Ladies and gentlemen; after a week of review and deliberation, we're excited to announce the Top 5 – Ultimate Instructor Class Profiles!
We will be publishing these profiles, as well as recording the Top 3, in the coming weeks.
Here they are:
#5 – Good Better Best by Michele Forrester-Morgan from Waxhaw, NC
Profile Description
My inspiration for this came from riding outdoors working on hill repeats. The goal in putting together this profile is to improve strength and speed, not just for the uphill climb, but also on the flat road, downhill and in/out of the saddle. This profile consists of 3 loops, each focusing on a different cycling skill.
#4 – “The Gate” — Halloween Mixed Ride by Kim Moody from Libertyville, IL
Profile Description
This profile is based on the urban legend, “The Gate,” in Libertyville, IL. One can find more information about the frightening place by going to www.hauntedusa.org/thegate For this Halloween mixed ride, I wanted members to visualize the dark and desolate location so I began the class by retelling excerpts from the article to provide some background information and imagery material.
#3 – Welcome to the Jungle: An Introduction to Tabatas by Krista Leopold from Charleston, SC
Profile Description
The word “tabata” has become quite a phenomenon recently. A google search for “tabata” produces nearly 9 million hits. Given how our riders to turn to the internet for answers to their weight-loss and training questions and given the tendency of the internet to provide less-than-factual information about these topics, it is important that instructors be prepared to counter with evidence and experience.
#2 – Waldo’s Revenge — 30 Minute Time Trial by AmyL. Pillitteri from Belfast, ME
Profile Description
Waldo’s Revenge is adapted from the actual 12.2 mile bike leg of the Waldo County Family Triathlon Course in Belfast, Maine where the beautiful scenic rolling countryside combines with the unforgiving wind to provide a challenging and rewarding bike course.
And the Ultimate Instructor Class Profile is:
Whiteface Mountain – Surrender to Gravity by Allison Santoro from Hampton, NH!
Profile Description
Today we will test the law of gravity…what goes up, must come down. Whiteface Mountain is a very challenging 8-mile climb up to a castle at the summit of the mountain. As you approach the toll-booth at the three-mile mark, you will be mentally preparing for the most challenging part of this ride with 8% to 10% gradients for several miles. As you ascend to the summit, two switchbacks and an ease in grade will provide you with the perfect opportunity to enjoy the rush of powering-through your threshold to the summit. At the summit, you will surrender to gravity…you will be rewarded with an exhilarating 10 minute down-hill recovery.
Congratulations to our Top 5 and a big THANK YOU to everyone who submitted a profile!
We couldn't have done this without all of our generous prize sponsors:
Master Trainer Jim Karanas from Team ICG® joins me on this episode to discuss both Jim's and my concerns that those of you who are heading outdoors this summer, do so safely!
Although it was hard for him to talk about, Jim's wife (and long time riding/training and racing partner) Angela was involved in a horrible accident last Fall. It happened during a large cycling event and together we discuss some strategies you can use to ensure any cycling groups you are leading remain safe and enjoyable! This post offers some additional thoughts on leading outdoor group cycling rides.
We also used this episode to announce that Chuck Cali has joined his ICG® Master Trainer Team – Congratulations Chuck!
Nothing brings me more pleasure than seeing talented Instructors take advantage of the platform we provide here at ICI/PRO 🙂
If you are interested in learning more about the ICG® online Indoor Cycling certification and the free CECs they offer, you can learn more at www.indoorcycling.com
I'll be releasing the winner's names of the Ultimate Instructor Class Profile contest later today… I'm very curious to see where each of these Instructors will be a year from now – stay tuned.
Neighbor Eddy Macholda, Flanders teammate and me (wearing my Breathe Right) at the start of the Chequamegon Mountain Bike race
They call him “The Shepherd.” His real name is Scott Flanders and he is a Really Big Dog. Scott and his brother Jim run Flanders Cycle, a high end bike shop in Minneapolis. The Flanders cycling team has a well-known reputation for arrogance*, discipline and racing success. It's where I learned to ride safely in a fast, competitive group of cyclists.
There are actually a lot of big dogs on the Flanders team. Scott is the biggest. He had to be to keep order and maintain discipline over 30 or 40 very strong, very aggressive personalities… the safety of everyone depended on it.
I was invited to my first Flander's Saturday coffee ride by my neighbor Eddy Macholda. This isn't a group you can just jump in with – they don't allow it – I'm willing to bet that being a closed group is common with any serious cycling team.
I actually remember the day quite well. I had recently purchased my first road bike (white and purple Schwinn Paramount, complete with down-tube shifters) after completing 1000 road miles on an old cross bike. I had promised Amy that I wouldn't buy a new bike until I had shown that I was going to stick with cycling long-term.
Eddie had been a constant inspiration to me as I began riding outdoors. I found myself riding with him that morning, out to join the group. I still remember the exact place where I got dropped 🙁 In case you're wondering, yes it was quite embarrassing and to his credit, Eddy did come back to get me once he realized I was no longer there. I stuck with it. Before long I had the fitness to not only complete the 40 mile coffee ride, and could also hang with them on the longer evening and a few Sunday century rides.
Along the way I learned the dynamics and mechanics of leading a well organized pace line.
Notice I said leading, not riding, in a pace line. The skills necessary to ride in a group are not something I can teach you here. You can only learn by doing, so find yourself a well organized group and start practicing. My objective here is to communicate some of the subtleties (and not-so-subtle traits) of being a big dog.
Establish your role as a leader. Jim Karanas suggests centering your class and I feel it is imperative to center your group before heading out on the road. Begin every ride with the short pre-ride meeting. Flander's group rides always started at the exact same place and at the exact same time. While we were waiting for everyone to show up, it was interesting to watch all the participants looking around to learn who would be in charge. There was never any “I'm going to be in charge” declaration. The natural team leaders were well-known and it quickly became obvious who would be leading the ride that day. Your pre-ride meeting should begin with you speaking and acting like you are the leader. Or as an alternative, if you don't feel you have skills necessary, you should introduce and actively support the person you feel would make the best leader.
The Leader always begins the ride in front. I can't begin to tell you how many rides I've gone on that started with chaos right out of the gate and only got worse as time went on. It takes a lot of courage to firmly say “I'll be leading us out at the beginning.” And then do it. I typically don't see women trying to jump up front and assert themselves, but testosterone driven men seem to do it naturally. Resist the temptation to allow everyone to just do what they want, in the hope that at some point they'll all settle down. This is especially important if you have new riders in your group. The lack of order and chaotic jockeying for position can be downright frightening to someone not used to riding with others. The goal here is to quickly establish order. If you don't do it now it is very difficult to do later.
Crush any challenges to your leadership. I know that may sound harsh, but the safety of your group depends on everyone respecting your authority. The Flander's guys were ruthless in putting down anyone acting out of line. One of my pet peeves is when someone breaks out of line and hammers up toward the front. It may be because they're frustrated at the pace the group is riding, or they simply are trying to show off. Either way you need to firmly correct them, explaining; “we ride as a group or you can ride alone… your choice.” Don't be surprised if you get some push-back. Stand your ground. I've also found it helpful to say it out loud so others can hear it, bringing some social pressure from the group. Now, if you're not following me in this example, let me explain my concern: Riders in a pace line need the freedom to quickly move right or left to avoid some obstacle or prevent running into a rider slowing in front of them. Most of us don't have rearview mirrors, so a rider passing you from the rear is unseen and presents an enormous potential hazard.
Be as fair and even-handed as possible. This relates to #3 where your leadership is challenged and you don't do anything about. Nothing breeds resentment like selectively ignoring bad behavior.
Assign roles. If you've done your job asserting your leadership properly, you'll be able to delegate some responsibilities to others. For example you may have a weaker riders who can't keep up with the rest. Pick out another skilled or strong rider and ask if they would fall back and shepherd the slower group.
Exclude others. More harsh words but it can be critical to maintaining the safety of your group. Riding with Flanders was pretty much by invitation only – although they were so intimidating it was rarely a problem. People were too frightened to try to jump in. Big events like the MS 150 includes thousands of riders of all different abilities and levels of experience. Our team likes to ride fast, typically with Amy and myself upfront on our tandem. With the flat roads it's not uncommon for us to average 22-23 miles an hour. We make a very tantalizing group for other cyclists to want to join. In the past we were flattered by looking behind us and seeing 30-50 cyclists tucked into our draft. But not anymore. Not after the accident which was complete with broken bikes, broken bones and two people leaving in an ambulance. A number of riders (who were unknown to us) had joined our group, disrupting the flow that had developed over hours of riding together. It typically starts with one small mistake, a momentary loss of concentration that's followed by a number of bad decisions / poor reactions and ends with people getting hurt. There's a saying “no good deed goes unpunished”. There are times when being inclusive, isn't always in the best interest of group. Please don't confuse this with an open invitation to new riders to join you at the beginning of the ride.
Insist on everyone wearing a team kit (jersey). I could talk for hours about the importance of having everyone dressed the same. I realize that this isn't always possible, but having something that identifies your group creates a sense of team work, i.e. we're all working together as a cohesive unit and we have a leader – YOU 🙂 Uniforms also send a powerful messages; if you're not wearing our jersey you don't belong riding with us = you will have fewer people trying to jump into your group.
As an Indoor Cycling Instructor, you already have many of the skills necessary for being the leader, the Big Dog, on a group ride. No, it's is not an easy thing to accomplish or maintained for that matter. If you're doing it for the wrong reasons it may be impossible. But if your interest is in providing a safe and enjoyable experience for everyone, I feel you will find strength necessary to carry out. And if you continuously demonstrate your interest is beyond yourself, I'm going to guess that the other members of your group will quickly respect you and your authority.
So be careful out there!
* Although I don't ride with Flanders anymore, I'll still wear my team kit or jacket on occasion. When I do, passing cyclists don't waive back at me. Is really a kind of running joke for Amy and me, when we're out on The Bus – our Trek Tandem. We always offer a friendly wave to cyclists traveling the opposite direction. They almost always waved back. Except when I'm wearing my Flander's gear. Like I said, they have a reputation of arrogance 🙁
It's one of those happy / sad days here at our house. Tonight is our last High School Prom – our baby Carly is all grown up! And her sister Abby drove away at 7:00 am this morning. Day-one of her “big girl” job at Enterprise Car Rental. But again, that's what kids do.
If you have kids you may relate to this; both Amy and I recognize specific traits, behaviors, attitudes in our kids and we tend to want to claim ownership, at least to the good ones, as coming from us. And of course the negative behaviors are obviously always coming from the other 🙂
But what if your kids could have a perfect mix? A mix of only the best attributes?
It's a fun fantasy and it's a little to late for us… but if you have young kids there's no reason not to start trying!
No, you can't make a perfect mix of kids, but it is possible to create a perfect mix of music. In this case a mashup of these two very entertaining songs.
Start with Set fire to the rain – Adele (that link is a cover in Spotify) and mix it thoroughly with We are young from the band Fun.
And you get this awesome Mashup – listen to it and experience something that you don't hear often; the convergence of two different BPM songs where the tempo adjustment happens a third of the way into the song. Let me know if you can pick out the change!
That would be your Indoor Cycling Class and Outdoor Group Rides.
The concept of a democracy; social groups where everyone works together, contributes equally and respects the needs of others sounds good… but rarely works out well in the real world. I can't think of better places to demonstrate this than in your class or on an outdoor group ride. Both these collections of people require a leader… or chaos ensues. I suppose we could actually include any type of class with students. Many of us have memories of grade school or high school substitute teachers that couldn't keep control and the resulting mayhem when one, six or all the students decided that they were in charge.
Democracies don't work in either of these situations. Well functioning groups, be it your class or out on the road, require a leader. If there's no one obviously in charge, one or more of the participants will typically try to fill the vacuum.
You may have experienced this at some point in your teaching career. Maybe it was some participant in the back row holding court with those sitting around him. The effect is disrupting to your class and it may have irritated, if not angered you. I view a large part of this as simple disrespect, but sometimes it's not. It may be helpful to look at it a different way; the disruptive student may be trying to assert themselves as leader of your class. The next time you experience this situation, consider whether or not you asserted your leadership at the very beginning. Master trainer from ICG, Jim Karanas frequently talks about centering your class as part of the warm up. Beyond getting their attention and explaining what's coming next, centering is also asserting your position as the leader of the class.
I have a confession to make, I'm a big dog 🙂
For those of you who don't know me personally, your only experiences of me are listening to the podcast or reading things I've written here, you may have the impression that I'm this easy going, can't we all get along? kind of fellow. Please don't get this wrong, I really am easy to get along with. But put me in a group setting and I'm looking for the leader. If I don't see (or sense one), my personality is to assume leadership. I feel people who do know me will tell you that; “yes, John naturally becomes the leader.” “But it isn't because he has to be the leader and control everything.” “Its because he recognizes that the enjoyment of everyone in his Indoor Cycling class, and the safety of those riding outdoors with him depend on it.”
Many of us are moving outdoors.
I can't think about better marker of success, for you as an indoor cycling instructor, than seeing your students begin riding outdoors. The natural transition for a new rider is to begin solo and then ride as part of a group. A big part of cycling can be the same social interaction found indoors. Then there's the appeal of participating in a large event fundraiser event like the MS150, a local century or some other fun ride. Groups riding outdoors, require leaders to be successful and safe.
Jim Karanas and I recorded a new Podcast episode that will be published this weekend. In it Jim describes the horror of what happens when things go wrong, while riding outdoors. And I share my experience where I needed to be the big dog, during day one of a brand-new cycling club connected to a local bike shop. The purpose isn't to create a bunch of drama, rather our interest is in helping you understand the responsibilities you may have leading your own group rides. I'm also working on a number of suggestions that I feel will help you be successful, as the leader (dare I say The Big Dog) of an outdoor ride.
