by Christine Hawthorne | Jan 29, 2016 | Instructor Training, Music
Are you ready for some football??? Superbowl Sunday is just over a week away and if you are planning on creating a Superbowl themed ride or playlist this year, I have just the tunes to get you started. First, here's a playlist that includes five tunes to get you started with your ride music:
Official Gameday Music of the NFL iTunes link
I found a decent playlist with music for the Panthers, but I wasn't able to find much for the Denver Broncos:
Black and Blue: Official Music of The Carolina Panthers iTunes Link
Something fun to add to your playlist might be a song or two from the halftime artist, Coldplay. Maybe Every Teardrop is a Waterfall, Clocks, Viva La Vida or Sky Full of Stars. (I've also heard Beyonce' and Bruno Mars will be playing in the show)!
And just for fun, why not add in the NFL theme song? Here are a few versions:
NFL on Fox Bobby Morganstein iTunes link
The Theme to NFL on CBS by E.S. Posthumus iTunes link
And we can't forget about this one to get your riders ready for the big game:
Crowd Chant iTunes Link
I hope you can use some of these ideas as you put your Superbowl ride together this year!
by Christine Hawthorne | Jan 22, 2016 | Music
Last week I wrote about how I use many different genres of music in my cycling classes. While I did mention that I sometimes used classical music, what I didn't tell you was that I particularly love to use music that has been scored for movies. Many of my favorites come from German composer Hans Zimmer. If you're not familiar with his name, you are definitely familiar with his music. He has written scores for The Lion King, Gladiator, Inception and The Dark Knight just to name a few. I've loved using Time, Now We Are Free and A Dark Knight in the past.
This week, the score to Kung Fu Panda 3 was released and while there is not much here that I would use, I did find a few little gems. One of them is called Passing the Torch. Here's how I'll be riding to it in my class next week:
(We don't have cadence meters on our bikes, so I'll just be giving you guidelines on how the ride should feel. Feel free to use your own interpretation.)
:00-1:30 moderate seated climbing, adding gear every 15 seconds to heavy seated climb
1:30-2:00 increase cadence but don't take gear off
2:00-3:30 maintain cadence, and start taking gear off every 15 seconds
3:30 maintain gear and increase cadence to the finish
I hope you have fun with the one in your classes!
iTunes link
Do you have any favorite songs from movie scores that you enjoy cycling to in your classes?
by Dennis Mellon | Jan 16, 2016 | Dennis Mellon, Music
With the passing of David Bowie earlier in the week I decided to take a walk back down Memory Lane. I put together a harmonically mixed playlist of songs from years past and the era of my youth. The feedback I've received from my class participants has been overwhelming. I often think we, as instructors, try too hard to find the latest and greatest music to share with our class, when some of the greatest music has already been written and performed and many of these artists are passing away. Though they may have passes they have left us with the gift of their talent and artistry.
I challenge you to use this playlist in one of your classes this week and I bet you'll receive all the positive feedback I did.
iTunes Link
by Christine Hawthorne | Jan 15, 2016 | Music
Those of you that have been following my blog and playlists for a while know that I enjoy all different kinds of music. I might include pop, classic rock, house and classical music all in one playlist during any given class.
There is definitely a divide between music that I listen to in my leisure time and music that I love to use in my cycling classes. For example, I am a huge Beatles fan and I love listening to the soft rock ballads of the 70's, but I don't really see a place for them in my cycling playlists. On the other hand, I would never listen to Pitbull for pleasure, but I love using his songs in my classes. Here's a new release from Mr. 305 himself that I used this past week as a standing climb.
iTunes link
Another song I used this week is one that I pulled from my ‘hills' folder from 2001. I always love using Safri Duo in my classes. This one is a favorite:
iTunes link
I hope you enjoy using both of these in your classes.
Do you have any favorite new releases or old favorites?
by Christine Hawthorne | Jan 8, 2016 | Music
This week's favorite track features two artists that I love using in my classes. Steve Aoki and Fall Out Boy joined forces in this track that was released in 2014. It can be found Aoki's album Neon Future 1, which also features another favorite, Delirious (Boneless). The song is called Back to Earth and I love to use it as an alternating seated flat road/standing climb. You can listen and hear the obvious breaks in the song where you will switch positions, but to make it easy on you, here is the timing that I used:
:00-:52 Seated flat road (or climb)
:52-1:52 Standing climb
1:52-2:44 Seated flat road (or climb)
2:44-4:04 Standing climb
iTunes link
