by Christine Hawthorne | Mar 5, 2016 | Music
With St. Patrick's Day just a week or so away, it's time to start planning your playlists for a rockin' St. Patty's Day ride! This is one of my favorite rides that I do each year because there are so many great songs/bands to choose from that would fit into the St. Patrick's Day theme. If you've new to teaching or if you've just never put a St. Patrick's Day ride together, I hope this post can help you get started. Here are a few amazing band's that you'll want to check out when planning your playlist:
Young Dubliner's (Favorites: Bodhran, The Foggy Dew, I'll Tell Me Ma)
Flogging Molly (Favorites: Drunken Lullabies, Devil's Dance Floor, Swagger)
Dropkick Murphys (Favorites: I'm Shipping Up To Boston, Amazing Grace, The Boys Are Back)
Other favorites worth looking up: Van Morrison, The Cranberries, Gaelic Storm, U2 (obviously…), The Corrs, The Pogues, Enter the Haggis, Ronan Hardiman,
Here is my Spotify playlist from last year's class:
…and a Spotify playlist with some great Irish tunes from Topsify US:
And let's not forget the cool down/stretch. I came across this “Mashup” from The Piano Guys which features one of my favorite songs of 2015 and I've been waiting patiently to put it on this year's playlist:
I hope you've found some inspiration from this post to create your own playlist for an amazing St. Patrick's Day ride this year!
What's your favorite song to use for a St. Patrick's Day ride?
by Christine Hawthorne | Feb 26, 2016 | Instructor Training, Music, Spotify
This week I'm featuring a song that's been on repeat for me all week. It's starting to get more mainstream air time and it's playing like crazy on one of my favorite SiriusXM stations, The Pulse (channel 15). I've loved using Elle King's Ex's and Oh's from her album Love Stuff in my classes and now I'm loving America's Sweetheart. It has a country feel to it and parts of it remind me a bit of Mumford and Sons. At around 65 RPM's, I'm using this one as a climb. Jumps on a hill would not be out of the question either. 🙂 Enjoy and feel free to share any songs you've had on repeat lately. (Fun Fact: Did you know that Elle King is the daughter of comedian and SNL alum Rob Schneider?)
by Christine Hawthorne | Feb 19, 2016 | Music
Are you looking for a fun, upbeat song for your next indoor cycling profile? I've got just the song you're looking for. This one is from Redfoo. He's part of the duo LMFAO which gave us a few other tunes that we all know: Sorry for Party Rockin', Party Rock Anthem and Sexy and I Know It. This one, called Juicy Wiggle is from his new album called Party Rock Mansion and is available for pre-order on iTunes and expected to drop on March 18. It would make a great warm up or standing climb and would also be a good one for jumps. Try it in your next playlist and you'll get lots of smiles!
Juicy Wiggle iTunes Link
by Christine Hawthorne | Feb 12, 2016 | Music
Valentine's Day is fast approaching and whether you're making a special playlist to commemorate the occasion or not, I think you'll definitely want to have these songs in your library. In the past, I've created both Valentines and Anti-Valentines playlists which were both well received and lots of fun! Here are a few of my favorites from both collections.
Two of my favorite Anti-Valentines songs are I Don't Like You by Eva Simons and 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover by G. Love and Special Sauce.
I Don't Like You makes a great climb at around 64 rpm's:
I Don't Like You iTunes Link
50 Ways to Leave Your Lover ( a Paul Simon cover) works as a flat road (93 rpm's until the 3 minute mark, where the pace picks up until the finish).
50 Ways iTunes Link
My two favorite picks from the Valentine's playlist are I Want You to Want Me by Chris Isaak and Big Love (Live) by Fleetwood Mac.
I Want You to Want Me (a Cheap Trick cover) works well as a flat road:
I Want You To Want Me iTunes Link
Big Love (Live) by Fleetwood Mac is one of my all time favorite songs for seated speed work:
Big Love iTunes Link
by Christine Hawthorne | Feb 5, 2016 | Music
Many of our riders remember the 1980's television show Knight Rider. You know, the one where David Hasselhoff (AKA Michael Knight) drives around in an indestructible and highly intelligent car named KITT? This week's favorite track features the theme to the show-in remix form. There are several different mixes to choose from depending on the length you're wanting to use for your particular profile. They're all around 63 RPM's. If you're looking for a song with a good, driving beat and no lyrics this one is great. I even had a few people that recognized it! I hope you enjoy using it in your classes!
Knight Rider Theme Mixes iTunes Link
Have a great weekend!
