Today’s Sufferfest remaster/re-remaster™ on my menu was Angels.
This was another one I really dreaded. My dread wasn’t so much about the quality or SUFness of the remaster as it was of the workout itself. I have a very strong dislike of sustained efforts and anything longer than 4-5 minutes is a mental minefield for me. It’s one of the reasons I genuinely HATED Defender and was not at all sorry to see it downgraded to an OL type ride in Phil Wins the Tour (that I will also not do 
). Angels starts with a too-short warmup then heads right into a 10 minute block of 1 minute over/unders. Then, 3 x 8 minute climbs at or near threshold and often higher. Those are some loooooong 8 minutes. At least they weren’t 9 
Here is my review:
First, I understand that the OG Angels was a special special vid for a LOT of people and there are things from it that I and many others will ALWAYS miss. One thing is that line about riding with Nibali, not your chubby riding buddy. That line always made me smile/smirk, mostly because I related so much with me being the chubby riding buddy, but also as a reminder of how important being active is at ANY size. I have a horrible family history of Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and obesity, and lost many family members earlier than I should have and, in large part, that was due to their inactivity. Another thing that I’ll miss are the Couchlandrian Training Videos (I screen recorded those prior to them being removed when it was edited last (they are still available on Vimeo I believe) I also know that Angels was often ridden in tribute to Sufferlandrians and others lost too soon but it was always one I tended to avoid cuz, well, those sustained efforts… I’ve done it about a dozen times in total but hadn’t ridden it for over 3 years.
So, with that preamble aside, the re-remaster™ is actually pretty darn good. Not AVDP re-remaster™ good but still pretty pretty good. Yes, it’s missing some opportunities for thought bubbles, pop-out tidbits of interesting info, irreverent/irrelevant off-bike footage during recoveries…all things that make up the special sauce that is a truly great SUF vid.
But the music is the same (I think) and is well suited for the video. Some of the cycling footage is just plain fantastic and the women’s peloton are an inspiring group of badasses. Some of the footage during the recovery sections is SPECTACULARLY beautiful, I’m thinking in particular of the bulk of the final recovery interval before the Final Act. Clouds and mountains, then a section of road of the peloton snaking its way up the ascent through a forest of conical trees then a remarkable image of a town in the forefront, clouds in the sky, and the peak of a mountain at the top. Jawdropping. Then BOOM, the final climb.
I like the 4 Chapters (sorta like AVDP and the named dark places). GREAT Climb integration! Footage mostly matches the efforts and the SUF text was truly spot on. Top marks for the SUF text and intro setting the stage for the whole thing. Same for the motivational stuff and the SUF style tongue-in-cheek smack talk. So while this is obviously not the classic Angels, it’s a VERY good job at keeping the very tough workout intact while keeping many of the SUF elements, particularly from the text/motivation/prompt perspective. It would def benefit from more of the more nuanced stuff. Eg. There was one bit where fans were waving the Swiss flag from their window or their balcony and the text on screen said something to the effect that your fans really want to see you Suffer more. It’s THIS kind of thing that adds engagement for me and always makes me smile (that is, IF I see it between bouts of stem chewing). There’s a bit at the end where the winning rider is petting a dog (another opportunity for some SUF type thought bubble (maybe from the dog, maybe from the dog’s owner)
Notes:
15:23 remaining text says “Don’t let then catch you” this line was used previously so changing it to Do.Not.Get.Caught. or some other such thing like “you know what NOT to do right now…do NOT get caught”.
0:54 remaining Honour is missing the “u”.
0:46 remaining should be You leave with Victory. There is no need for the “a”.
I won’t dread this one so much if it pops up in the plan again and is absolutely 100% repeatable.