This smooth little tune caught my ear while I was riding in the car with my 17 year old one day and I asked her who was singing it, not really thinking she would know. Well, she did and I am glad, because I downloaded it and have been using it as a motivating mid-tempo climb. I’ve been cueing to “ride smoothly, like the music is smooth”. Sometimes I forget to “chill out my moves” and be cool on my bike. It does make a difference in my form when I take the stress out. My class noticed a positive change as well, and as their instructor/coach, I certainly saw a change in how their bodies were moving on the bike.
Sam Sparro’s “Black and Gold”, from his self-titled CD is 4:34 in the studio cut version and 68 bpm. Give it a listen and see if this will bring out your inner “coolness”. Not that your aren’t already super chill!
This young band from Charlottesville, Virginia has a great sound. They are touring with Michelle Branch and the Goo Goo Dolls this summer and we will hear a lot more from them in the future. I first heard this tune on XM radio and felt a flat jammin’ road needing to happen. Parachute’s “Something to Believe In” from there The Way It Was CD is 4:44 of pure 86 rpm motivating goodness. It has a great bass line (it makes me once again wish I played the bass) and a few nice sax rips as well. I am currently using this in as a break from climbing in the middle of my ride, holding a zone 3 flat rode workout. Enjoy!
This Journey song was already a bit over the top in the 70’s, but this particular cover just cracks me up. I used it in my Monday morning class as comic relief (and physical relief) after a 20 minute AT climb. I have been teaching this time slot for years, so the class and I know each other well. As we were recovering, I said, “for recovery back to T1 (low zone 3) and a good laugh, here is the cast of Glee with their version of “Don’t Stop Believin’”. Oh goodness…talk about over orchestrated and over sung. But good for a few laughs just the same. You know how sometimes something is so bad; it almost swings the pendulum to good? The tune is 3:19 and 68 bpm, so we took our climb workload back down towards T1 and laughed and talked amongst ourselves- just for 3:19!
Kind of a bonding moment. Hope you enjoy it and get a good chuckle. I found this little gem on the Grammy Nominees 2011 CD. Next week it’s back to serious business. J
This week’s FF is nice and long. I love to use it as my opening song. It gives my class members plenty of time to warm up and allows us time to discover both our T1 (and sometimes T2) without a music change. Having a consistent rpm to work with is very helpful, even for those of you lucky enough to work with power/cadence meters on a daily basis! (John and I are still anxiously waiting for that day at our gym).
This singer/songwriter is well known for the “Theme from Shaft”, if you are old enough to remember that movie and song. BUT, that is not the FF….because today’s FF is 9:42 and the rpm is 89. It is “Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic”, by Isaac Hayes, off his Hot Buttered Soul vinyl, vintage 1969…CD now of course!
As a side note, I am “playing” with the terminology “threshold discovery” vs. “threshold assessment”. It sounds a bit less clinical and more user friendly.
What do you think??
Here is Isaac Hayes (RIP) and “Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic”:
And here's a re-mix of “Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquedalymistic”. Wouldn't that make a great Spelling-Bee word?
John had Pandora on one day in the office and I was mesmerized by the song that was playing. It had a great vibe and I really wanted to use it in a class, so here it is for today’s Friday Favorite. The first 15 seconds start out with simple guitar, but the 63 rpm beat is nice and strong and firms up with keys and drums 15 seconds after that. Snow Patrol’s “Shut Your Eyes”, from their two disc Up To Now album is one of those songs that I ask my students to shut their eyes to (if they are comfortable doing so) and feel their body as they ride up the climb. I only wish it was longer than 3:18! The tune will stick with you for a while. It’s catchy.
Here's a slightly longer (4:07) cover of Shut Your Eyes as your free track.
