On the 10th of January 2023, I climbed on my brand new smart trainer and fired up a Sufferfest ride for the first time… A Very Dark Place
One year later, and I’m so very glad I discovered Sufferfest (and the rest of SYSTM for that matter). It’s improved my physical and mental health no end. I’ve been able to cycle when it’s too cold outside, when it’s too hot outside, when it’s too dark, when my outdoor bike needs some repairs. Have lapped up the training plans, the monthly challenges, badge collecting, and, of course, the great videos themselves. Love the storylines/narrative, the sense of humour, and laughing in the face of suffering…
Over the last 12 months:
FTP has increased from 175 to 240, despite ups and downs. Simultaneously discovered that, “It never gets easier; you just go faster.”
Did my first Wahoo Tour, and got immersed into this lovely forum community by sharing daft hand-drawn graphs for each stage
Won a LASER GOAT T-shirt in the November Challenge!
Got 13 out of the 28 cycling badges, still lots to go for!
Got 14 out of the 14 yoga badges: I rule, in a very calm, at-one-with-the-universe way.
Went through 3 (THREE!) Wahoo Tickr heart rate monitors. Here they are, on their final journey to the great recycling bin in heaven…
I really love the baby’s chair being set-up for the computer. Haha
As for me, I joined SUF during that one time when GCN’s Manon and Ollie were both doing their transition down and up respectively. Took full advantage of that 2-weeks worth of free trial, but I only ended up paying the monthly subscription much later after that.
But as they say, it’s never too late to join the party.
I have kept my broken TICKRs for spare parts.
The pins of the new battery cover are very flimsy. I’m typically not very clumsy but have broken off two when resetting a TICKR by flipping the battery around for a few seconds.
If the strap is still working and has a good conductivity I keep them too since they break after a few years, which is quite normal.
My last TICKR is looking good maybe the pod will outlive the strap.
Hit up wahoo support even if your two year warranty is over they are awesome and still very helpful!
Yeah, Wahoo support were excellent and sent me replacement units with no fuss. But I gave up on the design in the end and went with a Polar H10 which has not once let me down since…
My username is Sbrault and I am an addict… I like walks in the park, dining out, sunsets, 14 vise grips and 9 hammers. I joined the Sufferfest in December 2020, I don’t know what my numbers increased by but the pain scale on my riding buddies faces grew significantly greater the following spring. My name was then preceded by F$%#king… Sbrault . I was just being a good friend by sharing the suffering.
I started rinsing my Tickers after every ride to remove the victory salts…
I’ve had a bunch of Tickrs fail on me too - two of them were still fairly new. Wahoo replaced both for free - maybe you should get in touch with them about yours.
My Wahoo trainer also failed, out of warranty. I bought a new one and that failed in a couple of weeks - Wahoo eventually replaced it. The newest one is now starting to make the same sound the previous ones did when they failed, so the jury is still out on whether this one will be ok.
The button covers on my Elemnt Bolt also failed a long time ago - I use electrical tape to keep them on.
I’m starting to lose confidence in the quality of Wahoo products. I used to think they were great, but now not so much.
Finally, I think Wahoo has wrecked The Sufferfest with their changes, although I do understand they’re trying to make it appeal to a wider audience and control their expenditures.
Cheers, yeah, of those 3 Tickrs, I only purchased the first one, the other two were free replacements sent by Wahoo customer service. I just decided to give up on the Tickr design and buy a Polar instead. I didn’t want the HRM failing on me in the middle of a long ride or in a race.
Taking your FTP from 175 to 240 is impressive. Bravo!
An alternative to the Tickr is the TickrFIT, if you don’t mind having something strapped around your forearm rather than your chest. My unit has worked well for the two years or so that I have had it. Main issue is that the strap will tend to deteriorate with extended exposure to sweat, but it can be replaced either with the original Wahoo part or with a strap made with a woven nylon fabric that is available on Amazon.
This is a great story and love the updated pain cave. Nice Job on the year. I just replaced my tickr after many years. Not sure why it went bad, but after hearing about everyone having issues way before I did, I’m counting myself lucky. I purchased a refurb kickr right before covid and had to replace some bearings which I was able to do myself, but besides that and a little squealing noise as it is spinning down, the trainer has been pretty rock solid. Again, I’ll count myself lucky I guess. Just purchased a Roam, which I’ll hope serves me well and lasts for years. Should!
Congrats. I went through the same thing 6 years ago, spent the winter riding almost daily, ToS, all that. Lost 35 pounds through it all. I came outside in the spring and could not believe how much faster and longer I could ride outdoors, and “hills” became bumps in the road. I finished a few of the big NYC group rides first because even the fast groups in them felt slow. The only people that seemed to be able to keep up were the real racers, not the wannabees. On top of that I was already 63 years old, this grey haired guy on an older carbon bike. I’m 69 now and I’m trying all over again, but my age has caught up to some degree. I worry a bit more now about HR. As long as I come out strong enough I’ll be happy.
