[Xela]

Whelp, David (Mr. Sufferfest) has done it again...and again. He's put out two new training videos that proudly carry on the tradition of the previous Sufferfest videos, i.e. the most enjoyable misery you'll ever put yourself through.

The price for the two new videos remains the same and keeps them, in my opinion, the best value indoor training videos out there. Video quality is much improved over the early videos (I know some have been re-released but I haven't seen any of these yet), but that results in a larger file size. File sizes are 1.5 gb+ so be prepared for long download times.

Both new videos work on climbing, but they go about it in different ways.

Here is the low-down on Angels (I've typed Angles every time so far, so if one goes uncaught, I apologize) from The Sufferfest's website:

You want details? Here they are. This is what Angels delivers in just slightly over 60 minutes:

* 6:30 warm-up, featuring footage from track racing in San Diego
* 10:00 of over/under intervals, with 1:00 just above your threshold, and 1:00 just below threshold, repeated 5x. Featuring footage from the 2009 Paris-Nice when Alberto Contador got, gasp, dropped by just about everyone!
* 3:00 rest, featuring some beautiful descending footage from cyclefilm.com, effort level 4/10.
* 8:00 climbing, while you try to stay with Andy Schleck in the 2009 Liege-Bastogne-Liege. Effort level starts at about 7/10, attacks take you up near 9/10, until setting down to 7/10 for most of the rest.
* 4:00 rest with more descending, effort level 4/10.
* 8:00 climbing, with a gradually increasing pace up the famous Col d’Eze in the 2010 Paris-Nice, featuring Vockler, Contador, Sanchez…yeah, all the big boys. You do the first two minutes at 6/10, next two at 7/10, next two at 8/10 and the last two at 8.5/10. There are a few accelerations in the group that ask you to increase cadence without increasing effort….which can be a little tricky, as you’ll find out.
* 4:00 rest with more descending, effort 4/10.
* 8:00 climbing, with the freaking mother of all climbs: Alpe d’Huez…can you stay with Contador in the 2010 Dauphine-Libere? You start the climb bridging up to the break with an effort level of 8/10. Then you pretty much do 8/10 the whole way up. Oh, wait, I forgot about the bajillion attacks that push you so far into the red that you’d swear your eyes are bleeding.
* 4:00 warm down featuring a sort of motley arrangement of things to keep you entertained. Including the first Sufferfest xtranormal video. Oh boy.

Now for my personal take: I loved the over/under intervals for the warm-up. When I first did over/under intervals as part of a warm-up, it seemed like I was working myself too hard for a warm-up. However, as was shown to me then, and again here, these intervals are great for preparing the body to go all out at various subsequent portions of the workout.

The descents are fabulous for the rest periods and push you to not only recover, but to work on your pedal cadence as well.

The first two climbs for me seemed, in general, to be about the same difficulty. On paper, it looks like the second should be more difficult, but for me the first 4 minutes at 6/10 and 7/10 were fairly easy, and I was only truly suffering the last 4 minutes.

Now the third climb had me begging for mercy and scaring the dog! It's probably best that the creator of these videos lives in Singapore, because I was swearing to myself I was going to hunt him down when I was finished.

Speaking of hunting, here's the synopsis of The Hunted.

Where the other ‘fest videos have short, nasty and high power intervals, The Hunted is something else all together. Focused on longer, less intense efforts, it gives you a solid threshold workout that still manages to drain you of everything you’ve got. Here’s what happens:

* 6:30 warm-up: Gradually up the pace, over the intro, footage from a group ride in California, and some pack riding in the Tour de Suisse.
* :30 attack: A violent effort to get away from the complacent peloton.
* 5:00 solo-breakaway tempo riding: You’ll ride at effort level 7/10 with Marco Pinotti as he plows through the TT course of the Tour of Romandie.
* 20:00 climb: Caught by the group, you’ll start a long, difficult climb in the group, then in a small breakway and ultimately alone as you ride with Robert Gesink over the queen stage in the Tour de Suisse. Efforts range from 7/10 to 8.5/10.
* 4:00 downhill: This isn’t a time to rest…especially when you’re solo trying to hold off the chasers! You wouldn’t get to take it easy in a race, so I don’t want to hear any whining. You’ll take the resistance off but you’ll ramp that cadence up to 115+ to train some fast pedaling technique.
* 5:00 small group: Caught by three other riders, you’ll swap off the front in a small breakaway as you hurtle toward the finish line, while the pack looms behind. Effort of 6.5 to 7/10.
* 5:00 inverse intervals: As you’re the sort who goes for the big glory, you’ll attempt to attack and shed your breakaway companions. You’ll do :50 tempo, then :10 attack, then :40 tempo/:20 attack, :30 tempo/:30 attack, :20 tempo/:40 attack, :10 tempo/:50 attack
* ?: It wouldn’t be the ‘fest if there wasn’t a small (small) sting in the tail now, would it?
* 4:00 warm-down

Honestly, I went into The Hunted thinking it would be an "easier" workout, especially compared to other 'Fest offerings. I was very much mistaken.

This video literally drained me. I was absolutely worthless the rest of the night and felt more tired than after the last century I did. The 20 minute sustained effort had me on the verge of cracking, and then the last 5 minutes of intervals culminating in 50 seconds of max effort broke me. It took everything I had to not quit.

However, when you do finish these videos, and know you've truly pushed yourself to the limit, you can't help but smile.

In general, I was able to see massive leaps in fitness improvements last winter/spring thanks to The Sufferfest videos. I've always preferred climbing specific videos for winter work, and I'm glad Sufferfest has given me this option.

The only problem with The Sufferfest videos is that you will basically want to throw out all other indoor training videos you own. Everything else will seem so boring after you experience the lovely misery of these.

The Sufferfest is featured in our Holiday Shopping Guide (http://www.twospoke.com/forum/f185/twospoke-coms-2010-holiday-shopping-guide-5244/#post37071). Please note that the link to the videos does expire after a certain amount of time after purchase, so if you are wanting to give the gift of suffering, contact David at david@thesufferfest.com for a gift code.

[Xela]

Anybody else doing these videos? I think Hunted is about the toughest, but it's 20 minute climbing interval also makes it my favorite.

He's putting a new 1.5 hour video this weekend. Looks like crummy weather here Sunday, so it's good timing. I'll post a review as soon as I try it. The trailer for the new vid is here: Local Hero | The Sufferfest

[ThinkBike]

Looks like fun. Now all I need is a trainer. Heading out to look at one today.

[Xela]

Find a trainer, ThinkBike? I rode the 85 minute long Local Hero vid last night. I'll post a commentary/review soon.

[Xela]

Do you have what it takes to make Sufferlandria proud?

See here for the official description and a trailer: Local Hero | The Sufferfest

Here are my thoughts. At 85 minutes, as opposed to the usual 1 hour length of the other videos (all except Revolver which is a little shorter), this is the longest of The Sufferfest offerings.

Though it's longer, the level of intensity was adjusted to allow your legs and lungs to actually be able to function for that extra time. That being said, you'll still walk/hobble away from this video will shaky legs and burning lungs.

The warm-ups were quite nice and actually fun. I really enjoyed the cross footage. The crit gets you going before you're slung into the abyss with the TT at the World's. These are structured, 6 minute pyramids, and, for me, were the most difficult part of the workout. The middle two minutes at 8/10 while chasing Spartacus are pure misery, but the footage makes it feel like you are right there keeping you motivated to continue pushing. You feel so close in fact, that the refs are probably getting pissed at you for drafting.

You get what feels like a much less than 2 minute break in between each pyramid.

After the time trail (honestly, I wasn't able to beat FC, but was a strong 2nd), you jump into the WC road race. Each "lap" is 3 minutes. I found the three minutes just the right amount of time to give each lap my all and still being able to recover in the 2 minute rest. The middle laps concentrated more on climbs with the last lap being a flat race for the finish.

Of course, no pro-race stage that isn't on a mountain finishes with a gingerly stroll to the line. Here, you're racing the Norwegian god of thunder. Can you take the big guy? Definitely not if you're not giving it everything. This is a two minute build up sprint, with the last 30 seconds at 10/10.

After this, as the website suggests, there is a surprise waiting. I'm not going to ruin it, but it will suck anything you have left out.

I've done harder videos in the past, but none of these offered any real structure and looking back, just seem plain ridiculous. All Sufferfest videos hurt, but it's obvious that David puts a lot of thought and planning into the structure of the video so as to not bring you down, but build you up.

In Local Hero, as always, the footage is first-class and the music spot-on. In addition, the people of Sufferlandria help keep you motivated throughout.

Again, another quality product from David that I'm happy to recommend. You'll hate him (and me if this review causes you to try it) at first, but I have no doubt you'll thank him later.

[Xela]

I know we're moving out of the trainer/rollers season, but I wanted to add a commentary on personal effects of The Sufferfest videos.

This year was a somewhat off off-season for me. I didn't hit the rollers as regularly as usual. With my lights and new winter gear, I found myself going outside more. While a good thing in some respects, it's also true that these outside rides weren't near the intensity or structure of the roller training I normally put in in the winter.

That said, thanks to The Sufferfest videos, which I rode exclusively this winter, I'm still in decent shape for this time of year. In fact, yesterday I realized that these videos have made me a quite competitive city-limit sprinter.

On the Sunday morning shop ride, there is a guy that always whips me on sprints and I just assumed that would still be the case. On the second to last sprint, I decided that if I couldn't beat him, I would help someone else. I told a buddy of mine that I was going to lead him out and let him take the win just so someone would beat this guy. I pulled to the front of the pack well before the sprint and blasted with about 1/2 mile to go. I figured it would surprise everyone except my buddy who knew the plan. I was sustaining 35 to 38 mph heading for the sign. Unfortunately, it turns out my lead-out was too strong, and, unknown to me at the time, I gapped my buddy. The other guy held my wheel and as I pulled out with only about 50 feet left to let my sprinter through, the wrong person went on for the win.

Well, that totally blew up the group and while he and I were riding alone after that he was telling me what a brutal effort that was. Less than 5 minutes later, we were still alone and about 3/10ths of a mile out from the next city-limit. I looked at him, told him I was going, and hit it. He grabbed my draft again, but this time it was too much. I took the last sign of the day by about 2 bike lengths.

I've never been even a decent sprinter in my opinion. I've always considered long, sustained climbs my strength, but thanks to The Sufferfest, I don't think that's gonna be my last sprint win.

So if you live somewhere that Spring showers force you onto rollers from time-to-time, give one or some of these vids a shot.

[rola643]

Originally Posted by Xela

On the Sunday morning shop ride, there is a guy that always whips me on sprints and I just assumed that would still be the case. On the second to last sprint, I decided that if I couldn't beat him, I would help someone else. I told a buddy of mine that I was going to lead him out and let him take the win just so someone would beat this guy. I pulled to the front of the pack well before the sprint and blasted with about 1/2 mile to go. I figured it would surprise everyone except my buddy who knew the plan. I was sustaining 35 to 38 mph heading for the sign. Unfortunately, it turns out my lead-out was too strong, and, unknown to me at the time, I gapped my buddy. The other guy held my wheel and as I pulled out with only about 50 feet left to let my sprinter through, the wrong person went on for the win.

Hmmm, sounds like a pretty strong group!

[rola643]

Well, I can't believe Hack or Xela haven't posted this yet or maybe I missed it else where.

» The skinny - Industry Outsider

When the Tweet first told the title of the new work-in-progress, I was at once both excited and scared. Being used to previous titles such as Angels, Revolver, and Local Hero, and knowing just how difficult those are, hearing that Mr. Sufferfest has named this one A Very Dark Place sent chills down my spine. Even then, I still thought, “I can’t wait.”

[Industry_Hack]

Originally Posted by rola643

Well, I can't believe Hack or Xela haven't posted this yet or maybe I missed it else where.

» The skinny - Industry Outsider

When the Tweet first told the title of the new work-in-progress, I was at once both excited and scared. Being used to previous titles such as Angels, Revolver, and Local Hero, and knowing just how difficult those are, hearing that Mr. Sufferfest has named this one A Very Dark Place sent chills down my spine. Even then, I still thought, “I can’t wait.”

He wrote it, I published it. I suppose he'll get around to posting it here. Looking at my traffic for the day, a huge chunk has come to my site from Facebook.

[Xela]

My weekends are usually pretty busy, and I sometimes neglect TwoSpoke. I wait to get back to work Monday mornings to catch up with you guys, usually. I figure the link to the main review is good for now. I love the new video! It's not too short, and not too long. But man, can you tell it's working you to your limits. Rola, have you tried Revolver? To me, it's a lot like that, with all high intensity intervals.