The El Nino spring in South Texas, combined with a lot of work to do, minimized the time I had available to ride my bicycle. As such, I started looking for interesting training tools. If one has a basic trainer or rollers, the boredom can be incredible. When I found the folks at Global Ride Video Productions, I was intrigued as the videos had some interesting features.

The trailer above shows a sample from the video, but there is more. You can choose to have music or not, and you can also choose to have “coaching” or not as well. The coaching is even in four different flavors, Poland, United Kingdom, American or live class.

This particular DVD is $29.95 and is available direct. A bonus is some stability ball core training on this DVD and other DVD’s have other bonus workouts.

The quality is very good, both in picture and sound. I think these videos are a real winner!

I enjoyed the comments the instructor made about the scenery. He talked a lot about the areas where the filming was happening and to me, those little bits of information made the ride more interesting. I will definitely do the ride on this setting again. It’s a good hour-long workout, and I can usually get about 20 miles out of it.

The DVD also includes stability ball training for cyclists to help build core strength. I have never used a stability ball so I didn’t get a look at the exercises, but I wanted to mention them as they are part of the DVD. I’ll get a look at them next time – who knows? Maybe I’ll end up getting a stability ball!

This review will continue as soon as I’ve had a chance to work with more of this DVD.

Urban Assault in Italy
The talented crew with Global Ride have once again produced a high quality series of virtual cycling DVD’s. I viewed, ” Urban Asault in Italy” this weekend. I am anxious to get up to training camp at The Cabin, where I can get on the Lemond Rev Pro, stationary bike and fly through the streets and hills of Italy. This video gives you options of your coach, including language options! You can go with or without the music, I opted for the music, which starts in the warm up phase with some authentic sounds from Italy. The warm up takes you through street scenes of Verona and Siena for about 7 minutes. You are riding through the streets with traffic, pedestrians and it as real as real gets. Following the warm up, previewing each new section of your ride is a birds eye view google map, giving you an idea of where you are in Italy. American coach and cyclist Phil Gaimon guides your workout, suggesting how hard to ride; zone 1, 2, 3 or 4 and for how long, with a good music beat it’s a great workout. On my next ride through Italy, I will try without the coach and do my own thing, it’s nice to have the option. The climb is a challenging one but with great street and road scenes throughout there is plenty to enjoy while your working those pedals. You will be ready for the cool down when it comes and perhaps feel as though you had a quick vacation in Italy when your ride is complete! As a bonus on this DVD, there is a stability ball exercise session, smartly done to help cyclists with their core strength. The best part of this video is the camera work combined with music to ride by, you won’t forget the Italian streets and roads, as true to life as can be, a great ride! Global Ride; thanks you have done it again!

A month or two ago I got a DVD in the mail with one simple request: Exercise to it and tell the world what I thought. Well, that time has come.

That DVD, Climbing Sufferage in Italy, is one of several products available from Global Ride.

I’ve never been a big fan riding indoors by myself with nothing more than a television screen to keep me company and keep me motivated.

So it was with a little reluctance that I loaded the bike onto a trainer, filled up a water bottle and began my ride through the hills above the Italian seaside.

One of the DVD’s better features was the ability to chose a coach. In this case, there were three coaches to select from and each presents the ride in a different way. If you’re stuck training indoors, the ability to adjust your ride in this simple way will be valuable. While the scenery will be a pleasant diversion from staring at a wall, it would get a little old after few times. Mixing things up with different coaches will keep it fresh longer and add to the variable workouts you get.

Another feature that might be nice for many is the option to turn the music off. You can crank up your own iPod with your own mix of tunes and have endless variety that way. While I found nothing wrong with the music being played on the DVD, I actually enjoyed some of the songs quite a bit, the ability to roll to own drummer is a nice touch.

Peerhaps my favorite feature was the coaching. Riding alone indoors can be pretty boring. With a coach along for the ride you get some motivation, some instruction and some encouragement.

And in what was definitely the most pleasant surprise, the DVD ends with a short yoga for cyclists class.

I’ve become a big believer in yoga as a way to suppliment your training with stretching and core workouts. Having that on the DVD is a very nice touch and is certainly appreciated.

Training videos come in a lot of shapes and sizes. There are videos of coaches barking at you from their indoor studio. There are videos of coaches outside on the bike, explaining how to do a climbing interval. There are country vistas inviting you to pretend you are someplace else. Like Italy…

Global Ride is expanding the video trainer montage world to horizons that cycling fans (who hit the trainer) might care about. For example, Speed and Power in Italy starts in Liguria, heads inland to the Bassano del Grappa region, and ends with a climb near Rocca (Abruzzo?). The video shows a few riders out on the road, but mostly points forward, giving you the sensation of being at the head of a long climb, occasionally peering back at your mates… who are either passing on tips about the climb or emitting up-tempo techno music to drive you onward. Another Italy disc, named “Climbing Suffrage,” actually starts with a section of the Cinque Terre time trial from last year’s Giro, as well as some other uphill drags in la Bella Campania.

More on the flip…

When Gene Nacey of Global Ride asked me to review his recent on-location cycling video, Speed & Power in Italy, I should TOTALLY have declined. I didn’t have time, didn’t have interest, didn’t have ANY baseline quality that one would want in a reviewer. I hate cycling videos. I can appreciate their utility and appeal to many people — but they just don’t ‘do it’ for me.

But since another one of my rate-limiting character flaws is that when people I deeply admire attempt to include me in projects of great import to them, I get so excited that I forget to keep track of the life activities that I can’t stand (i.e., sitting on my Spinner with a laptop blocking my cyclometer’s report of everything I care about, looking and listening to stuff about which I could not care less). When I’m training indoors, I don’t try to pretend that I’m outdoors – I want to close my eyes, inhabit deafening, life-consuming rhythms, and forget that there even is an “outdoors.” I’ve ridden multiple Centuries outdoors – yet when I go to the end of bringing in outdoor footage to my indoor universe, I am insanely bored within literally 35 seconds. No wonder I’ve declined every review request I’ve received to date.

So when I came down with H1N1 after letting Speed & Power in Italy collect dust on my kitchen table for two weeks, I was relieved for a legitimate justification for further procrastination. Medical school? Insufficient. 104 fevers and breathing difficulties? Sweet.

I share this because I want to capture just how pessimistic and hostile a reviewer with whom you’re dealing. This way, you believe me when I describe how good this video is.

As it turns out: this video emphasized so many core priorities of my “agenda” as a coach, that it legitimately prompted me to spend time reconnecting with those priorities. It prompted me to evaluate whether or not, despite the challenges of time and energy resources, I was effectively conveying to my classes what I want to be conveying.

So I’m going to tell you about this video — yes, because I promised; but also, because I think it might be helpful to many of you looking to be prompted for self-evaluation (i.e., probably why you read my blog) or even to pick up new ideas for cueing language on form and intensity.

Speed & Power in Italy is a 60 minute training session comprised of four shorter segments, each building in intensity towards a powerful finish. I could describe the masterful footage (this is the most realistic filming I’ve ever seen –capturing subtle changes in terrain, alignment for drafting the rider ahead, and aspects of the scenery that felt “real” enough to trigger appreciative memories of personal outdoor adventures). I could describe the effectiveness of the structured, graphical time-counters to mark one’s progress and pace one’s self. I could even describe my fascination with the narrating coach’s breathing patterns that are secretly audible through one audio track (if listening with headphones; unnoticeable if listening through speakers – as a coach, I would love if my riders could actually hear and learn from the specific way I breathe during various efforts. Too bad that’s creepy. Here, it’s creepy, too – if one can get over the “creepy” and attempt to learn from it, one will surely get a lot out of it. If not, just listen through regular speakers.)

But I have far more important things I’d like to describe. Things that distinguish this video as an outstanding resource for athletes and coaches alike.

INTENSITY MONITORING

During the warm-up, there were a few mentions of training at “60% of your max.” I groaned – grunted, actually. Once I stopped being overly dramatic, I was treated to an excellent discussion of the uselessness of age-based maximum heart rate formulas and the introduction of a 1-10 Rate of Perceived Exertion Scale. There was a brief mention of “threshold” (lactate threshold) as being the useful anchor for training parameters. From there on out, there were no more “x% of your max” references, at least – and the RPE scale was consistently applied throughout the training session. I was impressed by the specific attention that was paid to intensity. We are reminded to “stay true to (our) numbers,” and continuously self-monitor. Bravo! Indoor cycling instructors can learn a lot from the language our narrating coach uses to explain perceived exertion and why it matters.

FORM COACHING & DEMONSTRATION

This program went out of its way to cue excellent riding form – upper body carriage, pedal stroke, hip alignment, diaphragmatic breathing. After a particular cue was communicated, the specific film footage would shift perspectives (from first-person view to actually looking at a rider) to be able to best demonstrate the form issue in question. Frontal, side, and rear views contributed a great deal of value-added to the effective descriptors.

TRAINING FLEXIBILITY

While intensity parameters were suggested, there were frequent reminders to adjust one’s intensity to wherever one needed to train. I rode the entire training session at 65% of lactate threshold, for example; that’s what I needed. Consistent reminders to incorporate monitoring of intensity and cadence served to motivate and re-focus.

The options for coaching on/off (with additional options to choose from American, Australian, and German coaches, to boot!) and music on/off are ideal for accommodating individual preferences. If you’re a music snob like me (with a complete inability to self-motivate whilst being forced to endure displeasing tunes), the “no music” option will afford you the opportunity to play your own music while taking advantage of the features that are more meaningful to you. (For the record: the first track of the final segment, “Rockin’ to Rocca,” is incredible. Those three minutes weren’t just tolerable to this Cycling Video Non-Believer; they were genuinely AWESOME.)

In conclusion, Speed & Power in Italy is scientifically sound, technically excellent coaching captured in the context of exceptional cinematic talent. Whether you seek a resource to guide and complement your training, or whether you’re looking for an arsenal of ways to communicate training principles to your clients, Speed & Power will surely get you there.

Today I went into my workout room, got on my Spin bike and soon I was in Italy! I was trying out a new DVD I got from Global Ride. It is called Speed and Power in Italy and it is well titled to say the least.

The first thing I thought was interesting was that they gave you the choice of whether you wanted verbal coaching or not. Then they let you choose from several international languages! This was a really nice touch and very perceptive in terms of marketing to an international audience.

So, on to the ride. Begins with a nice steady Spin through Venice with Vivaldi as the music. The videography is spectacular – from the wide shots of the buildings and canals, the everyday street scenes to the close-ups of the architectural details, really puts you in the right mood to prepare for what is ahead.

The first part of the ride is a 12-1/2 min, 5 mile ride of 0-5% grades as he has us slowly bringing up our heart rate. The second section is a 1.6mi of 0-4% as we begin to anticipate an upcoming speed section. Now the tough part. 22 mins, 7.1 miles of speed along the river. At this point we were holding around 85% of max heart rate and would keep it there for the entire 22 mins. There were no serious grades, so it was just a matter of focus and “hanging in there”. On this DVD, along with speed comes power. The coach let’s you know that the power section is coming and prepares you very well for it. The music changes to hard rock as you reach the bottom of the climb to the mountain top finish. It’s climb time! 2.7 mi, 4-9% grades to the village of Rocca. The whole 9-1/2 minutes is out of the saddle and very challenging. As we start up the climb there are a couple of other riders ahead which provide some interest as they are caught and passed. One hour and about 600 calories later the finish line at the top is much appreciated!

One improvement I would like to see on this DVD is an on-screen indicator of the target heart rate zone. On the right bottom corner is the countdown timer, it would be easy to put something like 75-80% on the other corner.

Overall, this is a very well done DVD. It is just the sort of ride that I could take into my Spin class and use. It has everything that is needed for the experienced cyclist needing a challenging ride. If you just want to ride along, enjoy the music and the scenery, you can certainly do that.

Recently, for a change of pace I decided to watch a DVD called “Speed & Power in Italy” by Global Ride. From the description I could see that this would be a simulated hour or so fast ride through Italy finishing with a 10 minute climb. Perfect. I usually ride about an hour, with tempo and threshold being my bread and butter. I started up the DVD in my laptop, cranked up the volume to 50 and put the ear buds in place. Some day I’ll have a big wide screen down in the man hole, but not yet.

The video starts out in Venice floating through water with coach Matty Reed starting you on a brief warm-up, while Vivaldi plays in the background. After a couple of minutes the road ride begins as you ride with a couple of riders on some narrow Italian roads. The classical music was only for the brief warm-up and is replaced by some more upbeat instrumental stuff. I pedaled along watching the two riders as they cruised along through picturesque country side, passing through villages, with plenty of pedestrians, cars and other cyclists to make it interesting. The picture quality was excellent, by the way. The coach gave instructions, occasionally asking you to increase your speed or heart rate. One thing I liked was that the coach encouraged you to react to changes in terrain, as if you were in the group on the screen, so if there was a short steep hill, you were encouraged to stand. Too bad there were no stops.

The pace was never slow once the warm-up was done. I rode mostly hard tempo at 270 to 290 watts. At about the 45 minute mark, we hit the final 10 minute climb on a twisty narrow road, with zero car traffic, but several other cyclists. My virtual group ride passed several riders on the climb, which helped motivate me to stay near my threshold all the way to the end. I rode that final 10 minutes at 308 watts.

I’ve watched this DVD twice now, and could see myself watching it several more times this off season, especially during sweet spot workouts. It was fun and engaging to watch during my workout and enhanced the indoor riding experience. I was able to stay mentally focused on riding, without being bored at all. This is very different than watching something like a movie, which makes the workout tolerable by causing you to mentally disconnect from your workout.

I got an email a few weeks ago from Gene Nacey – founder of Global Rides, a company specializing in “first person” riding experiences for indoor training – wondering if I’d be interested in giving one of his DVDs a test-run. Not being the biggest fan of training indoors, I agreed enthusiastically… I’m eager to try anything that helps alleviate the potential boredom of training inside on your own.

Global Rides has managed to pack a lot of nice (and thoughtful) touches into this DVD, and it’s apparent right from the menu. Right off the start you’re able to make the choice as to whether or not you’d like music, and if you’d like a coach guiding your ride. I’ve only used the DVD a handful of times, but I can already see that it will be nice to have the flexibility and variety of spinning to your choice of tunes, and/or to ride a slightly different program than the one that’s offered on the DVD.

In addition to being able to turn the music/coaching audio off, you can select from 3 different coaches or a live session. After trying them all, I can say that this is a really great feature (and for me, almost a necessity). Sure it’s nice to be able to mix it up sometimes, but I also found some of the ways the different coaches handled the ride and the motivated you to grind through the gears better suited to my mental riding style. I actually really liked the live session as well, though I found (perhaps not surprisingly) that the voice-over coaching for this section not of the same quality as the others.

Select your coach

After using the DVD a few times, there were a number of things that stood out to me as being particularly helpful – many of which a direct by-product of the “first-person” riding experience:

1. Mini checkpoints
Just as if we were on a ‘real’ ride, the coaches did a good job at using mini-mental checkpoints. Rather than simply pushing out a hard set for a final “x” seconds, they would highlight landmarks in the environment… “Let’s push real hard until this corner…” or “keep those legs spinning until we crest this hill.” I found this really helpful since many times this is the way I push myself when I ride – I’ll look at a rock halfway up a gnarly climb and tell myself that I have to make it to the rock, then when I hit the rock I set another goal, until I either blow up, or get to the top.

2. Using the on-screen riders
Another thing I found unique and really helpful was some of the coaches use of the on-screen riders. Sometimes it was simply mirroring their actions

Puttin' the hurt on Gene

3. Posture checks
I find that many times when I’m doing intervals or spinning, the goal simply becomes finishing the set and I forget all about good riding form… It was nice to have the coaches chiming in little reminders… “Keep your elbow bent” or “Remember to flatten that back”. Practice like you play… Ensuring you have proper form during these sessions will go a long way to ensure you’re not a wet noodle out there next season.

4. Use of heart rate / perceived exertion
Depending on how you train the coaches used both perceived exertion and heart rate, so even if you don’t have a heart rate monitor you’ll be able to get a sincere workout in – Tough I will say that having an understanding of how to train using your heart rate will definitely let you get the most out of the sessions. Sally Edwards also does some cadence work which she’ll help you count out if you don’t have a computer with a cadence setting. That said, the work-outs will be much more enjoyable if you let gadgets do the math so you can focus on your riding

5. Cinematography & aerial course topography
Though the cinematography wasn’t quite BBC or National Geographic HD quality, it was still really well done, and did a good job of recreating that “rider” feel.

Course topography

5. Extras
The last feature I really like was the inclusion of a yoga/stretching session. I find yoga to be a little bit of personal thing (ie. whether or not you like it or not), but I found the sesssions at the end of the DVD to be helpful (and hard Flexibility is key in staying healthy and the exercises did a good job of working the areas specific to cyclists. Although the instructor did a pretty good job of describing the positions (ie. downward dog, cow, cat, etc.) I found that if you’ve gone to yoga sessions before, it will really help get the most out of the poses (then you can focus on moving through the poses, not on how to actually position your body through the poses – especially since some of the positions are moved through quite quickly). Another thing I found helpful was how the instructor often explained how the different stretches synced up with various biking positions. From my understanding this is mixed up on the different DVDs, being one of yoga, pilates, or strength training.

Yoga for cyclists is a bonus

Really after a few sessions with the DVD there was only one thing that bothered me… The audio mixing. The quality itself was fine, but for some reason the coaching was mixed into the left channel and the audio into the right. Because I generally use headphones (yes, even when it’s on the TV) I really noticed this. Not a deal-breaker by any means, but it did bug me.

Overall the DVD was great and it did a good job of getting me to turn the legs over and kick some ass, and production-wise they’re well put together, though there was one little hiccup that I found particularly humorous and I just have to share… As we were grinding up a climb Sally Edwards (the coach) was reminding us to “Take a second to enjoy the scenery, *really* look at it and soak it in”… While on screen Gene Nacey and his riding partner are in front of you out of the saddle… So really you’re soaking in Genes sculpted glutes… But then again, maybe that’s the way Gene wanted it… After all, he’s been working hard on those glutes all season

The ups

* Nice coaching cues – Mini checkpoints, use of on-screen riders, and notes on posture
* Cinematography give you a ‘riders’ feel
* Ability to change coaches (or turn them off)
* Ability to turn music off
* Aerial topography was fun (and previewed your workout to an extent)

The downs

* Though the audio quality was good, it would have been nice to have it mixed in stereo rather than music in one channel and voice-over coaching in another

Bottom line, would I recommend the DVD? If you’re looking for something to mix up your indoor training, then definitely. The flexibility of coaching and music options, combined with the ‘real ride’ feel are enough to make the DVD great in my mind – the extra features like yoga/pilates/strength and aerial course views are just icing on the cake!