From: I Ride, I Write

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.