Wednesday Timeless Classics: A Feel-Good Climb (RIP Dario G!) 💔

Artist: Dario G
Song: Sunchyme
Album: Sunmachine
Time: 6:19
Genre: electronic
BPM: 133
Category: climb
Available: iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, Apple Music

UPDATE June 18, 2024…House music lovers and longtime cycling instructors woke up this morning to the sad news that Dario G, longtime music producer and DJ whose real name was Paul Spencer, had passed away at 53. 💔 Dario G’s most famous song, “Sunchyme,” released in 1997, has graced studios since the early days of Spinning®. We first posted this song as a Friday Favorites back in 2016. In that post, Karen uses it as a warm-up; the gentle energy is ideal to introduce your class to your ride. (Check out the comments to that post—one instructor said she used this song in her mix tapes! If that isn’t a blast from the past I don’t know what is!)

I later posted it as a Wednesday Timeless Classic (this post below)—its popularity in cycling studios worldwide makes it the quintessential definition of a WTC song. I’ve used it as a warm-up as Karen does, but I’m more inclined to ride to the beat and turn it into a gentle to moderate climb as I describe below. 

From Dario G’s Spotify About page: 

For over 2 decades, Dario G has become well known for his dance and pop songs which became huge chart-breakers across the world. You will know instantly the Dario G summer classic “Sunchyme,” banging soccer anthems “Carnivale de Paris,” and “Ring of Fire,” The Beach soundtrack “Voices (From ‘The Beach’),” as well as his acclaimed writing/producing of the Official FIFA World Cup Mascot Song with Pitbull.

Here are some fun facts about this song:

1. It was used in the Sydney 2000 Olympic swimming trials.
2. Nelson Mandela chose it as the theme song for the Red Cross promotional campaign in South Africa.
3. “Sunchyme” was played during the closing ceremony of the 1998 Washington, DC, AIDS Ride.

Below is the WTC post from 2017.

“Sunchyme” was released in 1997 by the British trio Dario G on their debut album, Sunmachine. It quickly rose to the top 2 in the UK, the top 5 on many European charts, and topped the Dance Club Songs chart in the US. The song heavily samples the song “Life in a Northern Town” by Dream Academy.

I love this song to pieces! “Sunchyme” has a happy-go-lucky, life-is-great feel to it, and you can’t help but smile when you ride to it. It’s got one of the most interesting and creative videos I’ve ever seen with striking costume designs.

In the studio, you will want to climb to this track. It doesn’t scream at you to attack or inspire you to race; it simply asks you to put on a bit of resistance and enjoy the process. For that reason, I find it works well as the first in a series of climbing intervals (before you put the pedal to the metal), or early in an outdoor climbing simulation. Allow riders to stand as they see fit.

There are numerous versions and lengths of this song on Spotify and other music sources.

The original version is 6:19, perfect for a longer climb. It has a long, gentle lead-in of just over a minute before the beat kicks in. Use this as you transition from your warm-up to the work portion of your ride or as a recovery from a previous hard climb. Or, start your climb right away but ease into a progressively steeper climb. At 3:38 and 5:18, add more resistance and stand up for 20–30 seconds. 

When you want to include the joyful feel of this track into your ride but don’t have as much time to allot, use this 4-minute radio edit. The beat picks up after 20 seconds.