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We hope the arrival of the autumn ErgVideo newsletter is greeted with anticipation and excitement, rather than as a sad sign that the outdoor cycling season is coming to an end. We hope you all enjoyed your cycling this summer, and that the fitness you built using ErgVideo brought more enjoyment to your cycling adventures, and more success in racing. Our southern customers should be preparing to head outside and feel their extra fitness!

Here at ErgVideo, we've been hard at work to deliver you a new website, a software update and above all, exciting new content.

12 New Releases for the 2009-2010 season: French Pyrenees, Mont Ventoux & Spain!

This past spring and summer we travelled further afield to gather new ErgVideos. We wanted a Euro flair, and I chose my favorite places in the whole world to ride: The French Pyrenees and Mallorca, Spain. For both trips, we pulled on local connections. In Spain, the folks of CyclingAdventure.com helped us film some excellent sessions. In this update, I'll focus on the French trip and leave the "Tales from the Big Ring" in Spain for another day.

In France, we called renowned coach Chris Georgas at his Hotel Le Monastere in Limoux. He connected us with English Coach David Walters and his SouthWest Bike Academy riders Ed Griffin, Matt Ullmer, and Josh Yetman. We brought along Ottawa locals Sandy Fulton and Vince Caceres, and descended upon Chris' place. This gang of U23 category riders provided spectacular footage, never tiring and never turning down a challenge at the next huge mountain peak. All of them have great style and enthusiasm, and were very eager to provide you with some exciting ErgVideo experiences.

We were sure to cover some of the signature climbs in the Tour de France, including Mt. Ventoux. This ErgVideo is epic and hard, as you should expect. However, nothing says "Smeulders got his paws on this, didn't he?" more than doing something unexpected, maybe risky, and getting amazing results. We stayed in a region that was not trapped by long, arduous mountain peaks in every direction. The scenery was wild, from dense forest, to deep gorges, to wide-open & arid, with sparse vegetation and bald, exposed rocks. It had long climbs, short climbs, amazing descents, fast and twisting roads that every cyclist dreams about. Every day, the flavor of your ride and your lunch can be different. This place was perfect to provide the ErgVideo experience of changing pace, peloton interactions, dynamic training, high-speed action and a great feeling that you really aren't alone in your basement being flogged on your CompuTrainer. We didn't want every ride here to be a long threshold-limited slog up a rock pile! When I saw all this, I said "Boys, go this way, listen to Vince's instructions. I don't know how hard the route is (I lied), or what you will encounter...just ride it hard and make it fun. I'll be right behind you in the truck". Mostly, I was.

I thought to myself "Whatever U23 nationally-competitive cyclists consider 'fun'?...yeah, that's gotta hurt. It will be perfect." The results are far beyond our wildest expectations and we look forward to more projects with the gentleman of The Southwest Bike Academy when we visit Europe again. Be sure to check out "Ride to The Tour", it really has it all.

We present pictures and descriptons of each ErgVideo in the "Roads of the Tour de France" series below. The ErgVideos in the "Spring Training in Spain" series are also available now at the website, but we will leave the details for the next newsletter. The ErgVideo collection stands at 54 titles, now, we're too big to fail! Click here to go straight to the Full Catalogue.

New Releases

NEW! Mont Ventoux This legendary climb is known as the "Giant of Provence", and translates to "Windy Mountain". It's no joke. It's been used 14 times in the Tour de France, and is remarkable for its eery moonscape-like summit. The lower slopes are wooded and typical for a French climb, but suddenly you emerge into the heat of the white rocks, and the brutal winds from which there is no escape. You wonder "I'll take the heat, or I'll take the wind, but for pete's sake, why must I get BOTH?". The riders from the Southwest Bike Academy and the Cyclery start out easy on the windy giant, and let it rip a little harder when the rocks start. This video is a must have for any Tour afficionado.

NEW! Ride To The Tour: The riders from the Southwest Bike Academy and the Cyclery set out from Hotel le Monastere in Limoux to catch a glimpse of the 2009 Tour de France when it passed within striking distance of a good tempo and hills ride. The route, the weather, and the riders provided perhaps one of the most outstanding ErgVideos ever. It's hard, with long climbs in the Forêt des Corbières Occidentales, fast descents, some flat tempo riding and town-sign sprints. We catch the tour, then head toward Carcassone via Lagrasse and some awesome hills to finish off a really tough day. This ErgVideo really showcases the product, with fun, action, speed, and lots of variation that will keep you engaged and pedalling hard. This isn't one slog up a rock pile! The changes in scenery and terrain gives you a real feel for how every region of France is unique, and you can easily sample a few such distinct regions over the course of a single bike ride. This ErgVideo is a must-have.

NEW! Plateau de Beille The Plateau de Beille is relatively new to the Tour de France, introduced for the first time in 1998. It has featured 4 times in all, and remarkably, the winner here has always gone on to win the tour overall! Lance Armstrong himself won here twice, and now you can experience the "winner's climb" with ErgVideo. Riders from the Southwest Bike Academy and the Cyclery warm-up from Ax-les-Thermes to the foot of this monster, and then dish out a hurt you won't soon forget.

NEW! Port de Pailheres The Port de Pailheres has featured in the Tour de France three times. It hasn't hosted a stage finish (yet!). It sets the selection for epic finishes and battles on Plateau de Beille and Ax 3 Domaines, and it's higher than both! Its eastern ascent is particularly twisty and beautiful with vast green meadows, and big unobstructed views of the Pyrenees. The riders from the Southwest Bike Academy and the Cyclery take you up this monster at a healthy clip. Watch out for the attacks in the final third, where the switchbacks are tightest and steepest. This is among our favorite climbs in the whole world, and we're really thrilled to show it to you.

NEW! Gorges and Castles This is an exhilarating ride through the Gorges de Galamus and into the wild eastern reaches of French Cathar Country. It’s very hilly and the boys from the Southwest Bike Academy and The Cyclery do their best to inflict some pain. One highlight is the 18% climb up to the Chateaux de Quéribus. This is a great tempo and hills workout: the terrific scenery is a bonus!

NEW! Aude Forest Long Hills: This is a spectacular ride among the wooded, narrow, twisting and hilly roads east of Limoux. It takes in some long, hard climbs and extended descents. Once again, the Southwest Bike Academy; and Cyclery team members blast along to make this a terrific tempo and climbing workout.

New Website Design

Have a look at our new website. You will find it easier to shop and select ErgVideos suited to your interests and training needs. Video previews are better organized, easier to view, and our shopping cart is simpler. One thing that hasn't changed is the price!

Software Update and New Ride Designer Features

Be sure to download ErgVideoPlayer Version 2.1.8. You can check the version you are using under the Help...About menu in the ErgVideoPlayer. The changes are mostly are "behind the scenes" technical improvements, but they include simplified ride set-up and some music player enhancements. Check out the ErgVideo Coach toolkit as well.

If you use the "Web Tools" button when setting up your ride, you will notice an exciting upgrade. We'll leave this as a topic for a later newsletter. New functionality has been enabled in the Web Tools that will make setting up your rides even easier and faster! Click here for an example!.