All it takes is a 22 year old to keep me out of my box. Today we have another suggestion thanks to ‘Abby is listening to…..on Spotify'. This song has been a good surprise for my group as I lead them out of a moderate climb. They are accustomed to another moderate road, but not this profile! I take them out of a 74 rpm climb into a 99 rpm sprint match with their neighboring rider. It's fun and gets them interacting a bit without being too invasive (they don't really like ‘buddy' work, but do enjoy a bit of friendly competition). This tune has a pulsing 99 rpm beat, but is not overwhelming with loud vocals, so they can talk and encourage each other through the 3:47 sprint.
I hope you and your class will have as much fun with Drake's ‘Hold On, We're Going Home', as we have. You may also shock them a bit by having Drake in your playlist. I know I did. If John picks this tune up, his class will definitely know he's using OPM (other people's music)!
If you are anything like me, a little bit of help to look and feel your best when heading out to teach/ coach your class is welcome. But, when it comes to make up, I'd rather err on the side of too little than too much, not only in how it feels on my skin, but also in how it looks.
Enter mineral foundation. Its versatility is amazing and don't be fooled negatively by its powder form. A true, quality mineral foundation will not settle in lines and wrinkles, because it is not powder, it's minerals in a powder form.
Let me pontificate on what mineral foundation should, may and shouldn't contain and why it's so versatile:
Mineral foundation should contain :
-Titanium Dioxide, a naturally occurring mineral used for sunscreen and pigment.
Mineral Foundation may contain:
-Bismuth Oxychloride, a naturally occurring mineral used for pigment and brightness
-Mica, a naturally occurring mineral used for pigment, brightness and luminosity
-Iron Oxides, widespread in nature, used for intense color pigment
Mineral Foundation probably should not contain:
-Zinc, a metallic chemical element, which can be quite drying and is best left out of mineral foundations for that reason
-Talc, as in talcum powder which settles in lines and wrinkles
-Corn Starch, a starch powder derived from the endosperm of the corn kernel, is simply a cheap filler that settles in lines and wrinkles
Mineral Foundation's Versatility:
The brush determines how your minerals are applied.
The trick is in the brush: the larger the brush, the lighter the coverage. The smaller the brush, the more specific and ‘flawless' (read: heavy) the coverage. So, if you want just a dusting to even out your already beautiful skin (lucky you!), then just a light brushing with a large powder brush, or mineral foundation brush will suffice. If you need a little more help, a more specific brush can be used. For example, my niece uses a liquid foundation brush to apply her powder minerals for a flawless finish. You can also use a small concealer brush, or dab a clean finger directly into the powder and apply and blend into specific trouble spots.
Desiring a quick, custom-made tinted moisturizer? Drop a bit of your mineral foundation into your favorite moisturizer, mix- and there you have it! Try it with your eye cream for a custom concealer as well. Want a bronzer without all the ‘glow' or Bath and Body sparkles? Buy a dark shade of the mineral line you love (see below for some I've tried) and use it as your bronzer.
A note of caution about the sunscreen rating of mineral foundation. Because Titanium Dioxide is a potent, natural sunscreen, mineral foundations are known for their sunscreen protection. However, the sunscreen rating of your mineral foundation is only as good as the thickness in which it is applied. So, if you are a ‘light duster', your sunscreen will not be as effective as those who are ‘flawless finish' appliers.
Mineral Foundation is easy to match. Find 3 colors close to your natural skin tone and apply them at your chin/ jaw line. The color(s) that aren't right will sit on top of your skin, but your mineral match will literally melt into your skin. The goal of foundation is to match skin and even out skin tone. Too often women ask for foundation too deep or too light. This is the job for a bronzer or highlighter.
Here are some Mineral Foundations I have tried and/ or played with and my thoughts. I would LOVE to hear from you about brands and things you have tried. Please comment! I look forward to hearing from you.
–Youngblood Mineral Cosmetics: by far the purest of all the mineral cosmetics I've found. 4 ingredients total and plenty of colors to chose from to get your perfect match . The only problem- it's only available in Salons and Spas, or at Cosmoprof (for licensed professionals only). I have used it and like it a lot.
-Elizabeth Arden: plenty of colors to choose from and I like that it has a twist up ‘shaver' that brings up the needed amount of product. No waste, no mess.
-Bare Minerals: of course, the original mineral makeup. It now comes in a matte formula as well. Many colors and ancillary products.
-Clarins Skin Illusion Loose Powder Foundation: with light reflecting pigments, minerals and plant extracts. I've been using this since January and get compliments on my skin quite often….trust me, it's the makeup, not my skin!
As a side note, my favorite mineral makeup was Lancome's Ageless Minerale, but unfortunately Lancome chose to discontinue it.
Jim Karanas – a true artist of Indoor Cycling Education.
Stuff like Jim Karanas' death is really hard for me. I felt compelled to write something, a eulogy of sorts that would express my feelings about Jim. My appreciation of him as a person, my respect for him as a fitness professional and my admiration for him as an artist. He really was an artist. The articles and Podcasts we've published here easily demonstrate his incredible passion for fitness and skill at communicating what he knew with others.
I spent the better part of yesterday trying to come up with the words to put in this post, that expressed how I felt about all of this – unsuccessfully. This morning I woke up frustrated that I still couldn't form the words that accurately conveyed how I felt.
I think best when I'm aerobic. So this morning I went out for a ride. Nothing intense. Spent most of the time enjoying the morning JRA (Just Riding Along). Not sure where I was exactly, but I began to understand my confused feelings… starting with;
I was really upset that Jim and I had kept rescheduling a phone call for over a month.
Now we'll never connect. I was frustrated with myself that I hadn't pushed Jim harder to connect with me. Too easy to accept that he was too busy or out of town to connect. But then it wasn't ever about me – Jim's focus was on the business needs of Team ICG – The Indoor Cycling Group of North America.
In December of 2011 Jim and Team ICG became sponsors of ICI/PRO. Their goal was to introduce our readers and listeners to their brand of Indoor Cycling education and promote the new MYRIDE+ virtual ride system. As I rode along I realized that Jim being too busy to return my call was a good thing – they had achieved some of what they intended when they signed on 🙂
Having sorted out my initial anger, a song came to me; Ian Hunter — Michael Picasso which was Ian Hunter's very moving tribute to his friend/guitarist Mick Ronson after his death from cancer in 1993.
Mick was a true artist. IMO (and many other's), without Mick Ronson's arrangements and guitar work, no one would know the name David Bowie today. Mick's early work on Bowie's breakthrough album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars established Bowie as a superstar. Bowie rewarded Mick and the rest of band by publicly firing them all at the height of the band's popularity.
Like Mick Ronson, Jim Karanas was a passionate artist who worked tirelessly for others. I felt it fitting to apply the same nickname to Jim, that Ian Hunter had given to his friend.
Jim Picasso
I'll let Mr. Hunter communicate the rest…
P.S. I'm also upset that I can't find a picture of me with Jim. If you happen to have one, I'd really appreciate you sending it to john@indoorcycleinstructor.com
I can’t find even the slightest bit of humor in the irony. This weekend, I finished editing Jim’s post on Jeff Wimmer’s passing. Jim’s tribute was moving, as I would have expected.
A few minutes later, I got a call that Jim, who was at a show in Brazil presenting Myride+ demo rides as only he could, had died of a heart attack.
I had to deliver the news to a number of people close to Jim, first and foremost his wife Angela. The calls couldn’t have been comforting because I couldn’t stop crying.
I’ve known Jim since my early college days. He was a diamond in the rough back then, but turned himself into the most impressive figure in the fitness industry. Many who read this will know I’m not exaggerating, that everything that’s been said about Jim is 100% accurate. Many fitness pros are more famous, but none is better than he was. When Jim talked about training, everyone listened.
Jim was my mentor. Among numerous other things, I learned from him how to teach Performance Max, one of the outstanding and unique programs Jim created, in the way he originally envisioned it. It meant so much when he said I was the best student he’d ever had.
Jim recently left PMax because his schedule got too full. The program is still in existence, but its soul has been replaced by statistics. Jim had that mind/body thing down and brought it to training as no one else ever could. I worked hard to stay true to it, but Jim was an impossible act to follow. The owner of PMax said about my attempts, “Jim does it better.” Of course, I knew that, but I never stopped using Jim’s classes as my blueprint. Why not emulate the very best?
Jim was my best friend, as well as my ex-husband. We remained so close over the years that it actually popped into my mind for a moment to call him when I needed to share this terrible news. Yikes.
The reactions of the people I’ve told have been as grief-stricken as my own. Jim touched many, many lives and in a profound way.
My entire family died within the space of a couple of years, and without Jim’s support I’d never have gotten through it. His departure leaves an alone-ness that might be difficult for most to comprehend.
I’ll dare to say that Jim was in many ways the best thing that ever happened to the fitness industry. In some ways, he was the best thing that ever happened to me.
I woke up on August 19 to read that indoor cycling enthusiast and specialized mechanic Jeff Wimmer was dead. Some of us have been in the business a long time and should expect that people around us will die; it’s part of growing old. Still, when someone as notable as Jeff Wimmer leaves us early, the enormous gap can’t be filled.
Jeff was what the cycling world calls a “wrench”. He fixed bikes, specifically indoor cycles. He taught for a while but, like a few other talented instructors, gravitated toward cycle construction, design and repair.
Jeff performed work for ICG and for me on several occasions, and I encouraged his employment in years-long contracts when I worked for Club One and Frog’s Fitness. Anyone who has taught indoor cycling classes long-term knows that the industry had much to learn in the early years about maintenance of a group fitness product. Until we rode indoor cycles, no group exercise equipment beyond the stereo and the microphone ever had to be maintained. Suddenly, we had bikes that needed servicing and quickly deteriorated if your club didn’t employ a wrench.
Jeff made a lot of us happy with well-tuned bikes that felt great — not to mention the many member complaints from which he spared us. If Jeff worked on the bikes, we knew every day we taught that the ride would be as smooth as new blacktop.
Jeff did far more than repair bikes; he refurbished them. I guess that’s called “green” these days. He created a business, Studio Cycles, for restoring and reselling indoor cycles, which enabled many customers to purchase top brands at a discount. Unlike top manufacturers, though, Jeff did all his own installations. He never shipped a bike and let someone else put it together. Those of us on the product side of the business know the importance of a quality installation. No matter how good the manufacturing is, if someone who doesn’t care about the bikes puts them together, there’s a good chance they’ll break down prematurely.
I feel the greatest contribution Jeff made to indoor cycling was what he did online. In all our industry, there’s no more prolific a blogger than Jeff was. The Internet features dozens of videos of Jeff discussing bike design and maintenance. He had a reputation for being merciless — but fair — in his evaluation of indoor cycles, and his positive endorsement could always be counted on to help promote bike sales.
The last contract I hired Jeff for involved an evaluation of a customer’s bikes that were in disrepair. True to his nature, Jeff was so upset with the obvious lack of maintenance that he sounded off to the customer onsite, creating a difficult situation for my colleagues, the customer and me. The thing is Jeff was right. The customer did need to be set straight about taking care of the equipment.
Jeff was passionate about bikes.
Riding the road can be dangerous, particularly if the equipment isn’t properly tuned. Obviously, danger is considerably reduced with indoor cycles. But the good feel of an indoor cycle is the main factor that enables us to share our passion for riding bikes with our students.
Jeff embodied the point I made in last week’s post. He was an artist. The maintenance and refurbishment of indoor cycles was more than his craft. You could tell from the way he spoke about Studio Cycles and his work. He approached every bike he fixed as a work of art. View his videos on YouTube; you’ll find them educational. Even more, they’re the legacy he created.
On a personal level, I didn’t know Jeff Wimmer well, but I will miss him. I’ll miss having him pop up at tradeshows to give me his opinion about… well, everything. I’ll miss hearing him tell me that we should have him review every one of our new bike designs before we ever bring a bike to market.
All of us at ICG® honor and respect what Jeff did for indoor cycling and will miss his passion, his blogs, his videos — and, mostly, his drive to help us create the perfect ride for our students.
Rest in peace, Jeff Wimmer. You were as authentic as it gets.
John's Note: sadly, this will be Jim's last post here at ICI/PRO. I heard from Joan Kent that Jim died Sunday of a heart attack. I'm not sure how to respond other than give everyone the chance to hear Jim Karanas one last time. What follows is my very first interview with Jim.
Hopefully some of you will catch that reference to a very awkward scene from one of my all-time favorite movies – Animal House.
It astounds and amazes me that;
A: These guys are still performing (very well I should add) when most people their age are in a nursing home and…
B: They still command some serious $$$ to perform… $30,000 to $150,000 a night serious.
If you were to ask Randy why people are willing to pay these old bands such big dollars to perform, his response would be; “Each band has had one of more Top 10 hits. Each is very recognizable and everyone in this room knows them – many by heart.” “Venues have a choice; bring in some unknown local band that no one has ever heard of, or, treat the baby boomers to a night filled with the music they listened to growing up… it's pretty much a no-brainer which will pack-em in.”
Most of the bands managed by Randy's company have gone through multiple member changes. Last year Amy and I got to hang out with The Guess Who – only the drummer and bass player are original members. Forgive me when I say this. When we were introduced I thought they were the grandparents of the band members 🙁 Which, when you figure they formed the band in 1958 and these two joined the year after I was born (in 1962), was an understandable mistake for me to make. That was until they played. If you had told me they were 30 year olds, wearing old-people masks, I would have believed you. They came alive on stage. Which maybe the secret to their success long into their late 70's and probably beyond .
At times Randy sources bands for private events when the event organizer has a special request. Last night we were treated to a show from the band formally know as ELO & ELO2, now simply going by the name The Orchestra. That link will take you to a page showing their tour dates and locations. Those guys are performing all over the world. Last week they were in the UK and later this Fall they have a bunch of shows in Eastern Europe. How fun would that be?
ELO/The Orchestra played a 90 minute set last nigh. I knew every song and from the energy in the crowd, so did everyone at the event!
I'm thinking my class would enjoy hearing some of these old hits as well. So I've but together this playlist from the bands Randy manages. No super serious profile – just something I hope brings a smile to everyone in attendance.
