Tra la la tra la la la!

After months of plotting, eyelash batting, cajoling, notes from MDs, well actually nurses, I got my hands on my OWN seat post for spin bike- meaning I did class today on a Terry Liberator Race that doesn't shove my arthritic SI joints out of place.
And Hallelujah! My back doesn't hurt! I rode a great class with great leg speed and I've been goofy happy on the endorphins all day.
Oh happy day!
Most ironic part of this? The thing cost $36, making it the cheapest bike part I've bought in ten years at least. It's kind of heavy in the gym bag but well worth it.
Just wanted to get that secret out. Takes under thirty seconds to swap the scary painful seat for mine. This is on the Schwinn Johnny Spinner bikes.

Lizzy

Scaring the doctors second trophy wives.....:D

put that tiara on girl!!!!! congratulations!!!!

PLease please please tell us **exactly** how you obtained one... I'm sure that beyond a doubt my gym will give me no end of grief about it( 24 hour fitness)

irulan

Oh, don't worry- The eccentric Miss Claiborne has already wandered to the gym in a small floral design headband type tiara. 'Course it was some gay convention weekend (it's New Orleans!) and the holy rollers were all in town to be mean, so one has to show support. I'd be lost with out those guys at the MAC counter.
Anyway, Schwinn fitness is owned by some Co. that also owns Nautilus and some other things, and LBS people may be able to fix you up, though it could be tricky. I use the local Jewish Community Center gym, very service oriented, and got the directors attention after he had to fire the person who kept saying NO NO NO! (Badly judged senteance deleted) I just brought in a good saddle, got him in the studio, showed the difference and explained that I had arthritis in the SI joints and the stock saddles just injured me worse. Cycling is my only aerobic option cause of knee damage, so he was really cool about solving the problem. He also has a masters in Phys ed, so he could comprehend the issue, and that was a big deal. Most gym staff is woefully ignorant.
Medical Nessecity was the big selling point- and finally talking to the man in charge. A lot of the crummy low wage help in a lot of gyms neither understands, nor cares. You need to find the management guy who understands that making you happy is his/ her job.
Good luck, maybe you can find the corporate website and explain that selling seatposts to hard core cyclist would be a sideline and get somebodys attention on that end.

Lizzy
Does this help? Polite persistence was a big part of it too. And befreinding the spin bike mechanic seemed to push it along.

thanks for the info... working with a mega glomerate health club is a pain to say the least.

Liz, I found the "Jews will really get it for you whole sale" comment to be rather offensive... there's a lot of nasty history behind those stereotypes and I'd rather not see them on this board. Any time one has to say "that was a joke" perhaps it shouldn't have been said at all...

that being said, let's see what the 24 hour folks have to say about personal seat posts for spinner. onward....

Irulan

My sincerest apologies about the remark- my Jewish freinds say it, laugh about it, do it, and I didn't think of it as an offensively stereotypical thing since they don't. If it does bother people I won't ever mention such again. They just really did get me the part wholesale- you may pay a markup on the figure I quoted, be prepared. I edited out the badly thought out remark, and will avoid such in the future. You're absolutely right, point taken.
Mea Culpa

Lizzy, tugging at the foot in her mouth...

humor's always as tough call, and things lose a lot via the internet sometimes. I"m pretty sensitive about ceertain kinds of humor.

What I really mean, is, you can take your foot out now. Let's go back to the hair-do thread, it was just getting good.

Irulan

Thank you Irulan. You may be as sensitive as you like, just call me on it to my face so I may apologize and learn something. And that was apallingly written on my part, I must say.

Lizzy

You're welcome, wearer of tiaras. The lesson here for others, is, Hey if something bugs you just say so politely and be done with it. The bonus is that you've said it, and it's very easy to move on to better things, like: it's pouring out and I may have to hit the spin bikes soon...

I.

Continuing with the spin topic ;) , I was wondering if any spinners, instructors, or riders, have any good halloween songs they'd like to spin to. I am trying to get some songs together for a good spin session. I have quite a few, but would be interested in hearing others opinions. We all seem to have a lot of opinions on these boards! Gotta love it!

Lizzy, I was in New Orleans a couple years ago at Halloween time. They gay convention was going on at the same time. Wow! There were some awesome costumes out there and some beautiful bods! Coming from Iowa, we just don't have anything comparable. It's good to get out in the world!

Oooohhh- Halloween is nothing here, Mardi Gras is the big lynchpin of the cities' culture. And the big gay conventions aren't at Halloween, I suspect those were just regular natives and some houseguests. LOL :p New Awlins people all liked to play dress up long before we had a big gay community, but they've really kicked it up a notch.
Can you tell I'm working furiously on my own costume today?
Which actually segues back to the topic nicely. New Orleans music is full of weird songs about voodoo, death, dying, ghosts, "The Voo Doo Queen of New Orleans" ect., although time is a little short to get your hands on it. Go to <www.wwoz.org> , The Greatest Radio Station In The Universe- all volunteer and nonprofit. You can listen over the web, and you can Email or call with questions. If you don't like it, give it an hour and it'll change.
Several things that come to mind- "St. James Infirmary", there are a zillion fantastic recordings of this classic dirge, (jazz funeral march classic) though an easy one to find might be Kermit Ruffins "Swing This" CD. Also, "Walk on Gilded Splinters" by Dr. John, very spooky and on his the very best of album. Both these records are worth the cash, lots of year round listening pleasure. And if you have any Hendrix, he did a lot of old blues songs with appropriate themes. Some of his counter tempo might be tough on cadence though.
Iggy Pop- amongst all the weirdest songs ever written he put out, one of the strangest is on "The Contino Sessions" CD by Death In Vegas; another album worth buying for spin tracks and driving music, but the song is both creepy and awesome, called "Aisha". Their "Dead Elvis" CD is wonderful too. Very splendiferous guitar work.
Hope this helps.
Then there's "Monster Mash". Use your own judgement there.

Lizzy

Just made some Halloween spinning CDs ... some of the tracks:
*Monster Mash (good for jumps and a good stand-by)
*Everyday is Halloween by Brian Muni and David Fox
*Werewolves of London by Warren Zevon
*Addams Family Remix by MC Hammer
*Tubular Bells by Micheal Oldfield (The Exorcist) -- good warmups
*Ghostbusters by Ray Parker Jr.
*Thriller by Micheal Jackson (a classic)
*Spooks Night Out by Legendary Invisible Men (good sprints)

...to name a few....have fun!!

Cool, Venus! I have some of those very same songs on my Halloween spin CD!. I love "Werewolved of London." I also have "Clap for the Wolman" and I'm going to have people clap at the appropriate times. Should be fun. I'll use it this evening, let you all know how it goes over.

Those are good. Where do you teach Venus? I want to come to your class!
As for clapping, I always thought a Motown moment would be a good thing, about halfway through every body has to sit up and sing backup and do a Temptations boogooloo. Good reasons? I'm a goofball who likes a laugh in the deadly seriousness of spin class- AND having to talk/ sing is a self regulating device to get to your "exercise whithout killing yourself" heart rate.
Finger snapping is a good device to loosen the arms when they get tense too.
I say the alphabet in class to find that zone when I'm blowing up, I hate to take a HRM all the time 'cause I stare at it and get all nuerotic over numbers. Boring!
A silliness moment isn't nessacary every class- but I think they'd be a nice treat every once in a while!

Lizzy

Let's see, I think it will be a long commute from New Orleans to Wisconsin!! But when you are in town, you are welcome to come, I will get you a pass! You can lead the class in some percussion :p Technically, Madd Dogg does not allow me to "advocate" taking those hands off the handlebars...so we'll need to clap fast...

I do like to keep my class "light" ... I do think the women are more into the fun than men, who tend to spin heads-down, very focused. To each his own, as long as you're challenging yourself and having fun doing it!

Renee

Annie...I love to do the music part of my class -- my husband and I are music-philes with hundreds of CDs. I either use those, or I also download from buymusic.com if it is only 1 song I need, and not the entire CD. Some of my favorites...

*Moodswings (O Happy Day is a great cooldown plus others)
*Safri Duo has some great songs with great percussion for hard spins (Baya Baya is *great* for warmup into a faster pace to start out with, Bongo Song)
*Professor Trance (some great warmups, long, will take you into the full 5-6 minutes, like the song Calling the Animal Spirits)
*Enigma (the CD The Screen Behind the Mirror is practicall a great hill spin workout by itself! I mixed some Mission Impossible II songs with it)
*Blue Man Group (esp their 1st CD, checkout the song Rods and Cones)
*Santana (songs like Migra are great for running intervals)
*Nicole Mullen (Freedom)

Other specific songs in parentheses below:
Climb favorites:
*The Verve (Bittersweet Symphony)
*The Who (Eminence Front)
*Paula Cole (Feelin' Love, long slow climb)

Sprints:
*Chili Peppers (Higher Ground)
*Moodswings (Sugarbush)
*Foo Fighters (Everlong) My FAVORITE sprint song

Jumps:
*Ricky Martin (both Maria and She Bangs) perfect jump rhythym
*The song Iko Iko (diff artists)
*Jennifer Lopez (Let's Get Loud)

Cooldown/Last song to get heartrate down:
*David Gray (Please Forgive Me)
*Moodswings (Together as One)
*Santana (El Farol)

Check out MaddDogg (spinning.com) music as well -- listen to the clips and get ideas -- things you have never heard of, some of which you can buy 1 by 1 as well on music.com).

I love the music!!! Send me the songs you like -- we can swap ideas, i am always looking for new ideas.

Renee

We had a great Halloween Spin tonight! Even some of the guys got into the spirit. :p Now I have to do it all again tomorrow morning at 5:30 a.m. It's a little easier to be enthused in the early evening than that early morning, but I'll do my best.

Last time I taught at 5:30am I had my scary face mask on ... :p Not a morning person...have fun again tomorrow and let me know which songs were favorites...

Some other Halloween songs for spinning:
"Ghostbusters theme" - techno mix
"Spiders and Snakes" - don't remember who sings it
"Time Warp" - Rocky Mountain Horror Show
"Spiders and Snakes" - a fun song, also don't know the artist
"Dead Man's Party" - a good, long climb - The class really like this one.

Venus,
I agree with you about Blue Man group and Santana and Safri Duo. Also Darude has some fast-paced stuff out there, good for sprints. Nightwish has some songs that work well for climbs, most people haven't heard them before so its not just same old, same old. I also like Transiberian Orchestra. (sp?) By the way, where are you in WI? I'm in Iowa, on the border with Wisconsin, so we are neighbors, maybe.

"Sky" - Sonique, good for sprints
"Objection" - Shakira, sprints
"Mrs. Potter's Lullaby" - Counting Crows, climb, over 7 minutes
"Korperbewegung" - Schiller, climb
"The Final Countdown" - Europe, climb
"We won't Get Fooled Again" - The Who, long version for a climb
"La Isla Bonita" - Madonna, warm-up
"Mandinka" Sinead O'Connor, warm-up
"Hero" - Bonnie Tyler, interval
"Tangerine" - Led Zepplin, cool-down
"Ride the Wind" Poison ( I think) , hill
"Annie Waits" - Ben Folds Five, flat road
"No Leaf Clover" - Metallica w/ London Symphony Orchestra, climb
"Disease: - Matchbox 20, another climb ( I like climbs!)
"Smile" - Vitamin C, warm-up

There's so much music out there. I had no idea until I started looking. it's a whole new world to enjoy. I think the music is such an important part of spinning. You can't please everyone but you need to like your own music and pass that enthusiasm on to the class.

So funny, I love No Leaf Clover for climbs too but Metallica does not always appeal to everyone so I left it off! I also use Hero of the Day for a longer slow climb.

Thanks for the list -- there are quite a few I am going to listen to...I am in the Milwaukee area, not quite border neighbrs but close enough...

Thanks again!

Renee

Annie,
If you like hills and you like No Leaf Clover, try "Higher" by Creed. I think you'll like it.

Renee,

I DO like "Higher." And "Arms Wide Open, " also Creed. The first time I ever did a spin class (as a participant) "Higher" was the last climb of the ride. It was great, I got into it, and decided that spinning would work for me. :) So I have especially good memories of that song and had to use it immediately when I started looking for my own music. Isn't it interesting how a song can have such strong associations with it?