Great music from a great site for a great price: FREE!! How does a complimentary copy of “I Gotta Feelin” by Black Eyed Peas or Rihanna’s latest, “Russian Roulette” sound to you? I snatched up these plus more for free right now at Masterbeat — don’t miss it!!

10 free downloads from Masterbeat!

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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Happy National Bicycle to Work Day!! It is May 15, and yes, today is the day that we celebrate by doing something good for our bodies and good for the environment. You did ride your bike to work today, didn’t you? If you are already at work and wondering why nobody told you, rest assured there is still time for you to get in on the fun! Here are some songs about bikes, working, riding, and going to school that you can add into your class mix this afternoon or next week. It’s never too late to encourage your riders to get their bikes out of the shed and get on the roads!

• Metro Station – Shake It (Lenny B Remix)
• Queen – Bicycle Race
• A Tribute to the Beatles – A Hard Day's Night
• 16 Bit Lolitas – Passing Lights
• Coldplay – Viva la Vida
• Mamma Mia! (Soundtrack) – Money, Money, Money
• Donna Summer – She Works Hard for the Money
• Hexes & Ohs – Try So Hard
• Busted – What I Go to School For
• Goldfrapp – Ride a White Horse
• Freezepop – bike thief
• The Pussycat Dolls – When I Grow Up
• Jem – Just a Ride
• Huey Lewis & The News – Workin for a Livin
• Cake – The Distance
• Eagles – Life In the Fast Lane
• Peter Gabriel – Don't Give Up

Have a Happy Bike-to-Work Day!!

Note (5-15-09): The crossed out links have been fixed, and I double checked — all of these links work! Enjoy your music!

Happy Brithday to me, thanks to Masterbeat.com! I just peeked in my email and discovered that they gave me a birthday present — a credit for a free music download! I used it to buy

Akon – Beautiful (Sted E & Hybrid Heights Dub Mix)  

which I found on the

MasterBeat Q1 2009 Top Remixes  list.

Good stuff!

If you don’t have a Masterbeat account, I highly recommend you get one. Especially if your birthday is coming up! I’m jus’ sayin’….

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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I just discovered a new site for getting music that has caused me to get not a drop of work done today!! The website is Masterbeat.com.  As an avid (and by “avid” I mean rabid, mouth-foaming with excitement) fan of dance remixes, I could not contain my excitement while perusing their outstanding collection of remixes, electronica, and dance music.  So here’s a no-brainer:  What’s better for our Spinning Profiles and Group Fitness Classes than music the participants know and love?  Answer: Music they know and love with a beat that makes them want to dance!

I know you are going to find something here you can’t live without. I just listened to the Top Ten List in the Right-Hand menu and cannot wait to start putting a ride together for this! I’m setting to work on that playlist and I will share when I’ve got it together. I’ll also have to figure out how to link directly to a song — so far I’m only getting albums. But I digress. Get there. Go now! Grab your headphones and start downloading!! Here’s that website again:

Masterbeat.com

You know you want to dance!!