Audio Master Class: Multiple Personality Climbs

This profile is a series of climbs that get progressively longer. Each one is very different from the other, not just in length and cadence, but also personality. This is manifested in the music choice, by selecting five different genres of music for the climbs, as well as for the recoveries that follow.

The five genres for this profile are pop, indie rock, classic rock, electronic, and world beat.

The beauty of this profile is that it is also a means to demonstrate to your riders why you use different genres of music. You explain to your class how the differing personalities of the climbs were manifested through the different types of music. While you understand that everyone has their preferences, you ask them to acknowledge the benefits that each song offered, even if it’s not their preferred genre. You then explain that you usually select your music to match the message of your profile, and not just because you like the song or you think they like the song (although, let them know you do take their preferences into consideration). Just like a movie soundtrack, certain types of songs help drive the desired emotion of the movie—that’s what you try to do with your song selections.

If you have riders who are very picky about music, hopefully they will become more accepting of a wider variety of genres in your classes as a result of this ride.

I wrote an article on how to double your repertoire of profiles simply by taking an existing profile and make a few tweaks, using the exact same profile but changing the music and objective of the ride. I decided to do that to an ICA profile to show how it’s done.

I took the profile Progressive Hill Repeats to Pretend You Have Power, which was one of the first profiles offered on ICA, and was rewritten in 2014. It’s a series of climbs from 4 minutes to 8 minutes, all at the same cadence. The objective of that profile is to teach riders who do not have power meters the importance of power. It shows a creative way of “pretending” they have power. Ultimately, the purpose is to teach riders to not cheat on their efforts.

I took the exact profile of five climbs ranging from 4 minutes to 8 minutes, but now they have varying cadences. This time, I wanted to emphasize how each climb has a different personality, which I did through the music selection. 

By using this method, you will never run out of ideas for your profiles!

7 Comments

  1. Just read through this one. I love this!! I’m going to use Trailer Music and Hard Rock, in place of World Music and Indie Rock, but this is a terrific idea! (and I may do another version for a different class). Thanks for this terrific idea.

  2. I taught this profile 4x and it was a big hit because of the 5 genres of music! I hope you do this again.

    1. Author

      Lorri, so glad you enjoyed it.

      I had such a hard time narrowing down the genres, much less the songs I wanted to use!

      So I think I will do it again, with some different genres, even some more challenging genres like reggae or classical to show what the possibilities are!

  3. Once again Jennifer you made my life a little easier this week. I followed your profiles for this progressive climb. I love the indy rock song. Bought it like I almost do every week with all of your instructors suggestions. Did change out some of the music but it fit in perfectly with the different genres. A super investment GO ICA!!!

  4. Any idea where I can get a clean version of C’mon Let Me Ride? Looked on youtube and can’t find one. I can’t get away with the original!

    1. Author

      Try iTunes Margaret. They have a version with the “E” and another version with a “C”. Doesn’t that mean Clean? (I’m not 100% sure, as I don’t usually buy my songs from iTunes).

  5. This looks like fun, Jennifer. I’ve got a funk theme today, but will give this a try this week. I’ve used your Progressive Hill repeats with success…looking forward to the new ‘spin’.

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