From Skinnymingo (Kala Spins) (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA)

This DVD features the Hana Highway in Hawaii which equates to lots of rolling hills. It features four sections; a warm-up, kissed by morning rain, climbing to sunshine & feeling the need for speed.
Interestingly enough, my class is at a new time slot and not many people have realized it exists yet, but I did have one rider (and someone come to observe my class… talk about a bad time- on bikes I’m still getting used to, a video ride which I had never had the opportunity to coach, and then only one class participant!!) so we rode together, side by side.

The nice thing about this video is- the road is right there. The scenery is right there, you can see what’s coming, what’s going- you can almost ride yourself. I was able to ride with the one lady and we were able to ride together, to talk about the scenery, discuss what the people parked on the side of the road may be doing beyond the tree line, etc just like we were really there, riding together. I encouraged when I felt necessary, but really we were both able to complete the ride at levels comfortable for the both of us. There were times when I cut back and she surged forward, or the opposite.

I really liked the feel of the video. It was as if we were both lead by something so concrete that we could focus on other aspects. We could push and pull back when we felt comfortable, we could arrive together, we could make it a bonding experience.

I liked it. At times, the video made me a little sick (haha, it was on such a large screen I got… screen sickness on some of the turns.) but, I did enjoy it.

It made it feel more like a real ride between two riders. Not a class lead by one and followed. A class lead by great scenery, and unity brought by myself, the instructor.

So, as a group – double thumbs up.