[Xela]

Another huge fan here! Did Fight Club again tonight. Think I'm catching up with Wiggo, but Cancellara is just an animal!

By the way, whyeyebike, I tried to translate the Dutch smack-talk text. Something about "weakling" and "your mother". Also, love the on-screen text that says "this is the 'suffer' fest not the 'have a pleasant ride' fest.

[Xela]

Made a trade with a buddy of mine yesterday. I bought him both Sufferfest videos in exchange for the shipping costs on some parts he's shipping over to me. So, I'll post his thoughts once he tries them.

Also, according to their Twitter messages (@thesufferfest), they are nearly done with a 3rd video. I plan on purchasing it when available. I'll review it as soon as I can.

[Xela]

The Sufferfest now has a new video out. It's called Revolver. Probably because by about the 4th or 5th interval, you want to shoot yourself to make the pain go away. So, what I'm saying is, "it's awesome!" Come on, admit it, we're all somewhat masochistic.

It's a fairly short workout. It's only about 48 minutes if you watch all the way through the bonus footage at the end. The main intervals are a 30 minute session of 15, 1 minute MAX efforts with 1 minute off between each. As you know if you have done The Downward Spiral, Sufferfest is fond of throwing in bonus intervals to bring you down just a little farther. I won't ruin the anticipation/dread by saying whether this one has a bonus or not.

The video has quite diverse footage to keep you interested throughout. It has everything from a group road ride for the warm-up to cyclocross, with track and road racing thrown in. Truthfully, I can't remember what the cool-down was. Not enough blood in the brain at that point, I guess.

It's a great, fairly short workout. However, you've probably never had one minute seem so long as in these intervals. It's also a great deal at only $9. You can purchase it and download it from The Sufferfest - Cycling Traning Video, DVD, Podcast and Workout Resource

Be sure you have a fast connection or plenty of time to download, though, as the file is over 1 gig.

[whyeyebike]

So I grabbed Revolver the other day and finally got a chance to fire it last night, so I thought I would put my $.02 in.

At first, I have to admit that I thought it was going to be easier then the other two (Downward Spiral and Fight Club). I say this because in my mind, I was thinking that 1 minute intervals wouldn't be that bad. Plus, the fact that this video is only 45 to 50 minutes, I figured it couldn't possibly be as bad. GOD I WAS WRONG!!!!! This one really kicks your A$$, in a good way. First, those 1 minute intervals are at a PRE of 10/10. And the 1 minute recovery periods just fly by (but the 1 minute intervals seem to last forever).

The footage is really, really good. And the music is well done too. I am not a cyclocross rider, but I really found that footage to be motivating, when I could see it through the sweat. I also realy liked that the video gets you up and out of the saddle a lot, and for good lengths of time. All in all, I would highly recommend this video to someone who really wants a training tool that is motivational.

[rola643]

Whyeyebike - From your/our post in the Off topic, Beer - Sufferfest Fight Club - I couldn't hang with the last 2 attacks, just nothing left to pick up the cadence and keep up...Funny though I have felt a lot worse after Tuesday ( A pace ride, though I'm much closer to a B pace rider)shop rides ! I'm very much a novice rider trying to get stronger, last longer and figure out all the ins and outs of riding in a peloton. I found a good group that will give good advice, sometimes after they drop me Last winter I did some trainer time just while watching football or some NASCAR but never anything structured and I like what I have seen in the Sufferfast video. I have to say...when the vid first started with the basket ride, I had to wonder ! It didn't take long to get over that !

Sorry for straying off topic there, what can I say.

[whyeyebike]

Sounds to me like you achieved the goal of the video....I can say you made it farther then I did my first time watching Fight Club. I couldn't keep up with most of the attacks from the last two laps. If you get a chance, check out the other two videos (and I have no affiliation with the company at all, just a fan). Without giving away too much, Downward Spiral is a series of decending intervals with matching recovery times. And Revolver is basically a 15x1min interval workout that may sound easy, but could possibly be the hardest of the 3. All 3 videos have great footage, and pretty good music too.

Now to go off topic....you sound like you are in the same position I was last year. Last year I started racing (training series only) as a way to get myself stronger; plus I liked the idea of getting pushed by superior riders to do better. This year I am taking the racing a little more serious, because I actually had a lot of fun doing it. Anyway, I think if you stick to the Sufferfest videos, its a good place to start with structured training. And if you keep riding with the A pace rides, they will give you that push to get stronger.

Good luck!!!!

[rola643]

Ok....I decided to download and try the Revolver since the weather here aint all that today. All I can say is by interval #10 I just wanted to get off of the bike You are right Whyeyebike...it sounded pretty easy - OBEY! SUFFER! I have never raced and I don't THINK I want to. Things like that have a way of changing though !

[whyeyebike]

Originally Posted by rola643

Ok....I decided to download and try the Revolver since the weather here aint all that today. All I can say is by interval #10 I just wanted to get off of the bike You are right Whyeyebike...it sounded pretty easy - OBEY! SUFFER! I have never raced and I don't THINK I want to. Things like that have a way of changing though !

Never say never......if you asked me a year ago if I would be racing, I would have said hell no. Its an adrenaline rush!

[shiboleth]

I am a 63 year old one-time serious club cyclist trying to stay fit in old age. Let’s not be overly kind here, as Ed McBain once wrote “A sixty-three year old man is only middle aged if people normally live to be a hundred and twenty-six.” Somewhere in one of my closets (material possessions being another accouterment of old age) I have a jacket with a bunch of League of American Wheelmen patches on it including several centuries (100 mile rides) and even one double century.
For years I have maintained some sort of condition using bicycles and a self-designed and homebuilt bike trainer pictured at roadlessmonocycle.com .This thing is very effective and its design permits it to be used outside in the Summer so that it provides a very good simulation of riding a bicycle during the Austin hot season. I also used to use one of my several bicycles for running errands and that helped me to stay in shape as well. Unfortunately I have been scared off the road by the numerous drivers who use cell phones and have no awareness that they have thus decreased their driving skills to that of a three-sheets-to-the-wind drunk. My wife and I sometimes put the bikes on the rack and head over to Mueller which has a hike/bike path about five miles long.
About eight months ago I made a deal with a neighbor to maintain her lap pool in return for swimming privileges. This has worked out fairly well and during the warm weather last year I was able to work on my upper body strength by swimming around the pool. Then winter came. Our central Texas Winters are not harsh by any means, but they are cold enough to drop the water temperature in the pool down to fifty degree (F) or so and that can be dangerous to a heart attack survivor like me.
This presented a conundrum. I wanted to keep both my arms and my legs toned, but swimming was out for at least four months. I am not skilled enough to attach rowing arms to my own design so I turned to the machine first built by Schwinn and no produced for Nautilus. I first acquired an old AD3 advertised on Craigslist for $75 and tried it out. I could see that it had potential, but unfortunately this particular machine had been maintained by someone who did not understand cotter(wedge) pin technology and the flat on the right offset crank had been ruined making it impossible to get rid of the hitch in its get-along without replacing this part. I still remember the first five mile workout I struggled through on that machine though. Even though I had to “baby” the crank through every top dead center I was still exhausted at the end of the run. Good for Schwinn. Too bad they turned down my proposal to equip their XR-5 conventional exercise bike with my braking mechanism by dismissing it as having only, “some possible beneficial cooling effect.” Hell, mine still has something Schwinn didn’t bother to incorporate, a multi-geared hub.
I liked the old beater Airdyne so much I started watching Craigslist for a newer machine and sure enough, within a few days I spotted a virtually unused AD5 offered at $300. I bought it. I did my first five miler on it two days ago and it totally wrung me out. The addition of the arm action to the leg exercise afforded by conventional X-bikes and stair-steppers works the heart like hard running or sprint swimming and it is possible for me to get into the zone after only a few minutes.
This blog will be about my experience using this device as well as fixing up and selling the old one. I may occasionally drop in a comment or two about politics and how life has changed since I was a suburban kid in Eisenhower’s America. I have no professional qualifications other than some months spent as a brazier at Romic cycles and then as a mechanic/salesman at Daniel Boone’s cycles on Crawford Street both in Houston. However, lack of credentials hasn’t seemed to stop anyone else from shooting off their keyboard so I don’t see why I should let it hinder me. If anyone should read this and have a question about X-bikes or cycling I will do my best to answer it. I pray for the strength to say “I don’t know,” when I don’t know. That’s it for now. Bob

[whyeyebike]

Just caught the trailer for the newest TheSufferfest video, Angels; and it looks awesome. I can see this one being my new favorite. Should be out in October if the production schedule stays on track. Check out the trailer here.