Come and ride the culmination of 3 days of training in the French alps by knocking down a climbers dream. Four distinct climbs, with the two finishers on the exact road ridden by the Tour de France just 2 days after this DVD was filmed on the Columbiere.
OBJECTIVE AND INTENSITY
The focus and objective of this ride is to still have something left in our legs and body to ride strong on the last climb up the Col de la Columbiere. Consistent with the preceding climb up the Col des Aravis, our goal will be to both manage our ability to ride in Zone 3 (75-80%) and Zone 4 (80-90%) and develop and test our muscular endurance.
Tom's recommendation is to use the music included with the DVD.
Listen to Tom's presentation below or you will find it in your ICI/PRO Member feed in iTunes – You can view a tutorial video about setting up your “Super Secret iTunes Feed” here.
With both our kids out of the house and in college, Amy and I have talked about potentially moving somewhere else. The idea of living in a new location has a lot of appeal to me, after spending the majority of my life in the frozen northlands of Minnesota.
To paraphrase the saying; “go big or go home” in weightlifting… why not; “go far or stay home?” As in moving to another country, like say the UK?
I'm not sure if that would be possible (or acceptable to my two daughters) but if I did move to to the UK, what would it take to get certified so I could teach in London or some other British city?
I thought it would be fun to find out, so I contacted Doyle Armstrong who's the Program Director with the Indoor Cycling Group (and lives in the UK) to help me understand what's required to get my REPs certification – the equivalent of ACE here in the USA .
The Register of Exercise Professionals (REPs) is the independant public register which recognises the qualifications and expertise of exercise and fitness professionals in the UK.
Membership of REPs provides assurance and confidence to consumers, employers and health care professionals that all REPs registered exercise and fitness professionals are appropriately qualified and have the knowledge, competence and skills to perform specific roles.
If you have a question for Doyle you can leave it below or post it on the Team ICG Facebook page.
Listen below as Doyle explains the REPs certification process in the latest episode of the Indoor Cycle Instructor Podcast.
As an Indoor Cycling Instructor one of the biggest challenges to me is satisfying so many diverse music needs in class and as well know you can't please all the riders all of the time. That's why for me mash-ups are a must to give my riders something they know mixed in a way that is new, entertaining and motivating, especially when you take something from the past and mix it up with the rhythm and energy of today.
In this case six different INXS tracks (I can still remember the first time I saw them play opening up for Men At Work's first world tour) with Magic Fly – Two Planets, for a nice 5min 125BPM track.
It gives you lots of potential for a variety of movements on the open road, and best of all if you use Mixmeister to put your play lists together with, you can tweaked the BPM down or up; 116-118 for use on a climb or setting up some jumps or try raising it up to 128BPM for some speed work.
ICI/PRO member Bob Blatz informed me he's having trouble with MixMeister and the new Mac operating software.
Hi John,
I know you are a big advocate of MixMeister Express for the creation of IDC playlist, but you and other instructors should know that the product does not work with the Lion version of the MAC OS.
When I contacted MixMeister support folks about the constant crashes they told me that their products didn't work with the the two most current OS releases and that there were no refunds on software purchased. I was able to get a refund after contacting “customer services”.
Just thought you and and any MAC users should be aware of this.
Bob Blatz
I don't have a Mac, but didn't MixMeister only recently begin offering a Mac compatible version of MixMeister Express? That they don't offer an update isn't all that surprising, but certainly not excusable. I've not had very good responses from them when I've had troubles in the past.
This forum thread at Community.MixMeister.com discusses how the problem has been going on for a year or more.
Bob offers a good lesson – if you're not satisfied with a companies response, keep pushing until until you are 🙂
I suppose that this still isn't a reason to give up on Mac and switch to a PC, is it?
In just a week the group heads to the Cabot Trail. Last Sunday we did our final group ride – 103 km and 1100 meters of climbing. That's a little longer than their longest day on the trail but not as much climbing. On their hardest day they'll do about 1700 m. All told the ride will be 307 km with 4250 m of climbing. On Sunday their average moving speed was very respectable and they did an excellent job of managing their hydration and snacks.
I was in a position recently to describe this project to groups of serious cyclists. I was taken aback by their reactions. They were not supportive. They showed scorn for my group's equipment, the timeline for their ride, their average speed …. Several even asked me if I was concerned about the effect on me of riding with the group.
I didn't react to what I considered provocative comments. There's no point in talking to people who don't ‘get it'. But those conversations made me very sad. Sad that people couldn't remember the beginning of their own journey and sad/mad that they were unwilling or unable to celebrate others who were just discovering the joys of exercise and cycling, in particular.
Those interactions just confirmed for me the importance of not losing touch with what it felt like to be a beginner. The earliest steps are the most important for making a profound change. It also hardened my determination to ensure that no one in my classes will ever feel ‘less than' the others in the room.
In my note following our ride on Sunday I used only two words: mission accomplished. The members of the group each set a goal and then did the hard work to prepare for that goal. Along the way they learned a lot about physiology, nutrition and the importance of mental preparation. The riders should be judged on those achievements, not on the bikes they ride, their speed or whether they end up walking some of the steepest grades.
I had my own mission when I started this project. When we return I will write a more thoughtful reflection on the intersection of the indoor and outdoor cycling worlds as played out in our journey.
John's note: The picture is of my Mission Accomplished moment – completing my goal of riding 1,000 miles during the Summer of 1995. As I read Christine's article above, I couldn't help but dig through Amy's photo albums to find the picture to share it with you. I had been carrying a disposable camera for just this occasion and my riding friend Wendy snapped the picture at the exact spot where the computer flipped to 4 digits 🙂
I have to admit that if I saw someone today riding a $200 Giant Cross Bike, wearing a tee-shirt, cheap bike shorts and $10.00 helmet, my inclination would be to think; “what a dork!” At the time I didn't know any better. And yet this was a huge moment for me.
I'm the type of person who, when I think I'm going to start something new, feel a strong need to look the part. You know, go out and buy all the gear. And then all that gear ends up collecting dust in a corner of the garage once I've lost interest. But my commitment to becoming a cyclist was going to be different. I pulled down this long neglected Cross Bike I had purchased the last time I had decided to “get fit” and told everyone I knew I was going to ride it for a thousand miles before I bought anything expensive for my new hobby – although I did end up buying a bike computer to keep track of my mileage and toe straps.
Only after accomplishing my “mission” did I even consider buying all the “stuff” one buys in order to “look like a cyclist.” I may have looked like a dork that day… but I didn't feel like one.
I didn't care what others thought of me. I had overcome the biggest obstacle I've ever faced, myself. And I felt damn good about it.
Constant improvement is the mark of a professional
Team ICG® Master Trainer Chuck Cali
It’s Friday afternoon, the end of a week cluttered with my own classes and subbing others. Many triples and quads. I’m tired. My unwillingness to fake it on the lead bike takes energy and catches up with me now. I reflect.
It’s been a good week. Jim Karanas said I was a great asset. The group exercise director at an upscale club said I was just what she needed for their new cycle studio.
I love writing, especially about indoor cycling. How did I get here, telling you my story? I wanted to improve my craft: indoor cycle instruction.
I sold my flying school in 2007. A fitness fanatic all my life, I decided cardio fitness was my next career. Since I loved Spinning, I got certified, determined to do it better than anyone.
But after my eight-hour certification, I realized I wasn’t prepared to teach cardio on a stationary bike.
Sure, I could go through the motions, but didn’t understand cardiovascular training or the biomechanics of riding. I could make people sweat and get their heart rates up, but needed more to be as good as I wanted to be.
In flying, we talk about experience in hours. The flying axiom: 10,000 hours in one’s log book means either 10,000 hours of experience or one hour’s experience 10,000 times. In flying, I was in the former category. My goal was to be there with indoor cycle instruction.
I needed to improve my craft.
I googled “indoor cycle instruction.” At the top of the list was ICI/PRO, talking about something they called “Indoor Cycling 2.0”.
There were other listings. Many. I spent hours on all of them. It became crystal clear that ICI/PRO was a strategic resource.
It came together for me right here and can for you, as well. How can you improve your craft?
1. START HERE. If you haven’t done so, I recommend buying the ICI/PRO premium membership.
Set your browser to open to ICI/PRO. First thing every day (yes, before email, the stock market, or sports), read the new posts and listen to the podcasts and audio profiles. If something piques your interest, print it. John always puts playlists in Spotify. If you don’t have Spotify, get it and buy the premium version. I’m inept at Spotify, but it has still saved my butt more than once. Just be sure your favorite playlists are “available offline” — that’s why you need the premium version.
I know, I’ve already got you spending $20 a month, but improving your craft is worth it. (I don’t get a penny.)
2. COMMUNICATE & GET INVOLVED. There’s not one person posting on ICI who wouldn’t love to hear from and help you. Comment on our posts. (Yes, we read them.) If you prefer privacy, John will know how to reach us. Then we can Skype, talk on the phone, whatever; but first you must get to us.
We’re all deeply invested in Indoor Cycling 2.0 and want to talk to you. Me too.
The contacts I’ve made through ICI/PRO have accelerated my understanding of cardiovascular training — exactly what I wanted when I started this craft-improving thing.
3. UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU’RE TEACHING. Indoor cycling is a cardiovascular workout that mimics riding a bicycle on the road. My outdoor riding has added a valuable dimension to my teaching. The pages on ICI/PRO discuss everything outdoor cycling can do for indoor cycling. But you don’t have to ride outside to improve your craft.
The biomechanics of cycling are the key to getting your riders to perform better, hurt less and train harder. If that’s not enough, Jim Karanas, Gene Nacey and Tom Scotto can help.
4. TRY SOMETHING NEW. Break free of your comfort zone. You can start simply by taking another instructor’s class. What did you like? Not like? I’ve learned much watching other instructors.
How about changing your routine? Do you rush in a minute before class? Committing to a 15- to 30-minute early arrival changes you from flakey, flustered and hurried to reliable, ready, steady — and able to bring your riders to a much different state.
Select one of the audio profiles and do it.
My first break from my comfort zone was teaching power. I bought the wall charts, put together a training plan and playlists, printed cards for recording baseline numbers. I practiced.
The program flopped famously, they thanked me and replaced me, but what I learned was invaluable. (If you’re wondering why the program flopped, learning from failures is my next post.)
5. ADD A CERTIFICATION! ICG® offers free education on its web site. Much of it is complete with CECs and lots of interesting stuff, including teaching to Forward Motion Video.
Every major contributor to ICI offers new or add-on certifications.
6. CONNECT WITH YOUR RIDERS! Maybe this should be number one. It’s the single most important skill to hone. (See my earlier post on Connections.) Will it improve your craft? Your riders will like you so much they won’t care.
The best of the best connect every time.
This morning, in a very experienced instructor’s class, I saw again how important it is to find your own style of connecting. This guy had us captivated, used everything in the room (himself, the equipment) to his advantage, and taught a challenging cycle-specific class.
When I spoke with him after class, though, he had little regard for virtual rides, felt the studio needed mirrors, and didn’t care about setting up AV equipment for optimal virtual possibilities. As good as he was, he was still on hour one for the 10,000th time.
