Oh well done Sir Paul @pkdaylu !
Have a good rest and recover well. I believe this is the only time resting is allow. 
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well, there are all those rest intervals in Violator and more than half of HIE so…
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You’re evil Sir 
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Awww. Thank you Sir!
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Here’s my review of my Knighthood quest.
Starting with The Wretched, which I had only ridden once before, all the way back in December of 2020. I had no memory of it, so it was a pretty good place to start. Feeling good, of course, I was tempted not to reduce the percentage, but knowing (at least intellectually) that this was going to be a long hard day, I took it down to 85%. I then went with that percentage for the next four routines–Do As You’re Told, Power Station (love that one!), The Rookie, and Angels. By the end of Angels, I was starting to doubt if I could stick with 85% much longer! And, sure enough, Rue the Day finally convinced me to let up a bit. After the first set of Pain Shakes, I dropped it to 80% and then to 75% for the third set. By this time, I was starting to feel my old, banged up left knee. Too many years of carrying too much weight, I guess! This meant for the rest of the day I had to very gingerly stand when it suggested standing, and usually drop back to a seated position before the standing period was over. Number 7 was G.O.A.T. and that’s another of my faves, so back up to 80%. Thin Air was maybe the toughest, as I was mentally pretty drained by this point, but I got through (I think partially at 75%, but I can’t really remember). The Best Thing In The World at number 9 seemed a lot like Thin Air, but almost a quarter hour shorter, so I got through that at 80%. And lastly, at number 10, Attacker was okay. I started that at 75% and kept it there most of the way until the last 90 seconds or so of the last interval, and feeling the finish line coming up, I decided to challenge myself one last time at 100% for that last attack. Made it! Still can’t believe it!
One of the things I’m most happy I did in the weeks and months leading up to this, was to read a lot of forum posts from my predecessors and the great advice given to them by other KoS’s. Planning for nutrition and hydration that worked for me and was quickly available; having the items I would want right there in reach while riding; being ready to pay attention to the time in the breaks between sessions (setting an eight-minute timer worked great for me); having plenty of additional clothes, including socks, to change multiple times in the breaks; and not listening to the inner voice telling me to keep it 100% at the beginning, when I would have easily used up the mental and physical energy needed to get through the later rounds, are just some of the pieces of advice I took to heart and found quite useful! And a nice little tidbit I hadn’t thought of that Sir @DarrenWCKam left for me and that I saw just minutes before starting was to load the next routine immediately when finishing the previous one, just to avoid any last-minute rush. Perfect!
I also want to say that I’m not sure how well I would have done with this without two upgrades to my pain cave that I acquired in the last few months. First off, the KICKR Climb, that seemed like just a gimmick before I got it but is truly great for making riding indoors more interesting. Love it! Next is my relatively new Velocity Rockers rocker-plate. I’ve always been a rider who develops saddle sores frequently, and that has been a general fear of mine when it comes to riding for extended periods. But I do believe that using this set up helped me to not get a hint of a saddle sore even after all ten videos! (Also a shout-out to my bike fitter, who last September convinced me to get a PRO Stealth saddle!)
I should put in a thank you to my supportive spouse, who is a four-time IRONMAN finisher, and life-long athlete, and was great with suggestions for nutrition, which can be a problem for me. I got it right for once!
Back in the 1980s I was a subscriber to VeloNews which ran a regular cartoon that included a character who wore a Jersey that said “Old Guys Who Get Fat In Winter Racing Team.” For me it has been more like “Old Guys Who Stay Fat Year-Round Touring Club.” Now I’m doing one or two cycling tours (IRL) a year (Tuscany coming up starting May 29!), as well as lots of Suffering in my pain cave year-round, and I’m so happy to be here!
Lastly, thank you from the bottom of my heart to those of you who kept commenting on my posts during the ride. That’s a great bit of motivation when you feel a bit down or doubting yourself. And the idea maybe one or two or more might have decided to donate to my cause was also motivating, making me feel that I did not want to let anyone down! I arrived here in Sufferlandria in July of 2020, but the 2021 Tour of Sufferlandria really introduced me to the forums and the great people here who truly make this the greatest mythical nation in the world!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Paul Day-Lucore, Denver, Colorado
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The Sufferlandrian in you is strong Sir! I only did the first 2 rides (I think, maybe just the first one) at 85% and the rest of rides for the day at 75%. I really had nothing left in the tank towards the last 2 intervals of my ‘most-favourite’ 
(God forbid) ride, Defender and having to dial that down to 60 percent in order to finish the ride with some dignity left intact. Hahaha
Oh thanks for the shout-out Sir. I actually found that pretty useful and that’s why I thought of sharing that with you. The only thing I forgot to mention would be to keep the ANT+/BLE active throughout those all-too-short intermissions.
High time to get some new chamois too 
to replace those shredded chamois which you might have chewed on for good luck.
We are all evil people here especially the Knights who enjoys other Knights and aspiring Knights’ suffering. 
Nevertheless, on a lighter note, we are all here to give encouragement and support each other’s endeavours be it completing the Quest or the Wahoolimabob Tour or even just general flogging. Remember #twaaw and #tuhntf 
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My brain is clearly not functioning tonight. I remember the wahoominati are always watching, but for some reason I’ve completely forgotten what #tuhntf means. I’m gonna lose the new keys I just received to the castle! Show me to the nearest flogging station!
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Welcome, Sir Paul! Great write-up! It’s always a joy to (read about how other people) suffer. And your suffering was glorious.
Tuscany! 
Have a wonderful time and send us photos!
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Great write-up, and we’ll done!
Just curious when you last tested your 4DP numbers with FF or HM?
I’m glad you did Wretched first because at 6 it destroyed my knees. Lol.
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The uncomfortable have nothing to fear.
Congrats again Sir Paul @pkdaylu! Nice write up. I just did a bus tour in Europe and went through the beautiful region of Tuscany. Colour me jealous for your upcoming rides there. 
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It has definitely been a while. FF on January 2 to be exact. I normally do FF every 12 to 14 weeks with HM in between, but in February and early March I condensed the full tour prep plan plus the February and March challenges into my training, then I began the KoS prep plan. I considered testing again in early to mid-April, but that would have been just two to four weeks before this attempt, so I thought that wouldn’t be the smartest move. I think I’ll ramp back up in the next few weeks and then do the one week FF plan just before we take off for Tuscany.
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Seems like whatever I could have tried late felt like knee destruction! I’m thinking of Thin Air especially!
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I’ll send photos as Dame Cristy suggests and make you even more jealous! And I’ll try to suffer just a little on the rides, between the eating and drinking!
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I did FF 2 weeks before my last attempt. Really it doesn’t matter. It may just change the intensity % you ride your videos at depending on your test results.
Yep! I found the climbing and endurance videos with long FTP efforts are the worst at the middle/end of a KOS attempt. The MAP/AC intervals look scary, but during a KOS quest they actually give you a lot of small recovery sections. 
Except for Revolver. It’s just brutal. Lol.
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…and so, my quest ended on Revolver 
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Four weeks afterward, I did a Full Frontal today. FTP up by just 3 watts, MAP up by 8 watts, AC down 11 watts, and NM down by 39 watts. It seems a little strange to me that my rider type changed from Attacker to Sprinter. I would have thought high NM would be more likely for a sprinter. Obviously, the results are affected by many, many factors, and at this point, my KoS effort is probably not too significant, but because there was a short discussion above regarding my last FF, I decided to post the info here.
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It’s the relationship of your metrics to your FTP that define your rider type I believe.
My NM usually sits between 1050 to 1150 watts and relative to my other metrics I’d always been a sprinter. My last test saw gains in AC while little relative change in the others so now I’m an attacker. Makes sense to me that with a drop in AC you’d change from Attacker to Sprinter.
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Makes sense. That AC effort was really hard today! All this being said, through my short (just shy of three years now) time in Sufferlandria, i seem to rotate between Attacker, Pursuiter, and Sprinter. So, that’s really no surprise! Now I’m off to the hills of Tuscany! Hoping for not too much rain!
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AWESOME!
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I feel like as we get older we all lose AC and become sprinters. Lol
My NM is always between 1,100-1,200. As I get older my recovery continues to slow. Maybe if I can raise my FTP over 300 I will stop being a sprinter. I dunno. I definitely feel like I’m not a sprinter, more like a pursuiter that has a slightly above average NM. 
But being a runner who has only been in cycling for maybe 5 years I could be very wrong. 
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