I’m a big believer in music as a training tool. Obviously it isn’t useful when you’re riding in a group; although I have seen people attempting to contradict this by keeping their iPod on while in a chaingang. That’s not the chaingang for me. Also there are times when I’m out on a mountain bike on my own when I just want to hear the tyres biting into the ground underneath, or the wind in the trees. Quite often, however, I love buzzing down some singletrack with some equally buzzing tunes in my ears, or I’ll find I need some distraction from bashing out solo miles on the road. And if we’re talking about Terry Turbo, some thumping noise is an absolute must.
I thought I would share some of the tunes that have been keeping the pedals turning this winter as my preparations for the ABSA Cape Epic have got into full swing, and see if any MarathonMTB.com readers have got good suggestions to throw into the pot.
Earphones weather
A couple of disclaimers before I start though: first, I really don’t want to get into the relative merits of the arguments for or against cycling with earphones in. Some people ride with only one earphone in, etc.; some people definitely seem to use a volume that entirely insulates them from the outside world – good luck to them, I say; all I know is that I’m confident that, while riding, I listen to music at a level which doesn’t materially impede my ability to react to traffic. Let’s leave it at that.
Second, I’m no music geek. I know what I like, but I don’t necessarily know the “right” way to describe what I’m listening to. I ride a bike a lot, and I have a full-time job, not as a music critic; that doesn’t leave a lot of time to ponder the various ways of generating a beat, so if I mix up my dubstep, my disco house and my Drone Metal, please be gentle with me.
Here goes, for an apparently random selection of stuff I have been listening to recently while out riding:
- Deadmau5. Mr Zimmerman and his strange cartoon-like mouse head has been a go-to in recent months. Fantastically clean electro house tunes like “I Remember” are always a winner.
- Nero. A recent discovery, thanks to my musician brother. Big dubstep bass noise. A bit lost on small earphones, but you can’t have everything.
- Creedence Clearwater Revival. I’ve listened to them since “Chronicle” was the first CD I ever owned, aged 13, and I reckon I’ll still be listening to them in another 20 years; probably another 40.
- The tunes from various of the better MTB films – mainly the Collective’s /Anthill Films’ efforts. Mainly things like Latchkey Kid (“Coming Home Soon”), Citizen Cope (“Bullet and a Target”), Killaflaw (“Set Me on Fire”), and The Cat Empire (“Two Shoes”).
- The Temper Trap. Conditions is an excellent album – I’ve been trying the remixed version recently, and am looking forward to their next effort.
- Bombay Bicycle Club. These have been a favourite since seeing them live in East London late in 2010. There are also remixed versions of some of their better tracks, which are good for training to.
- Equally reliable – the National. I’ve tried and failed to like their earlier albums, but I think it’s going to take a while to get tired of Boxer, High Violet, and the Virginia EP.
- Something a bit different – check out the rise of “poetronica“, in the shape of http://thekingswill.com/download.asp.
- Various others: Cut Copy, Mike Snow (try the Mark Ronson version of “Animal”), Foster the People (“Pumped Up Kicks”), Hot Chip, Two Door Cinema Club, Simian Mobile Disco, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, Pendulum, Bedouin Soundclash, Eddie Vedder, Bon Iver, etc. etc.
When I’m out and about on two wheels, I like the sort of variety you can see above. But when on the turbo, I tend to like a bit of a routine, to switch my brain and legs into interval mode and get them through whatever particular suffering I’m putting myself through. For instance, I can always rely on Guns N Roses “Paradise City”, with its beat at around 105bpm, to get me through the latter part of a 2×20. Or for that matter, “Welcome to the Jungle”, Iron Maiden’s “Run to the Hills”, Ram Jam “Black Betty”, or the better bits of Rage Against the Machine. Can you see a theme?
While we’re on that theme, AC DC’s “Highway to Hell” will, I think, forever transport me straight to the start-line of a stage of the Craft Bike Transalp – adrenalin pumping, leg jiggling on the pedal, about to gun it through the start line for the beginning of some monstrous Alpine climb. Some music will always have that power to take you somewhere else – that can be a good thing, if the somewhere where you are in body is on the turbo, or creeping into a headwind, with cold rain in your face.
I’m sure lots of people will think a lot of this is total rubbish; what a great thing personal taste is! But perhaps bits of this strike a chord (pun intended) with some.
Training music-wise, what’s your poison?