“Without adventure, civilization is in full decay.”
- Alfred North Whitehead
I was sceptical when I first saw this "Biking Power" DVD from Utah Mountain Biking.
Most DVDs for your bike trainer are very ho-humm; there's a guy with a
clipboard and some inane dialogue between him and the people on the
stationary bikes -- all filmed in the same sterile room that they shoot
yoga videos in. The time passes like I'm in high school Latin
class. When I ride the trainer, I am more likely to watch a
hockey game or listen to music than watch a "typical" bike training
DVD.
On a whim, I spent my $25 on Utah Mountain Biking's
trainer DVD and was pleasantly surprised. The product is well
produced and devoid of the cheesiness I was bracing for. Instead,
the DVD offers a great workout and a nice break from the monotony other
DVDs are saddled with. The audio and video is very well done,
with all the segments done outside and on real trails in the Utah mountains. The guy rides on a real
bike. Some of the scenery is tremendous. They tell you
exactly which gears to be in and have enough variety of exercises that
it keeps one interested throughout the full hour.
No DVD can ever replace a real ride, and a workout on a trainer is only
as tough as you -- the rider -- really push it to be, but for these
winter months I will probably fire this video up once or twice a week
to help me condition for upcoming events. I'm not swearing off
watching hockey games while I'm riding or anything like that, but I
will add this biking DVD to my list of goto training tools.
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