Ho Ho Holiday Mix 2012 (60 minutes)

I’m teaching my last class of 2012 tonight and I want to tip a hat to the fast-approaching holidays, but since it is only December 12, I don’t want to run an all-holiday themed playlist.  This is the ride that I put together for tonight – a little bit holiday, a little bit kick-your-ass.

O Saya (iSweat Dance Mix) – iSweat Fitness Music (5:17):  Warmup, easing into a faster pace for the last couple of minutes.

Thunderstruck – AC/DC (4:52):  How excited was I when the AC/DC catalog appeared on iTunes the other week?  I’ve been scheming on how to use AC/DC ever since.  Kick up the resistance and let’s head into some rolling hills.  This is no wussy holiday playlist, no siree.

Stoned in Love (Commercial 12″ Mix) – Chicane feat. Tom Jones (5:02):  Needed an extra song.  Rooted through my music and came up with an extended mix of this old favourite.  It’s a combo standing climb/sprint 30/30/45 seconds.  The sprints are at 1:14 – 1:44, 2:28 – 2:58 and 3:27 – 4:11.

Deck The Halls – The Festival Rock Orchestra (2:59):  A seated flat.  Singing optional.

Hallelujah (Remix) – Mannheim Steamroller (8:10):  A combo standing climb/jump, mid-tension about 6/10.  One minute of climbing followed by a minute of jumping.  Two sets of 8 count jumps, two sets of 4 count (can do 2×8, 2×4 or 8/4/8/4).

Christmas in Sarajevo – Trans-Siberian Orchestra (3:25):  Recover to 0:32 then tackle one mother of a hill in this seated climb.

Run Rudolph Run – Bryan Adams (2:43):  We need some speed after that one, and here it is: sprints 15/30/50 seconds on/off.  The sprints are at 0:10 – 0:25, 0:40 – 1:10 and 1:40 – 2:30.  Whee!

Right Now – Rihanna (3:02):  We’re going to do a jump sandwich with rolling hills for the bread.  Rolling hills start here.

Little Bad Girl (Instrumental Edit) – David Guetta (4:03):  Jumps on a hill – 8/4/2 count – 2 min each at 7/10 resistance.

Don’t You Worry Child (Radio Edit) [feat. John Martin] – Swedish House Mafia (3:33):  The rest of the sandwich – more rolling hills.

Aisha (Aly and Fila Remix) – Gaia (7:12):  A combo surge/climb/jump.  Take some recovery, and when you’re ready, head into a surge until 2:30.  At 2:30, come out of the saddle into a standing climb.  You’re going to get a minute of easy recovery here from 2:55 – 3:55 but stay up if you can.  The music builds from 3:55 to a &?*?#!! 40 second uphill sprint from 4:34 – 5:15.  Recover to 5:35, then from 5:35 – end we’ll do 8 count jumps.

Some Nights – DJ Space’C (4:34):  Another combo, this one a tempo drill with three 15 second sprint intervals to keep us on our toes.  From 0 – 1:15 take recovery and ease into your tempo pace.  The first sprint hits us at 1:15 – 1:30, and is immediately chased with 30 seconds for recovery from 1:30 – 2:00.  The second sprint runs from 2:00 – 2:15, with another 30 second recovery.  The final sprint is from 2:45 – 3:00 followed by (you guessed it) 30 seconds of recovery.  From 3:30 – 4:30 we’re going to ride tempo again to the finish.

Carry On – Fun. (4:38):  Some well-deserved cool down with this inspirational song from Fun.  (Another one I’ve been trying to use for a while).

We Wish You a Merry Christmas – Weezer (1:25):  You didn’t think I could leave all the holiday songs in the middle?  Some extra stretching and goodbye music.

Some songs I wish I could have included are Candlelight by the Maccabeats (a funny take on Taio Cruz’s Dynamite) and anything from the Twisted Sister Christmas Album (yep, they have a Christmas album).

If you are looking for more holiday-themed playlists, here is Schwinn Master Trainer Denise Druce’s holiday playlist for 2012 (notice I stole a couple of song ideas from her):

  First Snow                                    Instrumental Trans-Siberian Orchestra   3:52

  Holiday                                         Madonna                                                  4:05

  Deck the Halls                              The Festival Rock Orchestra                   3:00

  All I Want for Christmas Is You    Mariah Carey                                           4:01

  FUNKY, FUNKY, XMAS                 New Kids on the Block                            5:07

  Hallelujah (Remix)                       Mannheim Steamroller                           8:09

  Christmas Tree                             Lady Gaga, Space Cow                            2:22

  A Great Big Sled (Feat. Toni)       The Killers                                               4:19

  Jingle Bells                                    The Brian Setzer Orchestra                    2:21  

  Oh Come All Ye Faithful               Twisted Sister                                         4:40

  Peppermint Winter                       Owl City                                                  4:01

  12 Days of Christmas                   Relient K                                                 3:34

  All I Want For Christmas…           Kenny Chesney                                       4:38

  All My Bells Are Ringing              Lenka                                                       2:32

Schwinn Master Trainer Chris Roche put me on to an awesome resource – Schwinn’s Indoor Cycling Official Facebook site.  If you’re on Facebook (and who isn’t?)  cruise on over and join the 3,700 others who like it for indoor cycling discussions, advice from Master Trainers, song ideas and more.  (My only beefs are that they rely heavily on Spotify, which I can’t get in Canada (yet) and quite a few of the older links seem to have expired.)  Instructor Amanda Ebner posted her holiday ride on the site here (look under ‘recent posts by others’ to find it).

And here is another Schwinn holiday playlist that you can find on Spotify here (sorry, playlist doesn’t mention artists, but I’m sure they won’t be hard to find, especially since the exact times are given):

• 01 LAST NIGHT I SAW SANTA CLAUS 03:31
• 02 I’LL BE MISSIN YOU COME CHRISTMAS (A LETTER TO SANTA) 05:07
• 03 I Still Believe In Santa Claus 03:24
• 04 Merry, Merry Christmas 04:08
• 05 The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire) 04:19
• 06 FUNKY, FUNKY, XMAS 05:06
• 07 White Christmas 03:40
• 08 LITTLE DRUMMER BOY 04:14
• 09 THIS ONE’S FOR THE CHILDREN (REPRISE) 01:13
• 10 Last Man At The Party 04:49
• 11 Elf’s Lament – feat. Michael Buble 03:39
• 12 God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen / We Three Kings – feat. Sarah McLachlan 03:26
• 13 Santa Claus Is Coming To Town 03:21
• 14 Winter Wonderland 03:34
• 15 Do You Hear What I Hear 03:32
• 16 Merry Christmas Baby 04:52
• 17 Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas 04:28
• 18 I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus 02:38
• 19 Gabriel’s Message 02:11
• 20 Christmas In Hollis 02:59
• 21 Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) 02:20
• 22 Santa Baby 02:35
• 23 The Little Drummer Boy 03:30
• 24 I Wish Everyday Could Be Like Christmas 04:27
• 25 The Coventry Carol 03:25
• 26 Silent Night 04:37
• 27 Every Day Should Be A Holiday 04:02
• 28 First Snow – Instrumental 03:52
• 29 Deck The Halls (in the style of Trans-Siberian Orchestra) 02:59
• 30 All I Want For Christmas Is You – Original Version 04:01

 Do you have a favourite holiday song we haven’t mentioned?  Tell us, tell us!

Look for two more posts before year end – my interview with Schwinn Master Trainer Chris Roche (before the holidays) and Spinning Music’s Top 25 Spinning Songs of the year (after).