th interval - climb. Hard standing climb to target HR (45 sec), then sit the climb for 1 min, maintaining strong cadence. Move into jumps on a hill to finish the song.

Don't Go (remix), Yaz (4:07)

recover - Synchronicity, The Police (2:54)

5th interval - flat road. Start standing (30 sec), then sit 1 min. Move into standing flat surges for 10-15 sec every 45-60 sec.

Better Be Good to Me, Tina Turner (5:11)

recover - I Want You Back (The Walk and Seventytwo Remix), Jackson 5 (3:10)

6th interval - climb. Start standing 1 min, then alternate seated and standing every 30-45 sec.

Sanctify Yourself, Simple Minds (5:01)

recover and cool down

Unbelievable, EMF

Rock With You (Cookin Soul Notorious B.I.G. Mashup), Michael Jackson

Lovefool, The Cardigans

It went over well! Just enough MJ, but not too much.

July 4th Ride music

I do a July 4th theme ride every year. Since it's only a few days away, I thought I'd post some of the music I've used before or that I've collected in my July 4th folder (or that I've gotten off Pedal-On). I don't know yet what I'm going to do for a profile, but often it's based on the music I end up choosing, whether it feels more like hills or flats.

I also like to do theme rides on other nation's independence days every now and then, like Cinco de Mayo. Bastille Day is July 14th and it's during the Tour de France when I'm already playing a lot of fun French songs, so I cover that anyway. For my foreign readers, you may want to throw in a couple of July 4th tunes this weekend, but if you have playlists of your own country's songs that you might play on your country's holiday, please share!

There are your typical sappy America the Beautiful songs below, but not all these songs paint the good ole USA in a nice way. We as a nation are far from perfect, so take us warts and all. A significant freedom gained on July 4th, 1776 is the ability to challenge ourselves, our actions and our leaders. And that's American.

If you're into country music (which I'm not), you'll find lots more patriotic tunes. I have a few listed below. I don't know how "spinnable" some of the more sappy or country ones are - they may be better for warm-up, cool-down or pre-class mood setting music.

• Frank Sinatra, America the Beautiful
• Celine Dion, God Bless America
• Ray Charles, America the Beautiful
• Willie Nelson, America the Beautiful
• Les Greenwood, Proud to be an American
• Bruce Springsteen, Born in the USA (not a happy song)
• Bruce Springsteen, American Land
• Neil Diamond, Coming to America
• James Brown, Living in America
• Chuck Berry, Back in the USA
• Linda Rondstadt, Back in the USA
• George Thorogood, American Made
• George Thorogood, Anytown USA
• George Michael, Freedom
• BoDeans, Closer to Free
• BoDeans, Freedom
• Nicole Mullens, Freedom
• The Guess Who, American Woman
• Madonna, American Life (funny lyrics about the typical American dream, but the only version I have found has expletives, maybe there's a clean version somewhere)
• John Mellancamp, R.O.C.K. in the USA
• John Mellancamp, Ain't That America
• Big Jack Johnson, It's the Fourth of July (great blues song)
• U2, The Hands that Built America
• U2, Walk On (America A Tribute to Heroes)
• U2, Bad (Wide Awake in America)
• ELO, Calling America
• Styx, Miss America
• Prince, America
• David Bowie, Young American
• Steve Miller Band, Living in the USA
• Don MacLean, American Pie
• The Offspring, Americana
• Creedence Clearwater Revival, Fortunate Son
• Creedence Clearwater Revival, Born on the Bayou
• Dave Matthews, American Baby
• Tom Petty, American Girl
• Leny Kravitz, American Woman
• Counting Crows, American Girls
• Kim Wilde, Kids in America
• Grateful Dead, US Blues
• Everclear - This Land is Your Land
• Agent Orange, America (fast paced)
• Bigood 20, America
• The Catholic Girls, Rock'n America (driving rock song)
• Johnny Cash, I've Been Everywhere
• Depeche Mode, Route 66 (Beatmasters Mix)
• Beach Boys, Surfin' USA
• Fury in the Slaughterhouse, Down There (slow song, cool down)
• Safri Duo feat Michael M, Sweet Freedom
• Melissa Etheridge, Christmas in America
• Copland, Fanfare for the Common Man
• Paul Simon, Graceland (hey, what's more American than Elvis Presley and Graceland?!)
• Generation DJ, California Dreamin
• Royal Gigolos, California Dreamin (Clubhouse Extended Mix)
• The Ramones, California Sun
• Lynyrd Skynyrd, Sweet Home Alabama
• Tina Turner, Proud Mary
• Toby Keith, American Soldier
• Toby Keith, Courtesy of Red, White and Blue
• US Coast Guard Band, Armed Services Medley (parade music)
• The Flaming Lips, The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song
• John Mayer, Waiting on the World to Change
• Labi Siffre, Something Inside So Strong
• John Lennon, Give Peace A Chance

If you didn't already overload your students with Michael Jackson tributes this past week, it would be perfect to throw in a couple of his songs as an American Pop Icon.

Where to get some of this music? Try eMusic for some of the older or more unusual songs. (Don't yet have eMusic? Click on that icon on the left of my blog to get 25 or 50 free downloads). Then check the usual suspects like iTunes.

Anymore suggestions, please list them in the comments!

EDIT Later: I've got a great idea! As I am putting together my own playlist, I have just had a good laugh. Here in Vail, Colorado during ski season, several of the bars in town have Apres Ski celebrations and parties every single day, with a live singer/guitarist playing fun sing-along drinking songs. Everyone (everyone, including the singer!) is doing shots or chugging beer. Not that I ever really Apres much anymore (yes, we've turned it into a verb), but back when I taught skiing, we'd go sometimes after the day on the mountain ended, or take visiting friends. There is not a single Apres Ski entertainer that doesn't include Don MacLean's American Pie in his repertoire - because everyone knows the words. Even just walking down the center of Vail you'll hear the song floating from the bars.

So I plan on playing it this Friday about halfway through my ride. I'm going to have to come up with a joke about doing shots. I think I'll get a shot glass and an empty bottle of Jaegermeister and fill it with dark brown-colored water, pour myself one and throw it back while on the bike during that song! Then I'll ask if anyone else wants one. Think I'll get a few amazed looks at 6 am?? I'll let you know how it goes! :-)

[The challenge: where to find an empty Jaegermeister bottle? I don't drink that crap! Yuck. I guess I can use another liquor, but Jaegermeister is such the "In" thing in the mountains after skiing. Maybe a local bar will be kind enough to save me an empty bottle...which means I'll have to start calling around now. Sheesh, now that I think about it, this practical joke may be more work than it's worth. Man, the things I do to keep my students entertained!!]

Goodbye Farrah

Celebrities pass away all the time. It's sad, we remember their movies, their scandals, their awards, but since I don't know these people except through the characters they play on screen, I usually don't cry. But I find myself very, very saddened by the passing of Farrah Fawcett a few hours ago (though inevitable), and was even surprised at the tears I shed.

I wanted so much for her to win this battle with cancer; not only for herself, that she recover from the pain and misery of this insidious disease, but I was hoping that through a full - though doubtful - recovery, she'd become the Lance Armstrong of celebrities, a symbol of hope and strength for others out there suffering.

Farrah put up such a valiant fight. I didn't watch her documentary about her struggles last month but I heard a lot about it. We don't have TV but I plan to try to watch it online the first opportunity I get. I have never been star-struck. I hate celebrity magazines, I barely know the names of many actors and actresses people talk about all the time. I just don't get what the fascination is with celebrities and their every move, divorce, birth, new fashion, latest faux pas, whatever.

But when I was in my teens, I loved Farrah Fawcett. I had the "doo" in high school and carefully flipped back my hair with my curling iron every day. (I think Farrah was responsible for more curling iron sales than any other model!) I loved Charlie's Angels that first year (didn't care as much for Cheryl Ladd). My brothers had that famous Farrah poster with her big hair and big toothy smile up on their walls for most of my high-school years. Even back then I was wondering what she was doing with that Lee Majors guy.

So when I heard the news this morning that she lost her fight, I couldn't stop the flow of tears. Me? I don't cry when celebrities die!

I follow the Fat Cyclist blog, a very funny blogger (when he's writing about cycling, that is) whose wife Susan is in the midst of a painful battle with cancer. When he talks about their travails with the cancer, he holds nothing back when he describes her pain, her doctor's visits, her ups and downs, the impact on their lives. As a result of his posts and willingness to bare his life and soul, I (and tens of thousands of other readers) know more about the horrors of cancer than I ever thought possible (without having a close loved one go through it). My grandmother recovered from breast cancer surgery in the late 50's before I was born (back when they took out ALL the lymph nodes when doing mastectomies), and suffered pain all her life. I've known others, but not people very close to me.

So until it hits someone close, or *gasp* us, we often fall into the "it'll never happen to me" syndrome. Don't get me wrong, I don't condone worrying about cancer, or focusing on it, because I believe in the Law of Attraction. What you focus on you attract. But that doesn't mean we can or should remain ignorant or indifferent, or that we can eat willy-nilly anything we want or put products on our skin that might be carcinogenic. But we can all participate in the efforts to find a cure for cancer, by using the Law of Attraction, your prayers (however you personally define them and utilize them), as well as our wallets.

Give, give, give to organizations that are working towards finding a cure. Support legislation to fund cancer research and care for patients and families. My efforts in the Giretto were for the Lance Armstrong foundation (3 of us raised over $10K using grass roots efforts!), and I'll be doing more rides and events in the future if you're looking for a place to donate! ;-)

Better yet, sign up to ride or run in one of the Livestrong Challenge events, or create a Spinning event around finding a cure for cancer.

When we all continue to work together, I know finding a cure will happen in our generation!

EDIT 5:00 pm

I guess I need to add a goodbye to Michel Jackson. It wasn't cancer, but an alleged cardiac arrest. Now, at the risk of dating myself even more here, those of you who have been involved fitness since the 80's like me (and if so, you either had the same Farrah haircut or had a sister/friend who did) will also fondly remember how Michael Jackson's music influenced not only the world's dance floors, but the aerobics industry as well. Ah! I wish I had photos of me in the teal unitard with the fuscia thong, and the legwarmers and headband, high kicking and grapevining to Michael Jackson's Thriller or Beat It!

Although you won't find much MJ in my Spinning playlists these days, it's safe to say that there's not a generation out there that won't start taping their fingers when a classic MJ song comes on. If I were teaching tomorrow (I've got a sub since I'm flying to Philly for a Spinning training weekend) I'd certainly do an MJ dedication. Maybe I will in next Wednesday's class. Stay tuned...

EDIT again...

Just read the following on my nephew's Facebook page:

Michael Jackson's not dead. He's just preparing for his last concert. He's gonna perform Thriller as an ACTUAL ZOMBIE!

Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast gears up for Indoor Cycling 2.0

If you aren't familiar with the Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast yet, you will be soon! John Macgowan has put together a very informative, educational and entertaining podcast aimed at helping indoor cycle instructors find that spark of inspiration to help them grow as instructors.

It's been almost a year, and in celebration, as well as to gear up to grow and improve his podcast, he has put together a survey to find out how to better help you, the IC instructor, grow even more.

In John's words:

I’m less than 2 months away from the first anniversary (August 15th) of the Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast. I’m planning some major changes to both the indoorcycleinstructor.com web site and the Podcast to reflect the transition to Indoor Cycling 2.0.

My intent is to make the site easier to use and invite contributors to submit articles to the Blog. I’m also planning to include much more usable / actionable information on the Podcast. That’s where I need your help.

I created this survey to help me understand more about you, what you are looking for and most importantly, what am I missing?

You can help by responding to his survey. It only takes a few minutes, and will provide invaluable help in developing the content that you want to hear the most. What do you need to improve as an instructor? Let John know, and give him your ideas for his Podcast and blog.

Oh, and you could win a set of Global Ride Indoor Cycling DVDs just for giving him your opinion.

I have had the great honor to be interviewed quite a few times on his podcast, and to co-host a couple of interviews. I have some great ideas for John for future subjects and interview candidates (including many of my teammates on the MI team), but we want to make sure they are in line with what you all need and want the most.

So please, take the few minutes to complete this survey, and be prepared for even greater assistance and content in the months to come! He needs opinions from all over the world, so no matter where you are, your opinions and ideas count.

Thank you!

The purpose of my last post - to reach beyond the choir!

As you have discovered from my last post, I am on a mission!

Sometimes we as Master Instructors feel like we're preaching to the choir when we are teaching our Continuing Education sessions or presenting at conferences on the proper, safest and most effective way to create and teach Spinning profiles. Often the instructors that need the education the most are not the ones who are willing to pay for or take the time to attend CED or conferences, or even read books on physiology or coaching.

I am quite sure that the Master Trainers in the other indoor cycling programs (Schwinn, RPM, etc.) feel exactly the same way. I've even heard from some of them who support this effort 100%. I include any "brand" of indoor cycling when referring to safe and effective classes. There is no philosophy difference when it comes to employing proper training principles, having a good knowledge of biomechanics, and understanding the mechanics of pedaling a bicycle, especially a fixed-gear bicycle with a heavy flywheel that impacts the way we ride indoors.

My last post is an effort to reach beyond the choir, get past the converted, and access the universe of indoor cycling instructors of every ilk.

I read on the forums, in emails I receive, or hear it in direct conversations with instructors how they are some of the only ones at their facilities not doing unsafe aerobics-type classes and CI moves, yet they don't want to challenge their peers. Or perhaps their program director also does hovers, pushups and high-speed cadences with low resistance and doesn't support them in their plea to clean things up.

I also know that often the safest, most effective and best taught classes are not the highest attended. How many of you teach at facilities where the fullest classes are the ones where the instructor employs the most CI moves? (This is where the students also need to be educated).

I can totally understand why you don't want to make waves! You just want to teach your class and leave, hoping to make an impact on your small group of followers.

This is where I come in. Use me. Let me be the 'bad guy'. Send them (instructors, directors, students) the link*, and let me teach them (or at least, try to) the reasons why it's so important to not resort to aerobics-on-a-bike to be 'popular'.

Others have started to write similar blog posts and linking to this post, so this grassroots movement is gaining momentum (I'll share with you the bloggers who have done so later in the week). My blog hits were up by 68% the past few days according to Google Analytics, so it's starting to work, but I don't want to reach hundreds; I want to reach thousands of instructors out there who can learn from this blog, from these posts, from these profiles, from guest bloggers/instructors who have had an impact on their students, and from the resources provided (most of them free) such as the other blogs, podcasts and forums I've linked to.

There is sooooo much information for the taking, so much learning to be had, so much great stuff to share, if we can get it into the right hands!

And I can only do that with your help. Continue to spread the word and to leave your comments. As usual, I am very grateful for all my blog readers!

* I suggest sending the permalink to the last post ("Just Don't Do It") by clicking on the post title and copying and pasting the entire URL that has the blog post title included.