2023 Tour of Sufferlandria (ToS)

The Nine Hammers Tavern - General Chat
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Yeah, how am I supposed to explain to people who know nothing about cycling to begin with that some generic “tour” is at all difficult, challenging, or worthy of held attention or hard earned dollars?
It sounds like asking for money to fund a ride round Europe in a train car.
Yawn…
I’ll still do it, but I am wondering if wahoo fired all their marketing people? or how could they ended up turning such an inspiring name, that is reflective of the actual real life challenges people with Parkinson’s face, into something blander than porridge.

I hope this doesn’t come across too harsh, it’s been a long day.

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hear, hear. The issues is how to we keep the old-timers happy while growing the brand AND the Tour. Put the old name back or make it the Tour of SYSTM. Just calling it ‘The Tour’ doesn’t sound inviting nor unique.

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I imagine the calculation says most legacy users will do it if the schedule is good. It’s not necessarily the most faithful/compassionate/empathetic judgement but it’s probably true.

Dates were only announced 2 days ago (nice and early) there are at least 10 days to edit “Wahoo X presents the Tour of Sufferlandria” onto a poster ready for more announcements.

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Please please PLEASE for GvA’s sake do NOT call it the Tour of SYSTM

Gerry’s bucket isn’t big enough for how puke worthy THAT would be.

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as I already suggested elsewhere, why not call it
A Week With Grunter von Agony
evil laughs included

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Just no! Period. That’s a valid licence to invoke any type of workout into the tour, including the other disciplines of Mental, Yoga, Strength, Running and Swimming. Akin to a Tour of the UCI.

Just this, keep the tradition/heritage/lagacy etc going.

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I have no issue with that but I understand that it doesn’t suit others.

Honestly, I don’t understand the general resistance to change. It really doesn’t matter in the longer term.

It’s like some people have already decided they won’t like it regardless of how it actually comes to pass.

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I dont think it has much to do with whether it suits one or not, or whether they wont like it or not.

I think it is about changing something that didnt need changing.

Keep the Tour of Sufferlandria, as it has been for the past decade.

Add/include a new challenge, call it Tour of SYSTM which is a tour of what the whole platform encompasses. Let those decide whether they like it or not, and/or whether it suits them or not.

There is no need to go changing something that is already exisiting, to be replaced by something that can become its own entity.

The act of raping the longevity of a succesful and long standing challenge to fo into something else is what is not liked, and or not suited to others.

Make the change by creating something new.

Keep your principle in place as the skeleton, and lets change/tweak every workout to something it is not today as the meat on top of the skeleton. You will like the fact that the workouts are not the same? The principle remains but the body has changed.

One cannot have shades of grey to suit our own preferences. I am only okay if thet change X and Y, but not X&Y plus 15 others.

Change can be good, if the change is good.

As an example, how many long serving SUF members requested that original SUF workouts be contained in their original format, instead of the revised format to lessen whatever. Fight Club has its remastered sibling in the library, Tour of Sufferlndria can have its sibling of Tour of SYSTM, the change being something new is added whereas there was no 2nd Tour. That’s a good change.

Are you of the opinion that the Tour of Sufferlandria needed to be changed? And hence, you have no issue with it being anything else but the ethos of the original ToS?

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I used these phrases synonymously.

I am quite ambivalent about it. It will be what it will be and that is satisfying enough for me.

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The difference is psychological. For psychological differences small changes can matter.
The idea was this was a “country” of people dedicated to the same fitness ideas, with a cultural identity.

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Great discussion but…we KNOW nothing. Its all just talk. Let’s wait and see.
No one seemed to complain when the first pro ride was included in ToS.
It may be that you are equally delighted with what is actually delivered. :crossed_fingers:

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I’m realizing how true this is for me. It’s weird. I definitely ride for my fitness, for fun, for DPF, but I also ride for the Nation. There are actually times when looking at the KoS decal on my stem helps me dig a little deeper. I am usually quite well planted in reality, but I belong to this great mythical country.

You are absolutely right! We will probably love it. And if we don’t like all the changes, at the very least, we have not changed, and the camaraderie, the in-jokes, the joy in Suffering together will be there as always.

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Sorta kinda. We do know some things. While it is true that we don’t know whether the ToS name will change, we do know that wahoo has undervalued or at least deemphasized SUF since the acquisition. We know that since Sept 2021 when SUF became SYSTM that the Knights honour roll has been buried in the forums and doesn’t have anywhere near the panache of what it once was. We know that the entirety of the Sufferlandrian culture/heritage/history etc has been relegated to essentially a single page on the Wahoo SYSTM Support site. We know that that page “explains” Sufferlandria and that that page has been buried, inexplicably, under the heading of SYSTM Troubleshooting and FAQs. We know there were staff who were at the core of the Sufferfest who Wahoo have terminated. ALL of those things make me a little sad.

You might not know it from the tone of my posts on some of these things but I am, and continue to be (probably naively) an eternal optimist. So forgive us Dame @Christine-B for our pessimism. We ARE a passionate people. I leave you with this:

THHHPPHHHAABBBAAARFF!

Translation for those unfamiliar with the Sufferlandrian language: “You must excuse me. I must complete another interval of soul-shattering intensity and duration! May your competitors rue the day they pinned on a number!”

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It’s all about PERSONALITY.
The Tour has zero, none, zilch, niente, rien.

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My gosh, will Couchlandria die, too??? But donuts!

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Can I belatedly chime in, during a Manitoba cold warning, that I am really thrilled that they moved the dates out of February and into a generally warmer longer month.

For those of us who have to pack the same amount of work into each month, and live in Sufferlandrian winter paradise, I found TOS in February sheer… Pleasure😂
Glad to foresee a lessened immune system load from the stress and cold with the new schedule! Thanks wahoo for that one!

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I did my first ToS last year and have to say, I’ll be disappointed if it’s The Tour. Tour of Sufferlandria is unique and brings that mix of pain and insanity that we hate so much we keep coming back. And it made the fundraising easier! Tell people you’re doing the Tour of Sufferlandria and they want to know more. Explain what it is and they think you’re insane and will contribute to your suffering. I’m hoping they leave the name. I want another tour poster for my wall.

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@Catie I suspect the pain and insanity will still be there but the branding will be different. Personally I will still think of it as the Tour of Sufferlandria so nothing has changed for me.

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So the original poster has the question answered… and that means I’m looking forward to another event that encourages me to ‘do stuff’ inside something that someone has planned for me. The fact that I get to do this with (obviously a virtual with as I’ve never met anyone and maybe never will) a bunch of people, which exists to support a charity…

It’s probably why I started this stuff anyway, and when it comes down to it, I just like the fact that sufferfest then wahoo are willing to set this up year on year.

Roll on March

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