@Fezzekstarted this reflection topic last year. I will just post again what I wrote then.
To all those who started, even if they did not finish, to all who finished, however they finished:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
The TOS feels like a reflection of new SUF. Inspirational, damn hard (sometimes brutally so), but ultimately achievable - pushing me harder than I thought possible (nuclear right up until cash register this year).
Maybe I’m lucky that the tour was MAP heavy this year, which I quite like. I wouldn’t have the same thought if the tour was heavy on sustained effort.
I was breathing out my ar$e by the end. Legs were on fire. I kept thinking “How did I get through 9 days of this before!!”
Glad to have it done though, great challenge and motivation to complete it to support the DPF and in memory of Sir Dan.
I don’t have the luxury of getting away for a weeks warm weather training in Spain etc. so I line to think of this as my version of that for the season ahead.
This was my first Tour. I’ve always been out of town or had some couchlandrian excuse for not doing it. No excuses this year! Can’t believe all of the epic suffering I missed out on in years past! I made a short video of my Tour. As I was editing the video, it struck me just how hard this was. I had to pull out of a gravel fondo which was scheduled the day after the tour concluded. Simply had no legs! If anyone is interested in the vid, you can find it here: Can I Survive the Tour of Sufferlandria?
Finished! I cheated by splitting up the last day, doing Blender by itself on an 8th day, but it was still a thoroughly enjoyable challenge, so I just wanted to thank the organizers for putting this together. I’m sure it takes a lot of work, but it’s going towards a great cause, so that should make it all worthwhile.
Not sure if I would want Cash Register as the final stage of every TOS, but it could certainly be included every year. That or Blender. Maybe trade them off being included somewhere in TOS every year. Especially for next year when TOS will simply be Full Frontal x7.
The TOS this year was more of a “get-me-out-of-a-rut” plan than a “look-at-me-crush-it” experience. It worked well! I had not ridden much in the prior months due to family care needs, and I was neglecting myself and my health to take care of others. This year’s Tour helped me to find some balance, and gave me motivation to take time again for me. I’m riding during my lunch breaks again (which I have not done for some time); and I am looking forward to a cycling event next month (which I totally forget I had signed up for)!
I am very grateful for everyone involved in the Tour, and all of the participants who make the Suffering so much fun!
This was a tough tour no doubt it was my 10th so i hav4 a bitbof history yhe MAP heavy nature was tough for me well done to the lads Neil beat me up this year to my benefit with my MAP weakness So hats off
Reflections from a ToS rookie: The fall out was impressive - I still feel a bit of that muscle soreness a week-and-a-bit after.
I did Half Monty on Saturday: 5% increase in MAP, and 2% increase in FTP. So at least there’s that. I’m actually quite proud of the numbers. But then you see The Pog riding up a hill at 6.5W/kg with a smile on his face, and it’s back to reality…
My training plan for today includes AVDP That’s going to be fun.
This tour seemed to be rich in rides aimed at my weakness, and so the thought of it could be daunting. After smashing out a load of MAP efforts I got used to the effort and it no longer seemed so bad
I was curious coming into this as to whether or not I could do it 100% nuclear. I chose get me through it when I added the plan very early on. There was clearly a bug because everything came through at 100%. So, now I have no doubt that I can do it next time…that said, I was utterly exhausted at the end of the week!
I agree that Cash Register should be the last workout every year!
A bit of a belated comment, but really enjoyed this years’ tour. I never got round to getting updated figures beforehand, so it felt awesome to be able to crank things up to 107 or 108%, even though it probably wasn’t anywhere near that…
But the final two - Blender, with it’s final minutes of interview / docu of DPF, going into Cash Register was brilliant. Really moving, and it got me through the first half of Cash Register, which is all it took to have the finish line in sight.
The other thing I noticed about those two workouts is that they both have footage of amateurs on a side road going hell for leather trying to keep up with the pros. In Blender, it looks like a father/son duo on a tandem, absolutely nailing it. Kudos to those chaps - cycling immortality right there…
I was a DNF because I got sick halfway through. I feel a bit guilty about my nice framed 2022 TOS poster. I think that means I have to do TOS 2023. And I’m not sure what to make of the “mystery” socks that Endur included in my last order. Those are donuts! I don’t think I’ve turned into an f***in couchlandrian.
That’s going to be fun.