Meet Jo – she’s a hockey playing mum who’s discovered the perfect way to keep in shape during the close season.  It turns out that regular rides at your favourite cycling studio are a great way of keeping toned and ready for the season ahead.

Jo’s big thing is hockey.  She captains her side Cheshunt HC, and spends every Saturday from September to April pounding the astroturf with her girls.  But since having a son 4 years ago, Jo has found it harder to stay in shape, especially when the hockey season is over.

“I was moaning to a friend how unfit I felt in the hockey close season and she mentioned the 20 days intro offer that Cyclebeat had introduced. She egged me on until I booked my first session.”

Jo has found Cyclebeat to be transformational.  After completing her intro offer, she took out a monthly membership and now rides at least 3 lunchtimes a week.  She’s a particular fan of Paddy’s hill rides, and says,

“I love the fact that I can leave work, do a 35 minute intense work out (that works) and be back in the office within an hour. I have never been more enthusiastic about a gym. I always try to get a bike at the front so that I can see the determination in the instructors face and draw on it when I find myself flagging.”

Jo’s first target was to drop two dress sizes for a family wedding.  Having succeeded, and feeling amazing for it, she is now concentrating on reducing body fat, improving muscle definition, and maintaining her fitness.

Jo is an inspiring example of somebody who has set herself a goal, and Cyclebeaten it.  Nice work Jo, and good luck in the season ahead – you’ll be fighting fit, that’s for sure.

You guys love the Beatboard!  It turns out the good folks of the City of London have a bit of a competitive streak.  Who knew?

The Beatboard adds an element of of fun competition to each Cyclebeat ride, and more importantly, it gives you something to aim for.  During each ride, you can try to catch up with the person just ahead of you, and over time, you can aim to increase your power. 

The Beatboard is pretty simple, but we thought a quick guide to the numbers would help everyone to understand what the data means, and what you need to do to move up the rankings.  So we hereby present a bluffer’s guide to the Beatboard:

Rank – That’s how you’re doing.  Your place on the board, based on the energy exerted (see below).  Don’t worry about where you rank overall, bigger people have an advantage, and stronger cyclists have an advantage.  But why not use this as a motivational tool – can you stay ahead of the person behind you, or catch up with someone just ahead.  That, fellow riders, is the joy of the Beatboard.

Bike – That’s your bike number.   Easy.

Power – This tells you how hard you are working at any given moment.  Power is measured in watts, and is based on a combination of your speed and your resistance.  So you can increase your power either by cycling faster (i.e. increasing your RPM) or by increasing your bike resistance (using the red lever on your bike – resistance ranges between 1 and 24).

During a ride, look at the power level that you can comfortably maintain.  From one ride to the next, push yourself to very gradually increase that figure.  If your average power goes up,  that means you are getting fitter and stronger.  And you will move up the Beatboard.

RPM – That’s the rate at which you are pedalling.  Increase your RPM to get that flywheel spinning faster.

Energy – That’s the overall work that you have done so far during the ride.  The higher your average power, the more work you have done.  Whoever notches up the highest energy score rules the Beatboard.   Your energy score is measured in Kilojoules, and is not a measure of the calories which you have burned (more about that in next week’s blog post).

Coming soon:  We are going to colour code the Beatboard, to separate the guys from the girls.  So you’ll have the chance to be Queen, or King, of the hill.

Next week we’ll have a look at the results you receive by email and online, and we’ll explain why the person who heads our online leaderboard is not always the same person as the one who heads the in-class Beatboard.  

So how are you all doing on the Beatboard?  And let us know if you have any more questions about it.