New Zealand Bike is part of
Virtual Active’s Bike 1 Series. It’s led by Caroline Jordan, one of my
favourite VA instructors. The DVD contains two workouts: a 35-minute ride on
the North Island and a 55-minute ride on the South Island.
I’ve decided it’s easiest to
review each of the rides separately.
North Island Ride
Length: 35 minutes
Format: Caroline calls the North
Island Ride a “feel good, endurance ride” and I have to agree. It’s not overly
challenging but it moves at a good pace. There’s only one climbing stage but
the other stages have a variety of drills to keep you motivated. There’s some
interval training and mixed terrain riding. Probably the most difficult stage
is where Caroline has you add some resistance, stand and “jog” and then sit
down but keep the same RPM as when you were standing.
Music: the music in the North
Island ride is upbeat, fun and catchy.
Footage: the scenery is stunning and is typical of
what you would expect from a ride in New Zealand: lots of lakes, mountains and
forests.
Difficulty: 7.5/10. (The short
length lowers the difficulty level.)
Other Random Thoughts: this is a
fun ride that I’ve done quite often. The time flies by and I get a great
variety of drills and stages in a short amount of time. My only minor complaint
is, as always, I’d like an additional climbing stage or two. Overall score:
9/10.
South Island Ride
Length: 55 minutes
Format: the South Island ride has
a bit of everything: Tabata training (all-out for 20 seconds, recover for 10
seconds), intervals, jogs and lifts, speed work and climbing. I love the
variety and how it makes the workout just fly by.
Music: similar to the music in
the North Island ride (upbeat and fun).
Footage: during the intro Caroline promises
“incredible vistas” and she’s not kidding. Like the North Island ride, expect
lakes, mountains and forests but the South Island ride also contains two urban
stages (Auckland and Wellington).
During the Wellington stage,
Caroline points out that the Lothlorien scenes from Lord of the Rings were
filmed nearby. And I felt like I was riding the road to Moria during the later
climbing stages:
Difficulty: the South Island ride
is definitely tougher than the North Island ride and not only because of the
longer length. The tabata stage and back-to-back climbing stages make this an
8.5/10.
Other Random Thoughts: there
really isn’t anything not to love about this ride. It’s challenging with
gorgeous scenery and a good variety or stages. I honestly can’t think of any
way to improve this ride so it gets a 10/10.
So New Zealand Bike is one of my
most-used and most-loved Virtual Active DVD’s. What’s not to love about feeling
as though you’re riding through Middle Earth?
