I’ve been training on SUF for 4 months and hoping to go nuclear on TOS. I’ve done all the releases stages except Half is Easy as I’m on a really old bike with few gears so stuck with Erg Mode. Any ideas on what Level to try Half is Easy - AC 475/NM 850 - but these may be ‘soft’ figures as when I did 4DP I had same issue. Or is Half is Easy possible in Erg? In the rest periods what happens in level mode if you can’t change gears?
All ideas gratefully received
Hello - I train on a CycleOps H2 Trainer. I did this workout yesterday in level mode and I think that delivers the intended workout/suffering compared to my previous iteration of this workout in erg mode. The level mode just delivers pain whereas the erg mode, once I spun up, there was a slight reprieve due to the trainer overcorrection on power. But as the instructions recommend, your mileage may vary based on your trainer.
Happy Suffering!
I would not want to try half is easy on level mode, especially if you have limited gear range. You want to have the proper rest between efforts and not be stressing about finding the right gear every time you switch between effort and recovery. The changes are not as frequent as Violator, for example, so most trainers should be able to handle it. I’d suggest just trialling it once you’ve done another training session, maybe on a lighter session. Just hop to the first repetition and see how your trainer copes.
Thanks Chico - I think you’re right (just try a bit) … it just seems ‘wrong’ not going at it full gas … but then again that chance will come in the TOS! And ‘time spent in reconnaissance is seldom wasted’
Good comment and makes me want to clarify that when I did this workout in level mode, I was able to switch between the big ring and the small ring for the work / recovery sections without changing gear in the cassette.
I always have my keyboard next to me, so when the workout has sprints, i change to level about 5 seconds before, change gears and do a proper sprint.
After the sprint i change back to erg.
For your workout:
If your trainer cannot cope with rapid changes, you need to do it in level mode.
I would suggest to use the level so that you do not have to change many gears between the efforts.
eg. maybe in level 3 you can produce the indicated watts and cadence with the big ring and the 3rd cog on the back and you can drop on the small ring and 1st cog on the rest.
You really have to try and see.
I wouldn’t worry so much about hitting the exact rest targets, maybe even drop the cadence lower on your lowest year.
Thanks that’s really helpful.
I did Defender to Attacker today … that’s going to be some finish when tired!!
