This profile is a series of climbs that get progressively longer. Each one is very different from the other, not just in length and cadence, but also personality. This is manifested in the music choice. I took a previous ICA profile and kept the terrain, but completely changed the music and objective to create an entirely new profile.Read more…
Creating new profiles is one of the more challenging aspects of being an indoor cycling instructor. But you may have a deeper well of profiles at your own fingertips without even realizing it! Here are 6 tips to take your existing profiles and double or even triple them with a few tweaks. Read more…
Did you know the world will be ending September 28, 2015? When it doesn’t, you can use this profile anytime someone predicts the end of the world, or how about for Halloween! This profile is all about engaging the imagination and sense of humor of your class members, and using that energy to motivate them as you take them through a series of high-intensity efforts while they ride for their lives! Read more…
Here are two challenging mountain stages of past Vuelta a Espana stage races. The 2015 Vuelta is going on right now. You can use these profiles and modify them to simulate one of this year’s stages. However, your riders probably wouldn’t know the difference if you used profile from a past Vuelta! Also included is a link to my playlist of fun Spanish songs to use in your Vuelta stages. Add some of the cues in the Cuez app and you are guaranteed an exciting and engaging cycling class your riders will be talking about for a long time!Read more…
You don’t need a fancy GPS or cycling training software to design a realistic outdoor ride. Check out this short video that demonstrates how I use Google Maps to dynamically design the route for my indoor cycling profile.Read more…
A couple of weeks ago I posted a ride profile called, “Group Ride—4 Hills,” which followed one of the routes used by my bike club. Do you want to create your own outdoor profile? Here are four tips to help you create a fun group ride profile, even if you are not an outdoor cyclist.Read more…
Outdoor cyclists use the term “group ride” to describe organized (and not so organized) rides that often leave from predetermined destinations. These rides may start at a local bike shop or a convenient coffee shop. In many cases, group rides run on a regular weekly schedule, each with their own specific route. This profile follows one of the many routes my club and I use. Riding at a moderate to hard pace, it literally takes an hour to complete. With the exception of the warm-up and cool-down on Massachusetts Avenue, it is a loop. The first hill (Grove Street), third hill (Woods Street), and last hill (Mass Ave) are between a 5.5% and 6% grade. The second hill (South Road) is a 2.5% to 3% grade. The smaller grades make for very aggressive and fast climbing; one needs to be on alert for random attacks of kindness.Read more…
Here is a fun summer-themed profile from our archives. It consists of eight intervals around threshold intensity or slightly above, alternating slower cadences with faster cadences. You may want to pull this one out again six or eight months from now when you put your winter coats back on and are dreaming of sun, sand, and surf! (For those of you in the southern hemisphere, that’s why you’ll want to use this profile now!)Read more…
Bryan is a new contributor for ICA, and he starts with a bang-up profile that is sure to get your riders’ adrenaline flowing! It is a simulation of a real race that is held in Pasadena, California, twice a week in summers, nicknamed the Rose Bowl Brawl. This is what Bryan says about this ride: “On Tuesdays and Thursdays a 150+ rider peloton blasts 10 fast laps around the famed Rose Bowl. If you followed the 2015 Amgen Tour of California, it was also host to a nail-biting, down-to-the-millimeters sprint finish.” Yeah. Bring that to your riders now!Read more…
Billy Coburn, Star 3 Spinning® instructor and occasional contributor to ICA, was moved to put together a fundraiser ride for Nepal earthquake relief. He had a profile he created last year called North, about summiting Mt. Everest, so he resurrected the ride for his event. Thank you, Billy, for sharing this with all instructors!Read more…