I rarely provide the backstory for my rides, because it is rarely necessary.  You can take the profile and the music and get on a bike and have a great workout and all is well.  But this ride is unique, and I can’t explain it without telling you how it came to be.

As is true for many great things in my life, this ride was born on accident and took on a life of its own.  It started out neatly structured, well-planned and thought-out:  a circuit ride combined with a time ladder for increasing sustainability and challenging our abilities to work hard without blowing up…

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Once again, credit for this ride belongs to Patrick Schutte. He does an incredible job of crafting rides that mimic the terrain of some of the greatest races in the world. This one is no exception. It is a tough push through the hills of France. There are five mountain passes that are challenging, to say the least. A downhill after each provides an opportunity for recovery. Riders will maintain heart rates in the Strength Zone (75-85%). If you choose, you can let the heart drop more significantly in the recoveries, creating a nice Interval Ride instead. This is a fun one, and you won’t be disappointed!
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This is an out and back that models riding out to the beach, playing in the water for a bit, then riding home. I showed IMAX: Coral Reef on our projector screens while we were riding to add to the fun! I also erred on the side of variety when choosing music, because I have an amazingly disparate group of riders in my new Wednesday 6:30 time slot. A little something for everyone, especially the gents this time.
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I went back to teaching Spinning regularly at the start of January, and I am very excited to share with you the rides I’ve been doing with my class. The first profile I worked on was a modification of a Loop Ride from Pedal On. I modified it to make it very user-friendly. I wanted the very first class I taught to have a little something for everyone, be easy to coach, and not take too much out of me if I rode it along side them. It went over well, and I think I picked a decent mix for not knowing who I would have in the class. Everything is available in the links below. Take a look below:
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After nearly 9 months hiatus, I finally returned to teach my first Spinning class. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to — scheduling just never worked in my favor. I am also fortunate to work in one club where sub requests are snatched up instantly, but the flip side of that is that I have been too slow to pick up extra classes! Eventually (and it was bound to happen sooner or later), the fine gentleman who replaced me in my early morning spot decided to take a vacation, so I stepped in to teach the folks I had the pleasure of leading for almost two years once again. What a great group of folks! They welcomed me back and took away any of the nervousness I was feeling as I got my bike set up. We had a great ride, and, naturally, I want to share it with you!
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This ride was inspired by one of several Add-it-On rides on Pedal-on. It’s pretty much all-terrain, but it doesn’t feel like it is all over the place. This ride has a simple structure that allow a variety of heart rates, so it’s fun, and helps the time go by quickly. Here is the gist: The whole ride is broken down into 1 minute segments. We start off with a full circuit of segments (minus one) and explore nearly all of the positions and movements in Spinning. Then, each time we repeat the circuit, we take off one of the movements until we finish. Then, we repeat the circuit, adding the movements back one at a time until we finish. Simple, fun, challenging — just what you want from Spinning! There are also many coachable moments within this style of ride, so help your students treat each new minute of movement as its own opportunity for growth and strength. Here come the goodies:
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