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2017 EN Tour of Sufferlandria Challenge - Who's In?

edited February 1, 2017 10:37AM in Community Forum 🏠

For anyone on the team, you know we have advised in the past that this sort of challenge in the Off Season is not suggested BUT every year, someone on the team takes part. So this year, we are handling things differently. If you can’t beat them …..join them, comes to mind.


We want to make sure that you do the challenge correctly, so you do not have to triage your body or the rest of your season.  Coach Rich has put together a video HERE, providing guidance on how to participate and complete the challenge.


Full details about the Tour, if you do not already know, and are still on the fence about participating, can be found HERE


This is where we will be sharing our experiences, posting pics and videos and maybe slinging around some smack talk. Good luck and stay injury free.

Now......who's with me?

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Comments

  • I've done this twice. Totally fun!
  • I can't NOT do this......it will be year #5 for me!
  • ISLAGIATT: It seemed like a good idea at the time ;-) 
  • They lost me when they went app only.  I don't find their offering compeling enough when pitched as a recurring charge versus trainerroad.  I enjoyed just buying videos and using them as a complement or a change up from Trainer Road but over time used the music videos less and less.  I do just as well watching netflix to a structured TR workout and don't need the music based video that sufferfest uses.
  • I'm in.  Can't be a knight and not give this a go.  Big fitness boost once you clear the other side.  It can be a slog to get through with a proper FTP setting.

    @Attila Matyas - I looked into the app.  Seems pretty glichy still.  I decided I am not going to fart around with it - especially since I like to do these in combo with TR while in erg mode.  To me, ERG = do or do not - there is not try.  I own all the videos that can be purchased.  Therefore, when I looked at the stages, I decided to just sub in a couple of different videos for the app only selections.  Only stage 1, 3, and 9 need slight modifications.  What I came up with was (don't mind the dates - they are to accommodate my schedule):

    2/4/17 – Stage 1 - Do on Friday 2/3

    • Igniter + The Long Scream (55min)

    • Alternate for Igniter - Elements of Style + The Long Scream (73 min):

    2/5/17 – Stage 2 - Do on Sat 2/4

    • The Way Out + Power Station (110 min)


    2/6/17 –  Stage 3

    • The Omnium (50 min)

    • Alternate for The Omnium - Fight Club (58 min)

    2/7/17 – Stage 4

    • Angels (56 min)

    2/8/17 – Stage 5

    • Nine Hammers (55 min)

    2/9/17 – Stage 6

    • There is No Try (60 min)

    2/10/17 – Stage 7

    • Hell Hath No Fury (75 min)

    2/11/17 – Stage 8

    • Revolver + Revolver is Easy + Half is Easy (130 min)


    2/12/17 – Stage 9

    • It Seemed Like Thin Air (60 min)

    • Alternate for It Seemed Like Thin Air - The Blender (100 min)

  • I'm in too!  Will be my second ToS.  I'm finishing Jan OS this week.

    @Attila Matyas - The subscription is $10 a month and you get 7 days free and you can cancel after the Tour.  In other words it will only cost $10 to do the Tour.  To me this is a super deal than previously because last time I spent ~$100 buying some of the videos.
  • edited February 2, 2017 12:03PM
    I am in as well, and just want to say how cool it is that Coach Rich gives you guidance on it. 
  • edited February 2, 2017 1:59PM
    I agree with Steven.  Last year when I did the tour, I did the rides at 90% of FTP, did no running/swimming or weights and was able to kill it.  I recovered well and had a great season.  

    I know if you are a purest, that doing the rides at a reduced FTP might not float your boat, but this challenge is individual for me and not about anyone else, so.....having said this, there will be no shaming if someone in this group decides to dial things back. 

    Let's make a deal to check in regularly. Do not hesitate to post a pic or a vid. I know I will be doing that.  

    Looking forward to tackling this challenge with you all.
  • @Ian Kurth Are the workouts in TR, or did you already have them?
  • @Brian Hagan - All of the old workouts (that can be assigned to purchased videos) are in TR.  You can run the workouts in TR without the videos if you don't own them.  

    However, as in my prior post, there are some stages that are only accessible through the new app (omnium, Igniter, ISLTA etc).  For those, I am substituting similar videos that I already own.  I don't have anything against the new "app generated" model of their business.  However, I run a computrainer in erg.  As of now, their app doesn't support computrainer.  I have my space shuttle boot up sequence for TR, SF and zwift that reliably works, and I don't want to go back to IT school and learn another system for a couple of stages of this TOS '17 event (if that makes sense).
  • edited February 2, 2017 3:07PM
    I am the same.  I do not know how to do an interval without erg mode...   ;)
  • @Ian Wow thanks for that, now I have a plan!  I have all the videos as well and ride them inside trainer road which always worked great.  I understand why they built the platform to be app only for business reasons but I kind of wish they would have just merged with trainerroad and we could of had the best of both worlds...

    @Derrek I have all the videos already and used trainerroad for the control of my computrainer.  The new sufferfest app doesn't support computrainer at all so I'd be left just riding it like a regular trainer and shifting to guess at the watts, just not the same.
  • I agree with Steven. 
    Can you send this to my wife? :-P 
  • I have been on the fence on this because I too have a computrainer and don't want to shift/etc.  I also don't have purchased videos - so did sign up for the app at least temporarily.  

    So happy you have other CT users chiming in on this as I was about to bow out because of the CT and my dependence and enjoyment of the erg mode.  
    Keep the suggested substitution suggestions coming... 
  • edited February 2, 2017 8:23PM
     @AnnSloan - I am going to play around tonight.  I normally run TR and Zwift at the same time.  I pair TR first to my CT and I pair my Power meter and HR monitor (whatever your normal TR set up is).  I then open Zwift, and with a second Ant+ stick I pair my Power meter and HR Monitor.  I am assuming you can do the same, but the difficulty will be to make sure they a synced (start at the same time).  
  • Question for you all that have done this in the past. Have you experienced a rise in your FTP or bike fitness level?
  • @Brian Hagan -  The TOS can be a beat down, assuming your FTP is correct, especially if you roll through in erg at 100%.   It is something like a 1000 bike TSS...  In previewing this year, the 8th stage looks especially miserable...  

    However, when I come out on the other side though, I tend to experience an FTP bump, and gain a few mental toughness tokens.  I like to do at least one "in season" tour as well (repeating a past tour sequence) as I tend to respond to these type of challenges.
  • @Brenda Ross - Good idea on riding at 90%.  I just did a FTP test and know I'll struggle with my new FTP (20 watts higher).  Or maybe I'll use my old FTP.

  • I was planning on hitting 0.9-0.95; glad to hear I'm in good company with that line of thinking.
  • I am in.  I love Sufferfest.  Seriously thinking about knighthood and when would be the best time to fit it into the training season (doing IMLP in July).  
  • Stage 1 done.  The scream remains legit.  I still have the screaming echoes knocking around in my head...
  • @Ian's modified tour stage 1 completed.  Long scream is no joke.  I haven't done it in a while and I think I forgot how hard it was.

  • I did stage 1 this evening. That was the first time I used Sufferfest and I really liked it. I use a Computrainer and did Igniter in non erg mode. I ran TrainerRoad and Sufferfest parallel for The Long Scream. TR was about 20 seconds behind, so I was a littler off in the cornering, but no big deal.  Also, the targets in TR were a little lower than the SF targets for the second half. 
  • The long scream hurts!  That is all.
  • Stage 2 in the books. NBD...just an incremental dose of fatigue..
  • edited February 4, 2017 6:44PM
    Did stage 1 this morning at about 20 watts lower than prescribed (Kickr vs Vector wattage). Still agree with @Ian Kurth, @Attila Matyas and @John Henault - Long Scream is a killer!
  • Hello all - first time I have done this and having troubles figuring out how to see if it's operating in ERG mode or not.  Any advise?  I can see it's connected to my wahoo kickr and has power however not sure how to change ERG vs not.

    Help for a beginner to sufferfest?
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