Special treat from Allen Jones at EpicPlanet.tv – 30 minutes of audio from an actual Criterium bike race you can use to add realism to any Race Day profile!
It starts with the Race Director announcing “Cat 4 racers… take your mark, get set, go!!!! Then it ends with the bell lap – simply awesome 🙂
The actual audio is from Allen's latest video; epicRaceDay – Pensacola Stage Race! I had stripped this audio from the 30 minute Criterium race segment, with the idea of adding it to the background of my Race Day Audio PROfile that will be published this weekend.
I've taught a number* of Race Day classes using epicRaceDay – Pensacola Stage Race! and a students have commented that they really enjoyed hearing the actual sounds of a race, over layed with my music. This DVD includes the option to play just the racing sounds. The music system where I teach will play the audio from multiple sources, so I turn up the DVD volume along with the music and off we go!!!!
Then I had an idea. Not everyone has video in their studio to experience this amazing addition to their classes – so why not provide it to our PRO members as an MP3?
So I called Allen to ask his permission to publish this audio as one of our PRO/Podcasts. As you can guess, Allen thought this was a great idea and enthusiastically agreed. So here it is as a direct download (right click – Save As) and it will also show up as an episode of the Podcast.
I left it completely clean, so there's no introduction or anything on the end – just 30 minutes of pure bicycle racing sounds. My suggestion is to burn this to a CD that you can play along with the music from your portable device.
Please let Allen know if this is of value by leaving a comment below.
*I'm teaching this again tomorrow (Saturday 10/20 8:30am) at the Chanhassen Lifetime Fitness. If you're in town I'd love to have you.
Fast forward to the 27:20 mark to hear the finish!
I'm going to need a pair of these so I can see when Amy is slacking off on the Tandem.
Stages Cycling has taken the technology they developed for the FreeMotion S11 series Indoor Cycles and is now offering the StageONE Power Meter to outdoor cyclists.
I don't have any direct experience other than a heads-up email announcing the launch of this , but there are two very informative posts from bloggers who are at Eurobike earlier this summer.
Stages Cycling readily admits that it's not necessarily trying to go head-to-head with established players such as SRM, Powertap, and Quarq in terms of outright technology, instead preferring to go after so-called ‘blue collar' riders who merely want a consistent means of tracking progress for training purposes.
Using a Bluetooth enabled device (the StageONE doesn't come with any display) you can add power and cadence for $699.00 which is less than half that of other systems = outdoor power gets a bit closer to being real for many of us 🙂
Will Grossman from Stages Cycling has promised me more information soon. Right now they are swamped with their launch and Interbike which starts tomorrow. Their website is supposed to go live today. http://www.stagescycling.com/
Schwinn is promoting an improved version of the Schwinn AC Performance Indoor Cycle, calling it the “Plus”. The biggest changes are to the saddle and handlebar Fore & Aft adjustment mechanism. Earlier versions of the AC Performance limited both adjustments to three set position that were labeled “+” / “0” / “-“, with “0” being Neutral and the others ahead and behind. I heard a number of concerns that because people don't come in only three sizes, only offering three positions were too coarse, not allowing for the finer level of fitting we prefer to bring to our students.
The new AC Plus solves that with a new method that they say offers an “Infinite” level of adjustability. Here's a link to the new brochure you can download.
While we are on the subject of saddle adjustments, now is the time to go in review this video about ensuring all your Indoor Cycles are setup correctly. It's very important that once a student is setup correctly, that position is the same on every cycle in your studio.
When I visited the Virtual Active studios last fall they showed me the tricks they used to shoot very stable video, over very rocky or bumpy terrain.
But I couldn't tell you because I was sworn to secrecy.
Now they've lifted the veil on some of their techniques and the special technology they use to create the stunningly beautiful HD video for the ICG World Tour DVDs and MyRide+®
The first thought I had when I watched these videos was; “this looks like you're flying…they must have shot this from a helicopter or used some long wires .” But they don't. All the trail scenes are filmed by that big guy running with a “Steady Cam”. Trust me when I say that the gear he's carrying is really heavy – they told me has was a former college running back. They typically have a second person pushing the camera man from behind to help him maintain a steady speed… and keep him from running off a cliff 🙁
Near the end of the video you see the car-mount they use, with the camera man actually sitting on the front. There's a very good reason for this. Cyclists, as they enter a turn, will turn their head to look though/around the corner. You may have watched a virtual ride video where you are climbing a mountain. As the video moves through a switchback you end up looking straight into the mountain, instead of up the road. Road videos shot with a fixed camera (on the hood of the vehicle) create this effect as the camera pans across the corner unnaturally as the car rotates around the turn.
Virtual Active's solution to this is to place the cameraman sitting up front where can he can turn the camera, so the shot follows the turn, just like you would on your bike.
But there are times when it's not possible (or safe) to have someone strapped to the front, like a scene from The Road Warrior. At around the 2:13 point you can see the sophisticated remote control system they developed to allow the producer to “turn” the camera using a game controller, from the safety of the passenger seat.
It's a subtle detail, but it makes an enormous difference in whether you are truly engaged with the video or just distracted by it.
Which heart rate monitor is best for you — digital or analog?
One Button Analog Blink Heart Rate Monitor
As a heart rate monitor, i.e. ZONING fitness enthusiast, you can now choose between two different types of heart rate monitors — digital or analog. But, what is the difference between a digital and an analog heart rate monitor? And which of the two is best for you? The answer lies in the transmission of the heart rate number, the bpm or beats-per-minute. And that transmission — that wave or that binary code — can make all of the differences to you.
First, both digital and analog heart rate monitor transmitter belts detect the same electrical activity of the heart’s contraction using sensors. The sensor in your transmitter belt can be viewed by looking at the back side of the belt which goes next to your skin. On each side of the elastic strap there is a soft and black rubber-like material that is usually oval in shape. There are always two the sensors — one on each side of the transmitter — that detect the electrical changes in the heart beat by using the amplitude of the EKG wave of the heart muscle.
Both digital and analog transmitter belts and watches are equally accurate. What is different is how they transmit the beats-per-minute of the heartbeat to the wrist top watch. And, that watch must either have a digital or an analog receiver that can accept that signal and convert it to a number that displays on our wrist or on your forearm or on your mobile device like an iPhone.
Analog transmission uses signals to the watch that are exact replicas of a sound wave. Analog signals can interfere with other nearby signals and this challenge is called the “cross talk” of two signals. The main advantages of analog heart rate monitors are the following:
Compatible with most, now about 99%, of the cardio machines at the gym,
Analog transmitters and receivers in the watch are less expensive
The signal is carried through water so swimmers and those doing water activities can use a heart rate monitor.
The disadvantage of analog heart rate monitors is that if you are within 3 feet of another analog wave transmitter which can be another person wearing a transmitter belt or another source of an analog signal you will experience “cross talk”. In this case, the receiver in the heart watch will accept both signal sources and add them together and you will get an incorrect number until there is only one signal for the receiver to sense.
Two Button Blink Digital Heart Rate Monitor
Digital transmission converts the heart’s EKG activity into a digital signal using binary code which is made up of 0s and 1s. Digital transmission is a clearer signal because it is impossible with packets of data rather than analog wave signals for interference. Digital heart rate monitors are more expensive yet have the following advantages:
The technology is newer
Digital signals do not interfere or “cross talk with other users or other signals.
Digital signals can be used with Bluetooth and ANT+ receivers in mobile devices like iPhones and others tools.
Digital heart rate monitors will not work for most swimmers because digital signals do not transmit from the transmitter to the watch under water. Here’s an example for you. If you are working out with another person who is using a heart rate monitor, the digital monitor is better because it will not receive both watches data and hence cross talk or allow interference.
What’s the best heart rate monitor for you — digital or analog? The answer is simple: it depends. It depends on price with analog less expensive, it depends if you are working out with others, digital is better because there is no cross talk, and if you are a triathlete or a swimmer — well — it depends because you cannot use it for swimming. My answer — just get a digital and get a less expensive analog and you have the best of both worlds.
I wanted to give a shout out to the excellent people at SportSmith.com to thank them for their continued support of our communities here at indoorcycleinstructor.com and at pedal-on.com. The discounted Indoor Cycle parts they provide help take a bit of the sting out of maintaining the bikes in your studio. They've also done a phenomenal job selling my Red Pedal Tool to Studios around the world!
Newer ICI/PRO members and visitors who've recently discovered indoorcycleinstructor.com may not know our “Genesis Story”… the original idea, back in 2008, that lead to what has become the top Internet resource for Indoor Cycling Instructors and the most listened to Internet radio show for fitness professionals on the planet.
It all began with my frustration with Schwinn Triple Link pedals. Don't get me wrong, I still see them as an excellent choice for any cycling studio and the clubs where I teach have used them since the late 1990s. It's removing those @#$%^& shoe baskets that has me (and hundreds of other Instructors it turns out) cussing and swearing every time a member asks to have them removed so they can use their cycling shoes with LOOK cleats.
Being a sales guy, my next concern was; how would I get the word out (marketing) to Instructors and Club/Studio Owners?
Turned out that the answer was right in front of me 🙂 At the time I was traveling a territory as a sales rep and I was spending a lot of time in my car. Talk Radio can get old awfully quick. So to productively pass the time between sales calls I started to listen to Podcasts about sales, marketing and motivation.
Why couldn't I record and produce my own Podcast?
Other people are creating their own shows and iTunes does a great job making them available to anyone with and iPod… but what would the show be about?
I did some searching on iTunes and found a Podcast about creating your own Podcast. One of the episodes was about choosing your niche – what the show would be about. Their suggestion was to find something you are passionate about and a topic that you have some specific knowledge…
How about a show that featured the experts and personalities in Indoor Cycling? 200+ episodes later and I've enjoyed (nearly) every minute 🙂
