Certainly not the achievement of becoming a Knight of Sufferlandria, but today I got my All Sufferfest badge by completing the Kitchen Sink. The 3 hours is my longest ride to date. I was reminded about my dislike for Violator.
I followed up a day of festive eating with a healthy dose of chewing stem.
Congrats!! That’s a nice badge.
Now, about that Knighthood 
Wait until you do your quest. Stem tastes really good at about six hours of riding. Please check out the Quest Forum for hints/tips on how to storm the Drawbridge (there’s some paperwork to get into the Castle proper).
@dmgadry61, what intensity did you complete at? I will only have kitchen sink to do for the badge after this week. I did It seems like thin air yesterday and barely managed to finish. Started at 100%, dropped to 90 after 45 minutes and 80 at some point. Even then I was hitting the HR ‘target’ on most of of the Thin Air section. And feeling utterly horrible for the last half hour.
I did eat and take on plenty of isotonic fluids, and the fan was going full steam in a 4-5°C cave, so I think I managed it pretty well other than intensity. Any tips welcome as I’m really not looking forward to taking on the Sink (and if UK weather is bad next weekend, I probably will be).
I managed to complete at 100%. It has a short break (a couple of minutes to rest) in it around 1 hour 45 minutes. That does help. It’s been awhile, but I did struggle the with It seems like thin air workout as well. On Kitchen Sink, the last section from Violator hurt me the most. Violator was my workout yesterday and this last section killed me again. Kitchen Sink is tough because inevitably one of the 11 workouts they’ve mashed up will probably hit a weakness. Save the Violator section, the most difficult part was the 3 hours in the saddle. You want to make sure you take advantage of the recovery sections to hydrate and take nutrition. I think part of my difficulty with the violator section was not staying ahead on the nutrition.
I did the Thin Air mash up on 85% as part of the KoS training plan and it was pretty cool that way. I think doing it at 100% is an event in itself and requires rest and preparation beforehand… I’ll be treating Kitchen Sink as an event in itself by the time I’m brave enough, and will do the typical FF preparation week before it.
Excellent way to treat Kitchen Sink. It was, after all, first conceived of that way when it debuted for Sufferlandrian National Day in October 2017. Here is how I titled my ride on Strava:
with 16 minutes to go…CRAMPS!!! #
Fun times that one. Fuuuun tiiiiimes. 
Thanks, makes sense. I will perhaps shelve it for next week, and taper for it maybe the week after. Then FF prep plan after that. I still need to do two other vids this week, so Kitchen Sink might be a bit of a challenge next weekend.
Kitchen Sink is already a reduced effort ride. It’s at 90% for most, 85% for the rest. If you find that you cannot do it at 100%, back off 5% until you can…
I was able to complete Kitchen Sink at 100%, but did taper a bit in the days prior just because of the length of the ride. I think Sir. James @jmckenzieKOS advice of starting at 100% and backing off if necessary is a great strategy.
I sympathize. I did It Seems Like Thin Air today, and it is really exhausting.
On the other hand, I used to look at Kitchen Sink in horror, but now I realize it is </sarcasm /> only a half an hour longer.
Thanks for the tips, just completed Kitchen Sink (at 100%) and have a shiny new badge. At least until any new videos come out. I found it generally a lot easier than ISLTA, although the final downward spiral was evil. I think there’s more in ISLTA that is tempo and above, as well as less recovery.