@caashford I have a partial spreadsheet of about 22 that I used to schedule my own effort last month. But looks like @JamesT has a better one. 
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I also have a KoS playlist planner “app” but I’m not sure I’ll ever get round to properly finishing it and/or making it public. One day. Maybe.
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Wow - thanks for sharing the list. It is impressive and very detailed. I am just finishing Volcano Climbing and am looking to complete the 4 week KOS prep next during the lull in the holiday season. My goal is to make the attempt before the Tour of SUF early in 2021.
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Just finishing up my final running order for Friday. Videos downloaded and ready to go. The below is the order i’m considering. Feedback appreciated as always. I’m looking at changes in kit after 4 and 8 as my “proper” breaks, with 2 and 6 as mid-points. I have taken these videos from a review of others plans (the number is a count of , and considering myself a stronger FTP rider rather than sprinter.
- FTP focus in first half
- Power station and GOAT similar so split
- Trying to use newer videos (as some older KoS quests may not have included)
- Backup / alternative videos also listed
| My Order | Type | Count of Occurences |
|---|---|---|
| The Bat | Racing | 6 |
| Revolver | Speed | 10 |
| Power Station | Climbing | 13 |
| Butter | Endurance | 10 |
| The Rookie | Racing | 6 |
| Do As You’re Told | Speed | 9 |
| Angels | Climbing | 12 |
| GOAT | Endurance | 12 |
| The Omnium | Racing | 6 |
| The Trick | Speed | 6 |
| Other Options | ||
| The Wretched | Climbing | 9 |
| A Very Dark Place | Speed | 5 |
| TBTITW | Racing | 8 |
| Who Dares | Racing | 8 |
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@caashford I did The Bat first, as well. It’s an excellent way to start off.
Doing Angels and then GOAT at 7 & 8 will likely be the toughest part of your day. You’ll be tiring and then right after the sprints from Do as You’re Told you will have Angels with long climbs followed by GOAT which has very little rest. Numbers 6 thru 8 are where you begin to feel the fatigue, but you still have a lot of your day left. That Angels / GOAT combo will likely be the time that will most test your mental fortitude.
Once you get past those, tho, you’ll be golden until you get to the final tempo portion of The Trick. But that will be your homestretch and you’ll feel like powering thru it to achieve glory, honor, and victory.
Have fun storming the castle!
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Looks like a good order and well thought out too.
I’ll be looking at the ride order Friday after work although I already have a pretty good idea of what I’ll be doing. Looking forward to getting it done and dusted now although I’ve been having some left leg ITB issues the last couple of weeks.
Good luck for you quest mate I’m sure you’ll smash it 
So… Here it is the plan to assault the castle on Sunday 
I’ve tried to vary it a bit. I’ve checked out other people’s plans and previous assaults and think this could be the one for me. The Bat to start for a bit of mental prep, Power station at breaking point number 7 because its a one I enjoy and finishing up with GOAT which is another of my favourites.
Let me know if you guys think this looks ok please. Any advice or suggestions more than welcome
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I’d recommend to do “GOAT” or “Power Station” in the penultimate spot. If these are your favorite ones it will provide a boost of motivation. I for myself did not need extra motivation of that kind for the last one, because being the last workout of the Knighthood brings motivation in itself. In fact I did my Nemesis workout “The Omnium” as the last one.
But in the end you know yourself the best and shoud decide on your personal mindset.
Good luck anyway!
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Very good point mate. My thoughts behind this are basically damage limitation. I’ve been struggling of late with left knee problems and I’m sure it’s something to do with my ITB. I’m assuming that at the 10th vid point I’ll be in a pretty bad way so it’s going to be a case of just grinding away to get it done. I’ve got my fingers crossed the knee hold out until at least the half way point.
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@Stotty82 I love The Bat as the first workout. That’s what I did for mine and I totally encourage others to use it for either slot 1 or 2.
@Stotty82 @Holger1980 I did the opposite and put my nemesis workout (also “The Omnium”) at #9 and then one of my favorite at #10. Having a nemesis workout at #9 also can provide excellent motivation. But, only you know what best motivates you, so plan according to your style.
Usually the place where you need motivation the most is around #6, 7, and 8 when you’ve been riding a long time, but still have a few hours left. Those are slots you want to put the videos that you like the most and also possibly the ones that give you the most sneaky recovery time. I backloaded my playlist with my favorites. I put The Trick at #7 to give me some extra recovery in the first half of the video and then a lower sustained effort at the end. Then I put Thin Air (one of my all-time favorites) at #8, my nemesis at #9, and then Defender (one of my favorites and most inspirational) at #10. That way once the fatigue started to set in I had all the motivation I needed to knock out the last 4 workouts.
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There’s still some time left to see how the knee is. Primers today so that’ll give me an idea.
If all looks alright I’ll consider my options but I’m really not wanting to risk any kind of early blowout. Struggling through possibly 6 hours of knee pain isn’t what I was wanting for the big day… Suffering is suffering though at the end of the day and honestly I can’t wait to get on with it now 
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I hope this is no more than a niggle and you get yourself sorted
It’s a scary thing to turn an acute issue that’s an annoyance in to a long term chronic problem, so watch out for yourself.
And good luck if you do do it.
It will always be there for when knee is happier though.
I’m no physio, though have resolved a few of my own knee niggles in the past … what’s the niggle? (I ask as I can resolve symptoms in mine sometimes with taping - which is a sticking plaster solution rather than a source fix problem … but it can work for a bit)
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I dunno about the best thing in the world as second last as it’s just such high intensity, but you have to do it sometime right 
Love GOAT last (or near to last) as it feels like a ‘free’ one sometimes. Albeit your muscles won’t have that energy they usually have to gracefully pedal at 50rpm by this stage, it’s still a good one I think.
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Completed my quest yesterday. 07:00 start and finished at 15:30 (292km, and 09:40min including breaks). A few callouts and lessons learned for those that might find it useful:
Nutrition - I had a gel after every video, and tried to keep taking on fluid (but only managed x1 500ml bottle per video). I was sweating a fair bit at the start, but not much by the mid point, so knew I wasn’t drinking enough. I had food (overnight oats) after videos 2, 4, 6, 8.
Kit - Changed kit after videos 4 and 8 and a quick weigh-in as well:
Video 0 - 68.1kg, video 4 - 67.1kg, video 8 - 66.5kg, video 10 - 66.0kg)
Video Breaks - I had a little note on my PC with my reminders of stuff to do: 1) Photo finish 2) save video 3) photo workout result 4) lap time on Garmin 830 - this was running throughout the whole quest 5) start stopwatch - 8mins 6) charge downstairs - pee, eat food, top up drinks, change 7) get back upstairs and back on bike 8) lap Garmin and start pedalling. Lessons - Do not underestimate how quickly 8mins passes!
Video Choices - Yep, definitely a personal choice. 75% throughout - I was ok with 1-6, and as said Angels followed by GOAT was a challenge, and i struggled with the cadence / power on GOAT. By the time I hit Omnium and Trick i was onto Level mode, and hit the targets for recovery, but just did my best for the efforts.
A great challenge, could I have done 80%? Maybe, but I suffered enough. It’s a different challenge to the long rides / audaxes I have completed - shorter rests, higher intensity but still have the same sense of satisfaction. Legs are pretty achy, and I’m definitely going to make the most of my Christmas Day recovery meal!
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Super congratulations on completing it mate. You stormed the castle superbly by the sounds of it.
Enjoy your Knighthood and Christmas Sir Caashford 
Thank you for all the advice and support Martin.
I know exactly what you mean and have taken the potential of making this knee issue worse into consideration. I’ve been testing the water this last week and followed the Knighthood training plan to the T. That includes primers today which was a test to see if any niggles happened. Luckily all is good so far so it’s looking positive.
It was the 6 hour session a couple of weeks back that started it off again. Usually the issue only rears it’s ugly head around the 100mile mark…
I have some fantastic Minion support at home. The Mrs and kids will be there for me throughout.
All in all I have a lot of donations from 30+ people and the last thing I want to do is let anyone down and that includes myself. I’ll do my best and suffer I’m sure. Can’t wait to get this done and join you guys in the Castle
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Fantastic job. Congratulations! And good points to bring up from your experiences.
Well done. Your holiday rest is well earned!
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I’ve had some on and off niggles with my knees that never amounted to anything. I rode 100km and then 100 miles and then through the whole KoS training plan without a problems. And yet, I got quite the knee pain for the last 3 videos in my KoS attempt, and 5 weeks later it keeps popping up. I’m pretty sure it was tendonitis from increasing my volume too quickly.
I took two full weeks off, and then did only one or two videos the next couple weeks, but the pain kept popping within seconds of hopping back on the back at almost any power lever. Slowly it’'s been showing up later and later in each workout. Today, it seems to have mostly gone away, finally. I keep giving myself a day off after every workout and I think the combination of recovery, easy rides, slowly building intensity, and then forced recovery days after each workout has done the trick.
Be careful about your niggles as one long session can force you off the bike for weeks, if not months. Go for if you think you’ll be okay. Just be truthful to yourself about it.
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KNIGHT OF SUFFERLANDRIA 
So yesterday was the big day. The day I took on @thesufferfest and their challenge of Knighthood.
It’s been a long road training and preparing for this monster. I have never been an endurance rider so switching out my usual style of training over the past few months to try and adapt to the needs of the Knighthood hasn’t been easy. 
Coming out of the 6 hour training ride a few weeks back now with a blown left knee wasn’t the best thing to happen. I knew this would flare up during the event and it did… But the trick is to just grin and bare it. Not fun but a necessary must
My motivation behind this quest was @Shell . She’s gone through so much over the years and from the bottom of my heart she is INCREDIBLE. Always happy, caring and loving throughout everything she has to deal with after her Stroke. She is a true diamond in this world and I absolutely adore everything about her.
So in that respect I dedicated this to her and raising funds for @thestrokeassociation. 
Thank you to every single person who donated and motivated me with kind words of support. I really do appreciate each and every one. You are all incredible people 
. Together we raised £620 for the charity… THANK YOU 
A few stats…
8:30am start - 18:39 finish, 
4279 calories burned, 
20.2 @whoop strain score, 
142 miles covered, 
2 pairs of bib shorts, 
4 jerseys, 
4 pairs of socks, 
1 tub of @veloskin.cc chamois cream, 
16 scoops of @high5sportsnutrition energy. 
A special shout out to @veloskin.cc @high5sportsnutrition @teamveloflow @cycle_run1 for their generosity and donations to the cause.
Now to sit back, rest, recover and wait patiently for the official letter of KoS to arrive with my legendary Knight of Sufferlandria bike decal and certificate that I shall forever display proudly.
Again a huge thank you to everyone… MERRY CHRISTMAS and Happy New year to all 
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Congratulations Scott!!
Sounds like all your preparation - and motivation - payed up nicely. I hope the minions will bring you the good news soon.
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