Nothing frustrates me more than small thinking.  In fact, if I can point to one factor that has compelled me to virtually every entrepreneurial endeavor I’ve ever done (of which there are many) it would be small thinking.  Small thinking is what makes a great idea fizzle and die.  Small thinking takes opportunity and handicaps it.  Small thinking is fueled by fear and a lack of confidence.  Small thinking is expert at discovering all the reasons why something won’t work, and is blind to all the reasons something will work.  Small thinking is short term, negative, and impotent to taking a new idea to its ultimate destiny.  I say DEATH to small thinking!

Let’s talk about a perfect example of small thinking as it relates to Cycling Fusion.  How about buying bikes that have power built into them, and not buying the computers that display that power, to go with them.  A major fitness chain has already done that.  Small thinking says that this will intimidate people and confuse instructors.

Here’s another popular train of thought.  “When we are ready to buy new bikes for our Spinning® or Indoor Cycling room, we are going to get the same ones we got before because that’s what everyone is used to, and anyway, nobody uses heart rate, cadence or power around here”. Geez, I wonder if the fact that you don’t have any bikes that have those tools, has anything to do with that?

Here’s one of my favorites.  “We really don’t have many cyclists here, so we don’t need all that computer stuff.”  Well, here’s a news flash, there are many cyclists that don’t use that stuff even while riding outside – did you ever think that you might be the ones to teach them?  As far as the cyclists that do use training tools outside, is it no wonder they also don’t come to your classes?  We complain about not attracting a certain segment of the population, and then we don’t do anything about understanding how to reach them.

Cycling Fusion & Heart Zones Are Fighting Small Thinking Together

This weekend I had the pleasure of launching Power Training for Indoor Cycling at the annual Heart Zones conference in St. Louis.  I had the largest group of the tracks offered even despite the fact that many of the students do not yet have power bikes in their cycling rooms.  These are not the small thinkers.  These are the leaders that are not content to maintain the status quo, but want to learn all they can about what the future may hold, and have a hand in shaping it.  They are big thinkers.  Despite the odds against them, they see the opportunities around them.  These are the folks that want to be change agents, not the victims of change.

Sally Edwards herself is one of the original big thinkers!  From making history with her Heart Zones training methodology, to partnering with Cycling Fusion on our brand new approach to training with power, she’s always tried to think creatively and break with the status quo.  This new system of training is directed specifically at the average indoor cyclist, in the average fitness facility, who may not even ride outside, and yet with very sound cycling principles to help even local competitive cyclists reach new levels.

Keiser Corporation is another big thinker.  It’s refreshing to see a corporation working in a recession impacted industry like fitness say – “We believe in the future, and we’ll back the leaders who are taking the risks to be there.”  They provided 20 bikes to the conference so that the power training could be experienced first hand by most who have never been on a power bike.  The Keiser M3 has been a tremendous tool in developing this curriculum, and while it is designed to work with any bike that can measure and display power, we’ve been really delighted to work with them on this project.  It’s no wonder that every bike was already pre-sold before we left the conference.

While this blog will begin to focus on the Giretto, and other Cycling Fusion projects in the near future, I will be writing a series of weekly blogs about Cycling Fusion’s Power Training for our friends over at the Indoor Cycling Pro membership site.  If you follow along there, you should be Power Proficient in time for winter training.