I've been consumed learning all about the Deezer music service and completely forgot to post this yesterday 🙁
My memory is a bit fuzzy, but I'm pretty sure the very first Indoor Cycling class I taught was in the fall of 1998 – about 15 years ago. Amy had just been hired to develop an Indoor Cycling program at Bokoo Bikes, a new local bicycle retailer where I was leading their outdoor group rides. The owner's plan was to add some life and energy to the store, during the cold/dark/long winter months when people aren't much interested in visiting a store that sells outdoor bicycles.
We had four Instructors, eight Lemond bikes, a single speaker and our own corner of the bike store. Amy organised a schedule of two weekday – evening classes, one on Saturday morning and I taught a 90 minute endurance class on Sundays. It was awesome… until 2004 when Life Time Fitness built a big box club a few miles down the road. We lost everyone to their beautiful, dedicated studio with 45 new Spinner NXTs, four speakers + a massive subwoofer and showers.
This actually worked out well for me. Between teaching in the winter and leading summer group rides, I had developed a loyal following. These friends made a few suggestions (gotta love those comment cards) to the Life Time department head, which resulted in my current employment.
15 years is a long time to be doing anything and the need to stay fresh (at least for me) is a continuous process.
One strategy to keep from getting stale has been to do the unexpected. Instead of teaching from the normal front & center position, I'll jump in and ride with my class. This is really effective when you're using virtual ride videos and actually teaching to what's being displayed.
Another option to shake things up is to teach with OPM (other people's music). Spotify makes it so easy to grab another Instructor's music and hit play. This may sound like it would result in a random & disorganised class, but it doesn't. If you've taught for a bunch of years like I have, the class just flows out of you.
Barbara Hoots taught me the value of using a remix of a well know song – and a well produced mashup is even better – to grab both your and your classes attention. Here are a few mashups that you can use to shake things up in your class for your free tracks this week.
I really love Fleetwood Mac and this mashup with Adele is awesome.
No one will be expecting this to include the Bee Gees.
Macy’s has a great soundtrack rolling right now. We were all dancing and grooving away today to this ‘oldie, but goodie’ while I was working there. It was really fun! We all know how our members and participants like recognizable tunes and this will make a great JRA (just riding along) climb at 62 rpm’s. You might even get a couple of them to pull a dance move or two 🙂
Here is Marvin Gaye and ‘Got to Give It Up’:
Spotify has multiple versions of this in different lengths.
And here is the link to a remix for your free download:
Are you using the SoundTracking App in Spotify? It's an awesome way to sample songs that are trending on Spotify. By trending I don't mean Top 40 / Billboard new tracks – these are popular tracks Spotify users are enjoying of all genres & time periods.
Here's a great example of an old tune from the band Queen that I can't actually remember ever hearing. The Show Must Go On is classic Queen, heavy on the use of orchestral music combined with Brian May's signature guitar solos. A powerful song at 84 rpm that I can see using as the intro to a long climb. You may want to pair it with another Queen track, with a slightly slower cadence, like Queen — Keep Yourself Alive to create an 8 minute climb with a nice flow as the road steepens and everyone's Heart Rate heads north.
Here's a powerful instrumental version of The Show Must Go On for your free track.
I'm not sure if I would use this – but if you enjoy using original recordings (I'm tempted to call this a demo) that are different from what everyone remembers – but recognizable none the less – you may enjoy this version of Keep Yourself Alive.
Rule #1 when you're stuck in a music rut – look for someone to help pull you out! And I followed this rule today in my search for inspiration for this weeks track – ICG Master Trainer Vanessa Wilkins is providing our song and she doesn't even know it 🙂
That's the beauty of Spotify. Once we're connected, and I need a fresh perspective, I can check out what music you're using and grab a few tracks for myself.
If you're young you might not be familiar with the Brothers Johnson – they were pretty popular back in the Disco days. Vanessa is using Brothers Johnson — Strawberry Letter 23 in this playlist of her's Memories.
Once I heard it I remembered how I used to think the band Yes had crashed the recording session – give a listen at the complete change of genre at the 2:25 mark. This is a nice 90rpm flat that many of your more “seasoned” participants will enjoy.
Today's free track is included on Chris Nielsen's Going The Distance Audio PROfile class playlist – but isn't available on Spotify. It also works very well following last week's recovery track = communicates a very intense segment in your profile.
As you listen to Medieval, you may hear yourself telling the story woven into the music. Powerful horses approaching and then running through the village square, then continuing cross-country. Unrelenting in their speed as they cross a vast distance, until finally reaching their destination.
The artist is Etnoscope and you'll find a number of powerful 70ish RPM tracks there on Spotify.
