I love learning about our members, their backgrounds, and where they teach. Recently, we received notes from two women who have both served as indoor cycle instructors while on active military duty. Note: Active duty instructors receive a complimentary ICI/PRO Membership.
Tammie just recently retired after a little more than 20 years of service to the United States. She started teaching indoor cycling classes in Afghanistan in 2010 and enjoyed every minute. She said “it was an exhilarating experience teaching the soldiers. When I was in Afghanistan, soldiers would line up to get a chance to spin and leave their unspoken fears and frustrations behind for just 45 minutes to an hour.” Lacking road bike experience, Tammie found her ICI/PRO membership valuable because it helped her learn the fundamentals of indoor cycling.
Oxana, pictured on the instructor bike, is also an active duty instructor currently stationed on a military installment with her husband in Korea. Oxana reached out to us at ICI/PRO because she was looking for ways to instruct that would benefit her students, who are all at very different fitness levels. She appreciates her ICI/PRO membership because she is eager to help her students “learn and enjoy cycling.” Oxana is curious — and, so are we! — if there are other instructors who teach on military bases within the ICI/PRO community.
What would it be like to open your own Indoor Cycling Studio?
I thought you may be interested to know, so I asked Lorie Bickford to tell us about the process of creating (along with her husband Jeff) JoyRide Indoor Cycling Studio in Salem Oregon. We discuss her initial vision, how she found space, how she decided on Schwinn AC Sport Indoor Cycles, working with her new neighbors and how she is promoting her new business to the local Salem community. Bill Pryor and I have been helping Lorie and Jeff with business planning and online marketing of her Indoor Cycling Studio.
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This ride is completed in just three stages of work – Two “Flat Sandwiches” and a simulated run on the beach. The first two stages are the “Flat Sandwiches.” Each sandwich is made up of a hill, a flat, and a hill. They are both approximately 15 minutes long and they are identical in intensity. The first hill is Moderate effort, the flat progresses from Moderate to Hard effort and the second hill moves riders from Hard through to an Anaerobic ending. The goal is to give the second Flat Sandwich equal or better effort and focus than the first.
In preparations for this Sunday's LIVE online training I was doing some prep work with Amy's Android phone. Note to self, when it's time to upgrade, stick with a new iPhone 4g if at all possible.
Maybe my frustrations were non-typical, but I found trying to switch worlds from iPhone > Android difficult and a bit frustrating. I got sucked into the the VCast world where Verizon wireless will show me the path to App enlightenment… except it didn't lead me to the place where I could download the stinking Spotify App. I had asked Amy (it's her phone) “how do I get to the Apps store?” I don't know… let's take a look.” Which lead us to the “special” store that Verizon has set up that is missing the most important App under the “Music” heading, which as far as I'm concerned is Spotify.
It's important to note here that I'm a PC guy, but I am slowly understanding the whole MAC thing…
“Abby, can you help me find the Spotify App on your mom's phone?” was very productive. She (Abby is under 25, so she understands both worlds) quickly took me to the Android Marketplace (you'll find it, you just need to scroll down below the deceptive Vcast App World icon) to the “Market Place” where you can search for the Spotify download.
Once (or if) you find it you can down load the Spotify App for your Droid phone.
Once I had the Spotify App installed I was asked to log in… but before I could, I had to approve a somewhat sinister message; Steaming or syncing playlists over your 3g or 4g connection can consume large amounts of data and potentially cost you a king's ransom in digital download fees 🙁
OK, I added that last part about the King myself. But this is important; your Smart Phone (doesn't matter which type) needs to be set properly so any transfers occur via wireless Internet, not a cellular connection. The screen shot I have above shows my iPhone (still trying to learn how to do this with Amy's Android) has syncing over 3g turned off, so I have no fears of going broke paying excessive download fees for syncing music to my iPhone.
This Sunday's LIVE training is over full so I will be scheduling a second very soon. You can click here to join the notification list for future Spotify, iTunes and MixMeister LIVE online training sessions.
Below, Premium Members can follow links to download all the above media, view and download a printable Class Profile that can be used in class, read a detailed description of the Power Based Training Zones and download a printable Power Postcard.
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Charles (Spook) Hilgartner teaching his class at InSync Cycle
It began as the dream of many Instructors – starting your own fitness business. Charles (Spook) Hilgartner made his dream real by opening the first dedicated indoor cycling studio in the Baltimore Metropolitan area. It was very sad to hear that InSync Cycle Studio closed.
On a personal note:
For the past three years, I have enjoyed the challenge of creating and operating InSync. I have had the pleasure and privilege of meeting and greeting hundreds of riders and making some special friends.This, I will really miss.
But what happened in the studio, during class was really incredible. We have had the best instructors! Their teaching skills and unique styles, music and personalities created an amazing cycling environment that all of us have enjoyed. I thank them for that.
It’s the combination, of instructors and dedicated riders, that has made InSync Cycle Studio a pretty good place to ride.
Some of Spook's Instructors created this very touching video as a good-by.
http://youtu.be/N54Y-N9gJkg
I've known Spook since before InSync and appreciated his agreement to be interviewed on the Podcast. Our intent is to help other existing (and potential) cycling studio owners. We discuss his thoughts and feelings about what he did right… and what he did wrong.
Two main points surfaced during our conversation:
Spook's experiences reinforced the absolute importance of having quality Instructors + a bench of available substitutes.
He feels he would have benefited by having a partner with complimentary skills to his.
I wasn't previously aware of this regulatory issue > Depending on your studio's pricing model, your state or city may require you to secure bonding to protect customers who purchase ride cards with future expiration dates. Spook explains this need for bonding during the interview.
Looking for a used studio sound system? You can contact Spook 444-722-5433 or Spook@indoorcycleinstructor.com
classes in Afghanistan in 2010 and enjoyed every minute. She said “it was an exhilarating experience teaching the soldiers. When I was in Afghanistan, soldiers would line up to get a chance to spin and leave their unspoken fears and frustrations behind for just 45 minutes to an hour.” Lacking road bike experience, Tammie found her ICI/PRO membership valuable because it helped her learn the fundamentals of indoor cycling.
in Korea. Oxana reached out to us at ICI/PRO because she was looking for ways to instruct that would benefit her students, who are all at very different fitness levels. She appreciates her ICI/PRO membership because she is eager to help her students “learn and enjoy cycling.” Oxana is curious — and, so are we! — if there are other instructors who teach on military bases within the ICI/PRO community.
