FunhogSpins

2011-06-16T19:29:00.003-06:00

The Indoor Cycling Association has launched!

I'm excited to announce the brand new Indoor Cycling Association. Our mission is to educate and inspire indoor cycling instructors to be the best they can be, by offering solid information based on exercise science and true cycling technique and biomechanics. My own specialty is heart rate training, coaching, motivation and music, so ICA members can expect everything they need to know to become the best indoor cycling coach ever!

I've assembled a pretty amazing team of contributors, and will be inviting other Master Instructors and fitness industry experts to submit content as well.

When I was at my previous program, my audio profiles were a very big hit. You can expect the same at ICA - an audio description of a profile, with an objective, the profile description and the actual cueing and coaching suggestions throughout the ride. You can download the mp3 of the audio to listen to on your ipod, or print out the printed version. I'll do one every three weeks or so, and will sprinkle other profiles and playlists as well that aren't audio, but still including the coaching and music.

And the music suggestions - wait until you see what the feedback has been! I've got two excellent contributors, Jorg from Germany with the most unique electronic/psytrance/downtempo/techno songs you've ever heard, and Kala with a penchant for upbeat and fun mainstream pop, rock and alternative tunes to satisfy your students. I'll be throwing my own favorites in there as well.

We'll have videos and audios, with interviews with the experts on just about any aspect of teaching (or taking) indoor cycling or Spinning classes you can imagine. If there is something you want us to cover, please, let us know! Email me at info@indoorcyclingassociation.com

Since there are not two sets of rules (biomechanics, physics, physiology, etc) for cyclists and non-cyclists, you can be sure that everything we teach will be the most current science of training, as well as proper technique. However, since there are many instructors who are confused at how to deliver safe and effective workouts to their students who believe that "cycling specific" means not interesting, we realize we need to teach instructors how to make their classes fun, motivating and exciting while sticking to the principles of cycling and proper training principles.

The Indoor Cycling Association has its eye on becoming the premier educational resource for indoor cycling instructors in the world! In one short month of being open we have hundreds of members from around the world. Spread the word, spread the love, and join us at the Indoor Cycling Association!

Ride on!

Jennifer Sage
Master Instructor
Founder, Indoor Cycling Association
Author, Keep it Real (in your indoor cycling classes)

Cinco de Mayo tunes for Spinning® and Indoor Cycling Classes

2011-05-02T19:59:00.007-06:00

Need some hot Latin music for a Cinco de Mayo playlist in your Spinning® or Indoor Cycling classes? Here's some for you!

However, as a lover of all things global, I feel it's my duty to remind you that Cinco de Mayo is Independence Day for the country of Mexico. Very few of these songs are from Mexican artists. They could be from any Latin country in the world - and there are many, stretching from central to South America, to the islands of Puerto Rico and Cuba, all the way over to Europe and the original Spanish country of Spain. But I guess if you go on vacation to Cancun or Cabo, you could hear any Latin song from all corners of the globe.

If the origin of the song doesn't concern you or your students, then have a great time in your classes with these fun and energetic tunes. ;-)

And if anyone has some specific Mexican artists (or any additional Latin tunes), please post them in the comments.

Song title, Artist, CD (if known)
* represents my own favorites

**Guitarra G (Original Chillout Mix), G Club presents Banda Sonora, Chillout Session Sampler
**Logozo, Sidestepper, Buddha Bar II
*Un Poco Flamengo (Unreleased Mix), Chilly Marry, Spinning Volume Eleven
Bingo Bango (Latin Dub Remix) - Basement Jaxx, Mad Dogg Spinning Volume 8
Sandy Hot Pants, Smitty & Davenport, Spinning Volume 9
*Corazon Espinado (Spanish Dance Remix), Santana feat Mana
Vazilando Feeling (dj Sueko Rmx), DJ Chus Vs Oreja
*Oye Mi Amor, Maná, Sol
Ángel de Amor, Maná, Sol
Mas Que Mancada (FI mix), Ronaldo's Revenge, Full Intention Revenge mix
El sabor de las cosas, Los Piratas, Ultrasónica
Hit the Road Jack (Pena Estrad), Mo' Horizons, Remember Tomorrow
El Camino, Marquess, Marquess
De Camino, Alex Cuba, Agua Del Pozo
Radio Incredible, Marquess, Frenetica
* Tu no Eres Para Mi, Fanny Lu
(I'll be a) Happy Man, The Latin Blues Band feat. Luis Aviles, Brown Sugar - Latin Breakbeats, Basslines & Boogaloo
**La Esperanza - Bongoloverz & Ursula Cuesta, Buddha Bar, Buddha Bar 8
Lola, Chayanne, Mi Tiempo
*Remember (Na Na Na Hey Hey), Summerlove
Quien Como Tu, Enzo Diaz, Barrio Latino - Paris Bailando (Latin cover of Without Love by the Doobie Brothers)
*Diablo Rojo, Rodrigo & Gabriela, Rodrigo y Gabriela
*Fiesta Latina, Cafe De Miami, Salsa In A Sultry Atmosphere
Guapisimo, Cafe De Miami, Salsa In A Sultry Atmosphere
Let's Be Free, Cafe De Miami, Salsa In A Sultry Atmosphere
*La Bamba (Remix 2005), Safri Duo
*Ritmo De La Noche, Safri Duo
*Gypsy (En Vivo), Shakira, Loba
*Suerte, Shakira
Livin La Vida Loca (Pablo Flores English Club Mix), Ricky Martin, Livin' La Vida Loca
* El Temperamento (Spanish Single Version), Marquess, Marquess
No importa, Marquess, Frenetica
* Bailamos (Album Version), Enrique Iglesias, Hero [Single]
Samba De Janeiro (Maxi), Bellini
*Suavemente, Elvis Crespo, Suavemente
Baila Morena, Zucchero, Zucchero & Co.
A Gozar, Spiritual Vibes, Barrio Latino - Paris Bailando
Así Es La Vida, Elefante, Elefante Exitos
El Abandonao, Elefante, Elefante Exitos
Mariposa, La Oreja de Van Gogh, El Viaje De Copperpot
Pop, La Oreja de Van Gogh, El Viaje De Copperpot
La Playa, La Oreja de Van Gogh, El Viaje De Copperpot
Soledad, La Oreja de Van Gogh, El Viaje De Copperpot
* Tres, Juanes, La vida es un ratico
* Te Amo (Madgipsy Mix), Sultana, 80 vs. 90 - Golden Rare Extended Tracks
South Beach Mambo, The Rippingtons, Life In The Tropics
Premonición, David Bisbal, Premonición Disc 1
Torre de Babel [Reggaeton Mix], David Bisbal, Premonición
Silencio, David Bisbal,
Quién Me Iba a Decir, David Bisbal, Premonición
Latin Blues Part 1, Eric Kupper, Rythm2

Cool-downs

Agua Del Pozo, Alex Cuba, Agua Del Pozo
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, Coco Freeman/U2, Rhythms del Mundo: Cuba
Hero, Enrique Iglesias, Hero [Single]

EDIT: Chris has posted her Cinco de Mayo playlist on her indoor cycling blog for even more variety. Make sure to check back with Chrispins often for her playlists, too!

Exciting news coming, and help me with a new Blog name!

2011-04-26T16:24:00.005-06:00

I'm moving this blog! And I need a new name, can you help me?

Funhog was a nickname I carried with me when I moved to Vail 16 years ago. For me, it has always represented doing what is important to me even when faced with personal challenges. I explained the meaning of Funhog back when I first launched this blog back in 2008.

However, a lot has transpired since then. Funhogspins started out as a fun hobby, a place where I could practice my passion of helping indoor cycling instructors beyond the limited means I had as a Master Instructor for the Spinning program. As it turned out, it also served as a means where I could pretend I was a writer (an early dream of mine in college - and in 2007/2008 blogs were a relatively new way to live out those dreams). It allowed me to reach out to a global audience, and I soon came to realize that there are instructors all over the world who are lacking good coaching and teaching advice for creating and leading indoor cycling classes. Funhogspins readership began to grow and soon become widely known and quite popular in the Indoor Cycling realm (in fact it became the #1 indoor cycling blog on the net according to Google). That was an unexpected and fun honor!

I realized I should change the name so I wasn't using the word "spins", not wanting to violate any kind of trademark issues with Spinning®. However, about that same time, summer of 2009, I had a unique opportunity to help launch an educational indoor cycling website. To do this, I had to leave the Spinning® program and I had to abandon this blog. I didn't think again about the name again, until this past month.

Fast Forward 18 months and after an unexpected departure (though it was my choice) from ICI, I found myself back here, unsure about what direction I was going next.

But as Dolly Parton said, "If you don't like the road you're walking on, start paving a new one." So I'm taking that woman's wise advice and doing just that. But first, I need to revamp this blog, starting with a new name. Can you help me come up with some ideas?

I was thinking of something along the following theme (grateful to my husband for giving me this fun last name to play with!):
Sage Advice
Sage Cycling Advice

or something along those lines, but it doesn't have to have my name in it.

I want to convey that I will be giving advice to the indoor cycling community, but the blog will be moving to another platform - one in which it will be apparent that it is for indoor cycling instructors, so I'm not sure that is needed in the title. Obviously, I cannot use the term "Spinning®" or any version of it.

So, any ideas? Fire them at me, something short and to the point. Even if I don't end up using exactly what you suggest, it might inspire an idea I haven't yet thought of.

Mid-week next week I will have an exciting announcement for you....so make sure to come back soon.

I'm off to Scottsdale, Arizona to the Fitfest conference this weekend to present. If you are in Arizona and we had communicated about meeting up there for dinner or drinks, make sure to email me (I've been a little pre-occupied). jennifer@vivatravels.com

What happens if you miss a workout? Illness, injury etc...

2011-04-26T09:09:00.005-06:00

I want to share with you Joe Friel's most recent blog post on how much fitness might be lost if you miss a workout. But before I do, it's important to realize that fitness goals of our students will often be different than the goals that endurance athletes set, so read this article I'm about to give you with that knowledge in hand. On the other hand, this article will hit home for recreational athletes/cyclists who like to remain very active outside, for very avid fitness enthusiasts who come to classes 4-7X a week, and most certainly for instructors who teach a lot of classes and are a *bit* fanatical about their own workouts (know any of those types of instructors?!)

Joe Friel broke his hip recently in a bike accident and is faced with six weeks or more of limited training. He writes primarily for endurance athletes, many of whom race (often just recreational racers), so whenever I read his blog posts I try to adapt the information to fit the needs of our typical fitness student. Here is what Joe has to say about missing training days.

My take on the subject? Don't sweat it! If you aren't a pro-athlete, or not training for a PR in your next triathlon, relax. It is what it is. Fighting an illness or injury by training through it will most often make it worse, and doesn't do much good for the mental standpoint either. And if you are a pro or high-level athlete, well, S!*^ happens sometimes, and ya just gotta roll with it. After an illness or injury, get back on track as quick as you can, work on the mental part of it while you are laid up, and turn your focus to positive things. You may have to reset your goals a bit, but that's ok.

An instructor who is forced to take time off due to illness or injury (or family/work/personal obligations) will have to do the same. Remember this important tip: it is impossible to stay at the highest level of fitness year-round. Everyone, from beginner to pro, has to have fluctuations in fitness throughout the year. Allow it to happen, accept it, then work towards gradually bringing your fitness back to where it was before you were forced to take time off.

And, if you aren't forced to take time off (due to any of those reasons mentioned above), remember to give yourself breaks throughout the year (vacations, getting subs) for a mental and/or physical release. Otherwise your body just might do it for you... And when that happens, it's not always a good thing. Remember, we attract into our lives what we focus on and what we need. If you don't allow those breaks to happen occasionally, especially when you get burned-out, overstressed, or are bordering on over-training, I believe you attract illness or injury into your life, to force yourself to take the break you were too bullheaded to allow yourself in the first place! (And I say this from personal experience!) ;-)

Stay healthy and strong!

PS read the comments in Joe's article - there are some good questions that he answers that expand on the subject.

Happy Easter! What candy to avoid....and how much you have to exercise to burn it off

2011-04-23T15:06:00.003-06:00

I did this with Halloween candy last fall and now it's time to give you the Easter candy report. Shape magazine lists the 5 candies you should avoid! Hope your Easter baskets aren't too full of the listed candies. If so, add a few more indoor cycling classes to your program this week.

While you're reading that article, look at the right side of the page at the calorie burn tool called "You Ate It, Negate It". You can enter what you ate and what kind of exercise you prefer, as well as your weight, and it tells you how long you have to exercise to burn off what you ate.

I chose a simple bran muffin as my treat. Calorie Count gives it 344 calories and a nutrition grade of B-. Another website gives the Starbucks Apple Bran muffin 350 calories.

In the Shape calorie burn tool, I entered Bran Muffin and Spinning (under Gym/exercise class) and it said I'd have to exercise for 72 minutes to burn that muffin. Then I entered cycling at 14-19mph (under endurance exercise), which is a decent clip but not too fast, and to me is a better guestimate of what kind of effort you put out in a typical moderately hard Spinning®/Indoor Cycling class. This time I'd have to exercise for 52 minutes to burn off one bran muffin. At 10-14mph it equals what they assume you'd burn in a Spinning class (72 minutes). Hmmm, not that I condone very hard classes all the time, but I think they are assuming people don't work very hard in indoor cycling classes.

This is a far cry off from what some instructors, trainers or programs are preaching, or even what Shape magazine tells you in another separate article that claims you can burn 500 calories in 35 minute Spinning® class! This last claim is truly ridiculous, especially since the posted class isn't that hard. Yes, it has some sprints, but do you really understand how hard you have to work to burn 500 calories?

*sigh*
When will there be responsible claims in the fitness industry?

The good news is that we have an amazing tool for burning calories and staying fit - our indoor cycling classes! Even if we don't over-exaggerate how many calories our students will burn.

Happy Easter!

Cycling Spring Training - how to put together a cycling clinic

2011-04-18T19:33:00.003-06:00

OK, in other parts of the country (the US that is), you are already hitting 80+ degrees and have been cycling for months now (not counting you guys in the always-sunny far south).

Where I am in the Rocky Mountains, it is still ski season (albeit fairly warm). The committed cyclists have been out and about when the temps have reached anywhere above 40 degrees. We've even had some 60+ degree days, but usually very windy.

I have just finished a very successful 12-week periodized Cycling Clinic at one of my clubs, with 12 very committed students. But we are entering what we call the "mud season" around here, and our ski mountain only closes next weekend. It's possible to cycle outside, but still not as cycling friendly as we'd like it.

So I've just extended my cycling clinic for another 5 weeks.

I've got at least 8 students who will continue with me (I'll let you know the actual number tomorrow - it's the first class). They are paying $120 for the next five weeks. They've paid $275 for the past 12-weeks (I had 13 students in that series).

I'm on to something big here. I've had probably the MOST fun I've had teaching in 14+ years. Why? Because I'm working with a committed group of the same students who paid to be there, everyone on the same page, everyone with a heart rate monitor. Not a regular class where you can't really do a serious periodized program because you get new people walking in all the time, or someone who decides to show up only once a month.

The result? I have 13 students who are more prepared for the cycling season than they ever have been. And most are paying to stay on for the next 5 weeks. Me? I've made more $ per class than I ever have in my 15 years of teaching indoor cycling!

Damnit, I deserve it! =)

And so do YOU!

This next five weeks is going to be pretty high intensity, but because most of the students have been with me for the past 12-weeks (and many were my students for the previous 4-5 years), they are well prepared for this level of intensity. The few who were not in my 12-week program I will coach very closely to gauge their intensity very carefully, and to not go as hard.

I've been blabbing about this 12-week program on Facebook since January. If you ONLY knew how many instructors contacted me and said "Teach me how to do this!"!

So that is what I am planning to do. I'm going to create a very comprehensive turn-key program on how to do a periodized 12-week indoor cycling training program in the winter. If you are interested, let me know. You will get 24 profiles, and everything you need to know to do this on your own at your facility. What to teach, how to answer their questions, what to say, what to give your students (handouts, physiology, etc), how to promote it (especially to your local cycling clubs), how to coach beginners, how to price it, etc.

I have been teaching Spinning® and Indoor Cycling for 15 years. I taught this at two separate facilities this winter, and between them both I made 4-6 times what I normally make per class AND I enjoyed it so much more!

You will too!

I won't have this available until next fall, because a periodization program is not as effective until the fall/winter months (at least up here in the northern hemisphere - for my southern hemisphere readers, it will be a year from now). It will take awhile to put this into a turn-key program with all the supporting documentation that you will need, but I guarantee you, YOU WILL LOVE IT!

AND, you will make more money doing what you love.

Now THAT is a great thing!

To stay in contact with me about this periodized cycling clinic, make sure you are on my mailing list (enter your name and email on the top left of this blog). I will be letting you know soon about my new website that will deliver this and many other great indoor cycling products to help you grow as a coach.

PS - as I sit here writing this post, I got a text from one of my cycling clinic students. She wants to bring her dad to tomorrow's class! There goes another one! ;-)

Paris Roubaix anyone?

2011-04-08T19:21:00.008-06:00

Photo Sirotti/Steephill.tv

I thought I'd bring to your attention to the exciting and amazing bicycle race going on in Europe this Sunday, one of the single most difficult and dangerous one day races anywhere. It's called the Paris Roubaix. It's a one-day race, part of what they call the Spring Classics over in Europe. A few years ago, American cycling heart throb George Hincapie crashed in the Paris Roubaix due to a broken steerer tube.

Here is an account of last year's race, soundly won by Swiss heart throb (I know, lots of heart throbs in cycling IMO) Fabian Cancellara (and my own personal favorite). His nickname is Spartacus. Though he's more of a one-day specialist, he always plays an important role as a domestique in the 3-week Tour de France, so get to know him well if you don't already (that is, if you plan to follow the Tour de France with me and create an exciting TDF program in your own Spininng/IC program this year)!

This would be a very fun race to simulate in your indoor cycling/Spinning® classes. Unfortunately I am not going to do this profile in my own classes this week, so I can't give you a specific profile with cueing, but if you want a really cool race to create your own, here are some of the links you'll need to learn more.

First of all, here is the official website with the profile and map. The race goes from Paris to Roubaix in the north of France, near the Belgium border. It's 258km long - that's a bruising 160 miles in one day! It's not over any major hills, but traverses something even more trecherous and challenging - Pavé! Pavé is French for "cobbles", and there are 27 sections of this race that go over cobblestones ranging from a few hundred meters to several miles, sometimes so rough and rugged that they gobble up tires and body parts. Add in a little bit of rain (common in this time of year) and you've got a very slippery recipe for disaster. We all know that the more dangerous a sport is, the more people like to watch it, right? Then Paris Roubaix should satisfy the most sadistic sports fan anywhere, even those who profess to hate cycling!

This is a great description of the cobblestone sections, with incredible closeup photos. It jars your teeth and bones just to look at the pictures - can you imagine doing that for 160 miles? Here, Joe Lindsay of Bicycling magazine tells you what to watch for at this year's Paris Roubaix. In his article, he provides a couple of links on how to watch the event live on your computer.

This is a video of Fabian Cancellara training on the cobblestone section. It gives you a good glimpse of the jarring that is going on.

Thinking about doing a Paris Roubaix ride in your Spinning classes? My only suggestion is don't do anything "literal" on your indoor bike to simulate the cobblestones! The most literal thing you can do is to get them out of the saddle in a big gear (which the riders will have to do for much of the secteurs pavés). You can describe the cobbles and you can tell them they have to focus intently....but don't have them jiggle and shake! ;-) I have to put that in here because we all know instructors who might just decide to take this a little too literally.... There is only so much that you can mimic. Simulate the excitement, the trepidation, the mental games, the incredible focus, the big gear challenge, the endurance challenge....but not the jarring effect.

For music use any fun French music you can find. Here is an older blog post with some French music suggestions that you can use.

Maybe in a few weeks I'll put together a Paris Roubaix profile. Next week is my final week of a 12-week cycling clinic, and once that is over I'll have some more time to be creative. The great thing about this ride is you can do it anytime of the year. Most indoor cycling students will have no idea when it actually takes place!

Allez Allez!

Join me in Scottsdale, Arizona for the FitnessFest

2011-04-05T18:17:00.004-06:00

I will be presenting at the FitnessFest in Scottsdale Arizona April 29 - May 1. They have just added another cycling workshop on Friday morning, the 29th. The session is Over/Under Intervals.

Read here about the workshop and how to sign up.

Click here for more information on the FitnessFest and the other presentations.

If you're in Arizona, I would love to meet you. Come ride with me!

The Triple Bypass is available online for free viewing - limited time!

2011-04-04T11:19:00.004-06:00

It's here! You can now watch the edited version of my Triple Bypass ride on Cycling Fusion. It will be available for viewing for almost 2 weeks, until April 15th. Click here to go to the Cycling Fusion Winter Training Page, and then in the first paragraph you'll find a link to watch the Triple Bypass. My playlists for this and the Over/Under Interval ride are also available there.

When we had recorded this ride, I (and many of the students) had already been riding for 2.5 hours!

Please share my blog page with other instructors, students, studio and club owners, or cyclists who might like to ride it on their trainers when the weather prevents them from riding outside. We want to tell the world about the Cycling Fusion concept of creating a digital library of classes, to be viewed anytime.

If you are new to my Funhogspins blog, I would love it if you joined my mailing list (up in the top left). I'll be making an announcement soon that instructors will not want to miss!

Anyone in the Vail Colorado area - come ride with me in April! Cycling Spring Training!

2011-03-31T18:15:00.003-06:00

Are you in the Vail, Colorado area and want to get ready for cycling season? Sure, the mountain is open for another three weeks, but warmer days are calling you to get out on your bikes. Join me for four excellent reasons to get yourself ready for the best cycling season ever! Now that the snow is (kind of) diminishing, it's time to get those cycling legs ready.

The Vail Athletic Club at the Vail Mountain Lodge and Spa is hosting me for four workshops/Master Rides in April.

Monday April 4th: Lactate Threshold Field Test. Includes 30 minutes lecture on the importance of estimating your lactate threshold and the physiology behind it, followed by a 60-minute "field test" on the indoor bikes to estimate your threshold. You will also learn how to create your training zones. Come prepared, rested and hydrated. You will need a heart rate monitor that records averages (lap function). 5:30 - 7:00 pm.

Monday April 11th: Triple Bypass Simulation. A 90-minute ride, mostly climbing. Get your legs and heart ready not only for the Triple Bypass, but any of the major climbs that surround us here in the Rocky Mountains. Do not miss this ride if you are a climber! We'll focus on technique, pedal stroke and the mind-body element of long, epic climbs. 5:30 - 7:00 pm.

Monday April 18th: The Roller Coaster Ride. A 75-minute fast and furious, twisty-turny up and down mountain bike simulation. Perfect for those of you preparing for a Moab trip or for the local mountain bike race series, or anyone who enjoys the torturous but fun single track rides we have here in the Rockies. 5:30 - 6:45 pm.

Monday April 25th. High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). We begin with a 30-minute lecture explaining the various types of HIIT. Then we get on the bikes for a 60-minute incredible training experience right around your lactate threshold (LT), a ride called Over/Under Intervals, made famous by Chris Carmichael. If you are serious (or only even partly serious!) about your training or fitness, you won't want to miss this one. Heart rate monitor strongly suggested. 5:30 - 7:00 pm.

To sign up for any of these rides, call the Vail Athletic Club at 970-476-7960. Limited availability. These rides will sell out - make sure to call soon to secure your spot.

For more information about the sessions or about training for this cycling season, contact Jennifer at jennifer@vivatravels.com.

My weekend with Cycling Fusion - an "ooops" turns into a good thing!

2011-03-29T16:50:00.014-06:00

Last weekend was a whirlwind adventure at the Cycling Fusion headquarters in Pittsburgh, PA. On Friday, I had most of the day to practice and tweak my playlists - but before I knew it, we were less than an hour to "roll-em" time! I've presented at twenty conferences, and a little adrenaline/nerves is good to keep you on your top form, but I have to admit, this was a whole different animal. Yikes!

Before I explain what went on (and my major flub-up), let me give you a little background on the Cycling Fusion concept and what I was there in Pittsburgh to do. Gene Nacey, founder of Cycling Fusion, came up with the idea quite a few years ago after starting his own Spinning studio and finding the education and certification programs available to instructors lacking. I first heard of it when I rode in Italy for the Giretto with Gene back in May of 2009. Since then it has evolved and blossomed into an innovative indoor cycling certification program, as well as a solid 12-week online periodized training program called Winter Training. In addition to those programs, Gene is developing a digital library of classes that will be available to clubs and individuals around the world. The library should be ready to be launched by sometimes next fall.

Gene brought me out to not only lead several classes to be filmed for the digital library, but also to lead the Winter Training program on Saturday. This consisted of a 40-minute lecture on High Intensity Interval Training, two 60-minute rides, followed by a yoga session (which of course, I did not lead)!

To keep the energy high, Gene wants a full class when they do the filming, so on the Friday night, they are offered for free to local riders in the Pittsburgh area. I was so happy that a good number of instructors I know through Spinning, my blog and through Pedal-On forum were able to make it on Friday night.

The Saturday Winter Training class is full of students who have paid for the 12-week series. Winter Training is made available live on the internet for subscribers around the world (which, by the way, is an exceptional deal for the amount of education and excellent training that you get). Gene graciously offered a 25% discount to what he called "Friends of Jennifer" to view the Saturday Winter Training session online. There were a few extra bikes available so Gene made Saturday's ride available to a few instructors who had come the evening before.

10-weeks of minimal issues!
This was the 11th week of their Winter Training program, all of it viewable live on the internet. They have had very few technical issues during the past ten weeks. However, this was not to be the case on this particular weekend, but technology wasn't the only thing that messed up...

Friday night
We started around 5:30pm with a 45-minute ride, followed by a 30-minute ride. Both of them filmed, but not live on the internet. I have to admit, having 3 cameras on you adds another level of, well, reasons to be nervous. Phew, my heart rate was high but not due to my effort! I was glad those two rides were done, next was the LIVE FEED - my 60-minute Triple Bypass ride that I had promoted here, on Facebook and the forums.

Then Mr. Murphy and his "Law book" showed up. After ten weeks of no issues, we had our share of them. First, an important cable broke that provides the feed to the internet (and as Gene explained to me later - it was not one that you could run out and pick up at a Radio Shack), along with a few other camera glitches. The Cycling Fusion technicians were quite amazing in their ability to think on their feet, and pulled a McGiver or two so that we could continue with the broadcast. When all was said and done, we started about 45 minutes late. I hope those of you watching can understand that the delays were totally out of anyone's control....it was just one of those things. (And if you're in the world of technology, "those things" always happen at the worst possible time)!

My Triple Bypass Ride
By now my butt was really sore after over 2 hours on the bike. I have to admit, I was nervous again since I knew that over a hundred people had registered to watch it live. Live? Was I doing this LIVE?? :o Talk about Butterflies...

Finally, all is ready. The cameraman gave me the countdown, I put on my iPod and begin to teach the class. It was going to be three long climbs, with a short warm-up. I told them we'd be continuing on our warm-up on the first climb (just like the Triple Bypass ride in Colorado is in real life). But I noticed that the first song went on a little longer than I remember.....I chalked it up to being nervous.

Then the second song came on and as I coached them onto the hill I noticed that the song was NOT the right song - it was too fast. If you watched it live, you saw me look at my iPod, and then not sure if you could read my mind, but I was thinking, "Oh (expletive)! What did I do? I put the wrong playlist on!"

For a split second I wondered if I could "fake it" through, but I realized the playlist was for the Over/Under Interval ride the next day, with much faster songs. Soooooo, I sat up and, embarrassed as heck, told everyone we had to start over. This was LIVE - not a good thing!

I have to admit that when I did start it over, my introduction to the ride had much more energy, and my nerves were gone so I think I flowed much better. I guess I figured I had made the biggest possible error, nothing else could top that. So in the end it was a good thing!

But I'm still pretty self-critical (aren't we all?) - I watched the video and made some notes to smile more often. Also, I tend to look down a lot when I am focusing - not bad when I'm teaching my own class, but on video I need to look up more. I'll be better next time! ;-)

If you signed up to watch the live feed, I appreciate your patience with our technical glitches. The good news is that Gene is going to make the edited version available a little later this week for everyone to see (for a limited time). I will send an email out to all of you on my mailing list with the reminder, as well as post it here and on Facebook. Keep in mind, once the digital library is launched next fall, this will be one of the classes that you could view either with a class or on your own (for a fee). So Gene is graciously offering it for free to introduce you to the Cycling Fusion live class concept.

In the next day or two, I'll write a post about the Winter Training lecture and the two powerful rides we did, and will post the playlists for all of my rides.

In the meantime, here are some photos from this weekend.

Preparing for the very first ride. How would you like that kind of technology at your fingertips everytime you teach?

Matt getting set-up prior to the session. Since many participants had never ridden the Keiser M3s, Cycling Fusion wanted to make sure everyone was set-up properly.

This is what it looks like in the back room, where they are able to watch all four cameras and do some of the editing as it's being filmed. This is high-tech stuff here folks!

Some of the gang from Pedal-On who showed up. Jeff, me, Kala and Laura.
Thank you all so much for riding with me!

Join me for a LIVE class this Friday in person or online: The Triple Bypass!

2011-03-21T11:03:00.009-06:00

This Friday will be a momentous and exciting occasion for me, and I hope many of you. I am honored to be leading some rides at the Cycling Fusion headquarters outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are going to film several of my indoor cycling classes for the Cycling Fusion digital library. On Friday at 7:30 pm EST (GMT - 4:00), you can log in to view live on your computer - for free! This generous offer is thanks to Gene Nacey of Cycling Fusion to introduce the world to its new concept of creating a library of digital indoor cycling classes. Clubs (or individuals who want to ride at home) around the world will be able to access this library of a wide variety of classes from top instructors. It should be available sometime in the not-too-distant future.

If you can join me for this ride - either in person or online - I would be so honored. The live-feed will be a 60-minute ride I am calling The Triple Bypass, with three focused climbs, all slightly different. If you view it online, my suggestion is to either treat it like a Master Class or conference session and take notes, or ride along with us on your bike at home (or at your club if you have computer access). Click here to sign up for the live feed.

Are you near Pittsburgh?
Then please come ride with us in person for free - but sign up soon as it will fill up quickly. Nothing makes me happier than meeting in person some of the fantastic people I've met through cyberspace. (Click here and then click on "reserve a bike in Pittsburgh" to sign up.)

We are actually filming 3 classes on Friday evening; only one will be shown live on the internet. But if you come in person you can sign up for one or all of them (two 45-minute and one 60-minute ride).

Winter Training, Saturday March 26: Educational lecture and 2-hour ride
Then on Saturday I will be a guest instructor for Cycling Fusion's innovative Winter Training program, a 12-week progressive periodized training program every Saturday during the winter. First I will give a lecture on HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) followed up by Over/Under Intervals, a ride designed to improve your threshold. After that Gene and I will co-lead a ride to a Global Ride video (hint hint, this is an unreleased soon-to-be-available edition filmed in my favorite place to ride a bike, a region I know very well - the Alpes of France)!

Normally it's $39 for the four-hour session but for you, Gene is making this available at a special discounted rate of 25% off for my readers/subscribers. Click here to sign up for Winter Training and enter the discount code "sageless25".

I am so excited to be a part of this and I can't wait to tell you more about it next week after I've recovered from this crazy weekend.

Want to learn more about Cycling Fusion? It is one of the newest and most progressive indoor cycling certification programs, one you will certainly be hearing much more about in the months and years to come. Click here for more information on their certification and training. Also, next winter you will surely want to be plugged in and take part in the entire 12-week Winter Training program.

Remember, mark your calendars:

Friday, March 25th, 7:30 pm EST (GMT -4) Live online feed of Triple Bypass ride.
Saturday, March 26th, 11:00am - 3pm EST Live Winter Training: lecture, 2-hour ride, yoga.

EDIT: By the way - if you sign up for the free live feed, it is only available that night. But if you sign up for the Winter Training discounted program (lecture + 2 hr ride + yoga) then you will have access to it for a week.

I Love Sinning®

2011-03-18T12:46:00.007-06:00

....er, I mean Spinning®!

Actually, I have a long history of misspelling the word. Not because of not knowing how to spell it, but due to the mechanics of typing it. On the US keyboard, the "P" is in the top right, requiring the pinky finger to adroitly extend upwards to hit it. On the left hand it's the 'Q'. Therefore, a word that contains both a 'P' and a 'Q' is likely to be illegible if I am typing fast. Pinky finger typing has always been awkward for me ever since I learned to type way back in 1st grade in the late 1960's (yes, we learned to type on really old clunky typewriters in my 1st grade class at Our Lady of Grace Catholic School in San Diego. I remember Sister Margaret Mary calling out the letters in her thick Irish accent. That is where I learned "Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country")!

It's not as bad on my new MacBook keyboard, but on my previous computer, the keys got quite sticky as it aged, and the "p" was one of the worst. The double whammy resulted in chronically mistyping the word Spinning. I usually caught my typos, as I tend to edit (and over edit) almost everything I write. But last year I sent out an unedited Tweet describing my Spinning class, minus the 'p'. The result was embarrassing, but pretty funny and got me thinking about all the innuendos that could result from that weak pinky finger. I don't know exactly what I tweeted, but it was something along the lines of the following:

Phew! Euphoric after a thrilling and sweaty Sinning class!

See what I mean? One can get oneself in trouble....

Last night I wore my I Love Spinning shirt out for drinks with friends (still one of my fave t-shirts). It got me telling stories about some of my typos I've corrected prior to publishing, whether on this blog, on one of the indoor cycling forums, on my ICI blog or on emails to instructors. There may have been some that escaped unedited without my knowledge. Here are a few that I remember almost writing:

That was a real hard Sinning class.
Planning a tough Sinning class tomorrow - should burn a lot of calories.
Sinning is a fantastic workout.
Nothing is more fulfilling than being a Sin instructor.
Endurance Sinning tomorrow...
Who would like to join me for my Sinning class tomorrow? I promise a great time!
Sinning is for everyone. All levels can enjoy it.
Sin at your own pace.
You always feel great after Sinning!

Lordy, I can imagine Sister Margaret Mary rolling over in her grave, thinking "Oh how sad, I thought little Jennie Ralph was a sweet little angel."

And then there are the ones that I've never written but thought would be entertaining if I had reason to write them. Do you have any more to add to this list?

Ugh, the Sinning room was a mess today.
I hate it when the other instructors leave the Sin room in such disarray.
Sinning is more fun with a large group.
Sin hard, sin often.
Periodized Sinning...
Sinning can be so fatiguing.
Sinning, one of the joys of life!

Or how about this one: FunhogSins!

By the way, I recommend pinky pushups to help avoid the missing "p" in your Sinning classes.

While we're on the subject, does anyone know if the devil has trademarked the word "Sinning®"? If not, maybe I should grab it while I still can! ;-)

HEY by the way, if you haven't signed up for my mailing list, please do. I have some very exciting news to announce in the next few weeks. You won't want to miss it! Just enter your name and email in the top left corner.

More Saint Patrick's Day Songs and another profile

2011-03-15T17:24:00.006-06:00

Brian's playlist I posted this morning is hard to beat. But if you want more song ideas, I thought I'd post some of the other Irish/celtic songs I have in my library that I've used for past St Paddy's theme rides (heck - they're not just for Saint Patrick's Day anymore)! Feel free to add some more suggestions in the comments below.

The Acoustic Motorbike - Luka Bloom, 4:10
Glad Tidings, 3:42, Van Morrison, Moondance
One Tree Hill, 4:43, U2
The Emperor's New Clothes, 5:16, Sinéad O'Connor, I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got
The Paddy Set, 2:23, Seven Nations, The Factory
Cry Of The Celts, 2:23, Ronan Hardiman, Michael Flatley's Lord Of The Dance
Morning Prayer, 6:04, RiverTribe
Dueling Violins, 3:46, Riverdance
Music For A Found Harmonium, 2:59, Napoleon Dynamite, Napoleon Dynamite
Lemonade and Buns, 5:50, Kila, The Best of Kila
Mermuradora, 5:09, Hevia, The Other Side
Rare Ould Times, 4:06, Flogging Molly, Drunken Lullabies
Another Bag Of Bricks, 3:45, Flogging Molly, Drunken Lullabies
Death Valley Queen 4:18 Flogging Molly, Drunken Lullabies
Swagger, 2:05, Flogging Molly, Drunken Lullabies
What's Left Of The Flag, 3:39, Flogging Molly, Drunken Lullabies
One Last Drink, 3:31, Enter The Haggis, Soapbox Heroes
Sunshine Highway, 3:22, Dropkick Murphys, The Warrior's Code
It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll), 4:44, Dropkick Murphys, Singles Collection Volume 2 - 1998-2004
The Kids Are Alright - Dropkick Murphys, 2:31, Dropkick Murphys, Dropkick Murphys / The Business Split Release: Mob Mentality
Zombie, 5:09, The Cranberries, Emerald Rock
Black & Tans, 3:51, Black Irish Band, Day the Earth Shook
Sophia's Pipes (Walkin' the Floor/Murdo MacKenzie of Torrido, 3:18, Ashley MacIsaac Hi How Are You Today?
Sleepy Maggie (Sleepy Maggie/Mulen Dugh), 5:28, Ashley MacIsaac, Hi How Are You Today?
Lovers Of Light, 3:58, Afro Celt Sound System, Volume 2 : Release
Whirl-Y-Reel 2, 5:28, Afro Celt Sound System, Sound Magic, Vol. 1

And of course, you have U2 and Enya as well.

In 2009 I posted my Hills and Dales of Ireland profile on this blog. You can find that post here.

Ride through the valleys and hills of Gaelic lands

2011-03-15T11:24:00.023-06:00

Top 'O the Mornin' to Ya! One of my favorite holidays and theme rides (after Halloween) is Saint Patrick's Day rides. The Irish just know how to have fun, and their joy of life is so evident in their music. But who am I to create the best Saint Patrick's Day ride for you (although I am a quarter Scottish - does that count)? I have something even better.

Meet Brian Greene, a passionate Spinning instructor from Ireland. Brian was happy to share this great ride and playlist with you on my blog. Brian asked me if I could call it a St Patrick's Day ride as 'Patty' has another meaning over there... (a lump of animal dung! lol :) (Actually around here I believe they say St. Paddy's Day, and the local Irish Pub, Paddy's will be hopping on Thursday night for sure!)

Thank you Brian - Slainte!

This is a journey though the Valleys and Hills of Gaelic lands - The Celts are Rising... Happy St Patrick's Day!

1. Promentory - The Last of the Mohecians 104bpm [Seated Flat] (6:13) first 3:30 mins to continue welcome and set some atmosphere, when fiddle starts (last 2:43 mins) when the ride begins (Sampled from 'The Gael' by Dougie MacLean)

iTunes

2. Music for a Found Harmonium - Patrick Street (Album: Irish Times), 112bpm [Seated Flat / Standing Flat] (2:47). Prepare for the climbs ahead cadence <110
(It would not let me upload the video - make sure to do a search on Youtube - it's a great song).

3. Colossus - Afro Celt Sound System (Album: Capture (1995-2010) CD2: Chorus) [Climb into Running with Resistance into Standing Climb] (6:44)Time for a break half way though... at about 2:30 (2 more climbs ahead both challenging), then back into second climb for last section.

iTunes

4. Coconut Dog / Morning Dew - Solas 112bpm [Flat / Standing Flat] (4:07). To allow some active recovery and to spin the legs after the climb, cadence <110 href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/reunion-a-decade-of-solas-live/id165322364">iTunes

5. Warriors - Ronan Hardiman (Album: Lord of the Dance) [Variable BMP surges Climb]. Careful with this one, it surges particularly at the end - Be a warrior, strong, brave, smart... still a small climb to go next.

iTunes (this and the next song)

6. Victory - Ronan Hardiman (Album: Lord of the Dance) [Variable BMP Climb]. (Continued from last song) We won, some recovery but we have to make it to the top of the hill - work in Seated/Standing climb from about 1 min in [Jumps on a Hill if you really want to push] - we have time after to regroup for the night - Up The Celts :)

7. Busindre Reel - Hevia (Album: Tierra de Nadie / No Man's Land) 108 bpm. We light our fire at the top of the hill and regroup for the night, settle and celebrate. Keep hydrated: Slainte! (Cheers in Irish!)

iTunes

8. Mojave Afro Celt Sound System (Album: Capture (1995-2010) CD2: Chorus) 67 bpm [Climb (option into Running with Resistance) into Standing Climb]. It is worth editing this track to remove the first 3:20 seconds (you can use it at the end during the stretch)... This is our final hill, listen and decided if/how you want to break it up... lots of options... judge the class to see how hard they have been working and coach appropriate intensity and movements... do they want stay with the group of their warrior bothers and sisters, or push ahead and lead the pack... I love this song so much :)

iTunes

9. North - Paul Mounsey (Album: NahooToo)

A melodic end to challenging journey... melt into the rhythm and flow... (non guitar version is more relaxing)

iTunes

10. Use the beginning of Mojave to finish up...

Why I live here - the 2nd most active in the United States!

2011-03-10T10:28:00.004-07:00

Colorado has been found to be the most active State in the US of A, and my county, Eagle County, CO, is the 2nd most active county in the country! (Ha! Take that Aspen! Even more than you!)

I knew there was a huge reason why I live here! :)

It also makes me realize even more that when I am referring to my Spinning® classes and students, we have a particular market demographic, and that what I experience here is not necessarily "reality" everywhere else. No, not everyone in my class is an athlete, or even a skier or cyclist, and some are even a little overweight. But on average I bet our students in classes here are more fit than in many parts of the country or world. And they plan their week around being outdoors, and won't come to class if it's a powder day (translation for you non-skiers: LOTS of fresh new powder snow!) And the women don't generally put on makeup to come to class (unless they already have it and come straight from work. My 6a.m. crowd - no way). In the 15 years I've taught indoor cycling here, I can probably count the women with freshly applied makeup on my two hands - and most were probably from out of town visiting this destination resort. That's Colorado.

In the Spinning® orientation, one of the Four P's of class design is know your Population! Each one has its specific needs.

Because I recognize the difference in where I teach, I try to take that into consideration when discussing indoor cycling students. Instead of assuming everyone experiences what we have here, or that all your students are like my students, I try to draw on my 14 years of traveling around to over 100 clubs in North America (and a few international destinations), certifying and educating thousands of instructors and presenting at 20 conferences over my career as a Master Instructor/coach. I've also got a few "go-to" instructors and Master instructors who teach in vastly different markets whose brain I can pick if I need to explore how to, say for example, work with an inner city crowd, a room of 70 bikes filled with Type A personalities or suburban housewives.

I am always grateful to learn more from you guys and the unique experiences and situations you encounter with your demographic.

What if a student took over YOUR class?

2011-03-08T08:00:00.000-07:00

No comment needed! Enjoy...

Eating before early morning hard classes

2011-03-07T09:23:00.005-07:00

I teach twice a week at 6 am, and it's a 30+ minute drive to get there, so I get up at 4:50 am on those mornings. I don't do well on early breakfasts - it's just not comfortable putting food in my system that early. I would rather not eat (and sometimes I still don't) but I do understand the importance of eating something before exercising after a long fast, so I usually nibble on a piece of toast or bread, and maybe a banana or a little yogurt. In a rush I'll eat half an energy bar, but most have too much sugar for me (even the low sugar ones).

I've often stressed to my class the importance of eating something beforehand, but I know some of them live very close to the club (it's a neighborhood community club) and they were probably in bed only 15 minutes before!

If I am planning a hard class, at threshold or above, I think it's even more important to eat something. Last week I did a threshold field test, with a 20-minute hard sustained effort (plus an initial 5-min hard effort in the warm-up). In their preparation materials prior to the field test was the suggestion that they should be well hydrated and fueled prior to class, even if they had to set an alarm to get up earlier just to nibble on an energy bar. (Note: this is a 12-week periodized cycling clinic, so I have the same students every class and I send them a coaching email weekly with training tips and that week's goals).

One of my students emailed me afterward that she felt nauseous and light-headed after the field test. There could be several reasons for this, including factors such as illness or fatigue. It could also be because we've only done minimal higher intensity work, and certainly it was the first time we spent that much time at that intensity since the first field test 7 weeks ago. I don't believe in throwing a threshold field test at them after 6 weeks of base building in zones 2 and 3, so last week we did some sub threshold intervals, up to about 2-3 beats below LT.

She is a fit woman who does a lot of skiing and snowshoeing (which are higher intensity sports here in the mountains), so more likely it was either not eating, or what she ate. She said she ate toast with peanut butter about a half an hour before the class. Peanut butter has protein, which is a good thing, but for me, anytime I've tried it that early in the morning, I didn't feel well during my ride either. She said she would try something else for our next field test.

I'm curious. For those of you who teach or train early in the morning, what do you eat, and how early before your workout do you have to eat? Have there been things you've tried that have proven not to work for you? Does anyone have a problem with peanut butter early morning, but not at other times? I'm sure there are those of you who do not eat that early before class. It's probably OK for a more aerobic-intensity ride (as long as you eat soon afterward), but do you feel a difference during higher intensity rides if you've not eaten anything prior?

Thanks for your comments. I might try to get an exercise nutritionist to look at these questions and give some advice that we can all benefit from!

Can Indoor Cycling help save the Middle East?

2011-03-06T09:34:00.006-07:00

I bet that title caught your eye!

I have some fun stats to share with you, and one one of them has me perplexed, fascinated and curious all at the same time. One of the very fun things about blogging platforms is that they provide some very interesting stats.

First, in just 5 days since coming back to writing this blog (since March 2) I've had almost 1,000 unique page views. Pretty cool, since I've really only mentioned it on Facebook and Pedal-On and to some friends. Gotta love the power of the internet!

In my stats, I get a listing of the total number of visits from the Top 10 countries in the world. The top four countries that have visited are very understandable: the United States, Canada, The UK and Australia.

The 5th highest number of visits is from China! Also very interesting, but still not the really curious one....

Then we've got Switzerland and Ireland. Greutzi and cheers to you!

But #8 has me bowled over. The 8th largest number of page views has come from Iran! Iran? Wow! If you are from Iran, I want to hear from you - I would love to highlight where you are teaching (or taking) classes, and the unique things that you encounter. Of course, we can do it anonymously and I won't share anything you don't want shared, but I bet readers would love to know more about an indoor cycling instructor (or enthusiast) from Iran. Heck, maybe through fitness and the joy of indoor cycling we can assist the Middle East in its woes! Maybe if more of the oppressive regimes are overthrown, societies will be free to bring in more ways to stay fit and healthy, such as Indoor Cycling. ;-)

Following Iran in the top 10 are The Netherlands and Germany. Bedankt and Danke!

Back when I was actively writing on this blog two years ago, it reached instructors in over 90 countries - I'd love to see it get back there! Please send this link to your indoor cycling and Spinning® friends around the world.

Email me at jennifer@vivatravels.com if you are an instructor or enthusiast from a unique country dealing with some unique situations (such as social or cultural) where you teach or take classes. I'd love to hear from instructors in China as well. I don't think I'm only speaking for myself, but I imagine for us Westerners, we are entrenched in our way of doing things and it's fun to see how other cultures approach fitness, and especially, indoor cycling. I've always had a passion for all things foreign, travel and languages (went to International Business School in the early 1990's and lived in France) so this is yet another very cool way to reach out to other nations - through Indoor Cycling!

I have to say, Korea has me a little worried though. They have an indoor cycling championship which includes acrobatics and dancing on the bike (do a search on Youtube and you'll see what I mean). Any one reading from Korea? Can you assure me that it isn't like that in the regular classes, even in a very modified form, and that there are some facilities that practice safe and effective indoor cycling based on sound training principles?

Don't you just love the global reach of Indoor Cycling? Uniting all cultures through our passion for fitness and riding a bike that goes nowhere! :-)

EDIT: Curious note. Those stats listed above are just for this week. When I look at the Stats for the month - which since I've only been back now 5 days, include mostly hits from Google searches for indoor cycling and Spinning ® information, the Top 10 list is: The US, Canada, The UK, Netherlands, Germany, Australia, Russia, Ukraine, China and Australia. And from the entire life of this blog, Russia, The Ukraine, Denmark and India are in the top 10! Someone had told me recently that Spinning® is taking off big time in India, so it's no wonder.

More on athletes and aging

2011-03-04T11:54:00.005-07:00

Since I am on the subject of aging, you might be interested in this excellent 5-part series of Aging and Performance written by Joe Friel on his blog last autumn. Joe is one of my favorite sources for information on cycling coaching and training principles. One of the reasons I really like Joe is that he is humble; when he doesn't know something, he tells you he doesn't know it, and will often go seek the answer. He also differentiates when his information is anecdotal through observations of his athletes or from his own personal experience (which I believe has great merit, as long as it is understood that it is anecdotal) and information that is based on scientific studies.

Here's a few key points that I took from the articles:

the culprit for a decline in performance with aging is most likely a decline in VO2 max and probably LT as well
every person is unique and has his or her own way of responding to aging: physiologically, biologically, emotionally, and socially.
studies have shown that athletes who engaged in higher intensity training exhibited less of a decline in VO2 max over longitudinal studies, so...
don't shy away from high intensity, as long as a base has been established. High intensity has more merit than simple volume.
If you've been spending a lot of time in aerobic and tempo zones, then spend 3-6 weeks doing zone 4 intervals prior to doing VO2 max intervals
On the other hand, it may be wise to avoid any very high intensity training for individuals who have never gone there before.

Our students above age 50 may not be "performance athletes", but like my client Alex I wrote about in my last post, many are committed to their continuing ability to stay very active for a great many years. Draw from these articles and studies the information that helps reinforce your own understanding of working with active participants as they get older.

Heart rate, recovery and aging

2011-03-03T17:49:00.006-07:00

One of the most beneficial aspects of using a heart rate monitor regularly is to be able to track your body's response to exercise over time. Your heart rate is a glaring in-your-face notification of what is going on in your body - but its value is of little use if you don't pay close attention to it. Some people just see a number, and don't put two and two together if that number doesn't make sense in the big picture of what they normally see for a given perceived exertion.

I have a personal training client, Alex, who recently purchased a Spinner® bike for home. I also ride outside with her in the summer, coaching her on technique. She has a bicycle tour planned to Europe this summer, so I will be working with her on increasing her endurance and hill climbing ability. Her challenge is higher cadences, and outside her preferred cadence on the flats is mid 70's rpm. I know she will have less muscular fatigue if she could raise her preferred cadence by 5-10rpm, so this is what I've been working on with her indoors. You should know that Alex is 72 years young and is very active.

Just recently I have been having her focus on pedal stroke technique drills as well as cadence drills from 70 to 90rpm. This post is not about those drills or their effectiveness - although I can write another post about that because I have been successful at raising both her and her husband's comfort level with higher cadences by teaching them to pedal more effectively. Rather, I want to tell you about her experience this past week with her heart rate response to exercise.

I had planned to take her through the cadence drills. After she warmed up, I noticed she seemed to be working very hard and was breathing very heavy. Her cadence was about 70rpm. I looked at her monitor expecting it to be pushing 140 judging by her breathing (Alex's threshold is 142). But her heart rate was only 113!

I asked her what her perceived exertion was. She said 6 (just below "hard"). Hmmmm, that's up there. So I suggested she try a lower resistance and higher cadence. There was no change in her perceived exertion, breathing rate or her heart rate. Nothing she did raised her heart rate (even standing up, which normally spikes it) or lowered her perceived exertion relative to that HR of 113. She was flat out tired.

After only ten minutes I said "Stop! This is not the day for you to ride!" She had been cross-country skiing several days in a row, plus pilates twice a week, plus traveling the week before with not one day of rest. (That is kind of a typical week for her, often with a snowshoe thrown in). Also, she hadn't been sleeping well and felt a deep fatigue even going up stairs. This was a Tuesday and she had a cross-country ski lesson on Thursday that she was looking forward to.

So I put the nix on the cycling and told her to completely take Wednesday off - NO EXERCISE! And if she still was that fatigued I suggested she pass on the skiing on Thursday as well. (Knowing her, she wouldn't do that - she's pretty committed to her skiing and to constantly moving).

This can happen to anyone who is very active. The heart rate response to doing too much physical exercise or to excessive stress without sufficient recovery can be either a suppressed heart rate (as in Alex's case) or one that is much higher than it usually is for a given perceived exertion. Everyone needs rest and recovery. If you balance hard days with easy days you are much more likely to avoid a response like Alex's.

But I want to make another point here about age. After age 40, the human body simply cannot do what it used to do. It's a slow steady decline. I don't mean that in any kind of pessimistic attitude like "it's all downhill after 40"! But most people do not want to admit that they can't do what they did before. Heck, I like to pretend I'm still in my 30's! ;-) But I noticed a tremendous difference as I moved into and through my 40's in my ability to put in multiple days of exercise. This need for rest and recovery is even more pronounced every decade.

It's just reality, and we can't ignore it!

Chances are, you have a few people in your classes that are over 40, right? Over 50? How about into the 60's and 70's? Make sure to stress the importance of recovery to them even more than your younger population. You don't have to directly address them (unless you feel very comfortable with them); as you are well aware, some people are quite sensitive to the fact that they are aging. Alex can get very depressed when she focuses on her inability to do as much as she used to do. That's when I try to focus her on the fact that she is so much more fit and able than 99% of the population her age. When she is rested, she realizes she is able to enjoy her cycling and skiing and snowshoeing and golfing much more than when she is not rested.

I know my situation is unique with Alex, being able to train her one on one in cycling and Spinning and being able to see her HR response and to ask her immediate questions about what she's been doing. Of course, this is unlikely in a class situation, especially if it is a large class. But some of the things I learn from working with Alex and her husband Bob (who is 79 going on 25) have been instrumental in helping me coaching at one club where the age range is 50's to almost 80. After this happened with Alex, I gave a lecture to that class on the increased need for recovery for older populations. They too are more fit than the average person their age, but many are also exercise-aholics. After I explained it to them, one woman in class announced out loud, "So THAT'S why I'm always so tired!" She also thanked me after class for the information.

So, the key points here:

Pay close attention to your heart rate response to exercise
Remind your students that everyone needs recovery
Balance hard days with easy days
Recognize the increased need for rest and recovery after age 40, and especially 50 and above

Do any of you work with older populations?

Down but not Out!

2011-03-01T13:49:00.000-07:00

To my dear indoor cycling and Spinning® instructor friends and colleagues,

It's been a challenging couple of weeks, but I'll be back! ;-)

As most of you know, I am no longer posting for ICI/PRO. First I want to say I am humbled and blessed for the incredible amount of love and support I have received from so many instructors around the world - on Facebook, via emails, phone calls, text messages, comments on ICI and posts on Pedal-On. Please know that I am so grateful for all of you.

As many of you know, I left Spinning® 18 months ago to help create ICI/PRO. I am not at liberty to discuss the details, but for those of you who followed me there and learned anything from my 18 months of educational content that I provided, I am very hopeful that you will follow me back. I have to get my "riding legs" (so to speak) back underneath me. I have so much more to give to instructors - so bear with me as I regroup. Educating and inspiring Spinning® and indoor cycling instructors has been my passion for 14 years! It is my chosen career, and I will continue doing what I love, and what I know I've been able to do effectively for the past 14 years.

I won't be posting anything at ICI anymore. No more training articles, no more physiology or science, no more cueing, no more motivation, no more audio profiles or other profiles, no more videos, no more music, no more interval profile evaluations (I was planning on doing that again this spring - it was so successful last year), no more fun stuff. I have over 300 total posts/podcasts at ICI, and a full 80% of the members-only content was provided by me; the other 20% was divided up between 11 people. Hmmm, with those stats one might say I was a crucial part of membership...

Please sign up for my mailing list here so I can keep in touch with you when I figure out where to lay my hat (this blog will be temporary). I promise you, I will continue to be there for instructors around the world. I promise that I won't disappear. I promise that you will be extremely excited with some of my new ideas: for profiles, for content, for inspiration, for teaching you to be the best indoor cycling instructor you can be! I have a whole host of eBooks on various aspects of instructing, eBooks that have been stifled in their growth that I will be unveiling over the next few months. eBooks are an excellent and inexpensive way to learn a lot at one sitting.

And if you were an ICI/PRO member, you know that I was preparing a series on Power to help you understand the concept of power even if you do not have, or may never have, bikes with power. When you understand these basic concepts, cueing effective resistance and cadence will be so much easier. I will soon find a way to make that information available to you.

And please, if you have a question about teaching Indoor Cycling, please feel free to leave me a comment here - I'll do my best to answer it in a post.

Please follow me on Facebook (it's always helpful if you leave a short message when you "friend me" so I know where you are coming from): www.facebook.com/jennifer.sage.

You can contact me by email at jennifer@vivatravels.com.

And please leave me a comment below.

Love and peace,

Jennifer Sage

What can indoor cycling instructors learn from wine?

2009-12-02T14:12:00.006-07:00

I am reading a fascinating book called The Widow Cliquot, about the widowed woman in the late 18th century who made Veuve Cliquot the powerhouse champagne that it is today (”Veuve” means widow, and when widowed in that age, one always kept the title, unless one remarried). It’s a wonderful story about this entrepreneur, one of the few women business owners of the world at that time (widows were given a lot more freedoms than married women back then). But it’s also a mesmerizing story about the world of wine and the development of the champagne industry from around the French Revolution and into the post-Napoleonic period.

The author describes how the really great vintners of today are truly scientists. They are very skilled in the chemistry of winemaking, and are master technicians in selecting, storing and blending varietals to create the magical elixir you bring to your table. Sure, Mother Nature plays a role, especially in a vintage year where everything comes together exquisitely, the perfect blend of arid soil, sun exposure, the right amount of heat but not a heat wave, the timing of the rain, and a dry harvest. But even when everything is perfect, it’s the skilled and knowledgeable winemakers who set themselves apart from the others, creating a true masterpiece. These skilled scientists can charge more for their wines. And when everything isn’t perfect (like most years – vintage years only come once every 10-20 years), that skill can make or break the end product. Some years they will need a little more of this varietal, some years a little more of that one. If it’s a one-varietal wine (like a cabernet), they might blend more or less from different vineyards to arrive at that perfect combination. Sometimes they must age it longer, some years the alcohol content is higher, there is so much behind every glass you pour.

The result? The people drinking the wine may not know (or even care) what has gone into the creation of this wine. All they know is they like this bottle! They savor the enjoyment it brings, the pleasure of sipping it, and the masterful way it melds with their meal. The science is behind the scenes, but without it, the wine wouldn’t be as enjoyable or successful.

You, the knowledgeable instructor, are like the wine maker. You know there is so much behind every class you teach. You eagerly learn the science so that you understand the why behind everything you do. The more you know about physiology, the better your product will be. You blend the elements of a class masterfully to create the perfect profile. On some days it's higher intensity, on some days it's lower intensity with a mental focus, some days it's right at threshold; but each application is with intention, your intention. Your focus and attention to detail allows your students to train smarter, not necessarily harder. You blend the elements of mindfulness, motivation and music to create a class that wows your students. You add that secret ingredient that gives your class the "fizz"!

The result? Your profiles make sense. Your students love the product, and they enjoy the resulting increase in fitness. They may not really understand the science behind the effort, but there's just something different about your class, that savoir faire that you have, that sets you apart from your peers. You have them intoxicated!

Not every class will be perfect - you can't have a "vintage" class every single time you teach! But that's when your skills are even more important, so that your students have a great experience every time.

The science? Sometimes it's fun to teach them that part too. It's like going to a wine tasting or lecture where you learn about the the vinification process, the residual sugars in the different wines; what it is that gives them their characteristic aromas and taste; the choice of casks that impart entirely different flavors; why they use oak barrels or stainless steel. Did you know that champagne is fermented twice? After it ages in casks and goes through the first fermentation, additional yeast and sugar is added when it is bottled. The yeast "eats" the sugar (fermentation) and the result is carbon dioxide. This was originally a "mistake" in the 17th century, one that the monks fought hard to get rid of - no one wanted bubbles in their wine for God's sake!

Wine tasting is fun, and it actually improves your understanding of why you like or dislike a certain wine, and can even teach you how to appreciate that varietal that you normally pass over in the wine shop.

The class where you educate your students about what you're doing and why you're doing it is like that wine tasting. You give them just enough information to pique their interest, to get them to nod their heads in understanding. In the process, they expand their own knowledge, they appreciate their workouts even more, they appreciate you even more. How lucky they are to have an instructor who serves such delicious treats, and occasionally explains how to do it! You may hand out additional information for those who want to learn more - just like you'll receive at a wine tasting.

In the process you may teach them that they really can enjoy an endurance ride, because now they know and appreciate what is going on behind the scenes (in their bodies).
And then on other days, you just let them enjoy that glass and savor the delicate flavors without complicating it with too much information.

Here's to you and your vines...er students! Chin chin!

[A little background: As a bicycle tour guide in France and Italy since 1989, I've had the great fortune to not only ride through some of the most famous wine regions of these countries, but also to experience their wines and often take my groups to wine tastings in each region. I also love to ride and taste wine in Napa and Sonoma in California. But my favorite experience is from Alsace, a wine growing region in the northeast of France, on the German border. I have friends who own vineyards in Alsace. I met this couple, Martial and Catherine, while on a solo self-supported bicycle odyssey in France in 1988, and we've remained friends every since. Their wines are Reislings and Gevurztraminers, normally not my preference for varietals, but when I'm there, I love them; they go so perfectly with the food of the region, and I believe there's an "energia magica" (there's that expression again - maybe I should say it in French in this case - une energie magique) when you're in a vineyard that attracts you to those wines. I was lucky enough to experience a harvest one year, actually going into the vines and picking, then watching the whole process from pressing to storing. The incredible body of science behind it is mind-boggling. Before they selected vines for harvesting, Martial showed me how he measured the residual sugars in the grapes. "Nope, this vineyard needs one or two more days. We pick those over there." The best part of the harvest? The celebratory elaborate dinners they have each evening, of course opening up a couple of bottles from some previous vintage years. I hope you can have this same amazing experience one day; it is one I will never forget. Kind of like a Master Spin class that stays with you forever!]

Can you answer your students' questions about heart rate training?

2009-09-17T17:12:00.008-06:00

This morning I taught a tough interval class in which we did numerous intervals above threshold. There were a lot of smiling faces afterward, their legs drained, faces red. As usual my students are eager to learn the training information I give them with each class and they listened carefully as I explained the benefits of this particular workout, as well as the importance of recovery after this kind of intensity. I explained that this intensity is great for burning total calories (though not fat calories), but if they trained here too often with insufficient recovery afterwards, their ability to raise their heart rates to the desired level in successive classes would be compromised, as would their performance.

I told them, “unless you are an elite athlete who has finely tuned her training to peak for a specific high intensity event, you probably wouldn’t be riding at this intensity on successive days.”

Afterwards, one of my newer students (who hasn’t yet been through a field test with me to determine training zones based on threshold) came up and asked me a question about her heart rate. Annie is in her 50’s (and no, she’s not an elite athlete). The following was our dialogue and it represents one of the classic misunderstandings that exist when it comes to heart rate training (and especially max heart rate).

Annie: Yesterday I took an Endurance class, and my heart rate got up to 95% and I couldn’t get it to back down. It stayed there all class. Are you saying I shouldn’t do her class and your class back to back?

Me: Woah - I'll answer that question in a minute. But first, you were at 95%? The whole class?

Annie: That’s what my watch said. But I really like to ride around 85%. That’s where I feel the best and I can last a long time there.

Me: 85%? Does it feel “hard”?

Annie: Not really.

Me: Do you know what that number is based on?

Annie: No.

Me: 85% of what?

Annie: I don’t know – it’s what my heart rate monitor told me.

Me: Hmmm, let’s have a little chat….

My question to you is how would you reply to a student telling you this? How would you try to resolve this very common misunderstanding? Would you leave it alone because you’re afraid of opening a can of worms?

Your answer to my question is very, very important. There is so much misinformation out there, and you as an indoor cycling instructor should be able to dispel some of the myths and misinformation. I hope you aren’t adding to them! (Be honest with yourself…..are you?)

Although there are several issues going on in this conversation, and quite a few things that Annie needs to learn, in general, how would you have answered her comment?

1). “95% - that’s way too high. You should back it off next time.”
2). “I think those percentages are wrong, but I’m not sure why. Let me get back to you on that one.”
3). “You must have entered your age into your HRM. It uses the equation 220-age, and then gives you a supposed maximum. Looks to me like your actual max is higher than what the monitor is telling you. Let’s recalculate your training zones.”
4). “Only 95%? Well, that means you didn’t push hard enough Annie! I know you can do better than that!”

If you answered #1, well, you’re trying, but there’s far more to it – you’re missing the concept that these numbers cannot possibly be Annie’s real heart rate training zones.

If you answered #2, big brownie points for you, provided that you follow up with the correct information. Or, you’re just stalling in the hope that she forgets about it.

If you answered #3, this is the best answer, but you’re only part way there! Do you know what to say next? Do you know how to recalculate her zones, and to explain it in a way that she’ll understand?

Stick with me and I'll teach you exactly what to say to these types of questions, how to say it, and make sure that you really understand it yourself. Heart rate training can be a complicated subject, and I know ways to teach it to you to make it more simple, so you can feel comfortable teaching your own students. If you have specific questions on HR training (or other topics) I'll answer them on the blog. Leave a comment below.

[Oh, and by the way, if you answered #4 above, have you considered retail?]

My BIG news

2009-09-05T23:01:00.015-06:00

OK, here it is....

On Monday, August 31, 2009, after 12 years as a Master Instructor for the Spinning Program, I resigned my MI position with Mad Dogg Athletics.

Phew, that was even difficult to write! I can tell you that this past week has been one of the most pivotal and emotional weeks I've experienced in a dozen years (not even counting the stress and emotion of selling a house and moving. Man, put all that emotion in one week and it's been hard not to be overwhelmed).

How do you leave something that has been such an integral part of who you are? How do you leave a program that has been a part of how you define yourself? That has presented opportunities that you never thought possible?

Before I tell you the why and how, let's fade back in time to about 13 years ago...

It was early 1997. I was a personal trainer at the Vail Cascade Club (now the Aria Spa & Club) in Vail, Colorado. I had been teaching Step, Body Sculpting, Ski Conditioning, and this new thing called Spinning. We had recently brought in a Master Instructor from New York for the Spinning certification. I remember thinking "God! What a great job she has! Flying around the country certifying instructors, and she gets to come to Vail, Colorado!" (I can't remember who she was...she wasn't with Mad Dogg for very long apparently).

The day I got certified was a transition point in my life. As a cyclist, it bowled me over like a freight train - I was empowered by the potential, by the magnitude, by the possibilities of Spinning! "WOW! This is IT!" I thought. I discontinued teaching Step because I didn't have to choreograph anymore - I had always been such a perfectionist and spent hours and hours on my choreography. Spinning allowed me to connect with my students far more than dance type classes, and it was based on something I was already so passionate about already - cycling. It also allowed me to use my own music and not canned aerobics music; I immediately found that I had a skill for designing very effective profiles that simulated real outdoor riding combined with music that helped elevate the mood and energy of the class. I was also a ski instructor in Vail, and was able to apply the coaching skills I learned in skiing. As a coach, I love the one-to-one contact with my student.

About 6 months later, I received the Spinning newsletter with a call for presenters. I filled out the application with trepidation, since I had only been teaching Spinning for a short time. But, I had experience teaching and coaching many genres of exercise and sports, I was certified in group fitness and was a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, I had a degree in Exercise Science and loved the physiology aspect of training, I was a cyclist and had experience coaching many clients to ride up big hills in my bicycle tours. I was also experienced at public speaking. But I still had no idea I had a chance; I remember joking with my peers that what on earth would I do if they called me?

A few weeks later I received a call from Joelle at Mad Dogg Athletics for an in-depth interview. That call was truly the beginning to the rest of my life. I fulfilled each of the subsequent requirements one after the other. Back then it was a long process to apply as an MI, including sending in a video of me teaching, and speaking into the camera on why I thought I would be a good presenter.

I was invited to the Spinning Presenter training camp in California shortly afterwards where I spent a week with Johnny G and over a dozen other amazing people from around the world.

(If I don't stop myself now, this post will be waaaaay too long, so let's pop forward a dozen years...at another time I'll tell you more about those amazing days with Johnny G and my phenomenal peers.)

In the past 12 years, I have been inspired by some of the most amazing people, coaches, athletes and instructors that I've worked with or trained. Many of the other Master Instructors I worked with I looked up to as mentors. I have had the opportunity to inspire thousands of people at conferences to go beyond self-perceived limitations and to realize their potential as coaches. I have written several important continuing ed programs and articles for MDA, most which brought the outdoors indoors. I have traveled internationally. I have done trainings at tiny little clubs in the countryside with 10 bikes on up to very large facilities in metropolitan cities with 65 bikes. I've experienced facilities ranging from amazing personalized boutique clubs and studios in the suburbs, to high-tech gyms in corporate fitness or university facilities, to large major chain clubs.

I certainly haven't done it for the money (my husband even jokes that I practically pay for the privilege), but the personal rewards have been countless, endless. Spinning gets into your blood. I LOVE Spinning. I LOVE the mind-body aspect of Spinning. I LOVE the fitness and health it's brought me, and has allowed me to bring to others. I LOVE being a Master Instructor. I LOVE inspiring others. I LOVE the people I've met.

However, in the past several years, I've been approached with several opportunities in indoor cycling that I have had to turn down because of my loyalty to Spinning.

Concurrently, in the past several years I've been attending seminars, reading books and joining coaching programs on entrepreneurship and building a business with the intention of growing my bicycle tour business and potentially creating an online business for bicycle tours in Europe. During this time I was exposed to the wonders of social media such as blogging (hence, this and other blogs I started), Facebook, Twitter, forums, podcasting, and more. It's truly amazing the opportunities that are out there if you look, and if you aren't afraid to learn, explore and grow.

I learned about how to develop a niche market, rather than go for the BIG market. I learned about promotion and PR and internet marketing and eBooks. I even wrote my own eBook which has been very successful and well-received, and I have some big plans for additional ones. It's such an inexpensive learning tool, a great way to reach people with excellent information.

Long story short, I have a deep desire to do something for myself. I also have an MBA from way back when, and perhaps that's been stirring inside me to do something more for myself. It's not just about the money (but a greater income doing my passion will be nice). For me, it's also about self-actualization. It's TIME for me to move on. It's TIME that I at least try some of the things I've been learning about, and take advantage of some of the half-dozen or so opportunities that have been presented to me.

In order to do so, I had to become a "free agent". By taking off the partisan hat I can "reach across the aisle" so to speak and inspire and touch many other instructors as well.

Sooooo, you will not lose me! I just won't be attached to Mad Dogg Athletics and Spinning. But remember, you can take the girl out of Spinning, but you can't take Spinning out of the girl! It's firmly implanted in my heart, in my soul. I hope to leave doors open with Spinning for potential projects in the future, as they continue to grow and lead the industry as they always have, and always will. My plan is to complement the Spinning program.

I have three opportunities that I will be working on immediately (and three others in the next 4-8 months). One of them is so exciting I can't wait to tell you about it! Go here and listen to the podcast about ICI PRO, which will launch soon.

I will be changing the name of this blog soon. I will still be giving you great information, but I'll be spending more time over on the ICI site. You will discover when you listen to the podcast, that there will be a portion of the information that will be on a paid site, so you as an instructor can grow even more and really find that spark of inspiration. This too is a very inexpensive way to reach even more instructors.

I am also hoping to come out to your club to present Master Classes. Please contact me for more information on how I can do that.

Thank you everyone for your comments and emails, and mostly for your patience lately as I focus on my personal life and moving. I am very, very excited for the future, and I look forward to sharing even more with you!

Namasté!

Some personal news to share with you

2009-09-03T16:56:00.008-06:00

For my regular readers of my blog, you know that I've been a bit pre-occupied lately. Maybe you've sensed that I've been trying very hard not to be anxious. Maybe you've wondered why I seem to be apologizing for not delivering promised posts, such as my Can Fit Pro sessions the past 3 weeks. (Hey, I take this blog seriously and I hate not doing what I say I'm going to do). There have been reasons! By sharing this information with you, you'll understand a little more about me and what we (my husband and I) have been enduring the past, oh, 6-8 months...

First, I now have very good news to share...

We have a contract for our house as of yesterday around noon. This is big. This is very BIG! Not only do they want to buy it, but they want it very soon (we'll close in only 2 week) and they will pay cash - no waiting for financing. You cannot even imagine the pressure that this takes off our shoulders!

My husband began building us a new home almost 2 years ago, a house that is a little too big for us, but we were both doing quite well in our businesses and we had big plans when we started this process. Then, as you are all aware, the economy tanked, and things didn't quite go as planned. My bike tour business had one cancelation after another beginning in February, and I had to cancel all my guided tours to Europe. My husband's general contracting business has no new projects (except for a minor remodel); he had to lay off all his employees, and he personally had to do the hands-on construction of most of the interior of our house, which was not his original intention.

(Our new house in Eagle, taken in late April. When the landscaping

is finished next week I'll share some more photos)

In the meantime the bank was getting uneasy, the construction was taking too long (we also had record snow levels this winter which also hampered progress), the market wasn't good for selling our current place. They started pressuring us, even warning and threatening us. They changed the rules on us on a weekly basis (did you know banks can do that? We didn't). No need to go into detail - you know the story, it's the same all over the country, even the world.

We were able to satisfy the bank temporarily, mostly by selling many other assets. Keep the wolves at bay, so to speak. But, we never lost hope. We never stopped believing.

We put our current home on the market 65 days ago; our realtor tells us that is excellent in this market - many will probably sit until next summer if they haven't sold by now. Never mind the fact that had we decided to sell last year or earlier, we would have been able to merely whisper that we might be thinking of selling, and we would have had a line out the door. Simply put, our home is the best unit in the best and most popular townhomes in Edwards, Colorado. I had quite a few people prior to a year ago who told me that should we decide to sell, to please let them know first because they wanted first dibs. But this year, those very people were in the same boat as just about everyone else in this economy. In fact, most people who came to view the house said they must first sell their current home in order to finance a new one.

So we are very, very relieved these people came along.

And, there's more good news! We already began moving to our new house in Eagle, 19 miles away. Monday was the big moving day, although we've left a bed and a few other items here at the old house. We're still sleeping here a few more days until final inspection of the new place (probably tomorrow). My office will be the last thing to move - so here I sit writing this post surrounded by stacks of papers, boxes, files...a veritable mess.

More good news is that after months and months of wondering IF and WHEN we would get a mortgage so we could get out from under our construction loan, we closed on that mortgage on Monday. Phew!

For many people, the past few months would have been oppressive stress. There was the very real possibility that the mortgage wouldn't happen. If that were the case, you can only imagine the outcome....banks don't take too lightly to you not being able to pay. For us, well, we did our best to think positively, do our affirmations, and visualize only good things. We weren't always good at this, we had our moments of fear and worry, and I think my husband suffered more than I did (bless his heart - that man needs a vacation soon)! I am sharing this with you because many of you know that I espouse the teachings of The Secret, and of empowering speakers, authors and coaches like Jack Canfield, John Assaraf and Wayne Dyer. They have all helped me through this year. [I even created a ride for WSSC 2008 called The Secret Ride, which morphed into this year's ride called How Big is Your Why}.

The happenings of this week reinforces my belief that it really does work! When you are committed to your desires and your goals, and as long as you are patient, you can create your own reality. As long as you believe deep in your heart that things will always work out the way they're supposed to, and in your best interest, you don't have to succumb to worry. As long as you take the lumps and obstacles as temporary, you know that the road will open up a few miles ahead. It may not always be what you thought you wanted, or exactly when you want it to happen...but things always work out. I knew that we would be OK, I knew that this house would sell, I knew that we could move in, and I KNOW that the best part of my life is ahead of me. And it includes a beautiful new house, a couple of thriving businesses, some awesome bicycle rides and Spinning classes, some great people who will enter my life, and some fabulous trips in the future!

Let me ask you this... Are you certain of your own fantastic future? If not, you only have to change one thing....your attitude.

Jeff and I are not totally out of the woods, and I have a lot more affirmations I'm working on, but I am actually quite excited for the future. Some of the things I'm working on will directly involve you, my readers. So stay tuned for a big announcement.

Tomorrow I teach my 6 am Spinning class right around the corner, about 600 yards from my house (well, my old house). Tomorrow is the last time I get to wake up at 5:35 a.m. and still take my time to get there. For next week's classes, I'll have my coffee ready to brew the night before, my clothes laid out, my water bottle filled, my breakfast planned and my alarm set for 5 a.m - maybe even two alarms just in case. I'll listen to my playlist on the 20 mile drive to the club - at high volume to help wake me up. But oh man, that half hour less of sleep will make a big difference to me!

But you know what? I'll adapt!

Don't forget to check back soon for a big announcement. I'll be posting more Can Fit Pro sessions (profiles, playlists, powerpoints) very, very soon over on the ICI website. I promise!

The JUMP controversy

2009-08-30T17:00:00.009-06:00

In between my moving preparation, staging our current house for viewings and Open Houses, and a garage sale this morning (which wasn't very successful) I am trying to squeeze in finishing my promised profiles and playlists for Can Fit Pro. I've been a bit pre-occupied to say the least.

I do have one profile and playlist completed! It's for the session called Jump 'N Jazzier, which is a multitude of different ways to teach jumps, both on flat roads and on hills, with a focus on proper form. But I've had in the back of my mind for some time now to write an article on jumps, following the release of the ACE newsletter in June which decried jumps as being unsafe and intimidating. This statement came from a Schwinn Master Instructor, Julz Arney. Unfortunately, since Luciana Marcial-Vinson, a Master Instructor for Spinning, was also interviewed for the same article, but on other contraindicated movements, it appeared that Spinning was agreeing that they are indeed unsafe. Luciana had to quickly respond with another article stating the position of Mad Dogg Athletics & Spinning®. I've gone one step further and added my own $.02 to the controversy in an article over at the Indoor Cycle Instructor website.

I believe that Julz' comments about jumps being unsafe, too fast, impossible to master, hard on the knees, and intimidating are true! Yes, I said true...but ONLY when describing "Popcorn Jumps", which have long been on the contraindicated list for the Spinning® program. Popcorn jumps are impossible to do with good form or with control, and they impede a good pedal stroke. And yes, they are very intimidating if a student is watching from the outside looking in. If I was a potential student, and saw them being done in a class, I wouldn't want to go anywhere near that class! So if this is what a "jump" is being perceived as, then Julz' comments are absolutely true. Unfortunately, they are far, far too common in indoor cycling classes around the globe.

But can't that be said about any movement in an indoor cycling class? One that is done too quickly, out-of-control, with resistance that is too low and cadence that is too high? The bottom line is that all comes down to the instructor.

When done with proper form, proper cadence, proper resistance and with a speed that is in complete control by the rider, jumps are not only not unsafe, but fun and effective and they add variety to your class. Their cycling-specificity varies, depending on the method you employ. A cyclist in a Spinning class may decide to sit the jumping part out and just ride in the saddle, which is always an option. But they won't hurt you and they won't hurt your cycling or pedal stroke. When my class is full of cyclists, I rarely do them, or only do the cycling-specific power jumps (see my article for a description of those). But when there are many non-cycling students in my class, the added variety is very helpful for them.

So go ahead and jump. Jumps are GOOD! Jumps are FUN! But teach them correctly damnit! It's up to YOU, the instructor, to teach and to demonstrate proper form. So point the finger back at yourself and analyze your own form.

My article is lengthy and informative. You will find it over at the ICI Podcast. (I did that because I can reach a larger audience - I think a larger audience needs to learn this). While there, download the profile and playlist from my Can Fit Pro session called Jumps 'N Jazzier. I think you will really enjoy it and will find some new and exciting variations for teaching jumps and keeping them realistic.

By the way, our moving day is tomorrow. We are only moving 20 miles away, but it might as well be 2,000! So I won't be around much this next week or two. Please continue to spread the word about this blog and the ICI podcast! And if you know anyone who tends to jump too fast in class, please refer them to the article at ICI. It gives solid reasons why popcorn jumps are not advisable.

Can Fit Pro and the song of the weekend

2009-08-25T16:46:00.007-06:00

Wow, my legs are still buzzing from Can Fit Pro this past weekend! I taught some hard sessions. Usually I have an easier session in the mix, or I am able to fake it a little bit more, but this time around, it didn't turn out that way. I had two on Friday, three on Saturday (all challenging) and two on Sunday. The final session was called Strategies for Strength, and I was too inspired to fake it! Too into the ride to go easy. Too engaged by the energy of the group to back off. And the music simply rocked...

This session ended at 3:00 and my plane left at 6:30 (international flight) so there was no time for a shower, just a quick wipe down and change out of bike clothes to travel clothes. Both Caroline Dawson (another Spinning MI) and I had to leave for the airport, and fortunately Claudia Lala, a Star 3 Spinning instructor from Argentina living in Toronto gave us a lift to the airport.

Today is my 2nd day of recovery. I was going to go hiking to the top of Vail Mountain, but I think that's too ambitious - it's better to give the legs a little more rest. Heck, getting up the stairs is challenging enough, much less a 7-mile hike straight up!

It will take me a few days to get caught up, but I do want to share my playlists and some other great information from the conference with you, so make sure to check back as I'll be posting them either here and/or over on the Indoor Cycle Instructor site.

But, in the meantime, I think the song of the weekend was a song I used in my last session. I had more people ask about it immediately after class, and had several emails and Facebook messages within a very short time (one within 30 minutes!) asking for the title and where to find it.

So, here it is: it's by Alcatraz and is called Give me Luv (That Kid Chris Tribute Mix). It's 10:28 long - an awesome, awesome climb (ya gotta like electronic music though). The emphasis during this song was that by changing your attitude about climbs, you can change your experience. Hill climbing for some outdoor cyclists is the bane of cycling. Some people H.A.T.E. to climb. It's scary, it's tough, it's challenging, sometimes it hurts, sometimes you fail, it's demoralizing if someone goes way faster than you, etc. Indoors we don't encounter that as much - I think it's because our students always know they have the option of altering the hill simply by turning that resistance knob. But you cannot do that outside!

So if you hate climbing, or you're scared it's going to give you big quads, you must change your attitude about it. Instead of thinking about the hill as an obstacle in your way, think of it as an opportunity. An opportunity to get stronger, to get more fit, to experience and succeed at a challenge, to do something you didn't think you could do. There are so many ways to turn your distaste for climbing into pure love of climbing, and it all starts with you and your mind.

This song is called Give Me Luv, so I asked my class to give me some climbing luv! I asked them to first love themselves, because if you don't, how can you possibly think you deserve to get to the top of that big climb? I also wanted them to love the mountain. "Give Me Luv!" I repeated it several times throughout the long song.

Where can you get this song? There are a ton of versions on emusic, but not this particular fantastic version. The other ones are OK, and if you are a member of eMusic go ahead and d/l a few, but to be honest, if I heard them first, I probably wouldn't be as excited about the song. This version (That Kid Chris Tribute Mix) is really phenomenal. I love the woman's voice in the background saying "Give me Luv" (it's different than on the other versions).

iTunes has it, Napster has it, and if you google it, I think you can find even cheaper versions.

But GET THIS SONG!

And give me some climbing luv!

Off to Canada!

2009-08-20T05:08:00.002-06:00

It's 5 am and I am off to Toronto to present at Can Fit Pro. If you are going to be there, or are in the area, come find me in the Spinning room (there are two rooms, side by side). I will be presenting any of the sessions originally listed as Meg McNeeley.

I'll report back on Monday with some playlists!

Have a safe weekend, and get out and do something fun. Summer's almost over!

Another Milestone for the FunhogSpins blog! Thanks to you!

2009-08-16T21:04:00.004-06:00

Sometime today, Sunday August 16, I surpassed 20,000 downloads! That includes any of the profiles or articles or playlists that I've provided for you guys. I also noticed on Google Analytics that I've been visited by 87 countries! That includes Botswana, Latvia, & Laos!

Wow, it's mind boggling! Indoor cycling truly is EVERYWHERE!

Keep spreading the word! I am so grateful for all of my readers - it inspires me to keep on writing helpful, informative and fun stuff for you guys.

I do have a little teaser for you. I am going to be spreading my efforts a little more over on the indoor cycle instructor podcast, because it is such an amazing medium for providing helpful content to IC instructors. If you haven't yet downloaded the audio profile on Over-Under Intervals that we did a week ago, make sure to do so now. We are thinking it is a new way to help you become the best instructor you can possibly be.

My recommendation is that you go over there and sign up for the ICI podcast newsletter as well as mine. They are just weekly notices about the posts (or podcasts) that are listed so you don't miss anything important. But don't worry, you won't be inundated.

The Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast just celebrated 1 year of providing great content - go over there and wish John Magowan a "Happy Anniversary"! I chatted with John for a short podcast discussing the past year, and some of the great things that are coming in the next year (although some of them are a secret!)

I want to extend a welcome to all my new subscribers. I realized that any new subscribers are still getting my WSSC information from June. You'll enjoy it, but my automated reply email is a little dated. I'll be changing that soon to other free and valuable information - but don't worry, once you are a subscriber to the free newsletter, you'll always also receive anything I give away to new subscribers. And if you haven't subscribed yet, just enter your name and email in the top left corner of this blog.

Thanks to all who have commented on my post on "cycling-specific" classes. It will be about 2 weeks before I am able to write my intended response. For one, I am thinking it will be a series of articles that will take me a little longer to compile. Secondly, I AM GOING TO TORONTO on Thursday! Eeeek! How did it get this close? I have 7 Spinning sessions that I have to work on and develop playlists for, so I will be a little bit pre-occupied this coming week. But look out for updates just before I go.

It should be a very fun conference. I'll be joining three other very fun Spinning Master Instructors - all women - getting together leading a total of 28 Spinning sessions at Can Fit Pro! (And I think we'll go out on the town at least on a few evenings - how can it not be fun?!"

And I'm also very interested to meet Dan McDonogh of RPM. He was just at IDEA presenting this past weekend and will be in Toronto at CFP next weekend. He and I have been chatting back and forth on Twitter and are planning on peeking in on each other's sessions this weekend. Now, the Les Mills RPM method is not really my personal preference for teaching an IC class, but I am open minded and can't wait to see what Dan does that makes him so popular at conferences. When you think about it, we are all after the same goal - to inspire our students to get fit, help them meet their goals (be it performance, weight loss, etc), have a lot of fun and to come back as often as possible. Because he is a cyclist first and foremost, I know Dan has the same interests as me - to keep his classes as cycling specific as possible while meeting the needs of our non-cycling students as well.

See you soon!

Hold a baby bird...in a standing flat!

2009-08-13T14:14:00.007-06:00

The other day I was subbing a class at the Aria club in Vail (a club attached to the Vail Cascade Resort & Spa) and I had two hotel guests from Florida (in addition to one regular - numbers here are very small in summer). Both women are pretty fit. One is a frequent Spinning student, Linda and she talked her friend Sheri into coming along for her Spinning first class ever.

Before the class started, Linda was giving Sheri tips, pointing to the RPE sign, describing intensity and HR (she didn't have her HRM with her but said she always rides with one), talking about Energy Zones, proper position, etc. I walked over and said that she must have some darn good instructors, and explained that it is so good to hear her actually teaching her friend the correct way to ride in an indoor class. I say this because we get a lot of out of town guests at this club, and this is not always the case. We get some who say things like, "I have the best 'Spin' Instructor ever - she makes us take the saddle away!"

I gave her my card with this blog address, so hopefully she will pass them on to her instructors (and if so and you are her instructor reading this, please let me know)!

As usual, I really enjoy having newbies in my class. I try to make sure I make it interesting for the experienced riders at the same time as I am explaining proper form for the basic movements we do in Spinning. Since Sheri is a fit hiker, she really did well her first time, with just a few things she'll need to work on formwise as she gains experience.

I have my own cueing that I've used for various movements and positions, but Linda shared one with me that I want to pass on to you. We were doing a standing flat (run) and I was explaining to Sheri how it's important to hold on to the handlebars, but not in a death grip, nor do you want to lean on your hands. My favorite cue is to imagine that you have water balloons under your palms. I tell students "wrap your fingers around them, so you squish them a bit, but don't pop them!" This helps people realize they must pull back their weight off their hands and into the legs. We also don't want to be 'perched' on the handlebars, up on your fingertips like you're drying your wet fingernails either. Fingers should be wrapped around the handlebars, but comfortably.

Linda said, "In golf they tell you to hold a baby bird when you hold the club."

Yes! Can you imagine it? In golf, if you have a death grip, you will never smoothly hit that little white ball with any control. On the other hand, if you don't have enough grip, the club will go flying out of your hand. Pros tell their clients to imagine holding a baby bird, firm enough to keep it there, but not tight enough to crush it.

If your students are golfers, they may really understand this cue.

This also shows us that we can transfer cues from many other sports to help our non-cycling students understand what it is we are teaching them. Does anyone reading this have any examples of cues you've borrowed from other sports? If so, please let us know by clicking the comments link below!

Thanks Linda for teaching me something new! I hope to see you and Sheri in my Spinning class again in the future. Tell your instructors to keep up the good work and to come to WSSC and say Hi!

Point to ponder

2009-08-10T22:28:00.002-06:00

When you hear the following terms, what comes to mind:

"cycling-oriented" Spinning class
cycling specific
Indoor cycling for cyclists
Indoor cycling for roadies

Or even, "this class keeps it real"!

I'm just curious. I have a pending discussion on this, but I'd like to see what either you, or your students, or what you think the general population (of indoor cycling students or potential students) might think when they hear these terms.

Does it attract you/them?
Does it turn you/them off, or away?
Do you think it's going to be boring?
Do you think it's going to be too easy?
Do you think it's going to be too hard?

Just click on comment and leave your impression, or what you have heard, in the comments section. Then come back in a few days for an interesting post.

Thanks for your input!

More on Susan Nelson

2009-08-07T13:26:00.004-06:00

Elden wrote a beautiful post about his wife, how they met, Susan's amazing talents, their four children, and more.

I think everyone should read this. Take it as a moment to celebrate life, and to recognize that in every moment of our life, even the painful ones, there is a lesson, and something good that will come from it.

WIN!

LIVESTRONG

Please join me in fighting like Susan

2009-08-06T11:10:00.007-06:00

Elden Nelson, the Fatcyclist, sent out this announcement on Twitter late last night:

Susan died at 7:25 pm. Her battle with cancer is over. Mine just got more intense. FIGHT LIKE SUSAN

His previous tweet said, "Fighting cancer helps me cope."

Twin Six posted this on their web page in honor of Susan (warning - you'll shed a tear): www.twinsix.com

(EDIT LATER: If you're coming to this post a few days later, Twin Six changed their website front page back to their products, but it was very touching. It was the word WIN in pink, with a tear coming out of one corner.)

There are thousands of comments on Twitter supporting Elden, and in less than 12 hours, almost 1,500 comments on his blog. (update 8/7 one day later = almost 2,300)

Wow. What a community!

It just seems to me that we should not let this opportunity pass us by. It's evident that Elden has inspired thousands of people around the world to be better people, to love more deeply, to care for others (including those we don't know), to see the humorous side of things, to love their bicycles and revel in the joy that cycling brings, and most importantly, to join together in this fight against cancer.

I know, I know, I was raising money for Livestrong only a few short months ago for the Giretto. Please don't close this page if you're thinking, "oh no, here we go again..." I actually signed up for "Team Fat Cyclist Fighting Like Susan" for the Austin October Livestrong event back in January, before the Giretto. If you gave back then, you can feel really good about yourself. But if you haven't, I am hoping I can inspire you to make a donation in Susan's memory, or in honor of someone you know with cancer. Anything, no matter how small. We cannot let her passing last night go by without a major impact on this effort to Livestrong.

I know we are all affected by the economy and are cutting back, but to tell the truth, that's when giving means the most, when you have to make a sacrifice. $5, or $10 - it won't break you, but you will symbolically join hands with all the other indoor cyclists and cyclists to FIGHT LIKE SUSAN. If that is a sacrifice for you, then all the better.

You can sponsor me if you like, or if you know someone else on Team Fat Cyclist, please sponsor them. Or sponsor the Fatcyclist himself. Or better yet, come join us in Austin and ride for "Team Fatty Fighting Like Susan". There are already over 500 on the team (the largest team ever for a Livestrong event) and so far they've raised $.5 million (between all four Livestrong events)! I see Susan's passing as the potential impetus to raise another $.5 million in the next 2 1/2 months.

It really doesn't matter to whom you give; it matters that you give. And whether you think so or not, your $5, or $10 or $20 really does matter, in more ways than you could ever imagine. It matters to Susan, it matters to cancer survivors and patients all over the world, it matters to your loved ones affected by cancer, it matters to the Fatcyclist, it matters to Lance Armstrong, and most importantly, it matters in your heart.

Susan has inspired me both in her life and in her death; I hope she inspires you as well.

New Spinning Profile - Audio version of Over/Under Intervals! Exciting new format!

2009-08-04T10:57:00.009-06:00

It's one thing to download someone's profile and read their words, it's another thing to really understand how to put those written words into a meaningful and motivating class for your own students.

I've always tried to give you more than just a written profile, knowing that the motivational cueing and coaching is such a big part of teaching an effective class. But still, there is nothing quite like going to a conference, or even just going to a good class, and hearing how that instructor uses words and voice inflection to get the ideas across. When you hear something, it goes into your brain a little differently than when you simply read it.

Nothing beats hearing and experiencing at the same time, like you experience when you go to conferences or continuing education workshops. Even if you don't actually get on the bike and ride, and sit on the sidelines and take notes (what we call "hugging the wall"), that combination of audio and visual helps you remember.

The next best thing...is to hear a discussion of the profile. John Magowan of the Indoor Cycle Instructor podcast and I have been tossing around this idea for a little bit, and we've finally done it. We recorded an entire podcast based on one of my profiles. It's a profile I've been promising to you for awhile (I think I first mentioned I would be posting it "soon" about two months ago). Well, I held off on posting it because I thought this one would be a perfect audio profile. Sorry for the delay, but life gets in the way and it took us this long to finally get this done.

I am very happy with the results! I just listened to it this morning and of course have ideas how to improve my own delivery, but I think you will find this most helpful. It's a work in process and we will improve every time we do another one.

The profile is called Over/Under Intervals, and is based on 3 sets of 9-minutes of threshold effort - just below and just above lactate threshold. It is an extremely effective intensity in which to train. It is not, however, for all your students, being a fairly advanced training session, but in the profile I give you ways to help your students assess whether they should be pushing themselves to that level or whether they should hold off and ride at an easier pace. Remember, the beauty of indoor cycling is that you can motivate differing levels to work at different intensities in the very same class. You, as an indoor cycling coach, need to know how to do that in every single class.

This particular profile is far more effective if you know what your threshold level is. Yes, you can use an approximation of 85% of your max heart rate, but by now, if you've been reading my blog for awhile, you know I'm not a big fan of max HR as a determinant for training zones. LT is far, far more important to know.

How do you know your threshold? Well, you can get a metabolic assessment and spend a good chunk of cash, or you can do a field test with your students (offer it for free, or charge them - the subject of a future post on monetizing your efforts). I have described how to do field tests in this blog, but for the most in-depth explanation of how, when, why and what, you should read my eBook Keep it Real. Not only does it go into how to conduct a field test, but it also tells you how you can use that LTHR that you come up with and merge it into your usage of MHR zones. In other words, you don't have to stop using % of MHR as cues if you don't want to, or if you're not quite ready yet to make that leap to threshold based zone methodology.

I know some instructors are fearful of making the switch to threshold-based training zones because they are anxious about having to retrain their students or having to compete with other instructors who still use MHR, and therefore don't want to confuse their students. In this eBook, it explains how you can determine threshold AND still use MHR based zones.

Really? You ask. You mean I don't have to completely change over to LT zone based cueing?

Well, ultimately I think you may want to as your knowledge grows in this area, and it is my hope that the industry will eventually chuck MHR and go to LT zones - but that's not likely to happen in the next 5-10 years, so we are in effect stuck with it. Therefore, I have come up with an intermediary way to get the best of both worlds, and it's explained in Keep It Real.

The eBook is such an inexpensive investment in yourself, with many hundreds of dollars* worth of tips, technique, HR training information and even more profiles. (*See my guarantee below).

Once you know your threshold, this Over/Under profile will make a lot more sense and be even more effective.

Go here to listen to the podcast where you can also download the hardcopy of the profile and playlist. I suggest you print out the profile before listening, so you can refer to it if desired.

And please, let John and me know if this is helpful to you. If so, why? How can we improve it? Do you like the interval style of discussing the profile, the interaction between John and me, or would you like to hear just me (or whoever) talk about my/their profile? What would you like to see more of? What profiles do you have the most difficulty with? What aspect of profile design is your weak point? You can contact us at john@indoorcycleinstructor.com or jennifer@indoorcycleinstructor.com.

I hope you enjoy Over/Under Intervals, I know my students sure did!

* Your would easily spend hundreds of dollars at a conference or seminar to get the very same information available in this eBook. Here, it is less than $20. I guarantee it is worth every penny and more. In fact, I WILL guarantee it! If you don't learn something in the area of technique, proper form (and what to avoid in IC classes), threshold training and field tests, and/or get new ideas for HIT profiles, then I will reimburse your $20! I do not believe there is an instructor out there who will not benefit from this eBook. That's a big claim, but if you could see the comments I've gotten from instructors about how much they've learned and how important they believe this eBook is to the IC world, you would agree with me. You get so much incredible free content from this blog, just imagine what is in this eBook - I think it will rock your IC world.

Gimme some climbing luv! 7 hours of climbing music

2009-08-03T12:45:00.008-06:00

I'm very grateful for where I live, and I admit that I am pretty spoiled because of the beauty of these surroundings and the great, but challenging cycling. Around here, you better like to climb (at elevation no less) or you're going to be relegated to only riding east or west (left to right) in the photo below, in that valley between where I am taking the picture below (which is a gated community called Mountain Star), and the mountains across the valley, looking south towards Beaver Creek ski area on the left and Bachelor Gulch on the right, another gated community. Literally all other roads heading north and south of this valley go UP.

I took the above photo last fall. It will look like that again in about 6-7 weeks from now. At the moment, it is a verdant green, due to a very wet spring that has provided us the most beautiful and lush summer I can remember in 15 years! On Saturday, I rode 2.5 hours, first going up into Beaver Creek and onto some of the roads into the hills. Sometimes I like to ride up there just to ohh and ahh over the amazing houses (and dream). Then I rode over Bachelor Gulch. It's a 5-mile climb, with 2,200 feet of elevation gain that tops out at about 9,200+ feet in elevation. I'd say it's 7-8% on average, with sections of 9-10%. That's steep! I think of this climb as my "test" ride for Alpe d'Huez! I always time myself on this particular climb, to use as a litmus test for how fit I am (or not, as the case may be). Saturday I climbed it in 47:40; not my record but still faster than I ever did it on my old bike. I was feeling tired from some pretty hard Spinning classes the three previous days, but I wasn't about to turn around, no way!

Prior to going for my ride, I created a climbing playlist for my iPod shuffle to use on long climbs like this. I wanted to add songs that aren't on almost all of my other "climbing" playlists, such as from my Moving Mountains or Alpe d'Huez rides (although admittedly, one or two made their way into this list; I must really like those songs).

Now before I give you that playlist, I'm sure I'll get comments on riding a bike with an iPod. I should preface this with the fact that when I am on busier roads, I always take out the left earbud and keep it very low or turn it off. The sound of the wind in my ears covers up far more of the sound of approaching cars than my music does - wish I had an "off" button for that! But when on climbs like this, on roads with very little traffic, I feel comfortable riding with my music (still listening for cars though). On Saturday's ride up Bachelor Gulch, exactly zero (yes, none, zippo, zilch) cars passed me in that 47 minutes. That's because these are second homes, where the owners might stay 2 weeks in winter and 2 in summer. For some reason, they're not here right now. Many of them look like this:

It's almost sinful that these houses sit unoccupied for much of the year...(most have full-time caretakers).

Anyway, I want to share with you this playlist of great climbing music. Click here to download the iTunes playlist. In this almost 7-hours of music, there are only 44 songs; that's because they range from just under 8-minutes on up to almost 13-minutes long. I like lonnnnng songs when climbing because I can really get into it and focus on the rhythm, and when it's over, I mentally acknowledge that a long time has passed, which translates to covering a lot of road uphill. It's a mental trick I play with myself.

There is great variety in this playlist, though most of the tunes are under the "electronic" umbrella. But you will find reggae inspired electronic (Beat Pharmacy), ambient psychodelic (Asura, D.P.O.D., Enigma, Delerium - in fact, Delerium figures the most in this list with 5 songs), Alternative (from the early 90's The The to more current Death Cab for Cutie), heavy tribal beats (Manaca, Chus & Ceballos), techno (Crystal Method), rock remakes (Eric Prydz vs Floyd), even rock (Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and even, dare I admit it, Guns 'n Roses)!

Some of my most recent favorite climbing songs are in this list. Breathless by SBP is one of my new top songs after using it in my Mont Ventoux playlist during the Tour de France. Le Ciel est Triste by Emou is a long time favorite - it has a slow bpm, good for steep hills like this one where my rpm struggles to stay at 60-65 rpm. I LOVE the very catchy and engrossing Give me Luv (That Kid Chris Tribute Mix) by Alcatraz. I have to admit that I replayed this song several times as I was climbing, trying to match my cadence with the bpm. I could only do so on the easier climbs; when I did so on the steep parts of Bachelor Gulch, my HR went too high (above threshold, which is not good when you still have a long way to go uphill) and I had to slow my legs down. BTW, this song is the source for the title of this blog post!

I also discovered some new (or in some cases, re-discovered some forgotten) favorites that I'll be putting into a Spinning profile soon. Strange Shades of Light by Midnight Society, Hug the Scary by Will Saul, Giant by The The, Emergency by Faithless, Resurrection by Delerium, Things Can Change, Klangstrahler Projekt (another slow bpm for slow rpm climbs).

Where can you find these songs? I haven't had the time to peruse eMusic to tell you if they're available there. However, check out this list of songs I've gotten on eMusic first. However, just because it's not on that list doesn't mean it's not available there; either I've not looked yet, or because eMusic has recently significantly expanded their library, so make sure to do a search.

I think eMusic is one of the better downloading sources - the songs are only about $.50 instead of the over $1 on iTunes (and you can get free songs just for signing up - click on the eMusic icon on the top left of this blog for 25 free downloads). You can also google the artist, or check beatport.com, a good, but fairly expensive, source for hard to find electronic music (some of the songs on my list might only be available there - but if you found them it would be worthwhile). I always use iTunes as a last resort - you'll pay a lot more for the average song you can find elsewhere for less, but they have a big variety. It's one thing to pay more for a hard-to-find fantastic song on Beatport, but for a song available elsewhere, iTunes can make us instructors in search of musical variety go broke...

Oh, by the way, there are a few songs in my list that say "Track 8" and then words like "good tempo, HIT, STR**" These are just notes to myself. HIT = high intensity training, STR = Strength, JOH = jumps on a hill, and ** means I really like this song. I will do this when a track doesn't have a name to help me remember it. These come from the Hanima Hitechwell cds from an Italian producer. I got them at a Spinning conference a few years ago. I believe they are doing a BIG sale right now - I will write a blog post soon about how to get some of these songs and cds. These are fantastic climbing songs.

Check a few blog posts back on my discussion of the song Breathless by SBP on the Ventoux ride profile. It's also from Hanima Hitechwell, but available on the Spinning CD, Vol 13 - that post tells you how to d/l those songs from Spinning.com. Many others on that cd are GREAT climbing songs.

For long lists of my other favorite climbing songs (both short and long) I wrote two posts last year. This one and this one.

Enjoy all this great climbing music!

New Spinning Playlist and new podcast

2009-07-31T10:07:00.003-06:00

This morning I rode my Resistance Reloaded profile, a fairly challenging Strength ride. We got a late start because the person opening the club didn't show up in time (grrr - I'm sure all you early morning instructors or gym-goers have encountered that before), so I had to take out one song in the middle (the "intermission" song, which meant they had to climb the entire time with no break - ah, but my students are used to it)!

I posted that profile almost a year ago (wow, time flies). I didn't have a specific playlist to go with it at the time (read the blog post to find out why). This new playlist worked really well so I thought I'd share it with you.

When you download the profile you'll see that it is 8-minute blocks of climbing, with progressive resistance-loading in the saddle for 5 minutes, followed by 3 minutes in a standing climb, repeated over and over. This time I created a playlist using a 5-minute song followed by a 3-minute song (give or take a few seconds). I've been doing this a lot lately with my music for profiles that are in blocks like this, and it really helps not having to watch the clock much. For the final song however, I used an 8-minute song (5 min seated, 3 standing). It helps to have a LOT of songs in your library so you can narrow down your selection based on time. Those of you with Mix Meister can do this with almost any song, but to be honest, even when I did have MM (before I got a Mac) I didn't like to chop longer songs into much smaller pieces, because you could lose so much of what is good in that song; I just used MM to fade in and out.

The profile calls for 6X8-minute blocks. This is fine for a 60-minute class, but my morning class is actually 55 minutes, so it's hard to fit in. So I did 5 blocks instead of 6, and put in a 3-minute "intermission" flat road in the middle (which as I mentioned above, I had to take out this morning; but next time I'll keep it in, as it does give them a nice break).

Here was my playlist:

Kubala Ma, Karunesh 5:04 - warm-up

Swamp Thing, Juno Reactor, 5:12 - first seated climb. This has a faster cadence - good to ease into your climb.

Cabin Down Below, Tom Petty, 2:51 - standing climb.

Distance, Radar, 5:07 - seated climb

Dreaming Against Me, Seven Mary Three, 3:05 - standing climb

Euphoria, Delerium, 5:03 - seated climb

Freeform, Playmaker, 3:01 - standing

Wildflowers, Tom Petty, 3:11 - "intermission" seated flat

Apparition, Delerium, 5:05 - seated climb

The Mission Soundtrack, Ennio Morricone, 2:53 - standing (these two songs have a similar "in the clouds" feel. I LOVE The Mission for a standing climb.)

Tribal Force, Klangstrahler Projekt, 8:01 - 5 min seated, 3 min standing

Read My Mind, The Killers 4:07 - flat road, gradually reduce HR to cool down

Track 10, Spinning Across the Alpes (from Hanima Hitechwell Italy), 4:32 - cool down/stretch

Exciting new podcast coming very soon!

This morning John Macgowan and I recorded a new podcast and tried an experiment. We're going to help you all with profile creation, so please check out the indoor cycle instructor podcast and let us know what you think. He's got to edit it, so give him a few days, but I think you're going to like what we have in store for you!

Remember, keep spreading the word about Funhogspins and the Indoor Cycle Instructor podcast - don't keep it to yourself! When we raise the level and quality of all instructors, everyone in our industry benefits, especially our students. It's like the old adage, when you raise the level of water in the harbor, all the ships rise!

Sugar addicts

2009-07-30T11:13:00.003-06:00

I want to pass on an astounding fact. This was posted by Joe Friel on Twitter a few days ago.

We all know that there has been a huge increase over the decades in the consumption of sugar in developed western countries, and it's fast shifting to undeveloped countries too.

But did you know that it was this bad?

In 1900, the average American ate 30lbs of sugar and sweeteners (I'm assuming that's in one year)
In 1967 that was 114 lbs.
In 2003, 142 lbs.
A linear increase would be 150 lbs by 2020!

Most of the increase is soda.

Put down that coke can America! No wonder we have an epidemic of obesity!

If only we could get them all into our indoor cycling classes....

I'm Coming to Can Fit Pro!!

2009-07-28T21:37:00.003-06:00

Just a quick update, I'll fill you in with more information soon, but I just found out today that I'm coming to Can Fit Pro in Toronto in 3 weeks! I'll be doing Meg McNeeley's sessions, which is awesome because she's a cyclist and her sessions are very cycling oriented, so it's right up my alley and I won't have to prep that much!!

Meg, bless her heart, needs to put all her energy into healing from some physical issues, so she asked me to come in her place.

Yeah! I loved doing Can Fit Pro last year. If you are going, or thinking of going, please let me know. I look forward to seeing you all there.

More soon!

P.S. I'm going through Tour de France withdrawals....

Tomorrow morning is my first post-TDF class for my morning regulars (I taught one tonight but I only had 2 newbies and one other student, and it was all about proper form and intensity management). I'm planning on doing a very simple endurance ride with some rolling hills. Very little structure except to Just Ride the Bike! ;-)

Heart Rate monitor usage study - Please Help!

2009-07-26T12:06:00.003-06:00

Now that the Tour de France is over, I hardly know what to do with myself!!

Just kidding...I've got a LOT of things on my to-do list that got pushed to the bottom due to this 3-week bicycle race in France which has been all-consuming for me, if you couldn't tell! ;-)

One of those items is a study that is being done on the psychological importance of heart rate monitoring. Yes, psychological, not physical. I've been intending to tell you all about it for awhile, and now my time is running short as she wants to complete the study and compile the results in the very near future. Can you take a moment and fill out this survey?

Who should take this survey? YOU! Anyone who has used at one time, or considered using, or currently uses a heart rate monitor for your own training and/or teaching. Your students could take it as well; it's not just for instructors. A big sample size and a wide variety of participants will greatly help with the results.

And I believe the results will be very important to each and every one of us as we grow in our instructing and learn more about how, if and why we should utilize heart rate training. Click here to take part in this very short survey.

Who is doing the study? Melissa Marotta is a Star 3 Spinning instructor and 2nd year medical student in Vermont. I am in awe of her for her intelligent, educational, inspiring blog posts, and for her passion for Spinning and love of her students. It would be an honor to be able to take one of her classes in Vermont or NYC, where she taught 20 classes a week for years before going off to medical school. You can feel her passion just by reading her blog, or by listening to her on the Indoor Cycle Instructor podcast talking about her survey.

This is the 4th month of her data collection for this survey, so do it now as it is closing soon!

Here is a little description of her study in her words:

We appreciate the physiological importance of heart rate training for meeting our fitness and performance goals. But are there psychological effects of heart rate training?

The way we think and talk to ourselves is a prime determinant of our physical performance. If we can better understand how to incorporate heart rate training into this construct, just think of the possibilities. As instructors, there is often a disconnect between the presenting and receiving ends of the dialogues we have with our riders about heart rate training. [When the results of this study are released] we will have concrete data about how to more specifically reach people. What are they hearing, and what are they taking away from it?

I strongly encourage you to participate in this study and let your voice be heard!

Thank you so much for your participation, and I also want to let you know how grateful I am for all my readers. I hope you got a lot out of my Tour de France sessions.

Oh, and here's a fun bit of funhogspins blog trivia: my blog has now been viewed in 76 countries! Keep spreading the word!

Great Website for Ventoux information

2009-07-22T11:01:00.005-06:00

Check this website out. A hotel I use near the base of Ventoux sent me this great promotional website put together by the Vaucluse to promote their region to cyclists and others coming to the Tour just for this stage. It's a brilliant piece of marketing. Click on History for information on the stages that have gone up Ventoux beginning in the 50's. You also get great pictures that you can conjure up in your stage description - they literally will be riding through fields of lavender through the middle section of the stage.

And here are 11 things to know about Ventoux from a cycling blog called Cyclefit (someone I follow on Twitter).

In 1967 Tom Simpson died about 2km from the top on a very, very hot day (over 100 degrees farenheit). His famous last words were, "Put me back on my bike!" Back then they didn't know much about the effects of drugs and dehydration. He didn't have enough water - Tour rules at the time were such that they could only have 4 bottles! (Those rules were changed after his death). In an autopsy, they found amphetamines in his system. Apparently one of his teammates recently came out and said he definitely drank brandy that morning!

Above is the memorial that was erected to Simpson, a photo I took in 2004, the last time I climbed it. To this day, cyclists leave water bottles and other mementos to honor the fallen cyclist.

This memorial will play into my own Ventoux profile which is coming, I promise! I'm planning on posting it this afternoon, so come back soon!

(On a personal note, I've got to first get my house ready for an open house for realtors - they'll be parading through here in a few hours - cross your fingers a few of them have buyers in mind. I need to sell my house, and a LOT of stress will be lifted!)

BTW, thanks for the comments! It really does help, just like the applause helps riders get to the top. No one likes teaching Spinning to an empty room - it helps to know you're there and appreciating this!

I won't blow today's Tour if you haven't watched it yet, but I will say this:

It was frickin' amazing, exciting as hell, and as I predicted, so far the most exciting stage of this tour. I practically needed CPR afterwards!

(But wait, Ventoux is coming)!

Happy Bastille Day! French Spinning tunes

2009-07-14T15:33:00.008-06:00

I'v been wanting to post some fabulous fun French songs to use in your Tour de France Spinning programs; but I haven't had one second to spare the past two weeks. Finally I get a tiny break between creating tour packages for my clients going on self-guided tours to the Tour de France. Yes, I am sending several small groups to the Tour de France - they are all going for the final week, departing this weekend for a few of the Alpes stages (including the time trial) and then Provence to watch the amazing battle on Mont Ventoux. I am living vicariously through each custom package I create. I give them everything they need - everything - to do it on their own in total confidence!

I'm not going this year; there weren't enough people signed up for my guided tours, but I'm grateful that enough people wanted to go on the self-guided options. I guess this is the year to cut corners - self-guided is much cheaper. Personally though, between you and me - the self-guided is way more fun; that is, if you are the independent sort and don't mind driving and supporting yourself. If not, then it's more fun to come with ME on a guided tour! ;-)

To keep myself from getting bummed that I'm not there, I am really getting into and enjoying my Tour de France Spinning classes. I am using a lot of new (well, new to me) French songs I've found on eMusic. I intersperse a French song or two with my regular music, and it keeps it very interesting. So far they seem to really enjoy the mix.

I've complied a pretty big list of my old and new favorites and have it here for you to download. Most are dance/club style, some are rock, alternative, punk, and a lot of French pop. Oldtime classics I use a lot for pre or post-class music or cool-downs, but I didn't list specific classic songs here, just the artists that you can search on eMusic or iTunes or elsewhere.

The good news: almost all of these suggestions can be found on eMusic (except a few key ones you'll want to get on iTunes unless you can find them elsewhere). So if you haven't signed up yet for your free downloads from eMusic, now's the time to do it - just click on the icon on the left of this blog. If you're already a member, watch out - these tunes will probably take up your whole month's allotment!

Have fun with this music, and let me know how your Tour de France classes are going! Also, if you have found other great French music, please share.

I appreciate any and all comments.

Bon écoute!

Livestrong! Honoring loved ones in your TDF Spinning classes and fighting LIKE Susan.

2009-07-08T15:18:00.011-06:00

On Pedal-On, Fitmama (Jessica) posted a video of the Livestrong manifesto, and said she is using it as the warmup to her TDF rides, asking her class to ride in honor of someone they know whose life has been affected by cancer. This is a BRILLIANT idea! I am going to ask my class to do the same thing this Friday when we ride Stage 7. If we all do that, think about the energy we can put into the universe! Watch this video...

I have promised you some posts with French music and TDF profiles, but I am at the moment overwhelmed with trying to finalize my self-guided tours for my clients leaving soon to go to the Tour de France. I've promised them their tour packets very soon (and for that I get paid, so it trumps my other obligations and hobbies, like blogging and even cycling). I am grateful that I got two more last-minute clients in the past week, two people going solo, mind you, to the Tour de France. (That would be me, in a second, if I didn't already know how to do this stuff)! So even more work is crammed into these same few days leading up to this weekend when we are planning an Open House to try to sell our house in this crazy market - and there's lots more work to do to get it cleaned up and ready.

I'm dying to give you all my Spinning profiles for the Tour de France - I did a fun one this morning for Stage 5 and will do Stage 7 into the Pyrenees on Friday. Plus I have a planned post on some great French music - you'll need that soon if you want to add some new exciting French music to your playlists for this TDF. (In the meantime, sign up for eMusic by clicking on the emusic icon on the left of this blog so you can get the freebie downloads, and do a search for In-Grid, then download all her extended mixes. Many of you have Tu es Foutu already - but her others are also fun, Her regular albums are good too, but the extended mixes rock).

It's all coming...soon. Bear with me.

Oh, and I must add that while doing all the above, I'm trying to watch the Tour as much as possible, because it is truly one of the most exciting Tours I've seen in years (and I'm not there - argh)! The Tour de France, if it wasn't already pretty darned evident, is one of my biggest passions.

As a procrastination tactic, I just read the Fat Cyclist's blog post for today and feel compelled to write about it right now, setting everything else I have to do aside. Please, every single one of you needs to read this and send Susan your healing energy - and Elden needs it to. As the caretaker, he is a true hero. So few of us can even comprehend the pain and sadness of what this family is going through - it makes all my issues and problems seem like absolutely nothing.

This has everything to do with running your Tour de France programs in your Spinning classes. Lance Armstrong has his team from Livestrong parading all over France following the Tour, spreading the word on cancer awareness. It is truly amazing the outreach and effort - how can anyone not admire Lance Armstrong, succeeding both in his efforts to raise awareness that we are far, far from where we need to be in cancer research, as well as in his physical efforts at the Tour de France - he's tied for first place for crying out loud!

Did you know that all sales of Livestrong yellow bands at the Tour are going to the French cancer league to help their cause?

And it's all for people like Susan. Read this and send them your prayers.

Let's all follow Jessica's suggestion in our indoor cycling classes and ride this week for someone who has been affected by cancer! If you are doing so, please leave a comment below so we can see the impact we're having around the world with our Spinning classes!

Livestrong!

Tour de France 2009, Stage 4 Team Time Trial Spinning Profile

2009-07-05T14:32:00.015-06:00

I had the great thrill of viewing the Team Time Trial in 2005 in the Loire Valley. I took this photo of the now defunct team T-Mobile (Jan Ulrich, Lance's arch nemesis at the time, is the third rider in the paceline). It was here that I really got to learn a lot about the Team Time Trial - how exciting it is, and how important strategy, skill and teamwork is for this event.

This Tuesday's stage 4 of the Tour de France, the Team Time Trial, will be one of the more interesting and fun stages of the tour to simulate in your Tour de France indoor cycling program (non-mountain stages that is). Here is the flyer I made for this stage.

Absent from the Tour route for the past 4 years, it is exciting to see the Team Time Trial back again. Why was it absent you ask? Well, I'm not really sure, but some in the cycling world of racing think it presents an unfair advantage to certain teams. But there's something else new in this year's Tour de France as well; there are no time bonuses awarded for the winners of each stage, so perhaps that takes away some of the perceived advantages.

Last week, Team Astana was in the region pre-riding the courses. They actually rode the TTT course twice. Lance Armstrong tweeted (via Twitter) that this course was going to be very challenging, and to dismiss all predictions! That tells you that this course, which is uphill the first half and a fast downhill to flat the second half, presents a definite challenge.

You can see from the map below that it is a twisty and windy course. When you've got nine riders working in a line, who need to stay within inches of each other, the more twisty the course, the more difficult it is.

This is an excerpt from Frankie Andreu's diary about the 2002 Tour de France Team Time Trial:

The Team Time Trial is one of the most exciting events in the sporting world. Nine riders all in formation, all riding the same bikes, wearing the same clothing, going as fast as they can as though they are one. It also is the most dangerous. The speeds are constantly around 50 kilometers an hour, the riders' wheels are inches apart, the are on their aero bars, and they are suffering. It's a recipe for disaster, but the teams at the Tour make it look it easy.

Tomorrow is the TTT. It is by far the most nerve-racking event of the race. The prediction is for rain and there is nothing worse than being on the tip of your saddle, on your aero-bars with your nose on the wheel in front of you and having rain spattering on your glasses as you suffer more than you thought you ever could. Add to that the danger of curves, white lines, and the exhaustion of your teammates and it can make for a disastrous day. If it's dry, you can take away the rain-in-your-face part.

Well, for this year's Tour, the stage is in the very south of France, and the prediction is for hot, hot, hot. (Oh, and no aerobars indoors!)

Simulating pacelines is the best way to structure your Team Time Trial stage. I wrote about how to simulate pacelines last year, go here to read that post. In a Team Time Trial, all 9 riders of each team are working together, constantly circling to take advantage of the draft while taking turns at the front pulling the others. You probably do not want to break the class into 9 groups - it would take too much time and you would lose the interest of your students, but 4 or 5 groups with 15-40 second "pulls" at the front would allow a hard effort and some recovery.

A paceline in a pro cycling event wouldn't usually hold the pull at the front for that long. Instead, they would be constantly circling in order not to spike the intensity, with the goal of producing an overall output that is higher than any individual rider could produce. (Read about an exception in this article on the 2004 TTT where the strongest riders were asked to pull longer to make up lost time, and result in a stage win for US Postal). However, indoors, this is one of the artistic licenses we take to keep it more interesting for our students.

In effect, you are teaching an interval class. When at the front of the paceline, your riders would raise their intensity to right around threshold or a few beats above (since it's a fairly short race, intensity will be on the high side). That would correspond to approximately 85%MHR or a little above. When they drop back to the back of the paceline, HR will recover about 10 beats. That's not much of a recovery; hence the difficulty in this race pace effort.

The first half of this stage is uphill. Indoors, ride at a higher resistance and a cadence of around 75-80 rpm on this climb. It's not a steep hill, so you wouldn't have a ton of resistance on there. Also, in a paceline they wouldn't be struggling up the hill in a low cadence - they would make sure to use a gear that allowed a higher climbing cadence.

In another bit of artistic license for the IC instructor, you can have your riders at the front of the paceline stand up in a standing climb (keep it short though). In the Tour, riders in a paceline would probably never stand up during the time trial because they could easily cause a crash. When you stand up outdoors, often your bike pushes backwards just a little, and the riders are only a few inches away from the tire in front of them.

But again, we want to provide some variety for our students. So go ahead and climb, go ahead and stand at the front for brief periods, manage the intensity, keep them rotating, and have fun!

On the flat, increase cadence to 95-100 rpm. Remember, they would be in a big gear and wouldn't be pedaling faster than that.

You can simulate that you drop a rider to add some excitement. The team must go on. According to the rules, at least 5 riders must cross the line for the time to count. If they drop a rider or two (because that rider fatigues, is not a time trial specialist or there is a crash), the team's overall time will be less because they will lose the benefit of the draft of the dropped rider. Furthermore, they will have less time to recover while rotating the paceline.

Other things to focus on when simulating this stage: teamwork, inspiration, motivation, the importance of this stage to the overall outcome for the team and its riders, and the suffering that takes place. Read Frankie Andreu's quote above to your class!

The two American teams, Garmin-Chipotle and Colombia, have very high hopes for this stage, as does Team Astana, with two Americans as GC contenders: Lance Armstrong and Levi Leipheimer - not to mention Alberto Contador, who could very well win the Tour, and Andreas Kloden, who is a GC contender (Kloden rode for T-Mobile back in 2004, and is one of the riders in the photo above, possibly even the rider in front, though I'm not 100% sure). Team Saxo-bank could be a strong finisher as well. In truth, every team has high hopes for this stage!

Need to know more about the Tour de France, and the strategy behind it? Read this beginner's guide to the 2009 Tour de France. Also, here is another good TDF blog that is not just for cycling experts. As they say at the end of this post, they want to "demystify some of the quirky rituals, long-time traditions, new vocabulary, and general rules of the Tour de France." Not all of you indoor cycling instructors are cyclists or cycling experts, but there's no reason you can't have just as much fun in your classes simulating TDF stages! Make sure to peruse all of my past posts from last year (by clicking on Tour de France under Labels on the left side of this blog).

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

2009-07-03T19:25:00.003-06:00

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

2009-07-03T08:52:00.005-06:00

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

2009-07-01T09:14:00.008-06:00

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

2009-06-30T08:05:00.010-06:00

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

2009-06-25T12:28:00.008-06:00

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

2009-06-23T15:18:00.003-06:00

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!

2009-06-22T19:55:00.005-06:00

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.

Just Don't Do It in your indoor cycling classes!

2009-06-19T09:00:00.010-06:00

Don't think this stuff happens out there? It not only happens, it's actually prevalent in some places! Sorry, I have to take off my normal diplomatic hat and get downright indignant here. The contraindicated stuff just won't go away, and as such, I just can't/won't shut up! The shananigans in these Youtube videos are not only contraindicated, they're just plain stupid.

I mean, isn't a properly conducted Spinning, or any indoor cycle class, hard enough without goofy moves that take away from actually riding the bike? And this class in the first video is only doing some of the most egregious moves; perhaps it saves the others for the next song, the hovers, squats, & isolations. The second video, I'll leave you to comment (er, gag) on the "Spingasm" hovers, gyrations, hip thrusts and backbends of Angela's Joyride.

I'm slightly relieved to see that these aren't real "Spinner" bikes and is not my beloved "Spinning" program. But that doesn't make it OK or give it credibility. There is not a single indoor cycling program certification worth its salt that condones these outrageous types of class formats. It is bad to a ridiculous degree. These are instructors who are not certified and/or they are making up stuff because they don't know how to ride a bike and they think their students need to be entertained by erroneous fluff. They don't trust that their students are smart enough to know the difference (or maybe, dare I say it, their students aren't smart enough to know when something hurts it's not good for you). These instructors feel that every one of their students has a bad case of ADD and cannot sit for more than 15, 30 or even 60 seconds and just pedal a bike correctly, without having to flap their arms. They probably watch The Biggest Loser and get their class ideas from Jillian. They don't understand physiology, biomechanics, or the mechanics of pedaling a bike (even if it doesn't go anywhere, it's still a bike)!

Common sense would preclude this from taking place, but we've all heard that common sense isn't very common anymore...

Tell me, who will pay for the dental work for that woman in the back when she slams her face into the handlebars in the first video? Or the chiropractor visits many of these students will need over time, from either of these classes? Actually, maybe the students don't have the sense to put two and two together that it was their cycle class that threw their back out (except that backbend in Angela's joyride would be a sure culprit for most people in touch with their bodies).

It is my hope that eventually this blog post makes its way around the country until it actually reaches instructors who teach like this so they see the error of their ways. Hey, maybe it will even make it to these particular clubs. The first one is in Italy and the second in Los Angeles not far at all from the Spin Fitness HQ (I guess only in Los Angeles would you find an orgasmic Spin experience!)

Well, maybe that's a pipe dream that they'd suddenly convert from the dark side...

But I can try! :-)

I need your help to take this viral. Do me a favor; send this to every instructor you know, every club manager, even to your students, and have them send it to every instructor or club manager or fellow Spinning enthusiast that they know, with the message "Please! Don't let this happen at your club!"

Maybe we can have just a little effect and clean up indoor cycling around the country, maybe even the world!

Remember to Keep it Real in your indoor cycling classes!

(Oh, and if you haven't see my post from last year on numerous other horrible-yet-kinda-funny aerobics-on-a-bike Youtube videos, check these out!)

My mission: to use the power of Web 2.0 to help clean up Spinning/Indoor Cycling around the world. I'm using Twitter, Facebook and online forums to help spread this as well.

ARE YOU A BLOGGER (especially in fitness/indoor cycling, but really, any blog that will reach potential enthusiasts)? Please link to this post on your blog and then let me know about it!

FREE MUSIC!! Woohoo!

2009-06-18T08:00:00.003-06:00

As IC instructors, nothing gets us more excited than getting free music legally (well...few things do)! ;-)

I recently found out about this link (thanks to Twitter) where you can sign up for a daily newsletter with one or two free songs a day. http://rcrdlbl.com/

Register as a member and get the daily newsletters with free mp3s. The genres run the gamut from pop to hip hop to indie to electronic and trance.

Yesterday's song Everything Up by Zero 7 is awesome! Great for a steady climb. Today's song by Colette, Think You Want It, is a little "popee" for my tastes, but I think my students will like it. (Don't think "popee" is a word, but you get what I mean!)

Last week was a new Moby song.

Some I've deleted, some have been great. But it's all free! Enjoy!

HIT Intervals - interesting observation

2009-06-17T09:39:00.003-06:00

I did some HIT intervals this morning in class called "Over/Under Intervals", fashioned after a workout I got from a Trainright newsletter (Chris Carmichael's training company). They were definitely hard to very hard. And yes, I took myself to that intensity as well, because my students know and trust me, I know each of them very well, I had no new students, and I didn't need to be off the bike coaching (if any of the latter weren't the case I would recommend that the instructor not push him/herself as high in order to coach accordingly).

My interesting observation is that although I did work very hard to the point of breathlessness, I didn't sweat nearly as much as either of the two aerobic rides I did in yesterday's classes. I mopped my face a lot with a towel as usual (it's hot in there) but my litmus test is my jersey. After class I usually have to take my jersey off right away because it's so soaked (I HATE soaking wet fabric against my skin and I immediately get cold because of it) and replace it with my long-sleeved jersey. This morning, yeah it was wet, but not requiring immediate removal like both classes yesterday.

In yesterday's profile, I spent 5 minutes a few beats below LT, and the rest of the time in various increments lower than that. Today, I spent a total of 18 minutes a few beats below LT and 9 minutes 4-5 beats above it. That's up there...

I guess sweat isn't always an indication of intensity, and aerobic efforts can produce as much or more sweat than higher efforts.

Oh BTW, I'll be sharing this Over/Under interval profile and playlist with you in a week or two. But coming up shortly is a very interesting study I want to write about on using heart rate monitors. I'll be asking for your help in that study.

Also, even if you read yesterday's post on the HR Pyramid, go back and reread it because I edited it with additional comments after the second class I taught in the evening.

Thanks as usual for reading!

Subbed a class this morning

2009-06-16T07:34:00.006-06:00

I had to sub a 6am class this morning for an instructor who had to take her dog to an oncologist in Denver today. :-(

Since I am doing some HIT intervals tomorrow at 6, and many of these people come 3-4 days a week, I decided to keep it aerobic and did my stalwart go-to profile of a HR Pyramid.

Ah man what a fantastic workout! Nothing too hard, but amazingly effective. I had them take their threshold (most have done the LT field test with me), or 85%MHR if they didn't know it, and round it down to the nearest multiple of 5. So in my case, my LT is 157, so I rounded it to 155. That was my ceiling. Then I subtracted 30, to get 125, and that was my floor. And then we raised it 5 beats every 5 minutes, for 6 increases.

Half the class had HRMs. For the others, I used descriptions of what they should be feeling, asking them to be very subtle in their increases, and to maintain control of their breath. As we got 15, then 10, then 5 beats from the ceiling, I told them to make sure they had room to increase, knowing they didn't want to go to the point of a burning sensation in the legs. The ceiling, just below LT, is a solid sensation of effort without the burning. We are producing lactate at a high rate now, but we are still able to flush it from the system. Any higher, just a few beats higher, and that lactate would accumulate, the increased acidity would be felt as that familiar burning sensation. Don't go there! It's work, it's breathing, but it's not breathless. At the top two levels, you are very aware of heart rate in your chest.

This profile, more than almost any other that I teach, really shows how much control one has (or doesn't have) over ones intensity. It requires a lot of focus, and it requires a lot of time seated in the saddle, so your students must trust you. It also shows that "aerobic" doesn't have to be easy. As we crept up the pyramid, the work effort increased. Everyone was sweating. Everyone was breathing, but in a manageable way. But by staying below LT, we were staying predominantly aerobic, using fat as our fuel source.

Novice riders, or ones who are new to using HRMs, may not have as easy a time keeping the HR stable, or increasing it incrementally at first. This takes practice, and is a wonderful benchmark for controlled pacing.

Try it. It really opens some eyes, and light bulbs go off as they become aware of subtle intensity increases. This is a good one to lend a HRM or two out to students to learn how effective they can be.

EDIT this evening:

YUM YUM! I taught this same profile for the second time today in my regular 5:30 p.m. class. I only had two guys in class and both had their heart rate monitors. They both enjoyed the ride, and I loved it even more the second time around. It's such a delicious intensity range, that's the best way for me to describe it! I was sweating profusely, and felt pleasantly worked without ever feeling a burning sensation or feeling like I had to slow down. My legs never felt heavy during the ride, which is what you're trying to get your students to buy into - it's not necessary to go anaerobic (above LT) to have a great workout.

At the ceiling intensity, just below LT, I told them this would be the intensity that someone would do a century ride (100 miles) and strive for a very good time (5-6 hours). 10 beats below LT would be a century pace for someone working diligently, but not trying to break any records, maybe a 6-7 hr pace. And 20 beats below, maybe an 8-hour casual pace with friends, so you could talk the whole time with your riding partners with the goal of just finishing. At the base intensity, you'd be picked up by the sag wagon because it got dark before you finished!

I had a harder time getting my heart rate up to my base level at the beginning, having to put some effort out just to get to 125 bpm. But once I was sufficiently warmed up (20 minutes into class), I nailed each level much better than this morning, especially the higher three levels, holding them within one beat either side.

Both of them commented how much they learned about their own intensity and their ability to control it. Bingo!

Benchmark

2009-06-13T10:51:00.004-06:00

Wow, this blog hit 50,000 hits overnight! Kewl. Maybe someday that will be 50K unique visitors! Spread the word, and sign up for the weekly updates so you don't miss anything (and get all my WSSC profiles and handouts for doing so).

FYI, tomorrow I am posting a fun new strength profile. I did it this week and it kicked my butt. Or who knows, maybe it kicked my butt because I've not been as healthy as I usually am (don't want to say the 's' word!), but I'd like your feedback on the profile once it's posted. Ride it at home and let me know what you think.

In HEALTH! :-)

Jennifer

Product Review: John's Red Pedal Tool

2009-06-12T12:32:00.008-06:00

If you're a listener of the Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast, you might be familiar with John Macgowan's cool new device he's created that will make life easier for any club or instructor who works at a facility that has the triple link Schwinn pedals, the red ones that have SPD on one side, and Look clips on the other, and cages that clip into the Look cleat for regular shoes.

We don't have them at my club, but I've traveled to numerous facilities around the country when doing orientations that do have them. The cages are a big pain to take off, often resulting in pinched fingers, bruised knuckles, broken nails and frustrated students. If you have them, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

You the instructor probably wouldn't purchase this tool, but your club may be interested. It would be a godsend for instructors and maintenance crews. Check out this short video to see how much easier it is to remove the cages with this cool tool. Please forward this video to whoever makes these purchase decisions; it just might make your life as an instructor that much easier!

He's making his initial order next week.

Oooops! Operator Error on my part - fix coming soon!

2009-06-10T18:12:00.007-06:00

I promised those who were already set up on my mailing list that you'd automatically get the WSSC links in an email. I'm having my hand held through this process, and I didn't actually learn how to do that yet (I'm learning how to use Aweber to manage email lists), thinking it would be automatic. I already had one glitch when I first set this up late Monday night (so for those who tried to subscribe early on but were unable to, please try again).

Please bear with me. I hope to send it out by tomorrow. This will mean however, that you NEW subscribers from WSSC will probably receive a duplicate. Sorry about that!

Thanks to those who let me know - either through a comment or email.

If you haven't signed up for my mailing list, do so now in the box at the top left to receive the 10 items listed in the next post from my WSSC sessions. Free!

EDIT Thursday 6/10: Thanks to John Macgowan of ICI Podcast who is helping me out with this, it's all fixed. Anyone who has signed up for my mailing list should have received the info. If not, email me at jennifer@vivatravels.com.

I have so much to give you from WSSC!

2009-06-08T20:20:00.018-06:00

Whether you went to WSSC or not, I have much to give you! Profiles, music, cueing, resources and more. Some handouts may have already been posted from past conferences, but almost everything is recently updated. In order to receive all of the following documents (all free), please join my SageCycling network by signing up below. After you sign up, you will receive an email asking you to validate your email. This step is important - if you do not receive an email asking for verification, please check your spam folder. (Note: if you are already on my mailing list, you will automatically receive everything, no need to rejoin).

Once you verify your email the following is what you will receive via email. If you only attended one or a few of my sessions - take what you like and discard the rest (although I have a feeling you'll find it all useful):

Music List for all six sessions, including where to find the tracks.
Triple Threat powerpoint handout.
Triple Threat profile for our ride at WSSC, as well as several other interval profiles using the Triple Threat concepts.
Lactate Threshold Field Test powerpoint handout.
Suitcase of Courage - description of stage racing strategy, how to cue attacks, breakaways, leadouts and sprints in a Spinning class, and a verbal description of our Suitcase of Courage profile at WSSC. Includes links to a whole slew of metaphors and colorful comments used by Phil Ligget and Paul Sherwen in their Tour de France commentary that you can sprinkle into your classes.
A glossary of bicycling and racing from Bicycling magazine (helpful for anyone putting together a Tour de France program).
The Tour de France powerpoint presentation as a handout (minus some photos to make the file size manageable).
My verbal dialogue used in the Alpe d'Huez ride, One Rider's Journey from Pain to Triumph as he finishes the final mountain stage of the Tour de France
How Big is Your Why. How to find your deepest WHY, and why this is so important in achieving your goals. I give a detailed example of my own personal why behind a recent challenge I put before myself (my little "secret" behind why I did the Giretto). Includes the profile for the Core Movement Medley, our ride which was the perfect metaphor for setting and achieving goals by establishing a compelling WHY. Verbal cueing and coaching is given for each round in the profile.
The powerpoint presentation for It's a Chain Reaction, the biomechanics of the pedal stroke.

Join my network and receive all of the above pdfs. You'll be on the SageCycling mailing list for weekly updates for my blog posts and information about future products that will help you become the best indoor cycling instructor you can be.

On this blog, there are already many resources that can help you. For those who took my Moving Mountains session, I have numerous posts on how you can teach this class at your club, complete with the nine componenets of Flow, and my verbiage and motivational techniques. Click here to find all the posts under the label "Mind-body" and scroll down to the first Moving Mountains post on September 4, 2008. There are 5 posts that you can cut and paste and copy for your own use. Please use this information to create your own MM ride, and let me know when you do! I have received several very inspiring emails from instructors who have taken the leap and taught this most amazing ride at their clubs. In virtually every case, they have been very successful and overwhelmed at the wonderful reception by their students.

One of these instructors, Charles, explained to me how he taught it at his club and his director told him he was "the real deal". Incidentally, this is why I picked Charles to ride with me up on stage for my Moving Mountains session last weekend in Miami. I am always impressed with anyone who will take this very motivational and inspirational material and share it with their own students.

If you took my Tour de France & Alpe d'Huez session, and seek examples of ways to teach various Tour de France stages, simply click on Tour de France under "Labels" on the left side of this blog. You'll find everything from flat stages, to time trials to rolling stages to the major climbs. Make sure to keep checking this July - I'll have more from this year's Tour.

If you're interested in more music suggestions, click on "Music" under labels for tons of music ideas, especially my favorite climbing songs. You will also find here past music lists from other conferences. Some songs remain the same from year to year for the more "iconic" rides such as Moving Mountains and Alpe d'Huez, because though I've tried, I cannot improve on some of the songs that have become so much a part of these profiles. I almost always return to my most favorite songs because of the mood they convey. With other profiles, I try to change the music from year to year, but chances are most attendees have not been to that session in the past. However, I must say, I am always amazed and honored when someone tells me they return to my same session year after year because of the impact it has had on them (usually MM or AdH). They don't seem to mind if the music is the same!

Make sure to join eMusic and get your free downloads by clicking on the icon on the top left of this blog page.

Once again I want to tell you all how much I appreciate you for not only attending my sessions, but for your friendship, your emails of support, and when you share with me how meaningful these rides have been for you. For those of you who frequent my blog who I have yet to meet either at a conference, or in a Spin class somewhere, or perhaps on a bike climbing a mountain in France or Italy...I look forward to our encounter where we can Move Mountains together.

Ride on!

Photos from WSSC World Spinning and Sports Conference

2009-06-04T14:24:00.005-06:00

here are just a few photos while you're waiting for me to post all my "stuff" from my sessions...

I gave my fancy SLR camera to Sarah Ness, my presenter assistant, to take pictures during Moving Mountains. I barely know how to work the thing, and I didn't know it was set on an automatic slow shutter speed, resulting in some very cool shots.

This is an interesting shot of me on stage, perhaps trying to get into FLOW after having some microphone issues (had to switch from a headset to the boom mic - but it made all the difference in the world). I love the shimmery effect of the water bottles.

This was the view from stage when there was too much sweat in your eye...

Finally got the camera working for the Triple Threat ride. This was my team onstage, left to right: Charles from TN, Kate from KS, Deb from NY, and Gabriel from Venezuela. They were selected to ride onstage, either due to a very compelling answer to my question "Why do you want to ride onstage?" or because I picked names from a hat when I had too many fantastic answers to choose from. Gabriel actually called me from Venezuela before he left for Miami to find out if he was chosen...and that burning desire (in addition to his great email response) gave me cause to select him.

Below is the gang from Pedal-On, which was very well represented this year. What a fun and friendly group of people! I'm sure we even missed some Pedal-On-ers who didn't know about this photo (I only happened upon it by chance)!

More coming soon...

Back from WSSC Miami

2009-06-03T16:07:00.003-06:00

I'm back from Miami and recovered from my recovering. As the photo shows, everything was kind of a blur!

This was a phenomenal WSSC, in some ways better than last year, and in others almost as good as last year (2008 for me was over the top amazing). So that makes for a pretty awesome conference! I always return energized and empowered from my contact with such fantastic people. Spinning really attracts a beautiful crowd. I mean that in every sense of the word (lots of eye-candy there), but primarily I mean people with beautiful hearts and souls. I've met some of the most compassionate, caring souls whose greatest desire is to empower others to achieve great heights with their fitness.

My schedule this time around was more difficult than it's ever been. I had several sessions back to back, and I won't let anyone do that to me again when scheduling conferences. Boy is that difficult, cleaning up from one room, talking to people quickly afterwards, changing rooms, hooking up the computer and doing visual and sound checks, changing from wet bike clothes to dry ones, and most difficult, switching my mental focus from one session to the next. But I survived, and it all turned out well.

I also taught an extra session for a presenter who could not make it due to illness. It was something I am very familiar with - the biomechanics of the pedal stroke, but I still had to create my own power point at the last minute. Seven sessions in three days is a lot, especially when so many of mine are so mind-intensive. That's not counting the pre-con by the way, the four-hour Cadence, Profile Design workshop I taught on Thursday. I felt like I existed in a constant state of sleep deprivation (not from partying, mind you)! So if anyone reading this tried to talk to me and I was rushing off somewhere (maybe to take a nap) and couldn't talk, please accept my apologies.

I promised all my participants that I would send out information on the sessions as soon as possible - power points, music list, auxiliary documents, etc. This is my goal this week. Last year it took me about 10 days. After Can Fit Pro in August I lost my email lists (but found them after ECA); and then post ECA I admit that I didn't fulfill my promise to send them out due to personal issues (losing ALL my bike tour clients in February/March - basically losing my job - due to the economy, and other caca than I'm still working out). I still intend to follow up on that promise; better late than never.

So, my biggest goal is to fulfill these promises by the end of THIS week (WSSC, ECA AND CFP)! I will be posting it all on this blog, so those who did not attend WSSC make sure to check back soon. Those who did attend and know that I have your email address, you will be receiving notice as soon as everything is posted. If you did not give me your email, please contact me now so i can include you on the update. Note: if you were pre-registered for any of my sessions, I have your email address that you gave Spinning. I did receive about 20 returned emails from the ones I sent early last week so if you didn't hear from me, contact me.

jennifer@vivatravels.com

Check back soon!

On teaching Spinning - A student made my day today!

2009-05-26T09:16:00.004-06:00

Last night I went into the Spin room to practice two of my WSSC sessions and test the music ( a nice 2-hr workout while it was pouring rain outside). I loved the way the music came out for How Big is Your Why, but I'm so glad I rode to my new playlist for The LT Field Test - it didn't work out as I had planned, so it's back to the drawing board for that one (I liked a lot of what I used last year, so I may use most of that again).

The How Big is Your Why profile and session is about goals, but not just setting them - it's about going in deep to uncover your most compelling reason for achieving them. Your "Why" must be BIG in order for you to overcome all the obstacles that get in your way - and all our goals, as in all our lives, are always beset by obstacles that try to pull us, or push us, off our paths. The deeper your passion, the bigger your "Why", the easier it will be to ignore those deterrents. Your "Why" is the embers that keeps that passion burning. If you aren't totally convinced, on a deep subconscious level, that you can and will achieve this goal, those embers will fizzle out and that's the reason we end up not achieving what we say we want in our lives.

And then we find an excuse, like, "oh, I guess it wasn't meant to happen", or "the economy sucks" or "I guess I don't have the willpower like those other people do" or "I'm not good enough".

(ooops, I'm revealing a little too much about this session. More later!)

On to the subject of this post...

This morning, I taught at 6 am. There is a fairly new woman in class who's been coming for about 4 months. She's adorable and is always smiling. Her name is Sophia and she is from Mexico, married to an American.

This morning as she came in, she grabbed my elbow and said, "Can I tell you, you inspire me to get up in the morning! Normally I hate getting up early. But I told my husband, 'You have to experience her class! She inspires me so much! She makes you want to do really well. I want to do what she is doing when she is teaching!' Thank you so much Jennifer!"

Wow, she made my day! In fact, she made my year.

THAT is my "Why"! That is the reason I get up at 5:30 even when it's pouring rain as it was this morning and I was so comfortable in my my warm bed. That is why I love to teach, why I write this blog with all this free content, why I do interviews with John at the ICI Podcast, why I love to present at conferences. That is what motivates me. The fitness from teaching is nice, but it's a secondary benefit. The money...well, it pays for my music and perhaps a few other things. But hearing a comment like that, to know I've made a difference in someone's life as a student, or as an instructor, reading some of your comments, especially after my last post (special thanks to Le, Melissa and Shannon for your kind words) - that is why! You all are my "Why"!

So I thank you all. And I thank all my students. And I once again thank Johnny G from the bottom of my heart for creating this amazing program we call Spinning.

Stay tuned next week for updates on all my sessions, including the profile and more thoughts on How Big is Your Why.

Preparing for WSSC Miami - who wants to ride on stage with me?

2009-05-25T16:02:00.009-06:00

I barely get back from Italy and take care of things I needed to catch up on, and I have had to totally switch gears and focus on WSSC, the World Spinning and Sports Conference. This will be my 10th year presenting at this conference - wow, it's amazing to me how far I've come. I remember when I was scared @#*%less about this time. I'm no longer scared....just incredibly energized.

I leave in 2 days for Miami, and only have one and a half more days to prepare.

Am I ready? Well, physically, I certainly hope so! Mentally, I am there as well. Logistically, well, I've got some work to do. (See previous post on disorganization...)

Actually, I've been preparing for the past 12 months. It always comes down to the wire when pulling everything together, but most of my lectures and profiles I've been working on in some form for quite some time. It's the same as when I was studying for exams in college - I excelled at last minute preparation and studying, and always did well. I'm counting on that karma to continue.

Only two of my sessions this year are new for this WSSC, The Suitcase of Courage (SOC), on attacks, breakaways, leadouts and sprints in a TDF stage, and How Big is Your Why? The others I can practically do blindfolded, but knowing me, I'll still spend the previous evening locked in my hotel room practicing.

The SOC I unveiled at ECA New York in February, and I had the chance to teach it to three separate classes this past week, so I feel very prepared for that one. I do have a few props to procure however...

How Big is Your Why is going to be a very special workshop. I won't reveal much right here, because I'll be telling you about it afterwards, but the profile I've selected is a great metaphor for what we'll be discussing, and I spent at least 5 hours on my music today, from a pool of songs I've been considering for several months. I am very excited for this playlist, and I think you will be too!

Here's an example of how it's engulfed me the past few days - I can barely sleep without practicing my lectures. About midnight last night, an idea popped into my head for my Big Why lecture. It was brilliant! At first I thought to myself, "I'll remember it in the morning." Then I remembered how many times I have said that in the past yet couldn't remember the next day, so I jumped out of bed and wrote it down. I read it this morning and was so grateful I did that! That one subconscious thought is now the cornerstone of this lecture.

Let that be a lesson to you. Pay close attention when your subconscious thoughts are speaking to you. They can work in your favor or against it; the key is to pay attention!

I'm on my way to the club to ride two sessions on my own, How Big is Your Why (so I can put my music to the test) and my new playlist for the Lactate Threshold Field Test. The latter is very high energy.

But before I go, I want to extend an invitation to those coming to WSSC.

Are you enrolled in any of my sessions? If you have been to WSSC in the past, you know that I love to have a team up on stage with me. I draw energy from my team, and I know it is an amazing experience for anyone who gets the opportunity to ride up there, especially when the session is in the large ballroom with a room of full bikes. All but one of my sessions are in the ballroom!

Maybe you are interested in riding on stage with me? They are coveted spots and there is limited space, but here are the criteria for being selected:

[This is for my Moving Mountains session]

1. You are mentally and physically prepared to ride a 2-hr climb without having to change positions much. This class requires a lot of focus. Even if you've never done it that long, you know deep inside if you can do it.

2. You are pre-registered. The class is full - 128 bikes - so I can't pull anyone in who's not on the list. (Unless I can pull in a bike from a non-full session, which I've done in the past!)
3. You are willing to share your energy with me and the rest of the class! A big task!
4. You send me an email with a short paragraph on why you would like to ride up on stage for MM. What would it mean to you? I'm sure most of you have heard about this class, and it has been a defining moment for several people in the past who were up on stage (for me and for them) - so I want to create a team who has a deep desire to experience this.

I've already selected a team for Alpe d'Huez (although I might still take one more...) and most of my other sessions have at least one person selected. If you are in any of these sessions, please send me an email as well with the reasons why you would like to experience being on stage at WSSC.

I would prefer to give this honor to someone who hasn't had the chance before to ride on stage at WSSC, and who has been to at least one WSSC in the past, but this isn't a major criteria, your answer "Why" is more important.

If you are interested, please email me: jennifer@vivatravels.com

Moving Mountains, Alpe d'Huez and Triple Threat are sold out sessions.

To those not registered who are thinking of trying to get in: As a standby who gets in line very early, you still may get a bike depending on if people don't show up, but don't let not getting a bike keep you from coming. You'll still get a LOT out of it, my guarantee. Bring something to take notes with.

Suitcase of Courage, How Big is Your Why and LT Field Test still have some space, but they often fill quickly with standby riders.

ANYONE who is riding Moving Mountains: Achieving FLOW is our goal. For optimum enjoyment and maximum FLOW, bring 2 water bottles so you are not pulled out of FLOW to get yours filled up. Also, for best results, bring an energy bar or two, and for sure have a towel with you. And maybe a kleenex. There will be a short "intermission" half way through.

ANYONE who is riding the LT Field Test: As you know, a heart rate monitor with an average function is necessary. Make sure you know how to use the average function and that it has a fresh battery. Please be well-rested, fueled and pre-hydrated for optimal results. You will not get an accurate LT if you're fatigued, dehydrated or running low on fuel (carbs). It's early Friday morning (7am), so make sure to eat breakfast at least 20 minutes prior (we have a 30-minute lecture prior to the ride, so that should give you enough time to digest).

And now I'm off to Spin for two hours! It's fitting, since it's been raining for three days straight and I haven't been able to ride outside.

I hear it's been raining sideways in southern Florida this whole week. Drowning in fact. Please Mr. Sun, please come out by Sunday midday when I am done with all my sessions! I don't leave until late Monday so I am really relishing the thought of relaxing by the pool.

How do you keep track of your profiles...or do you?

2009-05-22T10:36:00.010-06:00

Even notice how some people are so organized in everything they do? Or at least in most things?

Those kind of people irk me! ;-)

Maybe it's 'cuz I'm jealous. My husband is so organized and neat, and my M.O. is just the opposite. We once tried sharing an office at home - oh boy. Divorce material! We kept the family peace by getting rid of a roommate and he moved his home office in the spare room. His office is spotless and everything has its place.

Not mine - it's a bloody mess. I admit. I can learn from him, but my excuse has always been that there's a method to my madness, and I seem to know where things are! That is until it takes me hours to find something that ends up to be under a stack of papers or files.

On the other hand, I keep the linen closet and tupperware drawer very neat and orderly and he just throws things in there, to my great consternation. But I guess we all have our faults...

I'm actually on a drive to learn to be more organized and develop systems in all areas of my life. Organize and Simplify are two of my new mottos. I don't expect it to happen overnight...but maybe by the year 2015!

Believe it or not, that includes my Spinning life. The past year and a half, I've started putting all my profiles into a binder (or two or three) and categorizing them. Now I wonder what the heck I did before this? I didn't just wing it - I had tons of profiles to choose from, either on my computer, in a stack of papers somewhere in that messy office, in a crumpled-up mass at the bottom of my gym bag, or just filed away in my brain. And to be honest, I've suggested to new instructors for YEARS at my orientations and CED that they get a profile book, but I didn't follow my own suggestion until recently. (I'm baring my soul here to you guys, my loyal readers. But I betcha a million dollars there's a ton of you nodding your head in unison because you've done or said the same damn thing. Am I right?!)

I can hardly express how putting them into a binder has simplified my instructing life! It's HUGE. Last night, I wondered what was I going to teach at 6am? I knew it would be a strength class, but I didn't feel like creating a new profile, or even doing a new playlist. So I searched through my profile book, found one I hadn't done for awhile, liked the music, found the playlist on my iPod (categorizing playlists on your iPod is the subject of a future post) and voila! I had a GREAT and easy class this morning. Well, not easy riding, mind you, but the process was easy and took a lot less time.

Here's what I do. Please share what you do to organize your profiles.

I started printing out all my written profiles (many of which you guys have total access to on this blog - just go to Spinning Profiiles under Labels on the left and download them if you haven't already done so). I also printed out all the profiles I've copied and enjoyed from Pedal-On andInnercycling or have gotten from conferences or other instructors (making sure I noted the creator of these profiles). In doing this, I sadly realized I've lost some great profiles that I thought I had filed somewhere. Now, this won't ever happen again!

Not all of my profiles are written up in Word, some are hand written. In fact, this seems to work great for me, especially when I am first trying a new profile. I will print out the iTunes playlist and hand-write the profile underneath. For simple profiles (usually climbing) I'll just write the symbol next to the song up at the top. Here's two examples of that:

These will often become profiles that I'll write up in Word and post here on my blog.

For more complicated profiles with lots of cueing suggestions and terrain changes, I have it written in Word (some are 2 pages long). Some have more than one iTunes playlist for that particular profile, which I file immediately behind it. If I like the profile but am tired of the music I originally chose (or have a different class with different tastes), I'll try to keep the iTunes playlist with that same profile so I know what my current music choices are on my iPod.

I've just started to write the date when I teach it, so I know if it's too soon to redo that profile for that particular class.

My categories, separated by tabs in the binder, are the following:

Endurance/Tempo

Strength

Intervals

Race Day

Theme rides

TdF and Giro stages

Misc (for all terrain, pyramids, etc)

This is a work in process. It might morph into more or less categories, in order to keep it simple.

I know Spin Fitness has created a new profile book recently, and there are some good ones in there. But unless it's created by me, or is a profile from another instructor which I've used and/or modified, it doesn't do me much good. I am sure I'll use and modify some of the Spin Fitness ones (I'll let you know which ones I use and like). In fact, I contributed several profiles to the current one and their next edition will also have several of mine.

But, to make it into my OWN profile book, it needs the Jennifer Seal of Approval, which usually means some sweat stains on the paper! ;-)

I say, make your own.

Tell me, what do you do to organize your profiles?

The Giretto - harder than I ever imagined

2009-05-16T04:29:00.004-06:00

It's 4:30 in the morning on Saturday and I can't sleep - jet lag - so I thought I'd update my readers on the Giretto.

One thing I've learned is that it is unrealistic to think you can ride 100 hard miles a day in a foreign country, AND eat and get enough rest and sleep and other logistics AND try to write blog posts. That's crazy thinking.

It's not that I minimized the difficulty of the challenge of riding the first 5 stages of the Giro d'Italia. I knew it would be very challenging. But I didn't realize how hard it would be to do that and do everything else. Eating was a very big challenge at times, in quality, quantity and timing, both during our ride and afterwards. The pro riders in a stage race have others who do everything for them - they don't have to think about anything else. Our greatest challenges, even beyond the miles we were pedaling were getting enough sleep and eating quickly after each stage. We were not very successful at those things.

I am preparing a series of posts on my Cycling in Europe blog, describing stages 3, 4 and 5, as well as some of the difficulties that we encountered, including a visit to the hospital in a small town in Italy by yours truly at 2:00 in the morning after stage 4. No, I didn't crash on my bike (thank God), but my body did "crash" and I overdid it. I will be analyzing how things went from bad to worse, and how to avoid this kind of problem in the future. Hopefully others can learn from my mistake. Make sure to go there and read the other blog (I'll let you know when I've posted).

On this blog I plan to write on how Spinning helped prepare me for this epic ride, especially the mental aspect. Everything I've preached to my students I used last week while cycling in Italy.

Spinning helped me through the Giretto!

And so did music. I'll also let you know what music I played on my iPod. There were times that I even thought I wouldn't have made it without the music!

As of this writing, United has still not found my bicycle, which didn't arrive with me in Denver. I am grateful that it was not misplaced on the way out to Italy, but it is now over 24 hours and they usually locate things by now, and I'm getting a bit nervous. So cross your fingers for me!

The Giretto has begun! Greetings from Italy

2009-05-10T15:50:00.004-06:00

Buon Giorno tutti!

Greetings from the Adriatic coast of Italy. We completed Stage 2 of the Giretto today, a truly fantastic ride on a beautiful day - a quintessential cycling day of perfection. It's very late here (midnight) and we have a long early day tomorrow so I'm going to keep this very short. We've had difficulty finding internet service in the little time we have devoted to being able to blog. Hopefully tomorrow we'll have it so I can post more pics and even videos.

But, please check out my Cycling in Europe blog where I've described Stage 1, the Team Time Trial, and an amazing coincidental happenstance as we were getting off the ferry.

I am hoping to inspire you, all of my readers, through my journey in Italy on this challenging event, to set a goal for yourselves, one that is a little out of your reach. In fact, one that you never thought you could complete. Then JUST DO IT! Do what you know must be done to accomplish it, then DO IT! Because you know what? I know you can.

...and if I've inspired you at all, if you have enjoyed any of my profiles (there's been well over 10,000 downloads of my profiles!), if you've learned anything from me on the pages of this blog...then I'm hoping you'll be inspired to make a little donation to our efforts here in Italy at the Giretto. Every single one of us have been or will be affected by cancer - either personally or someone we care about, so this is a great time to "pay it forward".

As I've mentioned before, I know times are tough for everyone right now, so I'm not asking for much. If all my readers gave just $5 or $10, then we'd far surpass our goal and show the Livestrong organization that we are a force to reckon with! (Our plans are to take the Giretto and make it a yearly significant event for Livestrong).

If you would like to make a small donation, please click here. At the very least, go and read my motivation for doing an event like this!

I also want to thank those of you who have generously supported me. Mille Gratzie.

Check back soon. And follow me on Twitter - we're sending great LIVE updates and pics of our rides and the race.

Ciao amici!

There's something to be said about not getting sore!

2009-04-22T22:30:00.004-06:00

As most of you know, I am training for an "epic" ride in italy, the Giretto.

I am chronicling my training program on my cycling in Europe blog (didn't want to overload you all here with that info!) and just wrote a post on how I haven't yet been sore while increasing my training volume. I used to use my soreness as a litmus test for how well I was doing. Kind of silly! But I've never really committed to a training program quite as diligently as I am for this.

It's pretty cool. And it has applications for those of you who might be training for your own event, whether inside or out.

Read about it here.

The Giretto d'Italia (The Little Giro)

2009-04-15T13:16:00.000-06:00

Riding the Giro d'Italia, or any part of it, is a big thing. Daunting. Potentially even cold in the Dolomites in the month of May.

A little over month ago I committed to train for and participate in an event called The Giretto. It's the brainchild of a friend, Gene Nacey, who I know through Indoor Cycling. (He has an indoor cycle DVD company called Global Ride - check out his videos). Gene and I share a similar passion to bridge the gap between indoor and outdoor cycling. That is the premise of my ebook Keep it Real, and it is his idea behind his "cycling fusion manifesto". We want to show the world that indoor cycling could, and should, be used to train for outdoor riding if done properly, and to inspire indoor cyclists to get outside and ride a bike.

What is The Giretto (the "Little Giro")? We plan on riding the first 5 days of the Giro d'Italia prior to the pro racers on each day of the stage. The first stage is a Team Time Trial of only 20km, but after that, the distances range from 125 to 200km. So essentially, we will be doing four centuries in a row, with the last two days going into the Dolomite mountain range with some serious climbs.

Ouch! What the heck was I thinking?? I haven't even done a century in 4 years!

Gene wanted an "epic" event to highlight the fact that you can use Spinning/IDC classes to prepare. But he also wanted to attach it to a cause, so he contacted Livestrong and they happily agreed to have it be an official Livestrong event. So, we are raising money for Lance Armstrong's foundation, Livestrong, whose goal is to find a cure for cancer and support cancer patients. I've always supported Livestrong and am a passionate Lance supporter, especially with his comeback goal of increasing worldwide awareness of finding a cure for cancer.

From the Livestrong.org website: 8 million people will die from cancer each year!

To combine this amazing once in a lifetime opportunity to ride in Italy and really challenge ourselves, with raising money for one of my favorite causes, well, that is really exciting to me!

Will you support me??

You knew that was coming, didn't you?! You thought, "uh oh, Jennifer's doing another fundraiser on a bike/Spin bike and she's going to ask me to sponsor her. Let me click on that 'X' at the top of this page before she knows I was even here!"

Too late, I know it! We just surpassed 40,000 views, remember?! ;-)

I know that things are tough right now, I know that there are hundreds of worthy causes, I know that you've already given* to your favorite cause. So I'm not asking for much - really! In this case believe in the quantity theory over quality. If just half of my daily visitors (varies from 200-350 people/day) were to donate just $.01 - $0.03 per mile (yes, you read that correctly), then I'd surpass my goal (of raising $2,000) in a very short time!

That's just one or two grande Chai Lattés or Mochacinos!

Yes, that's all I'm asking for - $0.01 - $0.03 per mile (unless of course you want to give more). And you know what? I will relish every dollar donated, and it will empower me to get up those hills in the Dolomites. I am just as grateful for a $5 donation as I am the higher ones, because I know that in these times, it means reaching inside yourself and giving from within. Mother Theresa said, "If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one."

At the very least, please go to my donation page just to read why I am doing this event; what is my "WHY" behind doing this crazy ride? This is not a vacation, and it's not a for profit endeavor for my bike tour company, Viva Travels, which is a sponsor. I hesitate to say it will even be fun (but it should be an enjoyable challenge).

It is going to be very, very challenging.

The fun (well, sort of) part is the training, and I can honestly say, since the very moment I committed to this event, a little switch went off in my head and my priorities reorganized themselves. I'll tell you more about that in a later post, because it's pretty cool when you have a BIG WHY behind your goals.

I am blogging about my training at my Cycling in Europe blog. Mother Nature has not been very cooperative here, so 99% of my training has been indoors, on a Spin bike (so I am taking the Giretto manifesto to the hilt)! I even Spun for 3 1/2 hours last weekend as it snowed outside. Check out my blog, then go to my donation page and send a little sunshine my way if you can - even if it's just the cost of a fancy Starbucks drink! If you have received any help from this blog, from my profiles and coaching tips, if you have felt that you are a better instructor as a result of reading this blog, I am hoping you can see your way to helping me in my goal.

Oh, and by the way, if this sounds at all exciting to you, or you know a cyclist who might be interested in doing The Giretto, this is our inaugural event, and we hope to grow this into a regular yearly event, all the while raising money for Livestrong! So send me an email and I'll put you on my mailing list for future Giretto information. jennifer@vivatravels.com

Tomorrow: my profile and playlist for my pyramid ride I did this morning in my 6 am class. It was one of my more satisfying classes in a while, and I look forward to sharing it with you.

* you have, haven't you? Because we are all blessed, and have so much to give, even if we don't have much. The more you give, the more you will attract into your life. that's the way the Law of Attraction works!

40,000 views! Wow, I'm honored!

2009-04-14T14:45:00.000-06:00

Wow, it blows me away that this blog has been viewed more than 40,000 times - it just broke that barrier sometime yesterday (and I didn't even start that counter until about the 3rd month, but back then I was lucky to get 50 views a week)! I know that 40K is not that big a number in the blogosphere but it's big to me, especially when I never thought this blog would turn into what it has.

The number of followers on the left have also increased a lot this past month - 110 as of today! Thank you to everyone who is "following" me!

I just want you to know I am so grateful for each and every one of you who visit my blog, download my profiles, leave a comments and share this with your friends. I think about it almost daily, what to post next, what fun thing I can share from my class that morning, etc. Lack of income and the need to put my resources (i.e. time) elsewhere for the moment are precluding me from posting as much as I want, but never fear - I'll be back!

And WSSC is only 6 weeks away, so I'll be posting a lot about my sessions and my experience there, and leading up to it.

You can also check out my other blog, where I am posting my weekly training for the Giretto that I'll be participating in in May.

Music list for a 3.5 hour Spin

2009-04-13T08:13:00.001-06:00

My training program for the Giretto (which I will tell you more about soon...I promise - but go here for now to learn more) required a 60+ mile ride outdoors last weekend and 80+ this weekend. But darned if Mother Nature decided to rain and sleet and snow both weekends. And I do not do snow on a bike - I draw the line there! Call me a wimp, and I'll agree! I've only had one 45-mile day on my bike outdoors; that's not good...

Due to time constraints, it wasn't an option to drive 2 hours to Denver or Grand Junction to get my ride in the past two weekends, and besides, the weather there sucked too. (I may be doing the drive this coming weekend though).

As a result I've been spending a LOT of time indoors on my Spin bike in my basement, or at the club, staying an hour after or coming an hour prior to my 4 classes/week for extra saddle time. Yesterday, I went to my nearby club to Spin, inviting fellow instructor and someone I'm coaching and training, Samantha, to ride with me for 3 hours. But at the local family club, they were preparing for a Saturday morning Easter party, which included an Easter egg hunt in the entire upstairs of the club (including hiding eggs in the Spin room)! I couldn't very well ride with 50 kids running around with my electronic music blaring...

So we drove to the other club in Vail 20 miles east. After only 20 minutes of riding, a new instructor came to the Spin room with her boyfriend. She had just been hired and was going to teach her first class on Wednesday and wanted to practice. "GREAT!" we said, "that's one hour to keep us occupied, and you can practice on us!"

Stephanie led us through her first Strength ride, which was really great (being a cyclist, she designed it around a challenging popular ride over 3 local passes).

It also helped us pass the time. Doing anything indoors for 3+ hours is tough.

Samantha and I continued for another 2:05, for a total of 3 hours and 25 minutes! My HR stayed completely aerobic (as planned) with an average of 128 and a peak of 155 (my LT is 157).

I've been asked how do we stay motivated for 3+ hours of riding? What kind of music do we listen to? I had thrown together a playlist of songs from my Endurance and Tempo files on my iTunes. I wanted longer songs, because when a 13 minute song ends, you are extra excited that 13 minutes has gone by!

Here's my iTunes playlist of over 5 hours of music. Of course, we didn't listen to it all, and skipped some if we weren't in the mood for that one. But generally, this is an energetic playlist of motivating electronic tunes for Spinning.

I discovered a few new favorites in the process: the long version of Jam and Spoon's Stella (I have many versions of this song) which is 13:34 minutes long by DJ Dave Ralph (Hey! That's my maiden name - maybe that's why I like it); Give Me Luv (That Kid Chris Tribute Mix) by Alcatraz (10:28); Manilla Sunrise by Luzon (9:56); 7th Son (Klangstrahler Projekt mix) by Sub 6 (8:27); Ruhe Humate Remix (Schiller) by Trance Allstars (9:57); Fallen (Gabriel & Dresden Anti-Gravity Remix) by Sarah McLachlan (10:25), and so many more!

Warning: you've gotta like trance/electronic/club to like a lot of this music. If that's the case, you will DIG this playlist!

Our profile? Just ride the bike! And bear with 3.5 hours of Spinning - mostly in the saddle, some flat, some hills.

Enjoy the music. I'd say about 50% came from eMusic. Some I've had on my iTunes forever and have no idea where I got them. Some were given to me. A few were ripped from cds.

The most fun I've ever had on a Spin bike

2009-04-12T08:34:00.000-06:00

On Sunday, March 29, I participated in a Spinathon with the Goodfit club in Montego Bay in Jamaica (yes, I finally got there late on Saturday night, after getting a ticket on the drive to the airport).

It was held outdoors on the top level of the Margaritaville restaurant & bar, overlooking the sea, in downtown Montego Bay. There were only 7 bikes (plus the instructor bike) but you would have thought there were 50 bikes, there was so much excitement and energy.

The Spinathon went from 6am to 6pm, with teams rotating all throughout the day in 1-hr increments. Throughout the day people accumulated, and after their ride, eventually ended hanging around the rest of the day. So by late afternoon, it was a veritable party.

There were awards for most money raised as an individual, as a team, best team spirit, best jerseys, and the questionable most distance covered (they have the Cadence meters). I came away from this event so inspired. I discovered that people from Jamaica love a good party, and everyone loves to have fun! The competition for team spirit was a tough one to decide, as most of the teams were oozing with spirit and energy and motivation for their teammates.

Unfortunately the competition for the most distance only encouraged cadences that were waaaay too fast and sprinting was a little too prevalent in most of the 1-hour sessions. But Natalie has promised me that next year they won't have distance as an award - she was against it, but everyone really wanted to do it.

I was originally only going to lead two hours, from 8 to 10 a.m. For the first hour, I did my "Progressive Dueling Intervals" profile and the second hour I did the "Run Lola Run" profile. The music was a hit, so different from what they were used to hearing.

In between I hung around the deck because it was so enjoyable and the people were so fun to talk to, but finally went and fell asleep at the nearby beach for a few hours (Hey, I had to get some sun). I came back to lead the final hour at 5:00 at Natalie's request. And let me tell you, it was a phenomenal experience! I challenged them to a 45-minute climb, at cadences of 80 rpm and below. In fact I threatened to disqualify their teams if they went any faster than that. (That threat didn't help...some were still sprinting to gain those distance points, but oh well... To be honest, this was not the venue to spend too much time correcting people. We were there to have fun and to raise money. The ones that got it, got it)!

In this final hour, I just tried to inspire them to think of a personal goal, and to use the climb as a metaphor and to challenge themselves beyond their normal self-imposed limitations. The last two songs of the climb were Enchantments by Peter Tha Zouk, and the climactic Moulin Rouge. By this time, everyone who had been sitting around drinking, eating, enjoying, socializing, were now all gathered around their teammates, dancing, singing, clapping and shouting encouragement to the rider. I have never, ever been in an experience on a Spin bike quite so thrilling and fun!

Above: Natalie Desnoes, the owner of GoodFit Spinning studio and organizer of the Spinathon, leading one of the first sessions in the morning. She and I first met at last year's WSSC, and soon after that she opened her boutique gym, GoodFit, in Montego Bay. It's a licensed Spinning facility dedicated to proper Spinning.
I think I was telling someone to stop sprinting in the above photo, during the final hour's climb. That's Natalie's husband Andrew on the right, enjoying his post-ride Red Stripe.

The arrival at the summit!

EVERYONE was dancing, clapping, singing, partying!
After the climb ended, I played the "Obama Song" by Michael Franti and Spearhead. It's got a great reggae beat, and heck, here I was the American coming to celebrate with them - I had to play my Obama song. They LOVED it! I even got off the bike and danced with Natalie and Sandy-Lee!

I was so impressed with this event and cannot wait to go back next year to participate again. The money was raised for the Sandals Foundation which is building a school for under-privileged children. They raised $1,700,000! (Jamaican dollars). That's almost $20K USD which is phenomenal! Remember, they only had 7 bikes. That just goes to show you what you can do with perseverance, dedication, willpower and a whole great group of friends, co-workers, clients, & students!

The next day, I led a Spinning Orientation to an eager group of 9 instructors-to-be, most of whom participated in the Spinathon in some way. Now Natalie has some good choices to choose from as she expands her little Spinning club. At the time, she was the only instructor left (her only other instructor, Sandy-Lee, the smiling face on the left in the photo above, was moving to Kingston the next day).

I've posted a lot more pictures of the GoodFit Spinathon on my Facebook page.

And here's some more great photos by Lisa Lake (who got certified that Monday).

PS: I know I've been AWOL lately. I apologize. This post has been half-written for over 2 weeks! But life has gotten in the way since I got back from Jamaica, things like taxes, and building a house and being somewhat unemployed and wondering where the income will come from, not to mention trying to train a LOT for my big event (which come to think of it...I haven't even told you about. I rode the Spin bike for 3.5 hours yesterday)! Bear with me...I may post a little less often, but I still have LOTS of great teaching & coaching tips, music and profiles to give you all! Make sure to sign up for my mailing list - don't worry - you won't be inundated. That way you won't miss anything.

Blessings to all and Happy Easter and Passover!

Colorado blizzard says "Fat Chance" to Jamaica trip! My harrowing drive...

2009-03-27T09:27:00.009-06:00

You might have read or seen on the news that Colorado got hit by a blizzard yesterday. Needless to say, it put a HUGE damper in my travel plans. It's Friday morning and I'm sitting back at home catching up on emails when I should be sitting on a beach. Not to worry, I've got a rescheduled flight tomorrow morning, but Holy Sh*$ what a day I had yesterday! I'll never forget it, nor do I ever want to relive it. In retrospect, it's so easy to say I shoulda, woulda, coulda.

Here's how it played out.

My husband and I drove part way to Denver Wed night. It's 120 miles to the airport, over two mountain passes of about 10,600 feet. He had errands to run in Denver and offered to drive. I am selling my car (Subaru Outback) which had 31,900 miles. I wanted to keep it under 32K to increase sales value - it's a 2005 which is VERY low mileage. (In the meantime I am driving my husband's company car - a Mini Cooper). This little bit of useless information will be relevant later in the story...

We stayed about halfway to Denver so the drive early Thursday morning wouldn't be so far. Wednesday was dumping snow, but not blowing - something we're used to. Weather report called for more snow - I don't remember hearing anything about a blizzard. Besides, for the past month most of the snow predictions were wrong (admittedly, it's hard to predict accurate weather when there are 14,000 foot mountains in the way to push the jet stream around).

4:00 am Thursday - on the way to the airport, it was a whiteout and driving was scary. It was only starting to snow in Denver, but was very slick. A one-hour drive took 1h45 min. I missed my 6 am flight by minutes, but so did dozens of others. I was put on standby for the next flight, but it was oversold, so they booked me for the 7:30pm flight to Dallas. I'd have to stay overnight in Dallas to fly to Montego Bay the next morning. (If the club could reschedule the orientation on Friday).

The reports were now calling for blizzard conditions, Jeff needed to get back as he couldn't hang out for 10 hours. We agreed the only course was to drive back home (120 miles) and I'd get my car and drive back down. Reluctantly, I agreed it was best to take the Suby which was safer than the Mini. Most of the blizzard was on the front range - it wasn't so bad in the mountains, believe it or not.

Then came the first automated call from American Airlines - my 7:30pm flight was cancelled. On the phone with an agent, they said I could fly out of Colorado Springs at 4:30pm to Dallas. Colo Springs seemed to be south of the major weather system (and she told me there were no cancellations there, even though Denver was totally canceled. Famous last words...) I called Jamaica, and they were able to reschedule the orientation to Monday, and Spin fitness was ok with it, and I decided to go with it.

But then it turned out that Vail Pass had closed for avalanche clearing, so I coudn't go via the main roads. I elected to drive the back way through the mountains to Colo Springs. It was snow-packed but good visibility - I don't mind that. But it turned out to be a dumb decision - so easy to say in retrospect isn't it?! I didn't want to let the students in Jamaica down, I was committed to help out with her Spinathon on Sunday, and I really, really needed a beach (especially at that moment)! If the weather had been bad the first half of the drive, I would have turned around.

The doppler radar had shown much less impact from the storm south towards Colorado Springs and even in the mountains, and sure enough, it wasn't falling snow that became a problem. It was the wind. It was clear for 80 miles, but then it started blowing hard, and visibility dropped to near zero at times. It was a white knuckled drive on smaller 2-lane roads for hours. At one point I got behind a snowplow, which scraped up even more snow to be blown into my view - and no where to pull over. I was creeping along at 5-10 mph at times, wondering where the side of the road was.

Man, this was dumb. But who knew? If I had turned around it could have been the same on the way back, and by now Colo Springs was closer.

Cell reception was sketchy and my cell battery was very low (because I had taken my car charger and put it in the Mini! Thank God I thought to take my ice scraper)! I minimized my outgoing calls to save juice.

Then I got the next automated call from American. My flight was canceled, but I was rescheduled for an 8am flight the next morning. I'd just spend the night in Colo Springs. Oh well...

Literally 20-minutes later, I got my third automated call from American. My 8am flight was canceled as well. OK, by this time I was laughing (sort of).

I pulled over at one of the first buildings I could see - it turned out to be a hospital - and went inside to make some calls and charge my phone a little. Natalie Desnoes of GoodFit club in Montego Bay was so kind and worried! No problem, we moved the orientation to Monday, and I'd try to stay a day or two longer. Then I spent an hour on the phone with American. The agent told me she hadn't seen so many cancellations from Denver in 5 years. Literally everything was canceled for both Thursday and Friday from both airports - Colo Springs had only just started to cancel. We scheduled a flight for Saturday morning from Colo Springs, but it's not really convenient with two layovers. I'll stay one extra day and fly back Wednesday (a net loss of one day on the beach).

Now what do I do? Drive all the way home? Certainly NOT the way I came. At this point it was just survival. At least it was a freeway for most of the 186 miles back via Denver.

The fastest I could drive was 40mph. On the highway C470, the road was deserted at times, and it was pure carnage on the sides of the road! There were so many abandoned cars, either run into each other or into snow drifts. The road surface itself was ok - mostly plowed. But earlier it must have been horrendous. Where C470 joins the main highway, I-70, I decided to go east into Denver just a few miles to a Wholefoods I knew of. I hadn't eaten anything since 7 am except a few mandarins and almonds I had for on-the-plane munchies, and I was starving (it was now 6:00 pm).

But the shopping complex was completely deserted! All the stores closed, with hand written signs on the doors that said, "drive carefully, come back tomorrow". I guess it's good they let their employees go home!

Across the street I found an open Chipotle. At least I could eat something decent - I don't do fast food but their burritos are healthy (and yummy). On the drive back, I called a personal training and a massage client to try to schedule something for Friday, to lessen the hemorrhage of lost income (by staying the extra day on Wed). Fortunately I was able to schedule a massage for Friday night (thank goodness it's Spring Break and a lot of people are still in town). [Note: massage is one of the older hats I've worn, and I'm trying to retire... so I can focus on other things, but this one client is someone I'll still work on when she comes in town, and she's already had two massages with me this week. I can't turn down the income, especially now].

I arrived home just before 9 pm, 17 hours after first getting on the road. 380 miles on my Subaru (now over the 32K I was trying to stay under), and 240 on my husband's car. I probably could have driven to Dallas to fly out. I wish I had some photos to post, but it didn't occur to me until after the drive.

I walked in and went straight to bed....

"Going' to Jamaica Mon" Spinning playlist and profile

2009-03-24T22:19:00.009-06:00

I'm going to Jamaica for Spinning!

I leave very early Thursday morning, so to celebrate, my early class tomorrow will get a taste of Reggae music for our profile. Hey, they have to suffer through two subs while I'm gone, so I might as well let them in on a little bit of the fun! Actually I'm kidding, both subs are great! I feel fortunate to have such great options for subs. :-)

I'll be doing an orientation in Montego Bay on Friday at Good Fit club, and possibly a continuing ed on Saturday (still waiting to see if we have enough people). Sunday, Good Fit is hosting a fundraiser for local schools, an all day Spinathon overlooking the beach. I'll be donating a few hours of my time leading a few hours of that, and I promise I'll post some pictures.

And then it's hit the beach! I really need this time to relax. To be honest, it's been a little tough in the travel industry lately, as well as in my husband's business - construction. That's one reason I'm not posting as much as I've promised - and also the real reason why I posted that quote the other day - to remind MYSELF to stay positive!

But I also need time to train (I still haven't told you about my upcoming epic ride - it's coming SOON, don't worry I'll let you in on it!), so while in Jamaica, I'll go in to the club to ride a few hours on Monday as well.

I fly back on Tuesday.

Very coincidentally, John Macgowan, the host of the Indoor Cycle Instructor podcast, and his wife Amy and two girls will be at Montego Bay for vacation starting on Sunday. Amy and John trade out teaching and training for a vacation, but it's a total coincidence that we will be there at the same time. I'll fill you in more about what we're planning on doing, but expect a great ICI joint podcast from Jamaica coming soon! (Dontcha just LOVE when fun coincidences like this happen? The world is soooo small at times.)

Please enjoy this GREAT playlist that I put together for tomorrow's class. A lot of reggae music is great to listen to but too slow for most Spin classes (I've found). So I've been collecting some faster reggae, or reggae-inspired music for quite awhile to create this playlist. I've gotten ideas from Pedal-On as well as on Twitter. Here is what I've come up with and I am excited to play it for tomorrow's class - trust me, this is really FUN reggae music. It's not the most inspired profile, just a variety of flats and hills, but I think the music will take center stage. Let me know what you think.

Warm-up

Don't Wake up the Policeman (feat Peter Tosh & Friends) - Junkie XL 4:53

Flat road, varied cadence

Hope, Shaggy 4:04

gradually raise intensity to 70%. Extended warm-up.

Too Nice to Talk To, The English Beat 3:08

standing flat in 30-sec increments, alt with seated flat. HR to 75+%

Afro-Left, Leftfield 7:33

Raise the pace, seated flat with cadence surges to 100 rpm. HR to 80+%

First Hill

Backwards Never, Beat Pharmacy 7:56

Seated climb for 4 minutes, resistance loading each minute

Stand for min 5 and 7, seated for min 6

Seated flat

Get Busy, Sean Paul 3:30

Second Hill

Renegade Soundwave, Leftfield 5:44

Seated climb for 2 min, then Jumps on a hill

Seated Flat

Dances of Resistance, Babylon circus 3:53

Third Hill

En Jamaica, Pierpoljak 3:49

Inspection Check One, Leftfield 6:30

first song, seated climb

second song, switchbacks, stand every minute for 30 sec

Cool Down/Stretch

Love is My Religion, Ziggy Marley 3:44

Jamming, Bob Marley 3:31

Enjoy, and I promise I'll be posting my upcoming epic event SOON!

And follow me on Twitter - I'm on there a lot (and I was amongst the FIRST to hear about Lance's crash when he broke his collarbone in a race in Spain yesterday - truly, moments after it happened - by following Twitter feeds.

Slowly, more and more Spinning tweeters are coming to the fore. Find me at @vivavelo!

See you on the beach!

GREAT quote!

2009-03-19T13:04:00.003-06:00

Things turn out best for the people who make the best

of the way things turn out.

John Wooden

A great thing to remember, especially in this economic environment we find ourselves in.

That's all for today, have a great Wednesday!

Selling my Orbea Onix bicycle - spread the word!

2009-03-18T14:08:00.004-06:00

Don't worry, it's not my new bike I bought last fall, but I have a great road bike that I have put on Craig's List. Then I thought, hmmm, I get enough people through Spinning who ask me about what kind of bike to buy, that I thought that maybe one of you guys, or someone you know, might be in the market for a new (used) bike.

Plus, I'm always an advocate for inspiring indoor instructors to become outdoor riders, to share in the wonderful joys of cycling. To ride a quality road bike makes a huge difference than settling for a lesser bike with lesser components, even if it's new. It can make the difference between falling in love with cycling and just tolerating it.

Have I got a sweet deal for you!

It's an Orbea Onix, 54cm carbon road bike, Ultegra components, Full Speed Ahead wheels and crank, Race Lite stem. It has very few miles on it! Gears are 52/39, 23/12. (If I kept it I was going to put some lower gears on it, but I live where there's lots of steep climbs).

The guy I bought it from last summer had bought it in 2005 and realized it was too small for him, so it hung in his garage unused for 2 years! It has about 1,000 miles (which is very low for a used bike, so it's almost like getting a new one, which would cost $3,500+). This guy had a stable full of bikes so it was nothing for him to just let it sit there. I came out to California to visit a friend, who borrowed it from him for me to use, and I fell in love!
What a sweet ride; it's very lightweight, very responsive, and the most comfortable handlebars I've ever ridden on! Your hands just melt with the flat-surface grip.

I paid $1,600. I only rode it three times, and not very far. I'm selling it for $1,500. It was a good deal then, it's a great deal now.

Why am I selling it? Well, if you click on that link above about my new bike, you'll see I drove my old bike into my garage and had the opportunity to get a brand spanking new Orbea Diva with full Dura Ace for practically nothing, thanks to insurance. So I no longer needed this one!

Orbea bikes tend to have a longer top tube, so I would go to a shop and see if a 54 Onix fits. I am 5'7", and if I could have shortened the top tube a tiny bit I might have preferred it. But I also have a shorter trunk relative to my legs.

If you know anyone interested in a great bike, please contact me at info@vivatravels.com.

(BTW, shipping wouldn't be too bad, maybe $30-50 via UPS depending on where it's going.)