Celebrities On My Bike: Taylor Hicks

“I gotta get on one of these” is what American Idol Taylor Hicks said while getting his picture snapped with my bike and I at a radio station tour stop to promote his appearance as Teen Angel in the musical Grease at the Aronoff Center in Cincinnati through February 1st and his concert at the Century Theater in Oakley, Saturday January 24th.

Mildly admitting he may have had one too many Memphis BBQ sandwiches, Taylor Hicks whirlwind hasn’t stopped since he got off the plane in Hollywood. He actually had to have his dad pick up his car at the airport where months before he had left it to fly out for Idol auditions. The call to accept the role in Grease came during a five minute lunch while recording the new CD due out this spring. Think we all can relate to careers encroaching on exercise time and the pooch encroaching on the beltline.

I know what you may be thinking. Truthfully, I wasn’t a big fan of the big grey haired guy when he was on Idol either. I too thought the Soul Patrol was kind of corny. However, that was Idol. Now he’s doing his own thing, his own niche of music. Being a fan of the blues, I’m warmly impressed. I listened to a few cuts on his myspace page. Good stuff if you’re into heartfelt soulful blues-ish music. You can feel the emotion in the songs. He said his band is full of seasoned players, some who’ve played with Clapton, another a virtuoso on the big Hammond B3 Organ. Bands don’t lug one of those things around the country unless they mean business. His new single “What’s Right Is Right” is due out in the coming weeks.

Hey, he was cool enough to take a goofy picture with me and my bike. If he can see a Les Paul in my Jamis Xenith, I can at least appreciate his passion for blues and soul music.

For more celebrities on my bike, click here to see the band The Bravery.

American Idle Workout

You got a suspected doper, a loudmouth who calls out all your faults, a skinny guy who tries to hold the group together and a guy who’s uses worn out phrases in every vocalization….pothole dawg.  It’s a typical breakaway group.  Tuesday night I’m riding with Paula, Randy, Simon and Ryan.  It’s the American Idol 2009 premiere and your chance to be more active than the billion or so real American idles who’ll watch the show growing a root in the sofa under a trough full of raspberry chocolate chip delight.  Below is a spinning trainer workout I’ve painstakingly created in 14.2 seconds that you can do on a bicycle trainer, a treadmill, elliptical or any other fitness apparatus you can stick in front of the TV.  It’s a two hour show, so mix it up if the thought of two hours on a bike trainer makes you urk up a puke.  Do an hour and fifteen minutes on the bike and a 45 minute run.  Print it off, take it to the gym, give it to your spinning instructor or bring it to your home torture chamber Tuesday night.  I tried to make it winter/spring friendly, meaning its more strength and endurance based.

SET-UP WARM UP

No doubt the first 5-10 minutes of the American Idol Season 8 Premiere before the first commercial break will relive past Idol shows, total train wreck performances and setting up where they are filming now blah-blah-blah.  Start spinning or walking and ramp yourself into a nice endurance type effort.  Take this pace into the first commercial break.

COMMERCIAL BREAK/PROMO PUSH

During commercials drop the tempo down to recovery mode, but get ready.  When the Fox promos come on (commercials that tease upcoming FOX shows and the local nightly newscast) up the tempo to 80 percent.  Chances are you’ll get nice little 3 minute recovery followed by a 20-60 second hard effort tempo intervals in every break, kind of like coming to the front of the paceline.  Be aware and pay attention, sometimes they’ll run commercials, a promo, another commercial and more promos. 

IDOL ENDURANCE

When the show comes back on, endure the show in endurance mode, a 75% effort, with the below exceptions.   

DAWG-STUPID-SLAM INTERVALS

During the show, whenever Randy says “dawg,” Paula says something stupid that sounds Vicadin induced, or Simon slams someone; you’re down for a 30 second hard tempo effort.  Just like during the commercial break promos, think of a turn at the front of the paceline or running over a little riser on your neighborhood run.  These are most likely to occur during judging.  If that’s the case, they could add up, so start your hard effort after the last judge is done speaking.  You could be down for up to a one and a half minute effort.  For example, when the singer really does actually sing well and Randy says, “yo dawg that was so money and you don’t even know it,” you’re in for 30 seconds.  Then Paula might say sniffling “you make me weep…you…are what this competition is all about.”  Now you’re in for a full minute, as long as Simon agrees.

TOKEN DUFUS DEATH MARCH

No doubt some time during Idol they’ll play cuts of some numb nut with something barely identifiable as a song spewing from their word hole.  When they play, you pay.  For the duration of the dufus, you’re up and out of the saddle in a big hill climbing gear or, if you’re on a treadmill, change the angle to “death march” mode.  Be aware that a Token Dufus might be followed by a quip from one of the judges.  If that’s the case, you might be cranking up the effort during the last part of that death march.

RECAP COOL DOWN

Probably with about 10 minutes left in the show, they’ll take a look back, replay the highlights, and tease the next episode.  You’re day is done at the 1:50 mark, cool down.