Question 1

Where did Ridewiser come from?

Accepted Answer

The 'Ridewiser' brand name is actually an abbreviation for the catch-line of a counselling program developed by Rob Crowe in 1998:  'Ride the journey of your life more wisely'.

This phrase was the lifestyle philosophy of Rob Crowe after recovering from deep depressions through his twenties while also striving to create an eventually successful Olympic cycling career.

It means, 'make good decisions as you go'. The culmination of many lessons in cycling racing and mental illness struggles combined led to a most liberating realisation that in all the experiences you ever have, no matter how dire or challenging, there are really only two possible outcomes that can result:  you either win or you learn.

The word 'ride' is actually a reference to any action propagating a life cycle experience, such as riding a surf wave in to shore, riding your bicycle to a destination, or discovering your true self through a series of counselling sessions. Actually it was years after the cycling career of the 90's, and a short counselling career had ended, that riders in the cycling fraternity began asking to be taught about how to really train well. The word 'ridewiser' resurfaced as a new program name, and was ironically, quite well suited for a cycling-related business name.

Question 2

How is Ridewiser different from traditional cycling training?

Accepted Answer

Ridewiser's uniquely designed cycling sessions aim for more than just a physical fitness cycling benefit; you are embarking on a journey of self-mastery by training your body to access higher levels self-awareness and mindfulness.

RIDEWISER MINDFITNESS 
The Ridewiser approach, called 'mindfitness', helps you connect more deeply with your body, using various exercise levels to increase somatosensory awareness - a sensing of the subtle changes in your body's condition, like your breathing, posture, and muscle activations.

Ridewiser aims to provide a more holistic development of well-being by increasing overall self-awareness, so that you can become more present in the moment and apply yourself more powerfully with consciously focused mindsets, both in the training session and in your daily living.

RIDEWISER ERGO MACHINE
To keep you focused on what really matters - you and your the body - the Ridewiser Ergo is a simplified cycling device that naturally connects you more thoroughly with your body. This is achieved by using an 'ergo cycling' mechanism: fixed-wheel drivetrain (no free wheeling or coasting), and wind-fan resistance creating a natural exponential increase in force.

This means that as you pedal through the minutes of a Ridewiser Ergo class, you are also constantly generating:-

- low level healthy endurance baseline fitness for 75+ minutes
- enjoyable sensations of momentum via a natural wind-force resistance 
- increasing cadence fitness as you warm up and become stronger
- simulation muscle exertions like riding a bicycle (it translates to stronger cycling outdoors)
- improved pedal-stroke technique through constantly engaged drive-train cycling
- a more highly activated motor cortex in your brain leading to improved pedaling technique and power outputs on an outdoor bicycle

RIDEWISER SESSION STRUCTURE & COLOUR-CODED LANGUAGE
The physical fitness fundamentals of Ridewiser Ergo cycling session design is based in well known scientifically measured zones of physiological exertion. Riding exertions are communicated in colours relating to the Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE). As there are 6 major distinctly different energy levels of exercising intensity, there are six colours assigned to the six training zones of the Ridewiser Training Pyramid >

PURPLE 95%+ - upper maximal limit

RED 90% RPE - explosive power

ORANGE 85% RPE - sustained high output

YELLOW 80% RPE - cycling speed, cadence efficiency (or constant pedal-stroke engagement)

GREEN 75% RPE - muscle strength

BLUE 65% RPE - endurance fitness

RPE - Rate of Perceived Exertion, is a person's experience of physical effort as a percentage of their maximal output possible.

Ridewiser's coloured training-intensity language is a simplified, easy-to-understand form of exercising that allows for people of all abilities to self-graduate up to new fitness levels at their own pace.

All training intervals and exercises in Ridewiser Ergo sessions are instructed in terms of a coloured intensity level and a duration in seconds. This gives participants a quick way to understand what to do, experience the various energy exertions, and appreciate the sensations, physical changes and mental patterns or mindsets that occur during immersive exercising.

Ridewiser Mindfitness is the result of increased awareness during the exercising experience, and how this awareness can effectively access a person's thinking to different mindsets, as associated with the coloured tiers in the Ridewiser Mindfitness Pyramid.

Question 3

Who can participate in Ridewiser Ergo sessions?

Accepted Answer

- Exclusively 12-seats per session
- Individual goal-directed training
- Ergo machine design that works with all fitness levels
- Variable ergo bike set-ups to suit all rider types

Anyone of different age or fitness level can join and ride in the Ridewiser Ergo classes, because the objective is to use the group as a social motivation to improve 'self' rather than compete with others.

Riders are positioned  in a semi-circle on 12 specially designed Ridewiser Ergo machines to ensure inclusiveness and equality for all riders, and are encouraged to exert at their own level of ability.

The Ridewiser Ergo machine is engineered to ensure that your cycling cadence and muscle strength will improve at the correct rate to suit your current fitness level.

Ridewiser's unique cycling sessions are designed to get you focused on your breathing and riding posture in order to integrate your cycling technique to give you the most optimised exercise session.

Question 4

What to bring to Ridewiser Ergo sessions...

Accepted Answer

Drink bottle and hand-towel, that's it!

- wear cycling kit or loose fitting shorts and t-shirt
- BYO shoes if fitted with Shimano road SPD-R cleats, otherwise borrow our shoes
- ride your bicycle to the Ridewiser venue and hang it on a bike hook in the studio
- we have a refrigerated water filter in the ergo circle
- some people eat a gel or food bar just before classes for an energy boost
- its most common not to eat a meal for at least 1-2 hours before starts

Question 5

How long do Ridewiser Ergo classes run for?

Accepted Answer

Ridewiser Ergo classes are highly structured and run over 75 minutes duration.

Ridewiser Ergo classes have a longer warm-up phase and then higher peaks are possible AFTER 45 minutes of cycling, unlike most traditional cycling classes in health & fitness businesses.

Note that, physiologically it can take the human body up to 40 minutes to fully warm up before upper intensity exertions can be performed and deeper cycling strength can be built up to new levels. Correct, this means that most conventional exercising sessions that finish at 45 minutes are missing the key development phase that significantly increases your endurance output ability - a critical factor for cardio heavy sports like cycling.

Example of a typical Ridewiser Ergo evening session format and timeline:-

550pm   early bird riders arrive for extra riding time...
600pm   warm-up period commences (scheduled class time is 600-715pm online)
615pm    official training session intervals start with base level BLUE intensity minutes
645pm   harder exertion efforts begin to appear in session
655pm   main training effort of session, upper level efforts 
710pm   end of intervals and training efforts, warm down minutes
715pm   end of session

Question 6

What happens in a Ridewiser Ergo class?

Accepted Answer

Ridewiser Instructor sets up 12 Ridewiser Ergo bikes with specific seats, seat heights, and handle-bars to suit the riders so that all they have to do is get on and ride.

Booked riders get on a few minutes earlier than scheduled start times if preferred because the longer the warm-up, the better the training value. Some riders complete up to 90 minutes in a session visit, and over 50km of distance.

At scheduled time of start there is a 15-minute warm-up window of time before intervals commence; this is also the flexibility timeframe for people who might be running late to arrive and still get settled.

The giant Ridewiser second-hand clock is placed out in the centre of the floor at the official start of the training session (often 6.15 am or pm); the session is run precisely by the seconds ticking over on that clock-face for 75minutes.

A maximum of 12 riders are seated on 12 ergo bikes in a semi-circle arrangement around the studio floor so that everyone is front row and can see the clock, the tv display, other graphic and audio-visual cues, and the Ridewiser Instructor equally well.

Ridewiser session design uses 7 different training phases over 75 minutes to warm up, prepare, mobilise, specifically train riders at an allocated intensity zone for that session, and then run a higher level performance drill called the Training Effort, usually taking up the final quarter hour.

Riders spend the session focusing on their own exertion intensity, and pace themselves based on their energy level, fitness level, motivation level and their personal goals during classes.

Most riders find they are at their optimal output level after 1 hour of cycling, no matter their tiredness from the day, how they felt when they walked in, or what their current fitness condition is; this is a commonly experienced surprising result by most cyclists who attend Ridewiser Ergo sessions.

Greater self-awareness and mindfulness starts to become more apparent later in sessions, once riders' bodies are fully mobilised and performing well with all the coloured zones of training intensity now integrated.

Increased mindfulness opens up boundaries, limits in thinking and beliefs, offering insights into ways of changing the mindset being used. Thus, people start to become more open-minded about the chance of reaching higher performance levels, increasing mental toughness, or consciously choosing to reset their old lower expectations - this result loosely defines an experience of 'improving your mindfitness'.

Riders sometimes score their final training effort using distance or average speed measures on the Ridewiser Ergo speedos. The class Instructor might collect data scores for reference in later classes where the same drill will be used again. A cycling performance test is always held in week 10 of all Ridewiser Ergo series for the chance to measure your fitness ability on a global cycling scale.

There is a warming down phase in the final 5-10 minutes of all sessions where riders just roll the legs and chat or stretch and have a drink to calm the body down again before leaving the studio.

At any time during the classes, but particularly at the end, riders ask questions of the instructor and each other about the training and cycling in general. Apparently the general chatting in the BLUE riding gaps throughout sessions is why a lot of riders continue to hold Ridewiser memberships all year round!

Training Effort: the 'Pursuiter' 2 minute training drill is completed during the Ultra Pulse yellow-focused Ridewiser Ergo training sessions

Frequently Asked Questions

Where did Ridewiser come from?

How is Ridewiser different from traditional cycling training?

Who can participate in Ridewiser Ergo sessions?

What to bring to Ridewiser Ergo sessions...

How long do Ridewiser Ergo classes run for?

What happens in a Ridewiser Ergo class?

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Rob Crowe O.A.M, Director, 1/269 Glenferrie Rd, Malvern, Victoria, Australia 3144,

rob@ridewiser.com.au

0402 359 610

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