Winter: The (Velo)Beat Goes On...

by Gus Grissom, Combat Correspondant

If there’s one lesson to be learned from the weather this week it’s that “winter ain’t done with you yet!” That means “your trainer ain’t done with you yet either!”  That’s right, long hours in a dark pain-cave are still in going to be on your training schedules for a while yet.  There is, however, someone out there doing something about this; John Braynard of www.velobeats.com is doing his part to provide the perfect soundtrack for vaulting your otherwise dull threshold intervals to Pyrenean heights.

Braynard, an active Cat 4 racer for Evolution Cycles, spends a fair amount of time commuting by bike. Okay, fine, we can be honest.  He only goes from Vienna to Reston, but those short commutes all add up eventually.  One day he realized his IPod mix was simply too inconsistent and wasn’t doing what a workout soundtrack ought to be doing.  “I just got sick of looking for the right song or having the song end right in the middle of an effort,” he says, “It just seemed that music should be able to keep me up in the right training zone all the time.”  Instead of turning to ITunes for another spinoff of the Rocky soundtrack, Braynard turned to his own education and experience for a solution by doing what most of us never do: he actually used the knowledge gained from his college major -- he has a B.A. in Audio Recording and Media Arts from the University of South Carolina.  He says “I did a few mixes just for myself and then posted them to a Facebook group, Official Rules of the Euro Cyclist.”  Once his mixes hit the satirical group, Braynard starting getting positive feedback and “subscriptions” from cyclists all over the world.  “I responded to the demand for cycling-specific mixes by interspersing the electronic, upbeat tempos with timely motivational quotes from cycling’s most quotable personalities, guys like Jens Voigt and Paul Liggett.”  

Braynard says that his objective with each new mix is to provide the right style of music and mix of beats to “keep racers engaged and focused on their workouts for the whole time they are on the bike -- no wasted moments of mental fatigue or lapsing attention.”  The concept is simple.  Electronic music and cycling, according to Braynard, go hand-in-hand.  “I think back to the early days when cycling was just gaining popularity in America,” he recalls.  “John Tesh seems to me to be the one who started the genre when he did those soundtracks for the network Tour de France broadcasts.”  Electronic mixes, he says, are just an extension of that work.  “I see what I do on velobeats.com as an evolution from that beginning.  My mixes are designed to set a mood, to get riders into a groove or even a trance for riding.  So, even if you don’t normally like techno- or electronic-style music, these mixes will take you outside of the normal ‘pain-cave’ situation and let you focus on getting an effective, focused workout done in what are less-than-ideal conditions.”

When asked what “types” of workouts he orchestrates, Braynard is quick to note that his music is not tied to any specific workout plans.  He does not, for instance, currently provide workouts that are tuned to specific cadence ranges.  “Some guys have been asking if I could do ‘climbing workouts’ or ‘slow, muscular tension’ mixes, but I am just focused on looking for a certain groove that keeps the workout moving along,” he says.  He does admit, however, that he “did create one seriously tough workout” for a friend’s spinning class that was supposed to be focused on hill climb repeats.  “That one was brutal,” he adds joking that he didn’t really know how hard spin classes could be until he worked on that specific project.

Braynard has been getting a lot of attention from his creations and he notes that several riders from BMC as well as some domestic pros are currently downloading and enjoying his music.  If folks from MABRA want to give it a listen as well, it’s as easy as connecting to ITunes.  Braynard posts all of his mixes there and “all riders have to do is subscribe to Velobeats through ITunes and they will get each mix as it becomes available.”  He adds that he is constantly updating his source material and his mixes to “keep things in line with what is popular in any given week” according to his multiple sources in the music industry.

So, while you wait on the snow to melt and the races to happen, check out either www.velobeats.com or get subscribed through ITunes to make those boring, trainer miles a little less boring and a lot more training.  While you are sweating, keep a sharp ear out for the MABRA-related shouts-out Braynard has promised to send to his growing, world-wide audience.

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Gus Grissom races for Team GamJams Racing, teaches Greek and Latin at DeMatha Catholic High School, and writes a dissertation in his spare time.  He writes this column strictly for fortune and glory.

 

 

Comments

[steve]

All gamjams is anymore is gear review, surveys and list lurker. What happened to multimedia monday, coulda woulda shoulda. There was at least 4 races last weekend.