#headtraining
For the past several years, I’ve participated in a winter training program run by a local Cat 1 racer. Twice a week cyclists of all levels gather and ride trainers: two hours on Saturday morning, 90 minutes on Wednesday evenings. The program runs from December through March, and people like me go and torture ourselves, hoping to come out of the Chicago winter with some degree of fitness. After the first class a couple weeks ago, I tweeted this: “Two hours on the trainer really has nothing to do with your legs #headtraining.”
Riding indoors is anything but fun. She mixes it up during the class to alleviate boredom and get the maximum intensity out of the time: we do sprints, intervals, long sections of endurance, and a few brutal chunks of threshold spinning. And during those long sections, she talks of setting goals for the upcoming season. But I’m often not listening; I’m not a racer, so my “goals” don’t have much to do with crits or road races. Rather, I’m just trying to maintain any bike fitness I gained over the spring and summer.
No, I’m listening to music. It’s the only way I can survive these sessions, and I need to have it blasting directly into my ears.
So, I thought I’d share my current playlist. I like a wide variety of music, old and new, from house to rock, metal to pop — whatever keeps me motivated in that moment. I’m always looking for new music…what do you listen to?
- The Russian March, Dirty South & Bob Sinclar
- Four Sticks, Led Zeppelin
- Moxis Sickness, Carlo Lio & Coyu
- Buckethead, Carbon/Silicon
- One Day/Reckoning Song, Asaf Avidan & The Mojos
- Radioactive, Imagine Dragons
- Glory Box, Portishead
- Ancient History, Tiesto
- Power of Music, Alex Roque
- Dashboard, Modest Mouse
- Private Life, Grace Jones
- Firestarter, The Prodigy
- Interzone, Joy Division
- Like You, Hot Since 82
- Psychotic Reaction, Count Five
- Applause, Lady Gaga
- Motorbike, Wooden Shjips
- Putting Holes in Happiness, Marilyn Manson
- Thank You, Tesla
- a.k.a. I-D-I-O-T, The Hives
- Woman, Wolfmother
- I See You Baby (Fatboy Slim Remix), Groove Armada
- Irresistible Force, Jane’s Addiction
- Whole Lotta Love, Led Zeppelin
- Wake Me Up, Avicili
- I Know You Want Me, Pitbull
- Stranglehold, Ted Nugent
- Higher Ground, Red Hot Chili Peppers
- Midnight Rambler (Live), The Rolling Stones
- Howlin’ for You, the Black Keys
- Tightrope, Janelle Monae
- Too Close, Alex Clare
- See Mi Yah, Rhythm & Sound
– Suzanne
I know a lot of people argue with me, but as you’ve seen from a few of my posts….I think riding with music is awesome indoors or out. It would definitely be a necessity for me indoors.
No headphones for me outside : )
I would add Aqualung, Surfing with the Alien, Cygnus XI, and Tour de France by Kraftwerk and then take it with you on your ride too.
Great suggestions. Thanks! (Although I don’t ride outside with headphones, so these will stick with me indoors only.)