World Water Day has been held on March 22 every year since 1993 and focuses on the importance of freshwater. The day is meant to raise awareness of the 2.2 billion people living without access to safe water. The initiative is spearheaded by the UN, alongside UNESCO, the World Water Council, and the World Wildlife Federation. Using the day as a basis for longer-term action, the UN aims to ensure that everyone in the world has access to safe water by 2030, while not impacting the environment.
World Ocean Day is held every year on June 8. This day has been celebrated since 1992 as a way to appreciate the world’s shared ocean, our connection to the sea, and to raise awareness of the role it plays in our lives.
While these are wonderful excuses to plan a water-themed class, you can use this theme any time of the year. If you like to empower your riders with inspirational sayings, here are 43 water-inspired quotes to use in your class.
I’ve got three water-themed bucket playlists for you to choose from: Water/Waterfall (90 songs), Ocean/Sea/Waves (140 songs), and River (50 songs). You can make a theme out of any of these three or choose a selection from each one as a representative for the many ways we enjoy water on planet Earth.
Fern Stancer has created a challenging new profile called “Flow Together” that includes three progressively longer climbs to focus on muscular strength and endurance. Her playlist comprises songs about all sources of water. This ride is sure to get your class flowing with sweat!
Here are a few of my favorite water-themed songs:
Water, Judah and the Lion, 4:43, 131 bpm
Push harder on the chorus as you climb.
Bring Me Some Water, Melissa Etheridge, 3:53, 127 bpm
Because, of course, you have to include this track in a theme ride about water, amiright?! It’s an aggressive, fun climb at 64 rpm.
An Ocean Between The Waves, The War on Drugs, 7:11, 83 bpm
A delicious endurance, tempo, or warm-up track.
Take Me To The River, The Talking Heads, 5:03, 101 bpm
Break from the beat on the verse and ride at about 80–90 rpm, then surge to 101 rpm on the well-known chorus.
Water, Tyla (feat. Marshmello), 3:12, 124 bpm
This song from Tyla released in November 2023 has some steamy lyrics…but we’re just going to assume she’s talking about riding a bike on a hard climb! There are two opportunities to work harder at 1:00–1:32 (32s) and 2:35–3:05 (30s).
Below, you will find the new profile “Flowing Together” along with the three bucket playlists, currently with over 280 combined tracks (and continually growing). Let us know if you have any additions to these playlists in the comments!