Longtime readers of the blog will know I’m a huge fan of Dutch wunderkind DJ Armin van Buuren, and not just because we’ve both been to law school.  Van Buuren spins trance tunes, particularly good for zoning out and just letting your legs move during a ride.  All of the songs in this mix come from his latest CD, A State of Trance 2010.  I ran it for my class tonight and asked for feedback.  One regular gave it a thumbs up and said he thought it made him work harder than usual.  Another said she preferred my usual Top 40.  I thought it was challenging but I forgot my heart rate monitor so I couldn’t compare it with previous weeks.

Taxi (Original Mix Edit) – Simon Patterson (4:32):  Warm up your legs and do some upper body stretching.  At 2:15 pick up the pace by 10% – fast legs here, we’ve got somewhere to go today.

Run Till U Shine (Cosmic Gate Remix) – Andrew Bennet and Sir Adrian (8:00):  Some rolling hills here.  Tension increases one click at a time, every 10-30 seconds, then down again one click at a time.  From 3:30 – 5:10 it switches to a seated climb.  At 5:10, head back into rolling hills.

Collider (Jorn van Deynhoven Remix Edit) – Thomas Bronzwaer (4:01):  start with a fast, out of the saddle climb to 0:35.  Rest when the music rests (0:35 – 1:12).  From 1:12 – 1:40 move into a seated climb.  At 1:40 we’re back out of the saddle and gathering speed.  Alternate between regular and aggressive stances every 15/30/45 seconds.

We Won’t Forget (Original Mix Edit) – Robert Nickson (4:30):  Time for some sprints.  Surge to 1:20, then recover from 1:20 – 3:00.  From 3:00 – 4:00 we’re gonna sprint.  Recover to 4:30.

Ancient World (Roger Shah Long Haul Flight Edit) – Roger Shah and Signum (4:33):  Start with some 8 count lifts to 0:40.  Take a break from 0:40 – 1:40, then add a hunk of tension (7/10) and go back to 8 count lifts.  At 3:30, take off some tension (4/10) and pick up the pace but stick with 8 count lifts.

Ibiza Sunrise (Classic Dub Edit) – Myon, Shane 54 and Labworks (5:00):  An out of the saddle climb.  At 1:11 sit down and close your eyes and keep the pedals moving.  At 2:30 we’re back to climbing until 4:30.  The last 30 seconds are for recovery.

Last Minute (Original Mix Edit) – Ron Hagen and Al Exander (3:34):  Come out of the saddle and start to climb.  Take a break from 1:00 – 1:35 then get back to it.  For two minutes, alternate stair-climbing (standing jog), regular stance, aggressive stance (20 seconds each), 2 sets.

Not Going Home (Armin van Buuren Remix Edit) – Faithless (5:00):  Start with some 8 count lifts.  Take a break from 1:30 – 2:08 and move back into 8 counts.  At 3:50 switch to 4 counts through the end of the song.

She Moves (Original Mix Edit) – Andy Moor and Carrie Skipper (4:56): Tempo.  Take the tension to 4/10 and find a cadence you can maintain for the full five minutes of this song.  Close your eyes and focus on your pedal strokes: pushing down, scraping across the bottom and pulling up to make nice smooth circles.

Sun in the Winter (Alex M.O.R.P.H. Remix Edit) – Max Graham and Neev Kennedy (4:19):  For the first 45 seconds continue with the tempo ride from the previous song.  From 0:45 – 1:40 take a well-deserved minute for recovery.  From 1:40 – 2:23 we’re climbing out of the saddle with light tension as the music builds.  Finish up with some sprints from 2:23 – 3:45: 15 seconds on/off then 30 seconds on/off.  At 3:45 we’re done – wind back the tension and head into the cool down.

Closer (Original Mix Edit) – Susana, Omnia and The Blizzard (4:21):  Cool down.  Start with some easy spinning, then upper body stretches.  Careful dismount, take all the tension off the bike (that’s extends the life of the brake), and we’ll do some lower body stretches for quads, glutes, hamstrings and calves.  Ahhhh……..