If they won't come to your studio, why not bring your Indoor Cycling Studio to them?
That's the idea of San Francisco Bay Area Outburst Mobile Fitnessâ„¢ which launched a few weeks ago. From their press release that describes the problem they're trying to solve:
Kathryn Filley Brown, Founder and CEO of OUTBURST MOBILE FITNESSâ„¢ was an executive for a large corporation with a demanding schedule that required frequent traveling. She conceived of Outburst Mobile Fitness as a way to more easily incorporate a workout into your day by bringing the workout to you.
“We want to do for exercise what the mobile food truck revolution did for bringing gourmet food right to the people. Our goal is to make exercise fun, easy and accessible for everyone no matter how busy they might be. People want to exercise, but they have very demanding schedules. Outburst Mobile Fitness solves this problem by parking right outside your office front entrance to offer you a burst of energy.” says Kathryn Filley Brown, Founder and CEO of Outburst Mobile Fitness. “Research is showing that companies can increase worker productivity 15% when employees incorporate exercise into their day”
I'm really curious about their business plan. Specifically; who is the customer here who pays the $$$? I'm going to guess they're selling this as a corporate perk for employees and not charging the actual participants. And why not bring the bikes outdoors? It has to get hot inside that trailer and riding for an hour in a double paceline is fine outside… but not so much in a class when you're trying to watch a video.
I've reached out to them to be a guest on the Podcast and you can listen to my interview with Kat Filly Brown who's the owner of Outburst Mobile Fitness and learn more about this interesting concept of an Indoor Cycling Studio on wheels.
I'm really surprised that an Indoor Cycle manufacture hasn't done something like this to promote a new model of IC. A few years ago I remember talking with Gene Nacey about doing something similar. His idea was to pack a semi with a sponsor's bikes and travel to selected locations as a sort of traveling road show. His crew* would set up in the parking lot, hang a big screen on the side of the trailer and conduct virtual ride classes featuring his Global Ride videos.
*In a past life I was required to have a commercial driver's license (CDL) so I could drive the company's semi to deliver construction equipment – that I still maintain. So if you're thinking this would be a good idea to promote your latest IC product, and need a driver/demonstrator/Instructor, let me know. A road trip could be fun 🙂
Macy’s has a great soundtrack rolling right now. We were all dancing and grooving away today to this ‘oldie, but goodie’ while I was working there. It was really fun! We all know how our members and participants like recognizable tunes and this will make a great JRA (just riding along) climb at 62 rpm’s. You might even get a couple of them to pull a dance move or two 🙂
Here is Marvin Gaye and ‘Got to Give It Up’:
Spotify has multiple versions of this in different lengths.
And here is the link to a remix for your free download:
For the past 4 1/2 years our free Podcast has reliability updated in the iTunes store.
But for some unknown reason it's broken = isn't displaying new episodes and new subscribers aren't getting anything 🙁
Up till now Apple has been unresponsive in resolving this problem.
ICI/PRO members are not affected by this. Your Member's Only Super Secret iTunes feed contains both the free and premium episodes of the Podcasts. Non-members can subscribe here.
So here's a quick fix to correct this yourself, that should only take you a few seconds/clicks.
In iTunes select; File > Subscribe to a Podcast and Right Click Paste (or Control V works) the new feed address you copied in the box that opens.
Click OK and you'll see the Podcasts + future episodes.
To subscribe using the Podcast app on your device. iPhone/iPad users can get the free Podcast app here. Android users can install this free Podcast app.
Install the Podcast app
Open this email with your device – if you haven't already.
Clicking this link on your device should open the Podcast app and ask if you want to subscribe to this Podcast – which of course you do.
Once you've approved it you'll see all of the free podcasts + future episodes will be available !!!
I suggest leaving the old Podcast listing in place for if/when Apple corrects the issue.
RAAM begins in Oceanside, CA and travels 3,000 miles, 170,000 feet of elevation change and the the film crew from epicPLANET.tv will be filming the riders all the way to the end in Annapolis, MD!
For this year's event starting in mid-June, epicPLANET.tv has embedded it's film crew with Team Break the Cycle from Bentonville, Arkansas. This four-person team is riding in support of the Northwest Arkansas Children's Shelter, a private, non-profit organization that provides 24-hour emergency residential care to children who are victims of family violence, neglect and physical and sexual abuse. So far, they've raised over $200,000. WOW!
Team cyclists, Mike Brady, Chip Gibbons, Randy Johnson, and Lori O'Connor will be riding around the clock for approximately seven days supported by a team of 14 dedicated volunteers led by Crew Chief Mark Burson. It's a cyclists dream come true!
Team Break the Cycle
EpicPlanet's producer, Allen Jones, is planning to create short videos from RAMM that we will be displaying here to track their progress.
Later this fall epicPLANET plans to produce a number of Indoor Cycling videos & DVDs that chronicle Team Break the Cycle's journey across the USA. I can't wait to show them to my classes, especially the parts where they climb across the Rocky Mountains 🙂
Based on what's being described, iTunes Radio won't work for your class. Unless you just want to hit play and work with whatever iTunes decides to deliver to you.
iTunes Radio (from what I can see) is really just Apple's version of Pandora. Give them a song or genre of music and iTunes Radio will serve a streaming radio of suggested songs.
I found a good explanation at zdnet.com of why Apple isn't offering a streaming catalog like Spotify or Google's new Google Play music services.
1. It's less like to cannibalize its iTunes music sales. A buy button is prominently displayed in the upper-right hand corner of the iTunes Radio now playing screen putting you just a touch away from being able to purchase a track.
2. It was a much easier sell to the music labels. I'm sure that the buy button in the upper-right corner was a significant part of Apple pitch to labels.
3. It was easier to close deals with three major music labels (which came down to the wire) as opposed to getting deals with all of the labels representing the 26 million plus tracks in the iTunes Store's massive music library.
Personally, I'd rather have a “catalog” (or hybrid) music streaming service from Apple (imagine, every track in the iTunes store being free to listen to!) over a “radio” service, which is why I don't see canceling my Spotify subscription any time soon. Ever since I've bought into the catalog streaming model, I've purchased very few individual tracks (although I've still purchased a few pre-release albums and live recordings) — which is probably the exact reason why Apple (and the labels) opted for iTunes Radio on Monday. I hope that Apple eventually expands it's music subscription offering, but judging by how long it took it to secure deals with three music labels (iRadio has been rumored since September) I'm not optimistic.
