Hi, I am new to Sufferfest (Oct 2020), but have been enjoying it and seeing my fitness improve.
I am thinking about joining the ToS, but the page on https://thesufferfest.com/pages/community-tour-of-sufferlandria-2021 does not quite explain how it works. Is it a set selection of videos, or can you choose, or are they new ones specifically for the tour?
One vital question I have is how long are the sessions likely to be each day?
Any advice would be appreciated.
Martin
Do it! Otherwise youāll miss out on all the fun.
It will be my first tour as well, but I heard and read so many great things about it.
The stages will be announced soon. There is a specific set of workouts selected for each day.
Youāll have around 50 hours to complete each stage - as long as the date of the day is somewhere around the world.
The link you posted already gives a good overview.
Even if you canāt do all the stages, there are options. Do as many as you can manage and be proud of your effort. At the end of the day, itās all for a good cause and for the fun in shared suffering.
The length of each stage / workout will probably be around an hour with a few longer stages happening primarily on the weekend. At least thatās what I gathered from past events.
I am sure more seasoned sufferlandrians can elaborate.
Stay tuned for the announcementā¦
@Pierre basically nailed it!
This will be ToS #7 for me, itās an awesome week of shared suffering!!
Itāll be the first year with the focus of it being on the forum, so itāll be interesting to see how that goes!
One thing to know, during the tour posts of graphs incur a $10 penalty donation to The Davis Phinney Foundation 
Oooh, I like it. I have to prepare my graphs. 
Happy suffering to everyone. I am new to the Sufferfest and have decided to do the ToS. Iāve signed up and paid the donation. I was wondering if the different stages will appear in my calendar at some point, e.g. will it be possible to select the ToS as a plan? or will have to check on the website each day what stage is planned for that day?
Many thanks in advance!
First Tour here too. Where do you actually sign up for this? The web page doesnāt seem to be updated, is there a way to do this in the App? And do i have to add this to a training plan or can i just ride the stages on the 7 days?
There is a link for registering on the website at thesufferfest.com. On the top of the screen, under community, look for Tour of Sufferlandria. The registration link is there. The route announcement is buried in the main ToS thread on this forum. Itās on YouTube, so you might be able to find it by searching.
Thanks Diana! Found the registration link. Hopefully, that was the hardest part of the while event 
Last year, they released the Tour as a plan. I expect thatās coming for this year as well.
@KMK and anyone else looking ā¦
The simplest way to look at the stages (IMO) is to look at your own personal challenge page on the web. Where you can also see the start/finish times of the 50hr window and confirmation youāve completed a stage.
https://app.thesufferfest.com/challenges
That link should get you there ā¦ you have to elect to join the challenge first after logging in and hey presto you should see something like this:
Plan is also released and is available on the website. Havenāt checked through the app.
And add the rides as a training plan, special focus, ToS Stages
Iām also a relative newbie, having started using SufferFest in late November. Iām intrigued with the ToS Challenge, but have a question about training.
Iām about half way through the All-Purpose Road training program (just did HM last weekend). In fact, the program would finish with FF on the last day of the ToS. What would be the best way to incorporate ToS into this program? I notice that the Post-Tour plan actually ends with FF. So should I just continue with the All-Purpose Road, perhaps taking a bit more recovery in the week prior to the Tour, and then work up to the FF through the Post-Tour Plan? Or is there an advantage to switching over completely to the ToS prep plan + Post-Tour?
Thanks in advance for your insights.
Same situation here, but I am a week or two behind you (I do my half monty next week). I am thinking of carrying on with the plan until I hit the tour (obviously not FF the day before the start though).
Last year I was on the general road plan, I did not do the tour prep.If you want to do the tour prep plan, just delete the plan you are on and select the tour plan. The general plan was fine for the tour. Doing the tour prep this year, the workouts seem less intense but I can see they are building a good endurance base
Not a newbie, but want to confirmā¦to earn credit toward the 2021 ToS badge, one must start each stage within the 50 hour window, or finish within the 50 hour window? I always thought āstart before the window closesā, but the guidance this year is āMeaning you have a 50 hour window to complete each stage.ā That suggests, to me, that you must ācomplete before the window closesā. Info here. More important this year b/c Iād like to do stage 6 on Sat and stage 7 on Sun - but in my time zone, that means starting at 6.00a (ugh) or ending before 6.00a (not gonna happen). So, this detail is important!
Yep, complete the stage before the window closes. The challenge page can help you stay on track. If you miss the windowā¦ wellā¦ FLOGGINGS!!!
Wellā¦are you SURE? Hereās some thinking that starting inside the limit and ending outside the limit is OK: Peto Zozulak
Thanks for all the advice, have signed up and got some sponsorship already. Did my second 4DP last weekend at the end of an All Road training plan so set to go.
I signed up for the āGet me through itā option as I was not sure about the Nuclear Option (it does all seem a bit confusing when you come to this as a newbie). I have seen that is has set the level less than 100% on at least one of the intensities on most of the days. Just wondering if it is best to stick to the reduced level? I have done some of the workouts at 100% and found it relatively easy with even my updated 4DP. Is it worth trying at 100% for as many days as I can at the beginning and then dialling back to the āget me through itā levels if it all gets too much? Or is it better to start at the dialled back level, then up it later if I really feel I can take it? Would feel great if I could get through it all at 100%, but not sure!
Advice appreciated.
Hey @Martin_Reed Martin.
Itās probably worth a mention of the whole āpercentagesā thing. Over time, lots of use of the platform, on a consistent trainer, and regular use of 4DP often leads us to numbers that mean even one workout at 100% can be beyond us.
But there are confounding factors all around (like condition during the 4DP, technique during 4DP, all of which (just speaking for myself here) made it hard for me to dial in what that number set was.
All of which means, itās really hard to advise on what level to go with but if you find (fir example, Tool Shed or Nine Hammers) relatively easy on your current numbers then that suggests you probably can use at least 100% for your workouts
Might be worth just seeing how you go after the first couple of days and how you feel and take it from there.
Day 2 should give you a sense of thing if youāve not done Nine Hammers before - if thatās easy, then you can go above 100 for the rest.
Then the week can give you a real feel for the platform and āfeelā of things so you can thrash the next 4DP you do.
But if Day 2 spits you out (no way Iām even considering that at 100%) then you can gauge the rest of the weeks level based on that maybe.
