Spinning class: Tour de France - Stage 10

Week Two for my Spinning classes but Day Two in the Pyrenees for the Tour riders. Stage 10 starts back in Pau and heads again towards the mountains and a mountain-top finish at the Hautacam - it's the setting for this year's Etape Du Tour, when riders from all walks of life can attempt to ride a stage of that year's Tour, but I passed on it in favour of the Marmotte.

Profile



This one is fairly straightforward, although there is nothing easy about the long climb on the Tourmalet and the final assault on the Hautacam. We start off on a flat road, although we still have to work to keep a decent speed towards the first big climb of the day. Then there are rolling hills, where we add resistance before each one but maintaining our cadence by standing out of the saddle. We tackle the Tourmalet by starting at a fast climbing cadence but then slowing down the rhythm as the incline rises, varying our position on the bike to help break up the effort but without taking the heart rate too high - we can't afford to overdo it on the first climb or we'd lose too much time on the final ascent.

A brief respite as we head downhill, before the road leads up towards our final destination - Hautacam. No sprints on this one, just hard work and even harder work - when Lance Armstrong demonstrated his strength on this climb in 2000, he merely worked harder than others to leave them behind. There was no sudden burst of power, he just kept going until the others could not keep up. We do the same in three stages - there are suitable gaps in the final track when the vocals are a cappella and we increase resistance as the bass rhythm kicks back in, finishing in a show of strength for the final two minutes.

The Pyrenees are now over, the riders will have a well-deserved rest day before making their way to the Alps (which is where I'm going tomorrow for the Marmotte - see you next week!).

Warm up - 6.5 mins
Seated flat road - 7.5 mins
Rolling hills - 10 mins
Fast climb - 5 mins
Brief respite as we arrive at the Tourmalet - 1.5 mins
Fast seated and standing climb - 4 mins
Heavy seated to standing climb - 9.5 mins
Downhill recovery - 1.5 mins
Strong seated and standing climb - 8 mins
Cool down - 6 mins

Playlist

Voices - Dario G. feat. Vanessa Quinones
Clubbed to death - Rob D.
Children (Paul Oakenfold remix) - Robert Miles
A forest (extended remix) - The Cure
A fast and inspirational climbing track for which I don't have details (sorry!)
Uninvited (full length extended version) - Freemasons
3rd Earth - Solar Stone vs. Scott Bond
Beautiful strange - Bedrock

Spinning class: Tour de France - Stage 9

It's that special time of the year again - the Tour de France is about to begin! The biggest sporting event apart from the Olympics and the football World Cup... and they only come round once every four years.

If you're a newbie to the world of competitive cycling, I recommend checking out the official website of Le Tour, which has tons of info on the history of the Tour, past and current riders, stage by stage profiles, maps, etc. If you're a spinning instructor and wondering how you can bring the Tour into your rides, I can highly recommend Jennifer Sage's series of articles on her blog. I never thought, until I read her posts, that there are people out there who (unlike me) haven't been following Le Tour since before they could walk! I sigh and start to daydream whenever I hear the words Alpe d'Huez, Galibier, Tourmalet, Aubisque, Stelvio, Cima Coppi...

Anyway, back to Spinning. I personally find the mountain stages of the Tour the most exciting, probably because I get a kick out of climbing up the Alps and Pyrenees but also because they contain the most drama. There are five big stages on this year's Tour and this is the first on a series of rides I'll be leading this month - Stage 9 from Toulouse to Bagneres-de-Bigorre in the Pyrenees.

Profile



After a week on the flat roads of northern France, this is the first sight of those big bumps in the horizon but our ride begins with only a slight incline. We gradually increase resistance, standing out of the saddle as an option to maintain cadence. We keep the same resistance on another section of flat road with a very slight incline that leads us to the first sign of rolling hills, which we take by increasing resistance and standing out of the saddle to maintain our cadence all the way. Then the fun begins, as we hit the foothills of the Pyrenees - the first one we'll tackle in the saddle at a slower cadence, standing only at the end when the resistance gets too much for us. A quick recovery and then we head uphill again. After another downhill recovery, it's time to hit the two big climbs of the day - the first starts with a very steep incline, where we need to use a lot of strength to overcome the initial gradient, before we settle into a steady climb.

Did I say steady? Well, only if you want it to be! As you can see from the profile, there is a long downhill and flat stretch to the finish line. If we attacked on the second climb, anyone we dropped would be able to catch us up before the end. If we want to gain and keep a time gap, we'll need to attack on this first climb and maintain it up the second. So we'll attack twice with a 30-second surge, accelerating our leg speed as much as we can (with that resistance, it should be very hard to increase it by more than 50%). If you're going for the King of the Mountains (KoM) points (awarded to those who are among the first over the climbs) then keep sprinting for an additional 15 seconds. The longer downhill section should come as a relief after such a hard effort.

Final climb - we've worked hard to create a time gap between us and the chasing group, so we'll need to keep it on this next climb. Time to settle into a long hard climb in the saddle and, as your legs get used to the level of effort, gradually increase resistance to make sure the chasing pack don't gain time on us. Again, as an option, work even harder for the KoM points in the final couple of minutes - standing climb to overcome that extra resistance. Then we head downhill towards the finish line... but we can't afford to take it easy, the pack is working hard to catch up to us. So it's an active downhill - with moderate resistance - for the first 3 mins. A quick breather as the downhill slope is so steep that we can only freewheel and then it's two minutes of hard work straight to the finish line - fast cadence with resistance. Want to go for the stage victory? Turn up that resistance even higher and sprint the last 30 seconds! Now relax, it's over... until tomorrow!

Warm up - 4 mins
Running - 7.5 mins
Seated flat road - 5 mins
Jumps - 5 mins
Seated to standing climb - 4.5 mins
Downhill recovery - 0.5 mins
Seated to standing climb - 2.5 mins
Downhill recovery - 1 min
Seated to heavy standing climb - 1.5 mins
Seated climb with standing sprints - 5.5 mins
Downhill recovery - 2 mins
Seated to standing climb - 8.5 mins
Active downhill (not recovery!) - 6 mins
Cool down - 6.5 mins

Playlist

Rain - Mantra & Robina
The boy is mine (Club Mix) - Brandy & Monica
My friend - Groove Armada
Imagine (Echo N Stepz remix) - Shola Ama
Synaesthesia (Fly Away) - Thrillseekers feat. Sheryl Deane
Feel the beat - Darude
Acid 8000 - Fatboy Slim
Rapture (Deep Dish remix) - IIO
Clubbed to death - Rob D.
Right Samadhi - Chinmaya Dunster

Prem Joshua

While I was in Goa, I heard an eclectic mix of traditional sitar music and modern trance that I just had to have. During a visit at the infamous Anjuna market, I found a stall with hundreds of CDs - heaven for a music junkie like me - and listened to albums that included the artist Prem Joshua. Nope, I'd never heard of him either! I had though he'd be of Indian descent but I later found out he was German. The following is taken from his website, which I highly recommend visiting, especially as you can hear samples of his music.

He began learning the flute at the age of five then went on to perform in various Rock, Jazz and Fusion bands as a flute and saxophone player, always searching for new ways of expressing and expanding his music. However, a musical “discontent”, combined with his search for the spiritual, pulled him, perhaps inevitably, towards India - her culture and her music. He remembers vividly hearing Indian music for the first time, age 16 - a crackly vinyl record of a sitar performance by Ravi Shankar: “I had never heard anything like this before,” Joshua recalls. “It was beyond my musical grasp and experience but was something of such immense beauty and depth. It felt unfamiliar and mysterious - yet at the same time like a remembrance of something I knew very well.”

This experience changed his way of perceiving music completely. Thus it was, that in the late seventies, at the age of 18, he left school, home, ended all his career plans, and travelled instead overland from Europe to India - following the irresistible pull that the East had now cast over him. On his subsequent overland trips eastward he traveled extensively throughout countries such as Greece, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. And in each place he became deeply involved with the indigenous folk music he found there, playing live with and learning from, local musicians everywhere. “I loved the roots of this music and felt an immediate connection; something that I had missed so much in Central European music,” he recalls.

When he finally reached India he had a sensation of knowing it; it felt like coming home! Along with the feeling of familiarity there seemed to be an inexplicable vibe of “at-ease-ness” in this country of mysteries, contradictions, colors and smells. And this coming home to India was only the beginning of a much more all-encompassing journey… for on his travels he came across the enlightened mystic, Osho. In the presence of this man with a long white beard, eyes as deep as the ocean and a crazy sense of humor, Joshua came in touch with an altogether different kind of music; the art of the “inner music”… silence. While diving deep into this new world of ‘silence’ Joshua also found the time to learn Indian music from one of India's finest teachers, sitar maestro Ustad Usman Khan.

To date he has released 14 albums under his name and played on countless studio recordings. He has traveled the world numerous times and plays to an ever increasing number of music lovers, inspiring them with a musical message that reaches beyond the borders of tradition, politics, religion and belief.

Go to his site to find out more and listen to samples of his music - some is relaxing, evocative of the countryside of India, and great for warm-ups and cool-downs; other tracks, such as Shiva Moon, have been remixed to make them ideal for a Spinning class.

La Marmotte

Gulp! My main event for the year is less than a fortnight away and I feel like I've done nowhere near enough training for it. All I have is my general fitness levels and hours of various types of training (intervals, high level endurance, etc.) on the Spinning bikes. I got some road miles under my belt in March but the accident soon put paid to my plans of increasing my weekly ride up to 8 hours. Still, how hard can it be? Well, La Marmotte has been called the Doyenne of Cyclosportives, the most difficult one day event for amateur road cyclists in Europe. Not a bad choice for my first ever sportive!

The 174Km route goes through the Alps from Le Bourg d'Oisans, over the Col de la Croix de Fer, down into the Maurienne valley, and then clockwise back to Bourg via the Col de Telegraphe and the 2,600m+ Col du Galibier (by its far harder northern side, which has been closed until recently due to heavy snow), finishing with the ascent to the ski station at l'Alpe d'Huez. To some like me, the distance won't be such a big deal but the 5000m of climbing - not a common feat among amateur cyclists - and the high altitude take their toll to make a sub-9 hour finish a major achievement (it's won in about 6 hours).

For an idea of the masochistic nature of this event, read this excellent article from Cycling Weekly. If that doesn't put you off, nothing will. And here's the profile for the ride:


So why am I doing it? As any mountaineer would say, because it's there!

Spinning class: Indian Hills

Unable to resist the influences of the subtler type of Indian music (as opposed to the hilarious, over-the-top Bollywood dance numbers) I returned from India with a sackful of CDs bought from the infamous Anjuna market. After listening to them all, I picked out a handful of tracks I thought would work and then planned to use them on an alternate hill climb / flat road profile. A rare occurence of me finding a ride around the music, rather than viceversa.

We start off with a long warm-up on the plains, plenty of time to build up to around 75% HRR before gradually loading resistance on a long steady hill to warm up our climbing legs. This is followed by a flat road with some optional running out of the saddle before another climb, this time with a series of jumps (see previous post). Back to the flat road, again with some running out of the saddle, before the road really becomes steep - no more hills now, we're into the Himalayas! After this steep rise, we need a recovery back downhill before finding a fast climb that raises our HR again. A very quick recovery to regain our composure and we're heading up back up towards our final destination above the clouds.

Warm-up - 7 mins
Seated climb - 6 mins
Flat road / Running - 7 mins
Jumps on a hill - 6 mins
Flat road / Running - 6 mins
Heavy standing climb - 5.5 mins
Recovery - 2.5 mins
Fast climb - 6 mins
Recovery - 1.5 mins
Heavy climb - 6.5 mins
Cool down - 6 mins

My HR profile shows how even the flat roads were hard work - each section of the ride can be seen clearly but the level of effort is consistent throughout.

Profile:




Playlist:

Tangerine Thumri (Orange Turban remix) - Prem Joshua
Solitude - Karunesh
Punjab - Karunesh
Bolo Hari (Bombay Lounge remix) - Prem Joshua
New Kafi - Prem Joshua
Flute fantasy - DJ Nasha
Ibizan Dawn - Sergio
Awakening: Main Sutti Rahiyaan - Shubha Mudgal
Shiva Moon (Intro) - Prem Joshua
Shiva Moon (Moon Nectar remix) - Prem Joshua
Shepherd Solitude - Prem Joshua
Tilang Tantra (Temple mix) - Prem Joshua

Who's this Prem Joshua, then? My next post will be a profile of the man and his music.

Jump!

As a cyclist, as well as a Spinning instructor, I've been asked about jumps, their purpose and how they relate to "real" cycling.

Put simply, jumps are the transition from a seated to standing position (and back again). The upper body remains relaxed while body weight is lifted up from the saddle into a standing position, then returned to the saddle. It is essential that the leg muscles are used to stand, i.e., no pulling up on the handlebars, and also to control the descent back into the saddle to ensure a soft landing. It's not about bouncing up and down, as the aim is to engage the leg muscles - for this reason, it is pointless to do jumps so quickly that proper technique and posture are impaired. These are known as "popcorn jumps" and, unfortunately, are used by many instructors looking for something to keep the riders busy - all they do is put a strain on the back, knees, shins... not to mention the potential for a hard landing in the saddle (ouch!) without actually doing any work. The purpose of jumps is to increase effort level (as you're using more muscles to move), co-ordination, explosive strength and postural awareness.

Many instructors who don't (or can't) cycle outdoors may find it difficult to see the point of jumps; many will say they're pointless and are a gimmick, created to prevent boredom in indoor rides. However, outdoor cyclists regularly lift out of the saddle for brief periods of time, especially on longer rides. This may be to negotiating steep hairpin turns (switchbacks) on mountain roads, to accelerate to close a small gap in the paceline, to quickly increase cadence on a climb to create a gap before sitting back in the saddle and continuing that higher cadence, to stretch their hamstrings after a long period in the saddle, or simply to... err... ease the pressure from the saddle!

The most advanced riders will remain in the saddle for as long as possible, gears permitting. This is to avoid using the extra energy needed when standing and to keep their heart rates under control. So they are actually more likely to make use of jumps than they are to stand up for extended periods.

They're not easy for a novice rider but, with practice, the benefits are worth the effort. Keep on jumping!

Spinning class: Strength Builder

This is probably my simplest ride and yet one that caters to all abilities and levels of effort. Whether you're looking to begin adding some strength to your legs at the beginning of the seasons or are pushing yourself to the limit at a high level of endurance, this really is a ride that anyone can do themselves. Apart from the simplicity, I use a mix CD to keep an even tempo while making for an interesting ride (well, more interesting than a metronome!). Something like the Euphoria or Breakdown series is excellent, if you're into trance music.

The ride is split into three loops (four for an hour-long class), where I suggest riders tackle each loop at an increasingly higher effort. So, if starting the season, it's better to start at 65% for the first loop and build to 75-80% by the third/fourth loop. If going for high-level endurance, I'd suggest starting at 75% and ending at 85-90% (lactate threshold) by the final loop. You can see from my HR profile how my effort level increased during the ride.

After a brief warm-up, we begin climbing. Each loop is 1 minute in the saddle, 1 minute standing, then 2 minutes of each, then 3 minutes. While out of the saddle at the end of the loop, add resistance for the following loop to allow the legs to get used to the increase in effort before beginning the next loop in the saddle. After 36 minutes (or 48 for an hour-long ride) of climbing, we cool down.

Why the changes in/out of the saddle? At the start of the season, it allows one set of leg muscles to get used to riding at a set tempo for a fixed time before changing position to use different muscles in the legs. Gradually the time in each position increases before a loop is finished and another begins at a higher intensity. If going for a high-level endurance ride, the change keeps fatigue at bay and makes it easier to keep going before one or another of the muscles start tightening up.

Warm-up - 4 min
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Loop (repeat 3 or 4 times)
Seated climb - 1 min
Standing climb - 1 min
Seated climb - 2 min
Standing climb - 2 min
Seated climb - 3 min
Standing climb - 3 min

Turn resistance higher and begin another loop
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Cool down - 6 mins

Profile:

Playlist:
(From the "green" Breakdown CD, disc 2)

Epona - Enya
Right here, right now - Fatboy Slim
Wide open space - Mansun
Symmetry C - Brainchild
More than this '99 - Emmie
Seven days & one week - B.B.E.
Not over yet '99 - Planet Perfecto feat. Grace
9pm (till I come) - ATB
I can't help myself - Lucid
Carte blanche - Veracocha
Alive - Heliotropic feat. Verna V.
Mysterious times - Sash! feat. Tina Cousins
Another way - Paul van Dyk
Bass fly - Tillman & Ries
Celtic dream - Michael Flatley