In one of my virtual rides this spring, I brought out a profile I haven’t done in a long time, The Progressive Meritage. As I often do when I repeat profiles, I made a few changes. Even though there are already several versions of this ride on ICA, I thought I would share with you my most updated version.
I originally posted this ride on ICA back in 2014 and reposted it in 2018. This ride got more comments than almost any other ride on ICA and I’m often tagged on social media by instructors who teach it to a very satisfied crowd. A few years later, in 2020, I did a “Meritage Redux” with a few song changes. The Redux version added a practice round as an extended warm-up, which helps to prepare riders for the creative structure of the longer interval sets.
My latest version is the best one yet (in my humble opinion!). While I retained many of the same songs I used in the Redux version (they are still among my favorite longer tracks), I did change one of them. Also, the practice round makes more sense and adds a recovery song before the longer intervals get going. I am calling this version “Progressive Meritage Redux2” since the changes are minimal.
When it’s the first time you are doing this ride, because the structure is so unique, it can be a little confusing before teaching it. In the new Redux2 profile, I edited the cueing a bit to make it easier to understand and to cue.
As I note in the profile description, since this ride is so much fun to teach and ride, you are going to want numerous versions of this profile. I’ve updated this version with additional long song suggestions so you can mix and match your favorite tracks and have multiple versions to teach.
Let me know how you enjoy this ride!