Anyone make their own indoor cycling routines/playlists? Ideas of how to do so?

[colorisnt]

Since the weather has gotten bad, I've decided to buck up and deal with the undergrads at the gym and go by the student rec center for spin classes.

It's actually worked out really well for me, thus far. I did half a semester of some brutal indoor classes - some 60 minute ones will lead me to do about 30 miles with a bunch of climbs (like the one I did tonight) - but, alas, school is out for the semester on Friday. There will be 10 days I will be forced out of the gym during intersession but during the rest of my 5 week :eek: break, I am looking to add in some time on the bike. Music has always been a big motivator for me indoors. If I hate the set I am working to, I won't try as hard. I see indoor work still as a huge punishment but my indoor work gets better with good music.

Any ideas about how to set up playlists and workouts? I've created a couple of 50 minute sets but it can be tedious matching my drills and intervals up to a set of songs! And I can always use ideas. Are there websites to help with this sort of thing? I don't want to lose downtime. I'm trying to stay in great shape over the winter in prep for the spring/summer. Because of the heat, I didn't get to ride my Century this year and I'd like to try to do some rides next year. My BF works a very physical job and is always able to kick my butt - even on his MTB vs. my road bike. I'd like to be in good shape this time around and need to stay super motivated.

Any ideas would be most helpful!

[Irulan]

I'm pretty sure you can find podcasts like this.

[Helene2013]

What we use at home on our road bike rock and roll trainer are videos like this and we cut the sound and use our own music from our iPhone libarary. We have a big screen HD Tv set up, the whole shabang. We have unlimited internet and also have purchased training videos but end up using the ones like this one below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CF3BAzSFE7g

There are quite a few you can look up and they are really well done. The one above has a warm up, intervalls, 2 minute-locker, etc.

This one is a climber:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPnjXEa_C1c

I also have installed MP3 Speed program, which allows me to speed up some songs I like, without changing the voice to chipmunks. So I can have a "beat" that will be needed to keep us focused on pedaling big time. hihi

So with this and our own set of music we're in business to train hard. :)

[ny biker]

I just improvise. I like the Foo Fighters. I also like to keep things simple so I just copy entire CDs over to my mp3 player. So I choose a CD and then do one song at an easy gear and the next at a hard gear and the next at an easier gear, etc. Within each song I might shift up or down each time a new verse begins or when the chorus begins. If a song with a slow tempo comes on I might skip it and go to the next one.

[colorisnt]

Thanks guys. I will look into the youtube videos and also think up some things of my own. I think I am overthinking (as I tend to do, I'm a perfectionist).

I am probably going to have to improvise on and off this year with my routines. I'm trying to go to the gym 5 times a week. That means about 3 days a week I'm spending on a spin bike and two days I am cross-training. I just want to lose a few pounds and, more importantly, be in shape for the summer ahead.