From Kala Spins: (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA)

This DVD features the Hana Highway in Hawaii which equates to lots of rolling hills. It features three sections, each of which I’ll discuss seperately.

Warm-Up (about 5 minutes)
Music and photos of scenery. Enough time to get the legs warmed up and explain what the ride will be like, if you are going to coach it yourself.

Section 1: Kissed By Morning Rain
Starts off with a small view of a topigraphical map and then the photos turn into live video. There’s some great tracks on this first portion and lots of room for a few rolling hills. My only complaint was that the raindrops on the camera lens were cool at first, but then sort of hindered the view of all the scenery.

Section 2: Climbing to Sunshine
This section is relatively short, but is not wimpy by any means. A good teaser to take you into the final section which will focus more on speed. I think that this really shows a cyclist who is purely INdoors what REAL hills are like. There aren’t breaks, just short quick reliefs before you start pushing again.

Section 3: Feeling the Need For Speed
The last section- both the longest and quickest. Great tunes with a strong backbeat to motivate you. Lots of opportunities for switchbacks and changing positions. A great way to finish out nice and strong.

Overall Pros:
1. The video gives you a perfect example of what riding outside is like.
2. There are 4 different coaches to choose from, so you could get 4 different rides out of this one dvd.
3. There is a bonus 30 minute yoga session following the biking section.
4. There are options to turn off/on the music AND the coaching so that you can really customize this ride specifically for you (or for a class setting)
5. I love the mix of Gene (the founder of Global Ride) riding in front of us and behind so that we can challege ourselves to push to get in front and then to stay in front.
6. I think this ride will be exceptionally fun on X-Bikes (which is what I’ll be teaching it on) so that we can bend with the road and everything.

Overall Cons:
1. Gene was a little bland with his tone of voice- although he said some GREAT motivational quotes!! (Didn’t get to try out the other coaches yet)
2. The raindrops on the first section are a little distracting.
3. The cool down is only about 5 minutes long (I like to run mine for about 10)

For more information on Global Ride visit them at:
www.globalride.net

Also, GR is taking a group of everyday cyclists (Spinning MI Jennifer Sage included!!!) to the Giro to ride the first 5 stages as a fundraiser for Livestrong.

You can learn more about this fundraiser (and how to donate!!!) at www.cyclingfusion.com

Anyone who donates $103.75+ gets the DVD box set of Hawaii and also 50% off all Global Ride sales.