Stage 1 in the books. Hard but bearable. That's totally a different kind of workout that what we're used to in the Haus. Took me back to my leg shaving, road racing days. Kept the power near the assigned zones, cadence was a bit tougher to match. I can definitely see that this will get exponetially tougher and tougher as the stages go. But good first day. Really enjoyed chasing the HTC team.
Total ride time for me 1:24 (added a ten minute warmup outside the Sufferlandria team bus prior to the start of the stage). 102 TSS pts, 0.85 total ride IF. Ride Link
Good luck everyone. The Sufferlandrian are counting on you (and have the water boiling as well)!
It may have been just me, but the toughest part of the stage was the 5 minutes of "mental imagery"... err blank screen at the end. I felt required to actually watch this in order to 'finish' the stage, but that guy was annoying. IMHO.
I agree, Roy! I was ready to get off the bike, but he just kept talking! That was about the time I picked up my phone and started reading a few emails....
I couldn't match the cadence much of the time, although I tried, and I definitely had a harder time being "accurate" with the power numbers than I usually am with my straight EN intervals.
Tom was being a chatty Cathy at the end so I didn't hear much of the imagery stuff. Actually, I was the Cahtty Johnny.
As I have not been on my bike for about 5 months, my goal today was 1) last the whole workout without quitting 2) hold the watts as steady as possible 3) don't puss out (I think that is the same as #1).
All I have to say is it was a L O N G session. Took a couple of mico breaks and a 4 minute recovery in the middle of the 2nd section. Overall I lasted and aand with a 140 NP I have a big hill to climb.
Oh my A R S E! My nether-regions were "tender" this morning. The first 30' of the session was trying to get comfortable! Tomorrow will be double chamois dance and vaseline slathering.
Day 2 is D U N! I just spun at a moderate pace and didn't over do it at all. Still have 7 days to go and want to have some legs left later this week.
Tom KILLED it and hit that last interval at 368 to 370 watts! Amazing!
I had to lower the intensity to 95%. Still I wasn't able to keep up. I'm glad I got my FTP run in this morning and get Stage 2 done! NP 219 IF 0.88. http://tpks.ws/w8gy
Damn Train!!!! Good day in the tour. I was feeling cheesy at the start of the climb, but remembered it would get tough at the end. Really worked on keeping the cadence closer to the assigned targets. I'm really enjoying these workouts, totally different than the OS type work we've been doing the last few months. A good change of stimulus right before I start my build.
A total of 1:10 with a ten minute warm-up @ 0.89. Ride Link
Definitely could NOT hit the target in the last "sprint to the end", and I thought it was cruel that the rider was sitting up and celebrating when we were still supposed to be surging to the end!
Day 2 done! Seemed a little easier than Saturday. Still scaled down to 90%, but with the exception of one quick micro-break, I made it through to the end. Feeeling better mentally - but ask me again in a day or two
Wow, Stage 3 was a brute!!! Short transfer and slammed schedule had me up stupid early this morning to get the work in. Extra water bottle and gel all got used this morning. Am I a bad person because I REALLY REALLY wanted to stay with the basket rider? Definitely looking forward to a few 'easy' single video days.
A total of 1:28 (8 min warmup + two videos), 0.88 total IF and 115 TSS. Ride Link
0.98 IF for Extra Shot and 0.88 IF for Fight Club.
I was very on the fence about hopping in to the Tour because of sacrificing two weekends of outdoor riding, but it turned out the weather was crappy this weekend (well devastatingly apocalyptically bad by San Diego standards, i.e. we had light rain)... so I got suckered into ToS afterall.
Day 1 started well, but I got crushed on the 2nd 20' interval and had to drop down to 95% and then to 90%. Complete blow up.
Day 2 went better, but the sprints and the 9-10 efforts still just eat me alive.
Swam this morning, so day 3 is in the afternoon, can't say I'm exactly looking forward to it. However, I do have to say I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one getting my ass kicked!
Also, CompuTrainers are full of sh%t and I will stand by that to my grave. ~330 watts is not what I would call a piece of cake outside, but it's a figure I see pretty often during climbs. Now on my CT, anything above 300W and that thing starts to just turn into concrete. Get it north of 350 and I'm stomping to barely turn the pedals over. I'm pretty sure I know why, it's related to the algorithm of how the CT sets resistance. Since power is a measure of work rate, the amount of resistance set by the CT is dependent on your cadence. High cadence during a strong effort and it's almost doable, but when the resistance surges and your cadence drops, the CT responds by adding more and more resistance to try have your output meet the target at the new slower cadence, which slows you down more, which adds more resistance in a vicious cycle. The only way to recover is produce way MORE power than the target output, in which case the CT lessens the resistance and you might actually be able to recover... if you hadn't just had to do a 400+W interval to get the damn thing moving again.
Now why am I going on this long rant? Because Sufferfest is full of 'sprints' and other maximal efforts that constantly put me into this scenario and really just sap the life out of me. Don't get me wrong, I love the videos, but I'm starting to think the CT makes them worse, not better.
@Trevor- Good work! I know Tom Glynn uses his computrainer so he may have some feedback.
@Stephanie - Ya, that guys sucked! I gave him a back hand at the end of the first sprint for ya. :-)
Today was better for me. Goal was to have an NP of 150 at end of Fight Club. Ended up with 149! I really tried. Today I was head down and just pushing what I had. I will take it after 5+ months of no biking.
We had a special appearance in the Glynn Gym from the world famous Parker Glynn. He really cheered his dad on. Was a great way to take the focus off the pain.
It probably does... but here's my shocking admission. I basically never shift on my CT. For steady interval efforts I never needed to and that sort of got trained into me.
For rides like Sufferfest where there is wild fluctuations, I am realizing that I probably can't get away with no shifting. I told myself to try it during one of the big efforts on the last stage but forgot too. Will try to drill it into my brain for today's session.
Holy crap! Just looked at my WKO files and if I uploaded all my rides (I am good at doing that) I have ridden a grand total of 8 times since last March.. Not including this week.
@Trevor: I think one of the factors is the Sufferfest videos have a 10/10 effort at 140% which requires you to be in an appropriate gear. I am the same way as you with the other OS TR workouts where I can ride the entire workout in one or two gears.
Full disclosure (and as I mentioned in a previous post prior to the start of the Tour)- I have the power dialed down specifically because of the 10=140% issue. Revolver has 16 minutes (in 1 minute increments) of 'on' time at 10. I know that there is little to no chance that I could hold 140% (for me 421 watts) for these intervals. So I've used the SF excel spread sheet to assign a 50% to 120% power distribution. Using this range, I get 10=VO2 Max. 8=FTP. 3=50%. As I'm not on a CT or TR, my assignments are printed on a chart where I can see it/reference while jamming on my bike. Three stages in, I'm getting good at remembering key targets without looking. YMMV.
Roy, I missed your link earlier but will definitely check it out now. I only had 2 SF videos before the tour so I definitely had not quite mastered the art of adjusting to their definitions of 9/10 and 10/10 on the CT before diving headlong in.
Learned pretty quick that something wasn't quite right, thanks for the heads up!
Stage 4 done! Short, but getting hard now that a few days of fatigue are in the legs. I used to like Fabio and Cadel, now I'm starting to rethink my position. A total of 59 minutes (with pre-video warm-up), 0.89 IF, and 77 TSS points. I'm starting to really dislike the 'fluff' during the cool-down portion of the videos. Just show me some dude riding down hill like on the recovery portions! Ride Link
Looking ahead, I'm starting to think that Saturday's stage is going to be a B.E.A.R.!
@Trevor, I never shift on the CT either. For me the trick is to maintain a fairly high cadence of 90+. When I see a big spike coming, I need to be 95+. If I'm not and I'm grinding away somewhere sub 90, then I'm usually doomed. The pedalling becomes a downward spiral until I can't turn the cranks. 10 seconds rest and then I can wind it back up again.
For those of you shifting, are you in slope mode or erg mode?
Comments
AND SO IT BEGINS....................
Stage 1 in the books. Hard but bearable. That's totally a different kind of workout that what we're used to in the Haus. Took me back to my leg shaving, road racing days. Kept the power near the assigned zones, cadence was a bit tougher to match. I can definitely see that this will get exponetially tougher and tougher as the stages go. But good first day. Really enjoyed chasing the HTC team.
Total ride time for me 1:24 (added a ten minute warmup outside the Sufferlandria team bus prior to the start of the stage). 102 TSS pts, 0.85 total ride IF. Ride Link
Good luck everyone. The Sufferlandrian are counting on you (and have the water boiling as well)!
I couldn't match the cadence much of the time, although I tried, and I definitely had a harder time being "accurate" with the power numbers than I usually am with my straight EN intervals.
Stage 1 completed. Chamois dancing in Sufferlandia!
Tom was being a chatty Cathy at the end so I didn't hear much of the imagery stuff.
Actually, I was the Cahtty Johnny. 
As I have not been on my bike for about 5 months, my goal today was 1) last the whole workout without quitting 2) hold the watts as steady as possible 3) don't puss out (I think that is the same as #1).
All I have to say is it was a L O N G session. Took a couple of mico breaks and a 4 minute recovery in the middle of the 2nd section. Overall I lasted and aand with a 140 NP I have a big hill to climb.
Let the sweat below my bike be my witness.
Oh my A R S E! My nether-regions were "tender" this morning. The first 30' of the session was trying to get comfortable! Tomorrow will be double chamois dance and vaseline slathering.
Day 2 is D U N! I just spun at a moderate pace and didn't over do it at all. Still have 7 days to go and want to have some legs left later this week.
Tom KILLED it and hit that last interval at 368 to 370 watts! Amazing!
NP 219
IF 0.88.
http://tpks.ws/w8gy
Damn Train!!!! Good day in the tour. I was feeling cheesy at the start of the climb, but remembered it would get tough at the end. Really worked on keeping the cadence closer to the assigned targets. I'm really enjoying these workouts, totally different than the OS type work we've been doing the last few months. A good change of stimulus right before I start my build.
Day 2.....in the bag!!
Day 2 done! Seemed a little easier than Saturday. Still scaled down to 90%, but with the exception of one quick micro-break, I made it through to the end. Feeeling better mentally - but ask me again in a day or two
My ride is here
Wow, Stage 3 was a brute!!! Short transfer and slammed schedule had me up stupid early this morning to get the work in. Extra water bottle and gel all got used this morning. Am I a bad person because I REALLY REALLY wanted to stay with the basket rider? Definitely looking forward to a few 'easy' single video days.
Day 3 of ToS completed. Mind/body settling into wake-up, drink coffee, eat, ride mode.
@Brian - 1.02 for 21 minutes? Looks like your next FT test will have a nice little bump. :-)
Will be in the Glynn Gym in 45 minutes. Mentally fired up. Let's see if the legs play along. NP of 150 or bust!
I was very on the fence about hopping in to the Tour because of sacrificing two weekends of outdoor riding, but it turned out the weather was crappy this weekend (well devastatingly apocalyptically bad by San Diego standards, i.e. we had light rain)... so I got suckered into ToS afterall.
Day 1 started well, but I got crushed on the 2nd 20' interval and had to drop down to 95% and then to 90%. Complete blow up.
Day 2 went better, but the sprints and the 9-10 efforts still just eat me alive.
Swam this morning, so day 3 is in the afternoon, can't say I'm exactly looking forward to it. However, I do have to say I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one getting my ass kicked!
Also, CompuTrainers are full of sh%t and I will stand by that to my grave. ~330 watts is not what I would call a piece of cake outside, but it's a figure I see pretty often during climbs. Now on my CT, anything above 300W and that thing starts to just turn into concrete. Get it north of 350 and I'm stomping to barely turn the pedals over. I'm pretty sure I know why, it's related to the algorithm of how the CT sets resistance. Since power is a measure of work rate, the amount of resistance set by the CT is dependent on your cadence. High cadence during a strong effort and it's almost doable, but when the resistance surges and your cadence drops, the CT responds by adding more and more resistance to try have your output meet the target at the new slower cadence, which slows you down more, which adds more resistance in a vicious cycle. The only way to recover is produce way MORE power than the target output, in which case the CT lessens the resistance and you might actually be able to recover... if you hadn't just had to do a 400+W interval to get the damn thing moving again.
Now why am I going on this long rant? Because Sufferfest is full of 'sprints' and other maximal efforts that constantly put me into this scenario and really just sap the life out of me. Don't get me wrong, I love the videos, but I'm starting to think the CT makes them worse, not better.
@ Trevor ... doesn't shifting gears help you spin faster when needed?
@Trevor- Good work! I know Tom Glynn uses his computrainer so he may have some feedback.
@Stephanie - Ya, that guys sucked! I gave him a back hand at the end of the first sprint for ya. :-)
Today was better for me. Goal was to have an NP of 150 at end of Fight Club. Ended up with 149!
I really tried. Today I was head down and just pushing what I had. I will take it after 5+ months of no biking.
We had a special appearance in the Glynn Gym from the world famous Parker Glynn. He really cheered his dad on. Was a great way to take the focus off the pain.
It probably does... but here's my shocking admission. I basically never shift on my CT. For steady interval efforts I never needed to and that sort of got trained into me.
For rides like Sufferfest where there is wild fluctuations, I am realizing that I probably can't get away with no shifting. I told myself to try it during one of the big efforts on the last stage but forgot too. Will try to drill it into my brain for today's session.
Thanks for the reminder!
@Trevor: - I can't imagine not shifting during SF/TR workouts.
Holy crap! Just looked at my WKO files and if I uploaded all my rides (I am good at doing that) I have ridden a grand total of 8 times since last March.. Not including this week.
Learned pretty quick that something wasn't quite right, thanks for the heads up!
Stage 4 done! Short, but getting hard now that a few days of fatigue are in the legs. I used to like Fabio and Cadel, now I'm starting to rethink my position. A total of 59 minutes (with pre-video warm-up), 0.89 IF, and 77 TSS points. I'm starting to really dislike the 'fluff' during the cool-down portion of the videos. Just show me some dude riding down hill like on the recovery portions! Ride Link
Looking ahead, I'm starting to think that Saturday's stage is going to be a B.E.A.R.!
For those of you shifting, are you in slope mode or erg mode?
Stage 4 completed.
That's a big boy IF Brian. Nice work!