Spin playlist #23

This is the first of my pyramid rides. It was a nice change from the usual format and my class loved it. Starting with a light load we make our way up one side of a big hill and down the other. Most of the nasty tracks are in the first half. As always, at the beginning I instruct my class to wind on up and find their steepest hill, then take some load off so everyone is starting at roughly the same place.

You can find this playlist on Spotify, username bec-p, playlist Twenty Third.

Tracklist (notes following)

Riding notes

• Forever – warming up, I generally skip to the next song halfway through as we continue warming up in the next track
• Bingbong – add a bit of load, we’ve got 6 standing sprints, full speed. Each sprint and rest is only 13 sec, you can clearly hear the breaks in the song
• We No Speak No Americano – endurance. We add a tiny bit of load every minute or so, keeping a nice steady pace. Those tiny turns all add up so by the end it’s a struggle to keep a good pace. This is the last time in the saddle until we reach the top of the hill.
• Freak – get ready to get out of your saddle and go for a run. There will be a nice chunk of load from the last track so leave the dial. As with the last track we want to keep to a nice steady pace, not sprinting but a nice quick jog. 2 runs, 1 minute and 2 minutes.
• Love Runs Out – add another little turn. We’ve got 3 surges in this one, we’re going to stand up and surge at each chorus, working on the beat in between. The last surge is twice as long, it’s a wee bit nasty.
• SexyBack – last climb before the top. We need more load, another turn. Climbing out of the saddle, working on the beat. We drop into a hover during each chorus (there are 3). There needs to be enough load so you have to work to stay on the beat, it’s not a gentle climb.
• Sail – we’ve reached the top of the hill. Time to slow it down and grind through some big load. I split the song so there’s just around 90 sec each to sit, stand and sit. See if you can get back up to that big hill you dialed up to right at the start of the class. Towards the end of the track dial back to SexyBack load, the next track starts quickly so it’s good to be ready.
• The Nighttrain – another fast one. Climbing on the fast beat, there’s a chance to sit and push at around 40 sec in, a nice wee break at 1.40 before you finish it out of the saddle.
• The Boys of Summer – a bit of load comes off. 3 more surges, this time we’re sitting. These are a decent length, keep pushing.
• Let’s Go Crazy – more load comes off, it’s time for the final 2 runs. These are both shorter than the first lot, about 45 sec and 90 sec.
• Madness – last endurance track. Load went on in tiny increments going up the hill, now we take tiny turns off. Once again, we’ve got a nice steady pace.
• S.O.B – last 3 standing sprints to finish it off. Take a little bit of load off if necessary. First 2 sprints are a nice length, the last one is twice as long, you need to push to the finish.

Done! Finish off with a couple of cool down tracks, I used God Only Knows and Cool Kids (RAC mix) for this playlist.