A great excuse for a long endurance ride
Monthly movie night at the Maryland Athletic Club (MAC) started last year. It was held on Friday night at 6 PM in our Spinning studio. Our Spinning room has a mounted LCD projector and a section for the front wall was painted with a special paint that would act as a movie screen.
Various instructors volunteered to host movie night and select the movie for the evening. The rides are easy for the most part. The basis idea was LSD (long slow distance), though sometimes the music may encourage some to climb out of the saddle or do a short sprint.
The instructor is responsible for bringing any treats (popcorn or whatever) and to keep the members' water bottles full. Movie selection was always an issue. Some movies we showed included "The Italian Job" and "Kill Bill". The program died sometime ago and I am not sure why - it might have been because of lack of instructor interest or time of year.
A few weeks ago someone asked if it was going to start up again and I said I would try it. Our first movie will be "August Rush" and soon after that, "American Flyer" a classic bicycle movie. Here is a web site of other bicycle movies. Miracle on Ice would have been a great movie a few weeks ago prior to the Olympic hockey finale. I read somewhere that one instructor did a century ride and played all three Bourne movies back to back.
Movie selection is very important and getting the word out is even more important. Depending on your facility, you might want to offer free babysitting.
We also do video rides. During the Tour de France, I show power point and YouTube clips of where the tour was riding that day and what we were going to do with that same ride in class.
If you have any question email me at spookh@indoorcycleinstructor.com
Do you do movie nights at your facility? What has your experience been? What kind of turnout have you gotten? What movies have been the most requested, and/or the most popular? Are the "instructors" paid?
Originally posted 2010-03-11 07:25:59.
John is a member on the AFS (Association of Fitness Studios) Advisory Council.
Holding certifications from; Schwinn, Heart Zones, Team ICG and Life Time Fitness, John's held regularly scheduled cycling classes between 1998 and 2015 when he moved to Florida.
When the weather permits, you'll find him riding and leading outdoor groups by himself or with his Tandem partner (wife) Amy.
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At one club where I used to run the program we did a movie night for a season or two, usually in late winter through Spring. It generally drew cyclists who were not likely to come to the Spinning classes on the schedule. Most used it for LSD. There was no instructor – the manager on duty (on Friday nights it was Dan, who was one of the instructors and an avid cyclist) would simply come in and start the movie, check to see that everyone was doing fine, and then check the room at the end. Numbers ranged from 2-5, with some nights where no one showed up. I told Dan it was due to his poor movie choices – usually stupid guy flicks like Dumb and Dumber! So yes, as you say Spook, the movie choice is crucial. I would stick to blockbuster, recently released or movies that the group votes on (if you have a regular group).
Cycling films are fun for a slim portion of the population – but of course, American Flyer is a true classic!
I did a “Cycling at the Cinema” fee based event a few years ago. One of my clients owned a high end audio video store and we set up 4 plasmas and a ridiculous sound system, $40,000 worth, in our clubs cafe area. I used the Olympic mountain bike documentary “Off-Road to Athens” for two shows and some various DVD’s footage and traditional music to promote our local professional “Twilight Criterium” for one show.
I had modest turnout, about 70% for all three shows, but the feedback by participants and passer bys thought it was amazing! One of the coolest things I have ever done. Unfortunately management didn’t see it that way because one or two people complained about not being able to sit in the cafe and the fact that people were sweating on the carpet.
Also we paid a royalty fee to the film maker($100). If you are charging for the class and showing movies, I think this is illegal unless you get permission or pay. It is that warning you see at the beginning of every movie…although on this small scale I would hope this would never be an issue.
I would highly recommend “Off-Road to Athens,” “24 solo” (same guys who did “Off-Road…), Miracle(last 20minutes), and Dust to Glory (docu. of Baja 1000).
I would have to agree with you on American Flyer- loved it! Super Classic-