Last week after the death of Nelson Mandela, I posted a link to a moving song called “Free Nelson Mandela” by Special (AKA). There were some wonderful comments on that post with song suggestions from Julieanne and Sharon. Sharon is from South Africa, living in Toronto. She taught a movingRead more…
“I never said it would be easy; I only said it would be worth it.” ~Mae West
This quote defines this empowering motivational profile, which takes you up three challenging climbs with three different personalities, reflected by the women recording artists. Read more…
Here are two Thanksgiving profiles from the past so you don’t have to search for them. The first is one of my favorites, The Gratitude Ride, and the second is a rolling hills Over the River and Through the Woods to grandmother’s house! Enjoy burning your calories before your big feast!Read more…
Take your class to their scary limit on six climbs. True to its name, the Fang mountain range resembles…well…a set of fangs. This Halloween ride features many themes from horror movies, plus songs with appropriate titles. Have a contest in class to see who can name the most movies or songs.Read more…
Christine Nielsen, one of our more creative profile designers, has done it again, this time with a scary and dramatic theme profile for Halloween, replete with spooky sound effects. Your students’ hearts will be racing for more reasons than just the effort! The ending is rather ingenious; we’d love to hear if any of you added to the story line. Read more…
This profile combines what you work on in high-cadence drills with high-resistance climbing efforts, creating a very effective (and hard) training session. Please don’t take it personally if your students take your name in vain after this class; I assure you, they’ll thank you later when they realize how much you improve their fitness and power with very targeted profiles like these.Read more…
How long do you spend putting together your profiles and playlists? Depending on my mood, I can spend anywhere from 1 to 2 hours, sometimes more (especially for ones like the photo at left). Often the actual profile itself has been brewing in my head for a while; sometimes I come up with the concept while out riding my bike.Read more…
Last month I was in Seattle and had a chance to take Shari Miranda’s cycling class at the Seattle Athletic Club downtown. It’s a hill repeat profile with a twist. I enjoyed it so much I asked Shari to present it to ICA members. I know you—and your students—will enjoy this one!Read more…
My Back-to-School profile and playlist was a big hit this morning so I thought I’d share it with you. If you’re not into theme profiles, this one may change your mind! This playlist spans the genres, and includes folk, indie, R&B, pop, punk, retro, and classic rock. It also spans the school age, from elementary to high school to college. As the Ramones say, “Fun, fun, rock ‘n roll high school”!Read more…
This morning was my first day back to my class after a three-week hiatus for my trip to the Tour de France. In honor of our climb up Alpe d’Huez, I decided to teach Tom Scotto’s profile for Stage 18 from the ICA Tour de France package. It was, inRead more…