Magical in December – not so much in April. That's all the farther John got last night.
It’s John’s fault….spring simply will not arrive here in Minnesota because he bought a new bike! Kind of like when you wash your car, it is certain to rain…
So, in the meantime we are preparing for the killer potholes in the roads when it finally dries out and the temps rise above 32 degrees Fahrenheit.
Here is a flat I’ve been using after a series of four climbs that focus on lifts (i.e. the pothole story). At 82 rpm, and 3:23, it offers participants a ‘breather’ before we go right back into the potholes again. I describe this flat as a little spot where the DOT paved a smooth road for us.
A few great voices have come out of the Disney franchise and Bridget Mendler is another one. She has a great range and voice purity that is wonderful.
Enjoy ‘Love Will Tell Us Where To Go’ from Bridget’s Hello My Name is…..album:
Here's a fun acoustic version for your free track.
I'm not quite sure how else to describe it. Catchy, invigorating and instantly (to me anyways) ID'd as a track I would Shazam. But this time I didn't need to. All it took to discover the name was walking into older daughter Abby's room and ask what she was listening to.
Quick tip: If you're ever in a music funk find a college student (doesn't need to be your own – anyone at random will work) and ask; “what are you listening to?” They're always listening to something… and some may actually be good 🙂
Chase & Status — End Credits is an interesting song. It starts out as a nice little acoustic number, with a friendly flat road tempo. But at about a minute in it gets, interesting.
I've used this track Chase & Status — Pieces in the past – another very interesting composition. In both cases you can use the flip in personality to communicate a drastic change in intensity.
If you're not seeing a download button you can use this link.
I'm not aware of anything that would be more intense than riding a motorcycle through city streets, at speeds approaching 200MPH!
So if I was producing a video like the one below and it featured some very intense footage from last year's Isle Of Man TT road race, I'd want to use a soundtrack that communicated to the viewer exactly what what they were seeing.
This track from Within Temption was their choice – and our free track of the week.
Within Temptation — Faster may count at 62 RPM – but it's also one of those tracks where you can ignore the tempo and just go faster!
For some of you who may know my history, I raced motorcycles like these back in the 80's. Intense to be sure, but on a real race track, with nothing soild to hit if you fall. These guys (and yes there's a few gals who do this) are crazy. Riding at 180mph+, along roads with curbs, light poles and stone walls you can hit are IMO certifiably nuts… people die doing this… but it's very fun to watch.
UPDATE: App developer Dave Norfleet is available to answer your questions posted below as a comment.
Schwinn Master Trainer Julz Arney showed me an interesting iPhone app when we met at IHRSA. She's been using this app to build her class playlists and was really excited to show it to me.
I'm very tempted to use it (instead of Spotify) simply for the class count-down timer and numbers that are big enough to read with my 52 year old eyes!
Similar to ClassBuilder, MyFitnessDJpro is the creation of developer / Indoor Cycling Instructor David Norfleet.
David's app is available in two paid versions:
MyFitnessDJ – $0.99 includes the count-down timer and you can select from a catalog of cues.
MyFitnessDJpro – $9.99 gives you the option to create your own cues like what's shown here.
You can also select different background colors to help you instantly understand your intended intensity. If you want , you can add multiple cues to each track and insert them at specific times. It's very entertaining to watch each new cue you've added, pop up right when you've set it – which could be set a few seconds before your change, giving you advanced notice of what's coming next.
This feature could be very helpful when you're trying to communicate a new theme or training objective in your class. Repetition goes a long way toward understanding. Having a number of reminders (to reinforce a specific / new concept) could go a long way toward keeping your message clear, and on point, without feeling you need to bury everyone with details in the first 10 minutes of class.
The pro version also includes an email playlist function, that you could use to fire off your music to an interested participant. David has also included an option to purchase and download some of his favorite playlists, if you need some external music suggestions.
Very cool.
If you found ClassBuilder too complex, time consuming or confusing – and yet you would like to be able to quickly add some easy to read notes to your iTunes playlist, MyFitnessDJ could be worth a look.
Spotify is a lot like Facebook…
– You can see what your friends are listening to
– You can follow your friends
– You can spend a lot of time on it
– Sometimes you have no idea how your ‘time travels’ landed you where they did!
That’s how this week’s Friday Favorite happened…I found myself listening to rhythm and blues/ gospel and found a great 4:05 flat road at 88 rpm’s. It fits well as the second or third road in as you describe the profile for your class and give them time to wrap their minds around the challenges ahead. Eyes On The Prize
I wasn't able to find Eyes On The Prize as a free track – instead you may enjoy this cover of Bob Dylan's; Gotta Serve Somebody by Mavis Staples. A great flat at 96 rpm.
How many of you have sung along to a favorite tune for years, in the safety of your car/shower or (God forbid) over the Instructor Mic, only to learn that you have some of the lyrics completely wrong?
Or looked at from the other direction; how many of you have felt a sense of contentment – once you've discovered the correct lyrics for a song – and your brain no longer needs to create sounds to fill the space where the newly discovered word fits?
I'll bet nearly every person in your class has a similar experience. That's why I'm thinking what follows could be something they would enjoy 🙂
If you're using Spotify, you may have seen all of the different desk top Apps that are available. Most of them are designed around discovering new music. When I fired up Spotify this morning I saw this new musiXmatch App that displays the lyrics Karaoke style for tracks playing on Spotify, along with rotating cover art.
This could be something cool you could add to your class if you have video and a method of connecting your computer or device.
WARNING – Many songs you may search for may have the lyrics, but haven't been timed to the actual song. MUSIXMATCH will then ask if you would like to be the first to sync the lyrics to the song, as you listen along. THIS IS VERY ADDICTIVE! I burned an hour this morning working my way through the whole David Bowie — The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (40th Anniversary Edition) [Remastered] both to see if my 40 year memory was correct and to add the sync if needed.
I'm going to experiment with this next week. I'm starting a new 6:00 AM class on Thursdays and my experience is that these early AM “A” types appreciate being mentally stimulated early in the morning.
Here's a fun video about MUSIXMATCH.
